Have you bin-jammin lately?
A Southland band with a heart of gold talk to Jamie Searle.
They’re musicians with heart who play for free at charity events. In fact, sometimes they’ve been referred to as the good Samaritan band.
Lindsay Moffatt, a member of bin-jammin, , said the band loved performing, but it was even better when they helped at fundraising events.
‘‘If we’re available, we’ll partner a good cause . . . we’ll donate our time and equipment.’’
It was immensely satisfying to contribute to fundraisers and see the pleasure events brought to people, Moffatt said.
The band is made up of Moffatt, Jo Ward, Jason Taylor, Chris Chilton, Warren Parker and Gus Johnston.
Four of the five core band members – Moffatt, Jo Ward, Jason Taylor and Warren Parker – are employed in the motor vehicle trade. Johnston works in real estate, and Chilton is a publication specialist with the Southland District Council.
About 100 performances had been done by bin-jammin in the past 12 years and most of it was at no cost, Moffatt said.
‘‘We don’t see ourselves as a proper band, there’s lots of great bands in the south, we’re just binjammin.
‘‘We’re all business people wanting to give back to the community.’’
More musicians are often needed for the band’s events, with bass guitarist Chilton always willing to help out when needed.
‘‘Bin-jammin plays music for the right reasons which is enjoyment, and they’re always prepared to give back to the community in whatever way they can,’’ Chilton said.
‘‘The number of free gigs they’ve done, the number of fundraising gigs they’ve done . . . I’ve always admired and respected them and really enjoy the opportunities to play with them when I can.’’
Belinda Anderson, a bass player-singer in the band in the early years, brought skills into the group that she had learned from working in professional bands, Moffatt said.
Interestingly, Moffatt reckoned he wouldn’t get a job in a professional band.
‘‘I’m not a good musician . . . I’m a wannabe,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ve always wanted to be a rock star and this enables me to live my dream.’’
About 15 years ago he bought a guitar after being at a party at Otematata and noticing a group of young adults playing guitars and singing.
‘‘It was really cool, and I thought, wish I could do that,’’ he said. ‘‘On the way home [to Invercargill], through Dunedin, I called into the Rockshop and bought a guitar.’’
Soon after, friend Taylor taught Moffatt to play it and a year or two later they were performing together at fun music events at the old Globe Hotel in Riverton.
A hobbyist musician at the time, Johnston joined Taylor and Moffatt for jamming sessions and turned his games room into the band’s practice area.
Johnston’s first contact with a musical instrument was playing his grandmother’s piano when aged 7 or 8. He then received private piano lessons from Winton music teacher Nellie Barker.
‘‘When I went to high school, I had a dream to play in a band . . . in classes, I’d draw pictures of amplifiers,’’ Johnston said.
He contacted a fellow student at Central Southland College who played drums. They had a jam session and decided to find a guitarist, singer, and bass guitarist to form a band.
Bin-jammin’s vocalist, Ward, also got the music bug at an early age. Initially, it was learning to play the guitar at 5, but at 17 she told her mother she wanted to sing. Her mother was in the Coral Country Music Club, and she arranged at one of its practice sessions for Ward to try out as a singer.
‘‘Mum said, ‘poor old Jo, she’s really going to embarrass herself now’,’’ Ward said.
‘‘She sat looking out the window because she didn’t want to look at me, because she’d never heard me sing.
‘‘Then she said to me, ‘when you opened your mouth, my mouth dropped . . . she said: ‘holy shit, she can sing’.’’
From then, Ward sang at country music events, and it has led to her performing at New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards in Gore on four or five occasions.
‘‘When I was 12 or 13 I loved Suzanne Prentice . . . we had her album at home.’’
Bin-jammin had performed at fundraising events for various organisations and groups, including Hospice Southland, women’s refuge, and helping rotary clubs generate funds for community projects.
‘‘Our first fundraiser [in the old St Mary’s Hall] was for hospice . . . that was special,’’ Moffatt said. ‘‘We hired a student from SIT’s music production school to be our production tech [person] because we knew nothing about that part of it.’’
Helping to raise a few thousand dollars for hospice was a ‘‘real buzz,’’ Moffatt said.
‘‘We’re all business people wanting to give back to the community.’’ Lindsay Moffatt
This story is part of The Southland Times Good News Project 2021. We’re asking anyone who might have some good news that highlights Southland as a great place to live and work, to get in touch. Feel free to email natasha.holland@stuff.co.nz or through our Neighbourly site, neighbourly.co.nz/publication/ southland-times