'Deepgrooves' out Nov 18: The tale of a 1990s Auckland record label, and the people involved

 

Our latest book is "Deepgrooves: A record label deep in the Pacific of bass, and the people who gave it a voice", by Peter McLennan, published on November 18 2024. Launch event details coming soon. 

“From the outside, watching Deepgrooves grow, and watching what they were doing was really hugely influential on what I was listening to. I connected to the fact that they were releasing music by young Maori and Polynesian acts – that was progressive for its time. The music also felt truly competitive on the global stage” – Kirk Harding.

“It’s easily one of the most important local indie labels of the post-punk era and one that paved the way for so much New Zealand music” – Simon Grigg.

Read the press release.

Published by Dunbar Noon Publishing, ISBN 978-0-473-72061-2

Size: 218 x 218 x 19mm, 322 pages, paperback

CONTACT Dunbar Noon Publishing
Email: petermac008 at gmail dot com

The Golden Sword book launch

Please join us for this very special event, a new paperback release from DUNBAR NOON PUBLISHING - The Golden Sword: A secret history of Thomas Stamford Raffles.

In a north Sumatran cave, Raffles swears fealty to a secret society and enters a world long hidden from colonial eyes... until now.

“THE GOLDEN SWORD is Heart of Darkness meets The Phantom, but Stamford Raffles is The Ghost Who Walks.” - Jaq Tweedie

John Pain is a designer, musician and director. His work in the animation field took him to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. He lives in a small cabin in the north of New Zealand.

Meet the author and help him celebrate his debut novel. Books for sale on the night.

Book launch - Thursday August 22nd, 2019, 6pm, at Time Out Books Mt Eden

More info on the book here. 

The Golden Sword - ISBN 978 0473 481995

Dad Goes to the Movies featured on Radio NZ

 Our latest book Dad Goes to the Movies (1941) featured on Jesse Mulligan's 1-4pm show on Tues 9 August.

"On 6 December 1941 a NZ serviceman named Les Tweedie, stationed in Alexandria, went to see James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan in The Shop Around the Corner.

How do we know this? Because Les was an avid film fan and wrote a diary and recorded, among many other things, every film he saw. Thanks to his daughter, writer Jaq Tweedie, this diary has just been published as Dad Goes to the Movies (1941), a lovingly transcribed version of his closely written pocket diary from that year. Dan Slevin from RNZ Widescreen takes a look at the new book."

Dan describes the book as ".. Quite delightful, it's modest, much like it's author, and a fascinating window onto a period... he does list every movie he goes to but there's a lot more going on in this book. He's essentially enlisted, and then is shipped overseas, and in a typically laconic or prosaic Kiwi way he describes what he sees and what he's experiencing. And I found it really quite moving in a modest sort of way .. for anyone interested in the period, I think it's a really interesting window on all that..."

Listen to it here.

Dad Goes To The Movies (1941) out Aug 5

We're excited to announce our next book, launch at Time Out Books at 530pm Friday August 5... with author Jaq Tweedie, books on sale.

"When war was declared in 1939 Les Tweedie was at the movies with his sweetheart, Peg. He enlisted, married her, and went off to serve New Zealand as a soldier for the next six years. Throughout his life his love for going to the movies remained constant. In 1941, he noted in his tiny personal soldier’s diary every film he saw, and other things that happened in that very interesting year.

Seventy five years later, writer Jaq Tweedie – his daughter – decodes the diary and reveals Les Tweedie’s secret cinematic life."

Leslie Edward Tweedie graduated from Auckland University College and then studied teaching at Auckland Teachers College, where he met Peg Feaver. He served with the New Zealand Army during World War 2. After his return home he resumed teaching and raised six children including his sons John, Richard, and Grant, and his daughter Jacqueline (known as Jaq.) He died in 1998, aged 83.

Publishing date: August 5, 2016 (This would have been Les Tweedie’s 100th birthday)
Available now from Unity Books Auckland, Time Out Books Mt Eden, and Amazon.com. Or ask at your local bookstore/library.

The book is available in paperback, published independently by Dunbar Noon Publishing, thru the print on demand service, Createspace. More info, press release here.

Jaq Tweedie: RadioLive interview excerpt

Jaq Tweedie interviewed by Paul Casserly about her book The Gull Club. Excerpt from RadioLive interview, December 2014. Buy the book from Time Out Books Mt Eden, and Unity Books Auckland.

Look who's talking: Jaq Tweedie Q&A

Gull Club author Jaq Tweedie featured in Auckland City Harbour News this week (14 January 2015 issue), in their Look who's talking Q&A.

Here's an extended version of Jaq Tweedie's Q&A. The Gull Club is out now, available at Unity Books Auckland, and Time Out Books Mt Eden.


What do you like best about the City?
I like that the City is built on a series of hills. Sure, you have to walk up hills all the time but you’re rewarded with great views everywhere.

How long have you lived here and where are you originally from?
I grew up in Milford. As a teenager I would walk to the crest of Forrest Hill Rd by Westlake Boys every day and just stare longingly at the city. I moved to town as soon as I could.

What do you like least and how can we fix it?
I’ve always thought there should be a rail link going through Auckland city. I hear that’s being fixed, but Sir Dove Myer Robinson’s been standing around the Square in his shirtsleeves shouting about it for years now, so we’ll see.

Where’s the best place to buy dinner in the city?
My favourite place is called Genzui but I’m not telling you where it is, it’s that good. All the food in this city is excellent. Just go anywhere with an A certificate, you’ll be fine.

Who does the best fish n chips?
Who cares? Why would you eat fish and chips when there’s every cuisine in the world on offer? I guess you could go to Tony’s for fish and chips, but if you go Tony’s and don’t have a steak, you’ve wasted your time.

Who is the Kiwi you admire most and why?
Helen Clark. If I have to explain why to you, I don’t want to talk to you at all. You may go.

If I was Auckland’s mayor I would...
… walk up and down Queen Street every morning, smiling at the peasants and thinking a great deal of myself, like John Banks used to do. But I can do that anyway without being mayor.

When I’ve got a few hours free I like to...
…read books. When I run out of books to read I go to the Auckland Library and look at the bronze bust of Shakespeare they have there. It’s very detailed.

The spot in the city I’d recommend most to tourists is...
Albert Park. It’s sunny and quiet and cool with lots of sculptures and gardens and trees and lawns and a fountain and a bandstand. Of course you have to walk up a hill to get there…

Welcome

Formed in early 2013, our first publication is I Believe You Are A Star, written by Peter McLennan (202 pages). It's a non-fiction title collecting together magazine interviews he wrote between 1992 and 2003.

McLennan talked to folks just starting their recording careers (P-Money, Stellar, SJD), through to established artists (Salmonella Dub, Bailter Space). The interviews offer fascinating insights into where these artists were at.

Other artists featured include Darcy Clay, Shayne Carter (Dimmer), Salmonella Dub, Sola Rosa, Dean Hapeta (Upper Hutt Posse), Kog Transmissions, HDU, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Tigi Ness, Black Seeds, Jakob, Pitch Black, JPSE, and more. Due out 20 May, 2013.

You can buy the book at Conch Records, Real Groovy (Auckland), Slowboat Records, RPM Music (Wellington) and online from Amazon.com, and also on Kindle here. ISBN: 978 1482692457

Our next publication is due out December 1st 2014. The Gull Club is a collection of poems by writer, poet, and reformed comedian Jaq Tweedie. On sale now at Unity Books Auckland, Time Out Books, Mt Eden or email us to get a copy. ISBN 978-0-473-30662-5.

Gull Club cover below. Read more about the book here.

CONTACT Dunbar Noon Publishing
Post: PO Box 1869, Shortland st, Auckland 1140, New Zealand
Email: petermac008 at gmail dot com