Indie rockers enjoy themselves like it’s no one’s business, but the opportunities to do so will be few and far between after Galesburg, Wellington’s only indie music promotion company called it quits this week.

JIM Rush and Gordon Campbell put Wellington on the indie rock map. Now, they joke, they may as well have set half their money on fire.
Rush and Campbell started up music promotion company Galesburg in 2006 with the intention of bringing smashing indie rock from around the world to Wellington.
Shaky bank balances due to a slow summer means the Galesburg dream will come to an end after a last one-night-stand. Rush won’t say how much they are in debt, but they need more than a few sold-out shows to clear the decks.
The Goodbye Galesburg fundraiser will celebrate those successful San Fran Bathhouse nights, when the independent-minded rocked to international talent like Camera Obscura, Deerhunter, and Girl Talk.
Rush, who works out of the Embassy Theatre, says independent promoting is well suited to anyone who wants to burn money, but the experience and memories were worth being in the red.
With help from local indie bands, he is hoping the final blowout will clear some debt and, if successful, could open the way for future piecemeal shows.
He does have hope for the future of indie music, however, and says it’s expanding to include other types of music. Last year, for example, he arranged for indie hip hop artist MC Beans who hails from Anti-Pop Consortium, to tour.
“What a dude, he is fully unique and it shows in that his backing band is a noisy (electro-rock) outfit from Canada, [called] Holy Fuck,” Rush says.
Feedback on the looming Galesburg finale has been huge. “People were sad about it, some thought we were joking, but without a venue or other source of revenue behind you it’s hard going.”
Galesburg’s Facebook page reads as a teary, thankful farewell. “No! I thought you were bluffing! You’ll be missed. GALESBURG RULES!” say fans.
Rush says modern technology has been a mixed blessing. In 2006 advertising on the web attracted hundreds to gigs, but, “there is just so much music on there, the mix of good and bad is about the same, but the volume of both has increased. It’s about making sense of it.”
While Rush kept on promoting over summer, writer Campbell decided to pull out of Galesburg last November following the tour of Lightning Bolt.
Campbell admits attendance only just kept the company above water.
“I looked ahead to summer and there were too many in the ‘might break even’ bracket,” he says.
With a heavy heart, Campbell said goodbye. He is confident the scene will resurrect itself, but says you have to be smart to survive.
“You have to put your name on the map somehow. We would take on one band, because we were vying for another one,” he laughs. “It wasn’t about making money though, we were committed to bringing great indie bands to Wellington.”
By definition indie music (music and labels independent from commercial pressure) is a do-it-yourself enterprise. Promotion of the genre falls into the same vein, with entertainment, rather than success being the point.
Campbell says Galesburg’s demise will have an impact on the Wellington scene.
“Galesburg gave access to people like the Animal Collective in 2006, long before they became a household name,” he says. “We would have four to five hundred punters turn up who were hard-core fans.”
The gigs also offered Campbell a respite from writing about the “miserable” world of politics.
“With this music you would see people walk out smiling – maybe they’ve hooked up with someone. That feeling never happens at a political event,” he says, adding, “It breaks my heart to say goodbye.”
Campbell says similar companies to Galesburg, such as Auckland’s Mystery Girl, have survived by hosting huge events such as the successful Laneway Festival, launched for the first time this year.
He envisions the next hurdle for the scene will be the increase in the proposed drinking age from 18 to 20 years old.
“When (the band) Girl Talk came, the audience was the 18 to 20 year-old bracket, so [the raise] will see a sizeable chunk taken out,” he says. “We need to build more diversity than the All Blacks and the great outdoors”.
Goodbye Galesburg fundraiser featuring Seth Frightening, Thought Creature, Signer, City Oh Sigh, and more, $10 on the door includes some free food and beer, 3-7pm, San Francisco Bathhouse, May 9.