Why do I listen to such white music?
This week: International Blog Against Racism Week. I wanted to point this out because I think it’s important, and because there are a lot of interesting things to think about.
Of course, one of the things with the indy scene in Wellington is that it is very white. Alex mentioned to me once a gig he went to at Bodega that was on the same night as one of the African Dance Parties in Room 101 – and just how shockingly segregated it seemed. And then how odd it was when he actually went downstairs – because of course us pakeha aren’t used to being the odd ones out.
When Izzy and I were at Camp A Low Hum, we had a random conversation with Tu from The Deadly Deaths. He’s very nice – I’m looking forward to their gig at MVP on Saturday (quick plug). I particularly remember from this his description of himself as possibly the only sane Maori on Camp. And that only barely being an exaggeration.
So whilst I might be free to ignore the whitey-whiteness of our scene, that’s not a privilege everyone gets. And thinking about why the make-up is what it is is overwhelming, and you wonder if you’re overthinking things. But I can’t pretend like it’s not the case; I don’t want to ignore it. It’s just even talking about it is scary.