I moved up to Christchurch in 2009 to study here and I made lots of friends and connections through studying. I learnt from Scott Taitoko at ARA music arts. Total legend, he was a great role model.

The All Girl Big Band started in 2016 and I’ve been in it that whole time. It’s given me a lot of confidence playing in that group, it pushed me a little bit in a really supportive way. When we play, our audiences are so fun, they’re really there for us, I love it. I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve been able to perform in loads of different environments and can be resilient in different situations, but I still get super nervous sometimes.

I play trombone in the All Girl Big Band. I play bass guitar in some other groups, and I can play keyboard a bit, and I love to sing as well. What I’m enjoying the most at the moment is being in the rhythm section of a band. It’s kind of new for me, and refreshing. Being able to play that role of a band, which is sort of the foundational part of the music, yeah, I love that.

I’m learning euphonium, that’s a brass instrument that looks like a small tuba. It’s a big, low instrument. It’s a really warm sound. I’m learning that for a musical in Ashburton at the moment, Mary Poppins, it’s an instrument more used in traditional brass bands.

It’s good to be able to double up on other brass instruments, either for playing in shows or teaching. It might allow me to teach trumpet because those are transferable skills. I have done a bit of teaching, but I haven’t really made it a career pathway.

I do have to have another job, and sometimes it’s hard to find the right thing that fits in, because I always want to do music. Having enough time, energy and passion alongside other work can be a challenge. I like video editing a lot, creating a story. I like helping people, and I like learning about what other creatives are making and how they are expressing themselves.

One thing that gets my goat so bad is when places weaponize music outside to stop loitering. It does my head in so bad!

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a marine biologist. Everyone says that though aye…?

I love Scuba diving. The best place I’ve been is The Bahamas – that was first place, I was super lucky. We got to stay on a yacht for a few weeks and sail around the islands so I was completely spoiled and yeah, it got me hooked. I shot my first fish on a pole spear, the only fish I’ve ever shot as well. I like that way of fishing because you are there with the fish. You see how they’re living. And if you’re doing it well you can kill the fish immediately, much better than nets.

I love the ocean so much, I feel quite passionately about the health of it. if I’d had a completely different career path it could have been more sciencey, I reckon, learning more about the marine ecosystem would be amazing.