South Indies is a rights and publishing label established in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1984 as a vinyl records label and small book publisher. It released vinyl, books, cassettes and video-cassettes before moving into the leasing of material to distributing labels, and the protection of existing copyright. It subsumes various "one-off" projects and imprints such as Alpha Books (NZ), Tank Publishing, 5 to 12 publishing and some early Titus Books titles. It has entered into collaborative or licensed releases with enterprises Powertool Records (NZ), Sophomore Lounge (USA), Grapefruit (USA), Partizanska (Serbia) and Zelle (Austria). It has facilitated use of existing artwork for publications such as In Love With These Times (Flying Nun Records) and, more recently, a 92-page colour illustrated artbook dedicated to the artists of the early Flying Nun period, Hellzapoppin (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhētu, 2021).
South Indies released local (New Zealand) groups on 12" vinyl, cassettes or compilations *Bread and Board [ permanent dead link ]. Artists included Sparky's Magic Baton (Barry Stockley (bass) & Jessica Walker (voice & 12-string)), The Trephines (Wall of Waiararapa, 12" cover & cassette), Neil Jones (Dobro guitar & voice)), Paul Sutherland (compilation), Free Radicals (Jonathan Besser and Ross Harris 12" EP) The Haemogoblins Psychodelicatessen (LP), Bill Direen & Barry Stockley (12" EP), Soluble Fish (LP & 12" & 7"), Material by early Bilders, Urbs & Vacuum (Siltbreeze) was issued or reissued ... and a 12" EP of theatre songs by the Soluble Fish troupe & Blue Ladder Theatre.
1984: South Indies managed release of Bilders album Split Seconds (1984) followed by a reissue of Beati/en Hearts (Bilders album (repurchased from Flying Nun, 1985)), CoNCH3 and others. Rights and sub-leasing (sometimes in collaboration) include projects such as Above Ground (cassette) (Stuart Page, M.R.Crook, C. Woodward, B. Direen) for Siltbreeze (Philadelphia), Alien/Skulls for Hecuba (San Francisco), Twenty Minutes for Hayfever (Bremen), No Name (Germany), Human Kindness LP & CD for Corazoo (Switzerland), Vacuum (Siltbreeze) and early Bilders material (a matching set of four 12 inch EPs) compiled by Unwucht (Augsburg). South Indies was discussed in Stranded in Paradise (The History of NZ Rock and Roll), magazines such as Germany's Spex (magazine) ('Und waehrend ich noch ueberlege...' [1] ), as well as small distribution magazines . 'Later in the year Direen shifted to the capital, released yet another album ... and began fostering a bunch of artists for his South Indies label.' [2]
Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by The Guardian as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringing global attention to the Dunedin sound, a cultural and musical movement in early 1980s Dunedin.
The Dead C are a New Zealand based music and art trio made up of members Bruce Russell, Michael Morley and Robbie Yeats. Russell plays electric guitar, Morley sings and plays electric guitar or laptop, and Yeats plays drums. They have been called one of the most interesting bands in the world by Thurston Moore, and have been cited as influences by Bardo Pond, Flying Saucer Attack, Labradford, and Pavement.
Sneaky Feelings are a New Zealand pop rock band which releases on the Flying Nun Records music label. The band formed in 1980 with the line-up of Matthew Bannister, David Pine, Kat Tyrie and Martin Durrant. Tyrie was replaced by John Kelcher in 1984. Durrant was temporarily replaced by Ross Burge in 1988 for the band's second tour of Europe.
Michael Morley is an experimental musician and visual artist from New Zealand.
The Bats are an influential New Zealand rock band formed in 1982 in Christchurch by Paul Kean (bass), Malcolm Grant (drums), Robert Scott and Kaye Woodward. Though primarily a Christchurch band, The Bats have strong links to Dunedin and are usually grouped in with the Dunedin sound musicians that emerged in the early 1980s. The band has retained the same four members from 1982 to the present day.
Alastair Galbraith is a New Zealand musician and sound artist from Dunedin.
Peter James Stapleton was a musician from New Zealand, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the alternative rock band The Terminals. Stapleton was also a member of the groups Vacuum, The Pin Group, Dadamah, Flies Inside the Sun, Eye, and Scorched Earth Policy.
Fall in a Hole is a live album by the Fall, recorded in Auckland in August 1982 and released in December 1983 on the Flying Nun label of New Zealand.
Roy Montgomery is a composer, guitarist and lecturer from Christchurch, New Zealand. Montgomery's mostly instrumental solo works have elements of post-rock, lo-fi, folk and avant-garde experimentation. His signature sound might be described as atmospheric or cinematic, often featuring complex layers of chiming, echoing and/or droning guitar phrases. He is currently head of the environmental management department at Lincoln University in New Zealand.
Shocking Pinks is the project of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nick Harte from New Zealand.
The Axemen is a New Zealand indie rock band formed in 1983. They played at the protests for homosexual law reform in 1983, where member Little Stevie McCabe was severely beaten up in the Christchurch Cathedral Square toilets.
AK79 is a collection of unreleased tracks by punk bands active in Auckland, New Zealand in the late 1970s. The album was compiled by Bryan Staff, with artwork from Terence Hogan, and was released by Ripper Records in December 1979.
Bilders is a New Zealand music group of varying lineups that produced a string of self-recorded 7-inch vinyl releases between 1980 and 1982 leading to Beatin Hearts, the first studio-album from fledgling New Zealand independent record label 'Flying Nun Records'.
Above Ground was a band from Christchurch, New Zealand formed in 1983.
Bill Direen is a musician and poet. He manages the music group Bilders and lives in Otago, New Zealand.
SmartGuy is an American record label. It has released bands from the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand. Releases include The Tyrades, Total Control, Billy Childish, Thee Headcoats, Dan Melchior, and Bill Direen. The label has been described as "seriously diverse" and "delving into divergent sounds and coming up with some real treats".
Beatin Hearts is the debut studio album by New Zealand band Builders. It was recorded in August 1982 and released in 1983. Characteristically for the band, the album caused typographical difficulties for critics writing about the album, as its title contains an ambiguous character. The capital "I" of the word "Beatin" contains a cross bar in the centre, so that it doubles as an "E". The title may therefore be read as both "Beatin' Hearts" and "Beaten Hearts".
Purple Pilgrims is a New Zealand dream pop duo composed of sisters Clementine and Valentine Nixon.
Bill Direen, A Memory of Others is a 2017 documentary film produced and directed by Simon Ogston that follows Dunedin-Christchurch poet Bill Direen from Dunedin to Auckland on a tour of music and phono-aesthetic poetry. The full 87-minute documentary begins in a small Otago town where Direen is preparing for the tour, leading to interviews at radio stations and live performances in cafés, music foundations, libraries and a children's school. Ogston invited Direen to write poems along the way, which he performed on subjects such as writer Janet Frame, composer Douglas Lilburn and poet James K. Baxter. The film shows him rehearsing with the current lineup of his band The Bilders, while playing footage of earlier groups, and showing the process whereby a 16mm film of song The Cup was restored and remastered by the New Zealand Film Archive. Final interviews with Kiran Dass and with Ogston himself reveal something of Direen's approach to poetry and music. The film ends with an extract from his novel Song of the Brakeman and a tune from a rare vinyl LP of 1987.
The Pin Group was a post-punk band formed in 1980 in Christchurch, New Zealand. They were the first band released on Flying Nun Records, and featured Roy Montgomery, Peter Stapleton, Ross Humphries, Mary Heney, and Peter Fryer.