Stapled Noise

This project is a not-for-profit publication reflecting Ōtepoti’s current alternative music scene - a handbook guide to the scene for students and creatives new to Dunedin. This will be mass-distributed across the local university campus, as well as the venues and cafes, to be accessible for anyone who comes across it.

This project is being created, designed and edited by Ash McFarlane, an up-and-coming Dunedin graphic designer with a goal to merge the aesthetics of local music and the DIY zine ethos. He has partnered up with Radio One, utilising aligning kaupapa and values to advocate for local students and creatives. 

For this project to make an impact on Dunedin, it needs to be printed. Stapled Noise is 100% dependent on fundraising to be printed, as it will not create any monetary profit. Whatever money that can be made will go directly to covering production costs, which includes the paper stock, printing, trimming and binding. Ash is not a musician, so he is putting his all into this design project to give back to Dunedin's music scene.

Otepoti's music has always been a prominent part of the culture, but right now it is making a spectacular comeback, with some describing it as the next Dunedin Sound. Recently everything has been lining up with the return of the punk/grunge tone, the all ages scene, and the passion is growing. It is is the perfect time for a free and accessible zine to reflect what is happening right now. There is a big disconnect with Dunedin students/new comer's understanding of the alternative music scene, so this project will offer the solution to spread creative voices and spaces. 

The outcome will be a 40-page, A5 booklet featuring a venue guide, fold-out map, various band interviews, a gig poster feature, poster paste-up guide, Radio One feature, and a call to action, and a mini zine attached within the centrefold. All of this content will be contained in a beautifully designed booklet featuring extreme mixed-media techniques including spray paint, ink,  collage, and transparency paper, photography, staples, tape and a tonne of illustrations. This will also utilise the old-school technique of risographic printing.

Stapled Noise has the responsibility to uplift voices of all backgrounds and cultures, in a way that physically connects to a diverse range of communities. This project aims to embed an understanding of enhancing Mauri, the energy and creative passion that is much of Ōtepoti’s driving life force. The balance of strengthening connections and nurturing wellbeing through creative expression. This work needs to be seen, heard, and experienced because it captures the heart of Ōtepoti’s alternative scene, advocating for the people and spaces who make it thrive. 

The goal of this project is to create 2000 free and accessible copies. If you care about this culture, this project depends on you.