Christchurch currently houses one the most unique and dynamic music scenes in the entire world. There is a catalogue of Christchurch artists making music the likes of which you’ve never heard before. If you don’t believe me, just ask Beacon Bloom.
Fresh off the release of their new video for Materia, the outfit have shared a playlist of fellow Christchurch artists who have influenced their music.
Fresh off the release of their new video for Materia, Christchurch-based outfit Beacon Bloom have shared a playlist of artists from their city who have influenced their sound.
Jed Parsons – Real World
After attending Jazz School together, Jed seemed to have gone off the radar for a couple of years. Then his album Midnight Feast emerged and impressed me greatly. I realised quickly that Jed wasn’t compromising – he was all in from writing and arrangement to production. The vocal performance and sound on that album are especially pristine. These qualities inspired me to go all in with Beacon Bloom and to take an attitude of not doing anything by half. I love the theme of this tune – a reaction to top-down, fear-based attitudes about life-paths.
Butterflies Welcoming Spring – Something to Say
Josh Braden and Thomas Isbister form the sonic/punk/noise duo. Josh is an old friend of mine, a stellar musician who has influenced me greatly, introducing me to Radiohead, the world of Post Rock and many great bands. Josh helped me to understand both the power of atmosphere and sonic abrasion in guitar playing. Thomas is a creative powerhouse – at last count, he was in 8 bands – and his vast energy and freedom are always massively energising. A butterfly live show is an absolute sensory onslaught and has been known to make a few people in the crowd uncomfortable. Like Jed, they are uncompromising live and I love this about them. This particular track demonstrates their energy well.
Zane 2000 / The Midimaster – Horse Patter
Jonty O’Connor AKA The Midimaster has had a massive influence on me. Jonty always encourages pure creative output, regardless of societal expectations. He’s always stoked to share his vast knowledge of synthesisers and has introed me to numerous electronic artists that have undoubtedly shaped Beacon Bloom’s sound. Horse Patter shows his knack for unconventional harmony and rhythm and mastery over his Elektron analogue synths.
Emily C Browning – Outgoing
Emily and I are old friends – we went to high school together and played in several bands growing up. I always believed in Emily and am always so stoked to hear about her successes in LA and the world. As you’ll hear in the tune, Emily takes a left of field approach to pop music, crafting exquisite harmony and melody that is both unexpected yet familiar. This songwriting approach has inspired me to experiment a lot more with less predictable harmony and melody which will become apparent in some later BB releases.
A Z O N – Drive
Christopher Nones is A Z O N. Chris and I have discussed music production for hours on end and I love that Chris is constantly experimenting with new styles, production techniques and constantly improving. It was Chris that challenged me to experiment with creating a song with old record samples, a challenge that ended up spawning our debut single Jobim. Drive is a pop/future bass banger that I love which showcases his huge, clean, cheeky and modern production style.
Materia is available now. Watch the new video here.
