Nivara Lounge: Where live music lives on in the Tron

It wasn’t a calling or an epiphany that inspired Kent Macpherson to start teaching music – just words of encouragement from a bandmate-turned-tutor, and the lure of doing what he loves for a living.

Kent’s career started across the ditch in 1995, leading him to his current role at Wintec’s music department in 2011. He identifies as a musician first and foremost, despite having spent the last 22 years (and counting) living an “insular life” in the academic world.

Kent recalls the late 80s – early 90s with an air of nostalgia. It was a different time back then, not least for musicians. At 18, he’d approach venue after venue with his band to land gigs, demo cassettes in tow. They probably looked “terrible” in retrospect, but they were far too busy belting out onstage to care.

When he wasn’t performing, Kent could be found at the now-defunct Riverina in Hamilton East, seeing “great bands” like Jean-Paul Sartre Experience and Solid Gold Hell in the flesh.

“In the seven or eight years I’ve been back here, art in general – including music – has become more sophisticated for sure, but strangely there’s less places for professional musicians to play,” he says.

Kent knows that times have changed, with live music locales dwindling in turn, but he still finds the modern-day ‘entitled musician’ mentality “a bit weird”.

“I find a lot of students, a lot of young people, don’t go out and say “hey, this is me, here’s my music… can I get a gig?” – they sort of want someone else to do that work for them.”

Cue Ivan Muir, a guy with a real zeal for the live music scene – on both a local and international level. Manager of Victoria Street’s underground bar Nivara Lounge, Ivan gives musicians of all genres a place to perform four nights a week on average, every Wednesday to Sunday.

“He’s passionate about music – almost more passionate than me, I think – which is great. He’s kind of tapped into an international circuit now. It’s becoming a bit of a hub.”

Nivara Lounge has put Hamilton on the musical map over the last month or so, hosting bands from Australia, Japan, Canada and the UK. Closer to home, Ivan regularly showcases Wintec students through two events: Wintec Presents and Adventures in Sound. The former is put on monthly for bands, while the latter takes place every quarter – or season – and allows for more ‘experimental’ work.

“We definitely have a partnership going on with him, and he’s been very, very good to us. In turn, we get him some audiences on a Tuesday night when he may not normally get it, and he sells some drinks and he’s happy.”

Kent doesn’t know of any bands in Hamilton that are independently approaching venues like Nivara Lounge for gigs. In saying that, he’s a generation above most of his students, and he has a young family to focus on, so he’s not tapped into the whole scene – but he still finds time to engage in events at places like Nivara and The Meteor, fueling his long-time passion.

“No one owes you your existence. You’ve got to go out and make it yourself. If you want to get gigs, you’ve got to make them yourself. There’s no ad in the paper that says ‘Band wanted to play in pub.’ – you go into the pub and go “we want to play in your pub, can we please?”

A composer at heart, writing lyrics isn’t really Kent’s forte, but he’s currently working on a post-rock/pop album with a friend who’s a lyricist and vocalist.

“I don’t like doing that myself, but I like to work with people who can. If someone asked me what my main ‘thing’ was, I’d say composition. I mostly write experimental works, dark ambience, modern-classical.”

He also plays the guitar and keyboard, as well as a few “odd” instruments, like the Irish bouzouki, the Brazillian cavaquinho, the South American cuatro, and the Chinese pipo. One of his music must-haves is his laptop – he won’t do anything without it nowadays.

Kent’s life now – as a family man and senior tutor – is a far cry from the nights spent gigging in bars with his band and putting the door charge takings toward new guitar strings, or time in recording studios. Still, he hopes that there are bands in Hamilton intent on keeping the old school way alive.

It isn’t hard to track Ivan Muir down. Just find the flight of stairs descending into his underground bar, and let the hum of live tunes lead the way. He’s there four, five, six, sometimes seven nights a week, providing a place for patrons and performers to gather in the name of music.

 

This is Ivan’s second time running Nivara Lounge. He had the joint for a few years in the 90s, too, but it fell apart back then. People couldn’t grasp the concept of free reign for musicians on stage, so he says. He’s been back in the game for three years this September, and although he doesn’t make much in terms of profit, he’s doing what he loves – which is worth its weight in gold.

Ivan’s keen to see people break away from the clutches of the internet and embrace the live music scene. He appreciates the web as a source for new music, but knows the cons for musicians, whose sales and shows often suffer.

“People have just got too much at their disposal. They sit on the couch and they live vicariously through the internet. I can’t wait till satellites drop out of the sky and everyone has to come out and talk to people and see live music. Don’t get me wrong, the internet is a valuable tool but I think it’s just controlling people’s lives too much.”

Despite the technological takeover of the 21^st century, Nivara’s fast becoming a local and international go-to. Bands of all genres are populating the stage back-to-back, and bookings are already stretching into 2018.

“Musicians are passing on “you’ve got to go play at Nivara Lounge” – it’s kind of humbling. They can play whatever they want as long as they’re not abusive to the crowd and stuff like that. We have all genres of music – tonight it’s punk/reggae/soul.”

“International acts are starting to add us onto their tour list. We had Shonen Knife from two nights ago, and they were great from Japan. But I must admit, we’ve got some fantastic artists in New Zealand.”

Ivan supports Hamilton’s music community in a variety of ways. He recently started Nivara Entertainment Club, which meets for two hours of open mic every second Wednesday. He also runs singer-songwriter competitions and monthly short film festivals to try and put musos in touch with one another.

“There’s a lot of young talent coming out. I want them [musicians] to try and meet each other. I want this to be a social hub for Hamilton musicians. That’s what I want it to be, that’s my dream.”

He’s all for backing emerging musicians, too, having approached Wintec a couple of years ago about a monthly student showcase at Nivara. Wintec Presents came to life soon after, later joined by Adventures in Sound.

“They’ve got all the fancy gear on campus, which is fantastic, but it’s a different story when you’ve actually got to go to a new venue. This is set up for them but they have to do the sound and produce a poster – it’s all part of their curriculum anyway so it’s good for them.”

Even tiny musicians – from 5 years up –  can come down to the Lounge two or three times a year and showcase what they’ve been learning  for mum and dad – be it singing or another instrument.

The future has exciting plans in store for Nivara Lounge, including live streaming, a daytime record bar, and nationwide music tours.

“People say “why are you telling everyone your ideas? People will steal your ideas” and I say “they already are, I don’t care” – if more people are doing it then it becomes common practice and people get used to it.”

“This place is only for music. It’s a performance venue. You could do Nivara Lounge or this concept anywhere, but this is the place I like.”

Brya Sharland, a third-year music student at Wintec, uses Nivara Lounge to impove and cutivate her passion.

Originally from Tauranga, Brya has long aspired to become a professional singer.

“It’s just always been that thing where you don’t imagine seeing yourself doing anything else,” she says.

Brya’s musical influence comes from her love for 90s R&B band Boyz II Men, who she vividly remembers listening to growing up. Her favourite song by the iconic group is ‘I’ll make love to you’.

Brya tries to experiment with a range of different sounds musically and has recently started introducing synth pads to her creative process, playing around with delays and reverb for a more ambient sound. She doesn’t set herself too many constraints, allowing for exploration of different genres.

Brya describes Nivara Lounge as an excellent performance venue for Wintec music students, as it gives them the opportunity to play in a public space, get their names out there, and mix and mingle with other musicians – from Hamilton and around the world.

“It gives you the experience you need, to see what it’s like to perform in an actual space, not just the classroom.”

Brya performed at Nivara Lounge earlier this year as part of the monthly Wintec Presents event, which sees past and present students showcase original music onstage. That night she  performed pieces of music that were very personal to her, describing the experience as surreal and special.

“It was really cool being able to play those pieces in front of a crowd and being able to see their response to the music.”

Brya is currently working toward an end of year exam, which will be her last one before she graduates at the end of the year.

‘These are songs that I have worked really hard on, so people should come along and watch.”

Although her end of year performance will be an emotional one, she can’t wait to get out there and make a name for herself on her own.

“Wintec has given me a lot of opportunities to develop and grow as a performer and I can’t wait to apply what I have learned to projects outside of Wintec.”

Brya hopes to become a regular performer at Nivara Lounge, where she can continue improving her craft.