MUSIC AT THE MILL
WORDS Kim Newth PHOTOS Sarah Rowlands and supplied
Aspiring singers, songwriters, and music producers will take their places in the ground floor of the restored Wood’s Mill heritage building in Addington from this month as Sacha Vee’s SOLE Music Academy gets underway there.
It marks an exciting stage in the rebirth of the 19th century flour mill as a new creative complex for Christchurch.
Owner and structural engineer Michael King had the vision to make something of the old quake-damaged mill. Today, this place oozes sophistication. The vibe is industrial steam-age crossed with New York loft style.
“I took this on because I wanted somewhere for the people of Christchurch to unleash their creativity and here you have a building with endless potential,” says Michael, whose consulting firm is on the first floor.
International platinum-selling artist Sacha Vee, who launched SOLE Music Academy at The Piano in 2018 to help support and develop Christchurch’s talented singers, songwriters and producers, found Wood’s Mill through word of mouth. She’d long dreamed of finding somewhere with a creative atmosphere to provide a truly out of the box place for music-making.
“As soon as I saw this building, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness – this is perfect!’” says Sacha, who used a crowdfunding campaign to help raise the funds needed to complete the fit-out of SOLE’s new space. “It went really well: people want to be involved in supporting the performing arts in Christchurch.”
Wood’s Mill is an evolving project that still has months to go. The full plan includes co- working offices, 15 apartments, seven ground floor boutique restaurants and a central bar. At the time of writing, an outdoor stage had just been completed for summer gigs.
The Mill Theatre – formerly the home of Riccarton Players – is also on track for a fit-out as part of the development.
“It’s going to be three-levels with flat seating and a stage in front and it will be fully configurable as a venue so it could be used for anything from a TED talk or corporate function through to a full play or rock concert,” Michael says.
For Sacha, the prospect of being able to access the adjoining theatre and outdoor stage is hugely exciting.
“Having the old Mill Theatre there was a selling point,” she says. “The outdoor stage means we can have mini-festivals out front. These facilities will complement SOLE’s new teaching and music studios really well.”
There is no shortage of musical talent in Christchurch. Currently Sacha has around 100 students and has had to employ additional staff to keep up with demand.
“I assumed we’d just be working with musicians who wanted a music career, but that’s certainly not the case. We’re finding there are a lot of people of all ages interested in learning how to sing, write songs and produce ... also, because we offer day and evening sessions, it suits students who may not be able to commit to a full-time music degree.”
Michael is confident the whole building will eventually function as one big vibrant community, with regular concerts and events set to make this a busy year-round venue.
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