Words by Sam Mythen. Images taken by Fran Scrimgeour.

From Left to right Corban, Liam and Jake.

For me, life is a gift. We must celebrate it. And I believe the best way to do that is to dance.

At the beginning of October, I found myself at Welles Street in Christchurch, celebrating, dancing, twirling, bopping, disco-jiving and swaying my hips among lovely faces to moving melodies and vibrant beats. There was a box of dress-up hats and a flash mob of synchronised dancers half-way through the night.

This marvellous gig was Two Mind’s Project Volume II. Just a couple of weeks before, I got to sit down with the architects behind Two Minds, a collective of gig lovers and house DJs who’ve come together to throw their own events of curiosity, fun and music.

I decided to invite the Two Minds boys to Riccarton House; an 1850-era homestead turned café. The 1920s jazz music playing in the background serenaded me as I walked in. It was a different scene to the lively house music at Welles Street.

In the dining room, I found Jake Potton and Dan Stewart, two out of four of the Two Minds boys, ready to chat. They politely offered to buy me a coffee, a sweet thought which I earnestly declined knowing we are alas, all poor students.

Phone recorder ready, hot coffee on standby, I opened my notebook in order to jot down interview notes. But the joke’s on me, Dan and Jake’s eyes are immediately drawn to a very well-drawn shvantz on the first page (get yourself a boyfriend who doodles dicks all over your work). As my face started to match the shade of my pink cord flares, the boys exploded into laughter.

From left to right, Corban, Liam, Jake and Dan.

Their contagious energy and joy setting the scene, we began the interview.

Dan started brewing the Two Minds project early last year. I asked him where the idea had come from. “I love gigs, and I found myself wanting to run them,” he said.

Jake, alongside Liam Cullen and Corban Tupou (the other Two Minds boys), then helped Dan’s idea to flourish, arms twisted by an infectious love of music.

Jake said, “Everyone has a unique set of skills and attributes which make the four of us so good. Corban has the tech and photography skills. Dan has the creativity and the charisma. Liam is always on to it behind the scenes with good ideas, and he’s the realist, and me, well...”

“Jake’s the logistical genius,” Dan said.

“It’s like a good marriage,” Jake agreed.

“We’re a quad-ouple.”

Two Minds aims to showcase excellent music by creating novel environments. The idea is similar to a festival but offered more regularly and on a smaller scale. Jake said, “Our approach to gigs is a bit different to the usual way of putting someone on a stage, paying them to play, selling tickets to hundreds of people and making a profit.”

“When you walk into one of our venues, we want you to feel like you’re stepping into a new world,” Dan said. “We want to create a memorable environment that has people leaving the venue at the end of the night thinking, “Woah, that was cool,” Jake further elaborated.

Their launch party in February of this year featured a half-pipe and several live bands set up in the sunshine of Liam’s backyard.

At their first big event, Two Minds Project Volume I. in July, they hosted three bands, four house DJs and 150 people at Dux Central in the city. There were two telephones at opposite ends of the room connected with an ethernet cable so you could yarn to your pals. The environment is not just one where you can dance, sway and listen to good music. But you can become curious, explore and play. At their events, Two Minds challenges you to become interested, rather than judgemental. Not everyone who attends their gigs may discover such novelties, but just knowing the event will be full of surprises engages you in ways the average gig does not.

For the boys of Two Minds, it’s also about showcasing new talent. “There is so much talent and creativity around that often slips under the radar,” said Jake. Two Minds is as much a platform that holds events as well as a collective of house DJs. Jake, Liam and Corban, as well as friend Ferg, are “all impressive house DJs,” said Dan.

“Shout out to Timmy Kwok, and the years of uni where we all used to just hang out in his flat and mix music all night...now, DJing has become one of the only things I think about,” said Jake.

From this, Two Minds look for opportunities where they can throw “take-overs,” helping to “create house gigs which are cheaper and more accessible,” said Dan. They’ve featured at university club events and are also set to perform at Le Currents in Taupo on 28 December. They’ve just recently been put on the list for the groovy Goose Club stage at Rhythm and Vines.

Always looking to display their hype for music, they have also produced a magazine.

“Minds Magazine was the result of boredom during lockdown. Challenges are opportunities at the moment,” Dan said. “Since we couldn’t throw gigs for people, we wanted to celebrate gigs in a different form. This magazine is the result of us trying to bring the gig environment to the coffee table, where, flipping through the pages, people will get that nostalgic feeling of actually being at a gig,” said Dan.

As the afternoon slipped by, I got to know Dan and Jake with an ease as if we were sitting around the campfire telling stories, sipping beers and toasting s’mores.

Seeing their ideas come to fruition was momentous for them. After throwing their first Two Minds Project after lockdown in July, Jake said, “We stood at the back and watched everyone smiling and having the best time, which was an outcome of us creating this event. It was the most euphoric feeling of having all the effort pay off.” The recent Welles Street event saw them stepping it up in size and jumping outside of their comfort zone.

Challenging the idea that as young people we have to work hard and get ahead now, the boys believe that there is no better time to “get active and chase some shit that you actually care about”.

These boys love a party, so stay tuned for the next Two Minds scheme in November that’s sure to get you dancing and raising a glass in gratitude for life.

“We’re working on something really exciting on the 28 November - a wee hint: Notion x TwoMinds x Flux - all with (hopefully) a drop of sunshine. Who doesn’t love dancing in the daytime?” I’ll be seeing you there.

Follow Two Minds here

An interview with Two Minds: Throwing gigs for the people