Feather
When I was a little kid, one of my grandparents took me to see my first play. I have this really magical, vivid memory of just being so consumed in the magic of theatre. All the external problems were outside for a little moment.
I wanted to leave school at the end of year 12. My drama teacher said that if I stayed, I could go to Japan on a drama trip. So I stayed for seventh form just to be able to go on that trip. I worked heaps to save up money, I had three part time jobs around school plus we sold fundraiser chocolate bars and all that. That trip was my first time leaving the country, and it was the most incredible experience. After that, I was like, that’s it. I want to travel. I want to see the world. I want to learn about different people and different cultures.
I studied Performing Arts at Otago University. After I finished uni, I moved to Melbourne. I saved a bunch of money and I went backpacking around the world to twenty-something countries. I saw so many incredible events; cabaret shows, drag shows, massive nightclubs full of people, operas, ballets, and traditional performances.
I moved to Christchurch in 2017 to do the Hagley Dance Company course. My dad had died not long before, and I was having a quarter life crisis. A lot of the other students were fresh out of high school, whereas I was 26. Seeing what those young folk are up to now, they’ve gone on to really incredible things. I feel like a very proud aunty!
My business partner and I took over Darkroom in January 2019. I feel like this space is so important because it opened so soon after the quakes, and it helped to fill that void when so many creative spaces had shut down. I think of it as the community’s space and we’re the custodians of it, rather than it being an ordinary business that we’re the owners of. It’s a real privilege to be steering the ship at the moment.
When I was a young creative, the older folk that were around me weren’t safe people. Now I’ve got young 18 year olds coming through our venue with their new bands, I want to be there as that safe, supportive and professional older presence that I didn’t have when I was their age.
Recently, the challenges have been around the changing cityscape. We’ve had new housing pop up around us, so we wanted to get ahead of potential tensions around noise. We’ve worked really nicely with the City Council towards finding workable solutions that will balance the needs of everyone. We want vibrant, creative spaces like ours to be able to continue to operate, while welcoming new residents into the city as well.
I play in a punk band called Bin Day, it was a spring of 2020 project. We never had any expectations or big goals as a band. My goal was just to play at my 30th birthday party and then tick done, you know. We were so happy playing that one gig,everything that’s come after that is a bonus. It’s been such a cool journey. If I can do this with two power chords and having never played guitar before, I hope that it inspires other people to start bands. Don’t overthink it, or think you’re not good enough. It’s pretty special when you’re just doing it for yourself, and for the fun of it.