Peer Pressure, Swine Flu, & Brass Bands

When I was 9 years old, my Mum asked what instrument I would like to play, as I was too chatty and hyperactive to continue sitting at the piano, boring myself (and bashing the poor piano) to death. My oldest brother immediately yelled from the next room that I was to play the trombone, to complement my siblings who played saxophone and trumpet. Terrible idea, but here we are.

My first experience with brass banding was with the youth cohort of my local band - Woolston Concert Brass. After a near-death experience on the street march at the National Contest that year (imagine a collapsed scrum with a few tubas sticking out), I decided that banding maybe wasn’t for me.

I almost dipped my toes back into the brass band scene the next year when I was 16, as I auditioned for the National Secondary Schools Brass Band - though halfway through my audition, I passed out and ended up on the floor of the Woolston Brass Band rooms. I tried convincing myself that I was crook with swine flu, which was making the rounds at the time, but I suspect that I was just a bit overwhelmed by it all, and forgot how fun it is to breathe. In that moment, I mourned my short and hilariously unsuccessful brass band career and decided to put it to bed for good.

In the meantime, I was really enjoying playing in orchestras and jazz bands, committed the cardinal sin of specialising in Bass Trombone, and loved it so much that I decided to study Performance Trombone at the New Zealand School of Music!

In my second year at NZSM, David Bremner asked me to join the Wellington Brass Band. I put him on ice, saying “I’ll get back to you”, “Let me think about it” etc., as I didn’t want to seem too keen, also I wasn’t sure that I was too keen! What I didn’t realise was that this would probably be the most meaningful, musical, and tight-knit community that I would ever be part of! If not for my time at Wellington Brass and the wider brass band community, I don’t know where I’d be! Certainly not anywhere near the calibre of being part of the National Band of New Zealand.

Being in the National Band is a huge honour, as it represents the very best that New Zealand banding has to offer. At the core of brass bands, we strive - every contest, every concert, every rehearsal - to make the best sounds we can, individually and as a part of our respective bands, and the National Band is the highest summit of the whole movement.

So Australia, get the roos off the green, the sharks out of the pool, and get your tickets - the National Band of New Zealand is coming!!