From Humble Beginnings
An unfolding of hidden stories, secrets and perspectives from now until new years
The way these boys see it, festivals in New Zealand are yet to unlock their full potential. They see the little corners of possibility around this beautiful country, with these beautiful people, and say we need to do more with it. They say organising a 3-day festival out of thin air on their mum’s back lawn is just the start of what's possible. They say tripling the amount of attendees the year after is what's possible. So we say, I’ll see you there.
It's not often you find yourself in a position when it's your contemporaries doing the things you’ve always looked at and wondered, how the hell did they pull that off? When the thought of it alone is enough to put you in a haze of brain fog. After experiencing the birth of Matakanarama in the dusk of 2024, I had the ambitious idea of putting together a collection of moments and a stitched-together story of what these boys are really up to behind the scenes, in the hopes of doing their work justice with my own. Now, let's all be friendly here and keep in mind, much like these four, this is somewhat new territory for me. Much like these four, an ambitious goal seems like one that can’t go unnoticed.
Before we sink our teeth into the nit and grit of what these guys have been putting together thus far, I thought it’d be appropriate to back up a few beats to the birth of this great venture when it was no more than an aspiring thought. Now, we could say the idea was grounded in a spur-of-the-moment brainstorm, backed by tremendous amounts of disillusioned ambition, but that wouldn’t be doing the entire story justice. When in fact, it steamed from something far deeper than that; from a place in Auckland party culture that, in the eyes of a great many, was rich in vulnerability and sense of self. It encouraged the idea that being unapologetically true to yourself is your true self. Which in turn, breeds personality, breeds character.
Let me introduce The Orchard. Named aptly for its abundance of fruit trees, this four-bedroom shack quickly became ground zero for the most daring of events. Parties held within these walls came in all shapes, forms, themes, ceremonies, you name it. The first of which came as the Orchard Summer Festival ‘23. A mighty task such as this was nothing short of a miracle to the uninitiated, and honestly, at this point, we could argue that's precisely what they were when compared to what’s been achieved since. With a double-story scaffold stage – that no doubt would have given the local council a heart attack and likely failed to meet a fair few building code requirements – a sense of ease, matched with excitement, began to grow among The Orchard’s now loyal fan base. A good start.
From there it morphed from slumber parties to crude variations of Halloween and Christmas celebrations, to farewells of Orchard residents and loud welcomes to newcomers. All culminating in, dare I say it, a questionably platonic wedding that puzzled most of the crowd as to who did in fact win the coin toss to be the official bride.
But for every great venture to succeed there must be those who back it, who show up when there are reasonable doubts and question nothing but the start time – for there are countless other ways of spending our cherished weekends.
In the summer of 2023, The Orchard saw 250 familiar faces walk through their doors, all entrusting their valued time in an event they knew scarily little about. These 250 willing individuals reached into their own pockets to donate their own hard-earned money, under no incentive other than their own, to an idea they felt meant something. If not for these donations, your donations, it's fair to say the Orchard Summer Festival would have never come to fruition. Fast forward through countless club gigs and we find ourselves staring down the barrel of a humble, yet pioneering few days on the stunning foothills of Cape Rodney. You can thank yourselves for that.
Now with the machine to make it happen, Scott, Rob, Finn and Mike set their sights far beyond the heights of Matakanaramas first instalment; to bridge gaps between music cultures and fan bases, connect local and distant talent, bringing together an experience that leaves us on the edge of our seats, eager to experience what's next to be pulled out of their rolled up sleeves. After sitting in on a few planning sessions, I’ve come to the understanding that this venture is cared for deeply, with considerations to the most minute details never slipping the minds and attention of these four. And with visits to new venues that pale the current in comparison, there's no doubt a few surprises are still to come. ~ QP