It took almost a decade of doing this work before Upston could return to his true love of recording music. Broadcasting House, WellingtonĪs Upston soon found himself working on news shows Morning Report (then featuring Kim Hill) and Checkpoint. At first he juggled this by adjusting his roster at RNZ and then cutting down his residency to three nights a week, but eventually his career as a sound engineer took precedence over his DJ work. ![]() However working four nights a week as a DJ until the early hours of the morning, then holding down his other job at RNZ was a challenge. He found a software program that could link MIDI equipment and he created sound elements himself then used them to create his own unique remixes of popular tracks. Upston decided he could make his DJ sets even more unique by blending in elements that he’d created himself, so he began experimenting with the latest in computer technology – an Apple Mac Classic. I ended up filling in for him and then when he left to go to America, I took up a full-time residency.” I still remember standing by the door and thinking, ‘Why are these two songs merging into one? How is he doing that?’ I began hanging around by the DJ box and watching how he did it – to me, it was amazing. In the meantime, he’d also taken up a side job as a club DJ. “My first experience of a proper DJ was walking into Exchequer Cabaret and hearing Wellington icon DJ Teepee mixing two disco records together. This also gave him access to a few weeks a year of tuition through the Broadcast Training School. Upston was accepted on his second attempt (in 1985) and his first day at RNZ had him lacing up a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Upston’s mother noticed his budding interest in recording and told him about a radio advertisement to be a technical operator for Radio New Zealand. Decades later when The Chills released their Secret Box (2001) rarities collection, three of Upston’s recordings appeared, including a song that even Martin Phillipps himself couldn’t recall rehearsing with the band. ![]() The Chills were a particular favourite and Upston captured over 30 of their shows – even recording three nights at the Cricketers’ Arms in his hometown of Wellington. The burgeoning scene around Flying Nun took his interest, so he sought permission to record their live shows directly from the sound desk.
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