A Word in Your Ear: Hocken Library’s Music Curator Amanda Mills

This issue, we sound out Hocken Library’s Music Curator, Amanda Mills.

 Amanda is a HUGE Dunedin Sound fan, and we are delighted that she will be partnering with Dunedin City Library to celebrate New Zealand Music Month.

Ed: Hi Amanda. It’s really exciting that you’ll be launching New Zealand Music Month for us at Dunedin City Library on 1st May. What will you be speaking about?

Amanda: Hi! I’m going to be talking about the Hocken’s music collections in general (and music-related materials in other parts of Hocken’s collections), and go into some detail on particular items of note. Another part of my talk is related to one of the strengths of the music collections – material relating to 1980s indie rock scene in Dunedin, colloquially known as the ‘Dunedin Sound’.

Ed: What got you interested in the Dunedin Sound, and what do you think makes them so ‘Dunedin’?

Amanda: To answer the second part of your question first… because they are all Dunedin musicians! There’s been a lot discussed and written about any fundamental sound to the music created by the different artists, and while there is (to some degree) an underlying jangle and drone, which may be the similarity most people pick up on, all of the musicians had diverse styles.

As for what got me interested in this music – I’m from Dunedin, and the music has seeped into my consciousness over my lifetime! The music from many of these musicians (I won’t name my favourites) is inventive, by turn melodic and dissonant, and at the time was often game-changing. It also pulls on memory and nostalgia – I remember where I was when I first heard a lot of these recordings, and discovering more of it at Roy Colbert’s Records Records store, which was a major part of my musical development. I have also written about a number of the associated artists for Audioculture and New Zealand Musician, and it’s been wonderful to have those opportunities to examine their work in a deeper way, and tease out the threads in all parts of this music sub-genre. It’s well worth noting all Dunedin musicians (and New Zealand musicians in general) have always equalled (and often bettered) music coming from overseas countries. We punch well above our weight in this area!

Ed: The Hocken has an amazing, comprehensive music collection. I believe it’s the largest in New Zealand. Is that correct?

Amanda: Not quite! We are second probably to the Alexander Turnbull Collection of music. We may have a larger collection of Flying Nun material, but I will have to check with them on that! We have over 2,500 music sheets, and over 18,000 recordings that everyone can come and listen to in the reading rooms.

Ed: What is your role at the Hocken – how do you spend your days?

Amanda: My role at Hocken is dual - I am both a Liaison Librarian, and the Curator of Hocken’s Music and AV collections. As part of the wider Researcher Services team, I spend time on the Hocken reference desk answering questions and assisting with enquiries, taking academic (and secondary school) classes and tours, and assisting students and academics with Hocken-related enquiries.

My curatorial role includes developing and managing the Music and AV collections, and researching them to locate all the treasures that may not have had a lot of attention placed on them before. Discovering, and rediscovering, music gems in the collection is one of the best parts of my role! Protecting and physically preserving some of the older or more fragile formats in the music collections is one of the most important parts of the job – these items often require special housing or packaging to further safeguard them from any environmental deterioration, or inherent vice, and ensure the item (and the content) survives into the future. A further important aspect of my music curatorial role is establishing relationships with local musicians and industry figures, and alerting them to Hocken’s music collections, and also promoting the collections into the wider Dunedin community.

Ed: What else do you have planned to celebrate NZ Music Month?

Amanda: We’re kicking off Hocken celebrations on Thursday the 3rd May at 5.30pm with our own Dr David Murray talking about Maurice Leon-Driver, an intriguing figure in New Zealand musical history; followed on Thursday the 10th May from 1pm-2pm with a panel by current and former PhD students at the University’s Music department talking about their research topics. An Author talk (and more!) by Dr Ian Chapman on his recent publications will be held at 5.30pm on May 17th and we’ll finish off with a sing-along highlighting some of our sheet music and song book gems at 3pm on Saturday May 26th. All events are being held at the Hocken Library on Anzac Avenue. They’re free and open to the public. No bookings are necessary. Keep an eye on the Otago University and Hocken Library events webpages for more details.

NZ Music Month: Sounding Out - A Foray Into the Hocken Music Collection

Tuesday 1st May, 6:00pm, Dunningham Suite, 4th Floor, Dunedin City Library