How are you?

Gretchen | Ōtautahi

Music has always been a huge part of Gretchen’s life, and it was music that helped her get through the Christchurch earthquakes. She hosts an iconic radio show on Christchurch’s RDU, she DJs unique nights that provide a safe space for women to have fun, and she’s the campus administrator at the Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand.

“Music says everything and music is therapy.

How am I? I’m good, I think. It’s hard to say sometimes, but overall, I’m doing alright. The earthquakes— that was really devastating. It’s taken a long time, over ten years, and now we’re at about year thirteen since it happened. My sense of time is a bit skewed because of the magnitude of that event, you know?

When it comes to music, though, I’ve always found it to be a sort of therapy. Music says everything, and it really helps you get through tough times. I remember during the aftermath of the earthquakes, I was transported up to Auckland because I had lost my apartment and everything. It was a crazy, chaotic time.

I was working at MAINZ in Auckland at the time, and what really got me through was just listening to music—Nina Simone, Jimmy Cliff. I played their songs on repeat, and they helped me keep it together. Sometimes, all you need is to hold onto what’s good, and for me, that was the music. Nina and Jimmy really got me through some tough days. Music’s always been there for me, in that sense.”