Music fosters new communities
Tribal is a Stuff video series exploring musical subcultures of Aotearoa, presented by Glenn McConnell.
When the Covid-19 pandemic promised to change almost everything about life as we knew it, I started a project to document the state of music in Aotearoa.
Our popular music can tell us a lot about the generation that fostered it. So what do the current trends tell us about the future for Aotearoa?
In Auckland, we met Housemother Moe Laga. A dancer and visual artist, Laga’s work amplifies the perspectives of queer and Pasifika communities in Aotearoa.
When I first met Laga, I asked what exactly it meant to be the ‘‘housemother’’. It’s an unusual name for something that, on the face of it, is a dance troupe.
She leads a group called the House of Coven. I first met them in a car park under a bridge in Auckland city. They’d parked up a 1996 Honda Accord, pumped up the music and may have had a few cans of something on offer.
Strangers wandered past, throwing a few side glances our way. Holding the name ‘‘House of Coven’’, it goes without saying that we were all dressed in black. The style is witchy and ethereal.
Stories about incredible parties and late nights at Family Bar were shared. But as the conversations continued, a deeper meaning came to surface.
Honey started out in the House of Coven, before moving to create another house in the ballroom scene.
When I asked Laga about Honey, one of her House of Coven ‘‘children’’ who had spread her wings to form her own ballroom house, the Coven mother teared up.
The ballroom scene is about dance, competition and always family. It’s a place for young queer people to come together.
Honey found the scene when she was 16 years old.
‘‘Honestly, it changed my life when I was 16. I’d recommend it to any young queer kid,’’ Honey says. ‘‘It’s really important that you go out of your way to find the people who are going to understand you and who will help you develop into the authentic, unapologetic young queer person that you’re destined to be.’’
Laga gets emotional talking about her Coven family. Many have struggled with discrimination and not being accepted for who they are. Some don’t even really like dancing that much.
The House of Coven practices in Myers Park, Auckland.
But this group of Halloweenloving creatives have built a culture of their own, and found a community where they can be themselves.