Phoebe Hurst is a multi-disciplinary artist. She’s an actor, a singer, a writer and an all-round champion for all things creative. She’s recently moved into the artist studios at Toi Auaha and we spoke to her about how she’s finding the space.
First of all, how are you finding being part of the Toi Auaha artist studios?
I moved in November last year and I love it! I’ve been making the space my own. It’s great to have space to call my own.
Are you composing there?
Well, the plan is to have a multi-functional space for me. At the moment I’m actually doing most of my arts administration there – I host meetings there and do all my emails. But I also use it to write music and practice my producing. It’s amazing to have space to sit and practice my craft. I feel extremely grateful to have that space. I think that it’s wonderful that the council have made that space and pushed for it and actually it shows that the council is doing quite a bit to support artists in this city. Not just with the studio space, but also the mentoring programmes that I was also part of last year. That’s been so helpful, and I think it goes a long way to creating a thriving, artistic community.
You’re a multi-talented artist – and you have a few different strings to your bow, including a couple of names, is that right?
Well, I’m Phoebe Hurst but I release my music under Phoebe Vic.
You started in theatre though?
I graduated from Toi Whakaari in 2011, I was 22 then. I was acting through most of my twenties, but I stopped as it wasn’t making me feel great. There were limited roles and the roles that I was being considered for were not what I wanted. When I stopped acting, I decided that I would go back to my first love, which was music.
You decided to stay in Christchurch rather than move to another city?
My family is here, and I like the pace of Christchurch. I think if I was going to move, I’d go overseas rather than somewhere else in New Zealand. Unfortunately, in this country, art is not currently seen as a financially viable career option – it’s grossly undervalued. But having said that, there’s a lot happening in Christchurch.
And perhaps it’s slightly more viable to make a living as an artist here?
Absolutely. I think the argument is that there is more opportunity in places like Auckland, but I don’t think that’s true. In terms of sustainability and the ability to generate work, I think Christchurch is getting to the point where it is really competing. You’re also much freer to take risks here, I think.
Do you think Christchurch is slightly more collaborative than other centres?
My experience is that we have a real sense of community here. There are so many pockets of people doing different things. There’s an amazing underground electronic music scene here. Queer Horizon is a good example – it’s an electronica evening that’s centered around the queer community.
It’s exciting to be here as an artist, especially with all the independent venues like Space Academy and The Darkroom – they’re really supportive of artists and bands and that makes a huge difference.
What are you up to right now?
I’m still working on my album that I was funded for two years ago! I have a song coming out next Friday – and then I’m shooting a video for another song. But primarily I’m trying to finish my album with my co-collaborator Emily C Browning.
Well, they say the best things take time.
With music it’s such a slow process. There’s so much legwork that happens before you even release an album. I’ve heard it said that it’s about 85% admin and 15% creation – that feels right to me!
What are your hopes for the year?
Oh God! I’m hoping I’ll finish and release my album – that’s my big goal. I also hope to play some more shows this year, in other centres.
You can follow Phoebe on Instagram here.