A Low Hum

A Low Hum is the ongoing project founded by photographer and music impresario Blink (born Ian Jorgensen), and is based in Wellington, New Zealand. Under the umbrella A LOW HUM, Blink organises tours, releases records, makes music videos, organises one-off events/festivals and publishes magazines and books. As of 2009, A Low Hum has organised and supported tours for over seventy musical acts from New Zealand, USA, Australia and beyond.

In 2006, tours occurred every month and comprised between two and four rising Kiwi bands who played venues and gigs in about a dozen New Zealand locales along the way. In conjunction with each tour, A Low Hum published an A5 magazine, usually including a feature album or EP (often unreleased material by bands) and a music compilation CD with songs by local and international acts.

In 2006, A Low Hum also began publishing "Local Knowledge", a comprehensive guide for bands wanting to tour New Zealand and engage with the music industry.

In 2007, A Low Hum entered new territory as the producer of a major new live music festival, Camp A Low Hum (CALH), held on a large rural campsite close to Wainuiomata, 30 minutes drive north of Wellington. Attended by an intimate 350 campers, 49 bands performed 3, 4 and 5 February . In 2008 the festival spanned a total of four days featuring over 60 bands and doubling in audience numbers to around 700, according to Blink, the maximum capacity. The 2009 event sold out a month before the event, though capacity was limited to only 800 people. The 2010 event has been renamed Campus A Low Hum and has relocated to an unused agricultural college outside the town of Bulls in the North Island. Regarding changes to the format of the festival, Blink has said:

I have retained everything that was special about the Camp A Low Hum philosophy: intimate performances, small crowds, multiple environments, renegade performances, no band announcements, multiple performances by bands, spontaneous party action – and taken it bak 2 skool and added a whole bunch of new concepts to make it a brand new experience.^[1]

In 2007, after having released music for a few years in conjunction with its magazine, A Low Hum ventured further into the territories of a traditional record label by starting a monthly subscription-based CDR singles club and releasing albums by local New Zealand artists, Disasteradio, Over the Atlantic and The Enright House.

in 2008, A Low Hum released a trilogy of free digital download EPs by up and coming NZ recordings artists; Secret Knives, Mount Pleasant and Red Steers

In 2009 Blink from A Low Hum tour managed Disasteradio around the World as well as worked on the next phase of his music festival series, renamed to Campus A Low Hum

In 2010 Blink is working on a documentary of the first three Camps, and is working on the follow-up to his 2006 book "Local Knowledge" April 2010, As reported by the Creative Freedom Foundation, A Low Hum announced it has ditched CDs for future releases and is planning on mainly only releasing Mp3s with accompanying artwork.^[2]

A LOW HUM Tours

Bands whom Blink/A Low Hum have toured around NZ and the World:

Camp A Low Hum

2007 - Brookfields Outdoor Education Centre, Wainuiomata. 3-5 Feb

2007 Line-up:

2008 - Tatum Park, Ohau. 2-5 Feb

2008 Official Line-up:

2009 - Homedale, 6–8 February

2009 Official Line-up:

2009 Renegade Room Line-up:

2012 - Homedale

2012 Official Line-Up:

2012 Renegade Room Line-Up:

2013 - Homedale, Wainuiomata, 8–10 February

2013 Official Line-Up

2013 Renegade Line-Up

2014 - Homedale, Wainuiomata

2014 Official Line-up:

Campus A Low Hum

2010 - Flock House, 23-25 Jan'

2010 Official Lineup:

2011 Flock House, 11-13 Feb

2011 Official Lineup:

Square Wave Festival

A nationwide electronic city music festival. 35 shows took place in Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin during November 2013.^[29]

2013 Official Line-up

A Low Hum NYE Parties

ALH NYE at Bodega, Dec 31, 2006

ALH NYE at Bodega, Dec 31, 2007

Fields of Dreams at Camp Wainui, Dec 31, 2009 & Jan 1, 2010

Big City Dreams, Garden Club, Dec 31, 2010

Puppies NYE, Dec 31, 2013

A Low Hum House at Erua Lodge, Dec 31, 2014 & Jan 1, 2015

Official Lineup Dec 31

Official Lineup Jan 1

ALHxNYExSEA at Boat Cafe, Dec 31, 2015

Official Line-up

15 Years of A Low Hum at Tatum Park, Dec 30 & 31, 2016

Official Line-up

A Low Hum Releases

References

External links

• Official website
• Interview with Blink
• A two-part history of A Low Hum on the Audioculture website, written by Gareth Shute
• Review of CALH2010 by Andy Hazel for Mess and Noise