THE ATTIC [2011-19]

The Attic was accidently established in 2011,  when a group of artists took over an unloved attic space in a commerical building in the heart of Dunedin, New Zealand. 

Over 7 years it would become a hub of the local music scene, morphing from a practice and artist space, to recording studio, to a legally dubious venue for local and touring artists, and eventually a small run digital/ cassette label. 

Only a few weeks after that recording session, a group of of us sat around in a circle in that large, dusty room assembling, stamping and hand-numbering Astro Children's first EP, Lick My Spaceship. It was becoming clear to us that The Attic should be a place where we produced things that otherwise wouldn’t exist. After all, we had the space, the knowledge and the manpower. If we really wanted to, everything, from practicing and recording to production and release shows, could be done within the same four walls.

The privilege of being present during these smaller, intimate moments, and the opportunity to get them out into the world, will always be what sticks with me. For a lot of other people, it will be the seven years of live shows that mean the most. For a space that technically wasn't allowed to be a venue, we managed to get a lot across the line.

Each show made the room its own, configuring the space differently, but the vibrant coloured lights and drunken swagger were a constant. We produced a heaving dancefloor for bands like BnP, Thundercub, and The Beths (for their first Dunedin show), and we provided a space for some of the last shows ever by Street Chant and God Bows To Math. The Shocking and Stunning played a hypnotic set, engulfed by smoke from a smoke machine and lit by a single red lamp. Lucy Hunter would somehow get a piano up four flights of stairs and still deliver a breathtakingly raw performance to a crowd sitting in piercing silence. And I couldn’t forget any of the performances from the bands that called The Attic their second home. It felt like a homecoming every time Space Bats, Attack! or Astro Children took to the makeshift stage, filling every crack in the building with noise and whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

EXTENDED CREDITS:

All Design, Illustration, Art Direction and Photography by Daniel Blackball, unless otherwise stated

︎︎︎IMAGE GALLERY 01:

01: THE ATTIC logo by Daniel Blackball

02: THE ATTIC RATTLE membership card
and ticket stubb

03: THE ATTIC PRESENTS:THE INTERNATIONAL TAPES MIX [2015]

04: ANTHONIE TONNON:LIVE AT INCH BAR Cover photography by Jenna Todd. Recorded and designed by Daniel Blackball [2012]

05: THE ATTIC PRESENTS: WHITE NIGHT [2014]

06: CASSETTE RELEASES (L to R):
06.1: ANTHONIE TONNON:LIVE AT INCH BAR [2012]
06.2: SHOCKING AND STUNNING:LIVE...[2013]
06.3: MAVIS GARY:PIN ME UP [2013]
06.4: DINOSAUR SANCTUARY:A PUBLIC TOILET TOLD ME NOTHING GETS BETTER [2014]

07: THE ATTIC SINGLES CLUB #01-09 [2014]

08: IT CAME FROM THE ATTIC:THE B-SIDES [2012]

09: ASTRO CHILDREN:LICK MY SPACESHIP
Insert cover (Not shown) by Robbie Motion.Rocket stamp designed by Daniel Blackball [2012]

10: MAVIS GARY:PIN ME UP [2014] Photography by Alex Lovell-Smith and Daniel Blackball

11: DINOSAUR SANCTUARY:A PUBLIC TOILET TOLD ME NOTHING GETS BETTER [2014] Cover photo and art by Josh Hunter. Design by Daniel Blackball


︎︎︎IMAGE GALLERY 02:

01: Astro Children recording session
with Adrian Ng [2013]

02.1: Astro Children by Fraser Thompson [2015]
02.2: Lee Nicolson in the Attic

03.1: Tape Duplicator(a.k.a the Replicant 3000)
03.2: Space Bats, Attack! [Date u/n]

04.1: Lucy Hunter Singles Club recording session by Daniel Blackball [2014]
04.2: Anthonie Tonnon Singles Club recording session by Alex Lovell-Smith [2014]

05: Thundercub live in the Attic [2014]

06.1: BnP live in the Attic [2012]
06.2: Space Bats, Attack! promo photo by Lee Nicolson

07.1: Astro Children recording in the stairwell with cardboard box [2012]
07.2: Strange Harvest Singles Club recording session by Alex Lovell-Smith [2014]

08 (L to R):
08.1: Strange Harvest Singles Club recording session by Alex Lovell-Smith [2014]
08.2: Kane Strang and Mavis Gary live in the Attic [2014]
08.3: Astro Children EP assembling group in the Attic [2012]
08.4: Opposite Sex live in the Attic [2016]
08.5: Sunken Seas and The Shocking and Stunning soundcheck by unknown[2012]
08.6: Space Bats, Attack! recording session [2012]


︎︎︎VIDEO CREDITS:


A01: Astro Children live in the Attic produced by Radio New Zealand [2017]


A02: Off the Cuff: Freddy Fudd Pucker. Recorded in the Attic by Daniel Blackball [2011]

B01: Skateboard Attic Tour Produced by RACKETS and filmed by Levi Beamish. First aired on TV3’s Nightline News [2012]

B02: Koizilla live in the Attic by Jon Keyzer [2017]

B03: Astro Children live in the Attic by Adam Thompson [2016]

B05: Trick Mammoth live in the Attic by Daniel Blackball [2012]