As the end of the year draws close, it’s the perfect time to sum up Ōtepoti’s musical releases – and the Ōtepoti Music Compilation (ŌMC) is doing just that. Critic Te Ārohi caught up with organiser Alex Huber, about the upcoming project.
ŌMC brings together sixteen wāhine and gender-diverse led artists from Ōtepoti. The musicians span a range of genres, from emerging to established, capturing a musical snapshot of the current Ōtepoti music scene. In what is essentially (and literally) a mixtape, you can find the compilation digitally on Bandcamp, and physically as a cassette.
Alex Huber is a long-time member of the Ōtepoti music scene. They cite an attic gig as the first Dunedin gig they attended, while they were still in high school. Two years ago, after living overseas, Alex returned and started playing in the four-piece band, Hystera. Alex not only plays gigs, but also plans gigs and is one half of Syrup Bois, a YouTube channel that film and record live performances by local bands in the comfort of the founders’ homes.
The idea for ŌMC came to Alex at one of their Hystera gigs while in conversation with Chris Wilson, another local musician and supporter of the scene. In 2021, Chris put together the New Dunedin Music Compilation, featuring a whopping 29 musicians from the DIY scene. Last May, Alex began the task of putting together a current compilation entirely of wāhine, non-binary and trans- musicians performing in Ōtepoti.
The ŌMC is a celebration of the current gender diversity of the music scene here. “There’s so many really awesome female and gender-diverse acts in Dunedin at the moment,” shares Alex. “Over the last couple of years, it’s snowballed. It’s really awesome to see.” Alex’s goal in bringing wāhine and gender-diverse musicians to the forefront is to ensure the Ōtepoti music scene is inclusive of everyone. The ŌMC also confronts the entrenched issue of music scenes usually being cis-male dominated spaces. Although ŌMC is proof there is a stellar range of diverse performers operating here, issues still proliferate. In Ōtepoti, this can be touring acts or large events overlooking women and gender-diverse musicians, to women and gender-diverse individuals not feeling as comfortable as men in men-dominated music spaces.
Putting together the ŌMC has been a community effort. The costs to cover mastering, artwork and producing the cassettes were crowdfunded. Alex describes the show of support as amazing. “I think people are just really behind it because there’s not a lot in the Dunedin music scene that’s specifically geared towards this group of people.” Emily Wheatcroft-Snape is mastering the compilation, continuing the kaupapa of the project – supporting wāhine in the music industry. Jess Covell, Ōtepoti’s Boosted mentor, was also integral in aiding Alex with the crowdfunding process and supporting the project.
All profits from the purchasing of the compilation will go directly back to the contributing artists. The cassette release coincides with the DIY spirit of the scene as well as nostalgia for Alex, who grew up on cassettes. “I wanted it to be an aesthetically pleasing object as well as a lovely sounding object.” Alex is also making a zine to release alongside it, featuring lyrics, artwork and poetry by the musicians involved.
The ŌMC celebrates its release with a double launch party on Saturday 11 November. There will be an all-ages gig at Yours, followed by an R18 gig at The Crown, featuring performances from a number of the acts involved in the compilation. Keep up with the release on Instagram: @otepotimusiccompilation.