Hamish Kilgour Photo: supplied
By Simon Wraight
The Clean's classic song 'Side On' from 1982's Great Sounds Great EP, lends it's name to an exhibition, at the Christchurch Arts Centre to celebrate the life and creative output of late musician, artist and Clean member Hamish Kilgour.
For most, Kilgour was known as the drummer of The Clean alongside brothers David and Robert Scott.
The band were part of the Flying Nun sound that helped to put New Zealand music on the map.
Curator and musician Paul Kean said Kilgour was someone who should be commemorated.
"He's an absolute genius, he's a special person that needs to be celebrated and shared with the world.
"The fact that he got obituaries in the Guardian and the New York Times and other big publications around the world speaks a lot about his mana."
The exhibition features artwork, music, photos and videos, in tribute to the varied output of his creativity.
Kean said he was hard to pigeonhole into just one style or genre.
"He was an individual. I don't think you could say he's been influenced by any artists at all. You know looking at a lot of his work, it's very much Hamish Kilgour, it's got that stamp on it."
For the exhibition, Kean managed to include previously missing items.
"A little bit of an investigation went on to track down some pieces. There's a classic piece in the exhibition that we've managed to find which went missing for a while.
"It's 'Pink Flying Saucers Over the Southern Alps' which was on the cover for a Flying Nun compilation in the '90s."
Robert Scott, who played bass for The Clean and was also a painter, knew Kilgour better than most and speaks fondly of his time playing with him.
"He was amazing, he was very vibrant, full of ideas all the time musically and artistically. Always questioning things."
Scott also recalled what it was like in the early days of The Clean, when they were starting to gain a following overseas.
"We had such a following overseas, I think for those people they almost see us in a better light than a lot of the locals do.
"At the time, by the mainstream, we were kind of ignored and dismissed greatly. And then it wasn't until later that we got a lot of success overseas a local radio station might go 'ahh, maybe these guys are something, they're liked overseas so we'll play their music."
Flying Nun founder and long time friend Roger Shepherd, recalled Kilgour as having a strong sense of self, which came through in his music and art.
"Hamish had quite a strong view on life. I mean he was almost taking forward a lot of the counter culture ideas that existed before punk, and he carried those over into his music making after the beginning of punk.
"The success of his music making with The Clean, and The Clean are a key band in our musical history, makes him, not a mainstream figure, but a really important one in music."
Scott just considers himself lucky to have known Hamish and to have created music with him.
"These things are fortuitous, and they come out of the blue and I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time and work with those two guys and make music."
The I Go Side On exhibition runs from 8-31 March at the Christchurch Arts Centre.
