Stories

Société Publishing’s latest limited edition is an eclectic collection of encounters, stories and people from around the world. The Consider Journal is designed to be a place of refuge from your busy schedule. Art director Julianne Liebeck explains the thinking behind the concept. What is the inspiration for The Consider Journal? The Consider Journal is really a collation of people, places and things that have inspired us. We’ve been lucky to come across these people along our travels or have been introduced to them, and so we just wanted to bring them together – with the intention being self-reflection and exploration. How does it differ from other magazines? It’s a tricky thing to put The Consider Journal into a particular box (which is how we like it). We’ve called it a journal, and terms like ‘book-a-zine’ have been thrown about as well! It’s completely free of advertisers, and unlike a lot...

It’s the start of a new decade, and after a tough 10 years there’s a lot to look forward to. Here at Cityscape, we have adopted the 5 Ways to Wellbeing as a kaupapa, or set of principles, underpinning our editorial direction for 2020 and beyond. We want to help our readers find ways to connect with each other and the wider community; be active by finding a physical activity they enjoy; take notice of the world around them and how they are feeling; keep learning by trying something new; and give by volunteering or joining a community group, or just doing something cool for a friend or stranger. In this issue we take a deep dive into the 5 Ways to Wellbeing and look at ways to put them into practice. We also check out some of the city’s businesses and clinics that can help you on your path to...

Property developer Lilly Cooper has been the driving force behind several major city projects, including hip boutique retail centre The Colombo. She tells Cityscape what she has planned for 2020, and how a health scare has given her a new perspective on life. You made your name in Christchurch as a property developer – what have been some of your more interesting and challenging projects? Moorhouse Ave Countdown – that’s because supermarkets are notoriously hard to build. The Colombo in Sydenham was challenging – we went unconditional on purchasing it the day before the first earthquake. And Hotel Montreal as well – the five-storey building sank into the ground from the earthquakes and we needed to completely lift it. Do you have any projects on the cards for 2020? Yes, my peony project! I have purchased a very large paddock of the most beautiful pink peonies, which will have thousands of...

Budding musicians have a new path to a career in music through SOLE Music Academy, which opens the doors in February on its new studio in Addington’s historic Woods Mill building. SOLE’s founder, Sacha Vee, will use her experience breaking into the music industry to help her students get ahead and avoid the same pitfalls. You’ve gained quite a following in Holland after taking part in The Voice of Holland – how was that experience? The Voice was an awesome entrance into Europe but it wasn’t the best part! It was all the collaborations that happened after. My biggest following is actually in Poland due to my multi-platinum collaborations with hip hop artist O.S.T.R. We won Hip Hop Album of the Year in Poland in 2017. What brought you back to Christchurch? I’m a Christchurch girl! I’m returning home after three years in Wellington studying my Masters in Music Therapy, and...

The sun is shining and polo season has arrived, and oh-so-cool The Colombo are getting right amongst it. Lexus Urban Polo will take over Hagley Park on Saturday February 29 and the sport of kings is the perfect day out with your besties. The Colombo have got your back with this fab event, because they’ve got a killer prize pack up for grabs – Yas! If you stop by the Sydenham digs from January 13 and enter your details, you’ll go in the draw to win a day at Lexus Urban Polo for you and three buddies, a dress (up to $400 value) at one of the primo Colombo stores (Annah Stretton, Collective, Identity or Repertoire), plus some stylish shoes from Andrea Biani, a facial from Embrayce, hair by Black, and makeup by Kara – how good?! thecolombo.co.nz

Get active, connect with friends and family, and enjoy Christchurch’s myriad delights this summer. All the ingredients for a sizzler are right at hand. WALK IT OUT With the Port Hills in our backyard, we have a smorgasbord of fantastic walks and hikes to choose from. Get amongst Mother Nature, drink in the stunning scenery and get your heart pumping with a few of our top picks. The granddaddy of Christchurch walks is an oldie but a goodie – the Bridle Path between Christchurch and Lyttelton is a great alternative to driving through the tunnel, and there’s always the promise of brunch to get you to the other side of the hill. Another track that’s popular with fitness fanatics but a little less strenuous than the Bridle Path is Rapaki Track. You’ll be rewarded with expansive views over to Quail Island on your way up and the city and coastline on...

A sleek interior and excellent design complement a menu bursting with flavour and dietary options at Montreal Street’s The Dish. Choices, choices – the extensive menu at The Dish boasts so many Asian-flavoured delights that we were going to have to do some serious study before ordering. Would it be the fresh oysters with chilli jam and crispy shallots? The Peking duck roti sliders with plum sauce, pickled cucumber and iceberg lettuce? Grilled salmon salad with chilli jam sauce, mango salsa, lemongrass and mint? Or roasted half duck with house-made sauce, spinach and pumpkin puree? Choosing was going to be thirsty work, so we ordered a drink each from the extensive selection of wines, craft beers, ciders, cocktails and non-alcoholic choices. We opted for a glass of the Rongopai Chardonnay, from Hawke’s Bay, and a bottle of Boneface Brewing’s Hoptron APA. As it should, the beer arrived with some poured into...

Taking the ultimate party starter to the next level, cocktail maestro Simon Kerr’s pimped-up variation of the classic espresso martini adds vanilla bean-infused top shelf vodka, salted caramel and primo coffee for a celebration of pure decadence. Fixin’s 60ml vanilla bean infused Belvedere vodka30ml Monin salted caramel syrup30ml L’affare coffee 3 coffee beans (garnish) Method Fill a martini glass with ice and leave to chill. Fill a Boston shaker with ice, add all ingredients and shake hard. Strain liquid and discard ice. Return liquid to shaker and dry-shake hard to create a crema. Empty the martini glass and double strain contents into glass, then garnish with three coffee beans.

Kiwi legends Dragon are bringing their hits to Christchurch in January for the Great Kiwi Beer Festival. OG and bassist Todd Hunter reflects on the highs and lows of a life in the service of the rock gods. What is the current lineup in the band? Mark Williams plays guitar and sings as only he can. Pete Drummond plays drums impeccably, plays keyboards, sings harmonies, wrangles Ableton loops and filters all at the same time. Bruce Reid is our Canadian guitar slinger. The sounds he can wrench from his Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar are neither country nor gentle. You seem to be enjoying being back in front of an audience again? We love playing and to that end we play every weekend of the year bar a few for family things. Our total focus is on being a working band. It must be a wonderful feeling being drowned out by the...

Legendary Kiwi band The Mutton Birds will reunite for the Great Kiwi Beer Festival in Hagley Park on January 25. Don McGlashan tells Cityscape excitement is building and so is the set list. You’ve described reforming as being like putting on an old coat you haven’t worn for a while – how’s the fit? Good so far. We won’t actually start rehearsing till Alan the bass player arrives from the UK but people are already suggesting songs for the set list and ideas are flying back and forth. Excitement is building! Will the Christchurch gig be the first by the reformed band? No, it looks like there’s a Dunedin show before the Christchurch one, so when we get to you we’ll be match-fit, hungry and ready to leave everything on the stage. Do any of you actually like muttonbird, or tītī? If yes, what’s your favourite way to eat it? Not...

Fresh (in vampire years) from killing it in vam-com What We Do In The Shadows, Deacon the Vampire has a bloody good World Buskers Festival show lined up to suck in a legion of Christchurch fans. Tell us about your journey to becoming a vampire. No! That’s what my show is for. Come to the show, lazybones! But I will tell you how I innovated the marketing of cardboard boxes. It’s totally my invention: a full set of differing sized cardboard boxes all inside each other like a Russian doll. It was a genius innovation in the 1800s. We’ve heard you’ve been searching for an old girlfriend – how’s that going? Urgh! Don’t ask! Those things one finds so endearing at first, like her drunken belligerence or her spontaneous hot-headedness, do slowly lose their rosy lustre over time. What’s it like living with a garlic intolerance? Fine. “See garlic – avoid...

Comedian Chris Parker will be mining a rich vein of family embarrassments for his World Buskers Festival show. Not that you would call it family-friendly though. What can we expect from your show, Iconique? I can’t help but laugh at this question. It reminds me of my parents every year asking with dread about what awful, embarrassing aspect of our family I’m going to talk about on stage this year. Truth is, so many stories about my family. There are also a few songs and a lot of my giant hands flapping around on stage. This show is high impact. You’ve listed Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton and Patti LuPone as icons of yours – will this show pay tribute to them? I’m not sure if this will pay tribute to them, but I’m seriously trying to harness some of that magnetic star energy they have. If my presence is...

Touring New Zealand is in musician Barry Saunders’ blood – he’s played everywhere, he says. The bard of the back roads talks to Cityscape before his gig with Delaney Davidson at February’s Nostalgia festival. You’re known for your relentless touring, either solo or with The Warratahs – any plans to slow down? I’m touring less these days but it’s still good to be out there. You can run out of land pretty quickly in New Zealand so it’s good to do different things. Is there anywhere in New Zealand where you haven’t played? Do you have a favourite? I’ve never played Stewart Island or the Chathams but I’ve been everywhere else. I don’t really have a favourite, just the last show. What’s your go-to spot in Christchurch? Banks Peninsula bays – I spent a lot of my teenage years around there and I have just written a song called ‘Tumbledown’, which...

Saxophonist Scott Towers, aka Chopper Reeds, gives us the skinny on Fat Freddy’s Drop and their latest release ahead of their headlining show in Christchurch on Waitangi Day. Your latest album, Special Edition Part 1, has dropped – tell us how it came together? It’s a pretty even mix of road-tested numbers that have been honed over the last 18 months on tour and studio workouts that came from jam sessions. We've always wanted to do an audacious large-scale release and a two-parter seemed the right way to go. Can fans expect to see a Part 2 drop in 2020? Either late 2020 or early to mid 2021. Or perhaps some other time. Heck, we don't know either, but it will happen. How did you come up with the name Fat Freddy’s Drop? The long-whispered mythology about the band name is correct – a long hazy weekend of music-making, some recreational...

Alt-pop songstress Mousey has a new album in the works and a spot on the RDU stage at February’s Nostalgia festival. She credits growing up in Christchurch for her development as a musician. Late last year you released your album LEMON LAW and toured New Zealand for the first time – is there anything else in the works? Yes, I’m writing my next album at the moment. Any highlights from your first New Zealand tour? I loved hanging out with the band. The whole tour was soul food for me. How did you come up with your stage name, Mousey? “The girl with the mousy hair” from David Bowie’s ‘Life On Mars’. You grew up in Christchurch – did this help your music career? It helped me grow as a musician. Christchurch is a really safe space to get better. I was able to upskill without the industry voices distracting me....

Cabaret artist Reuben Kaye shares his dreams and desires with Cityscape ahead of the World Buskers Festival. This will be your Christchurch debut, what can we expect? Possibly the first case of New Zealand deporting a cabaret artist on a morality violation. I don't know how useful expectations are – my father had certain expectations of me and now he owes my mother 20 bucks. (It was a very cheap alimony payment). Are you looking forward to checking out anything around town? If you have any men who like making bad decisions then I think I'll be just fine. If masculinity is a prison then I just dropped the soap. Fashion must be a big part of your show – will we see multiple outfit changes? I don't know what kind of show you think this is. Costume changes? Sounds kind of gay to me. You’ve worked with some true queens...

13-year-old Christchurch local and SOLE Music Academy student Monet Schutte got an early Christmas surprise when she performed in Austria and won an international songwriting competition. Monet took to the stage in the Vienna Concert Hall in November and performed her original song ‘Like You Did Before’. Her amazing performance earned her a standing ovation and a win – the International Sounds of Children’s Rights Songwriting Competition. Monet wrote and recorded the song with her mentor, Sacha Vee, at SOLE Music Academy, where she has been studying for the past two years. Monet entered the song in the competition and when it made the top 10, she then had two months to learn to accompany herself on the piano. The Sounds of Children’s Rights is sponsored by UNICEF and is designed to address the topic of children’s rights in a musical form. “One of my friends unfortunately suffers with depression and...

December means the festive season is in full swing for Cityscapers, and Christmas cheer is truly among us with a jam-packed month. The good times will kick off with the Christchurch City Choir as they perform Handel’s Messiah. If you’ve been a bit slack at planning the work Christmas party, Addington Christmas at the Races have got you covered. There’s plenty more Christmas joy, too, with the annual Santa Parade; turning it up a notch is CSO Presents: Festive Christmas 2019; and Victoria Square will be lit up with the YMCA Carols by Candlelight. Your mouth will be watering with the South Island Wine & Food Festival, and you’ll be blown away as burlesque queen Dita Von Teese takes to the stage. If you’re looking to escape the overload of activities, Nick from Lumiѐre Cinemas gives us the hot tips on what to watch, or you can pop by The Court...