Aiming to dissect the cross section between the creative process and the industry side, Cross Section is an exciting interview series hosted by Shannon Coulomb.

Photo Credit: Lachlan Kirkwood

Marceline is a four piece punk/hardcore band, with all four band members having met in the same Year 13 music class together. Marceline has performed multiple gigs so far, most notably at X-fest at Big Fan Studios, and at the Tuning Fork, taking out the annual New Found Sound competition. The band have recorded their debut single Never Trust The Fuzz at Crescendo Studios in Avondale, which will be released in the near future. Their name is inspired by the vampire girl known as Marceline from the nostalgic Gen Z TV show, Adventure Time. Despite this theme, their music is more focused on activism and fighting for what they believe is right in the traditional punk fashion.

Congrats on your rising success so far. I love your entire presentation and non-compromising attitude, which reminds me of the great punk bands. What does your creative process look like?

We come up with a motif and then basically build the song around that, or on occasion a main idea of what the song may be about or the kind of mood/genre we want to write, whether it be a political issue or a story or experience from Jamie's (the singer and main lyric writer)'s life. Our main focus would be to sort out the actual song and then lyrics kind of make their way in when we feel it's appropriate.

Do you apply the same creative processes to other aspects of the Music Industry, for example, in your approach to marketing yourself?

We wouldn't say we do, our creative process for music can be sometimes quite messy and unorganised but ends out working out anyway, whereas with marketing ourselves, we feel that we have a set idea and focus, through our promotional video stuff that combines our silly humour with actual promotion, or simply just the way we present ourselves as a band that we think others will be drawn to.

Photo Credit: Joshua Saunders

Is your creative process something you feel to have locked down or does it generally change on a song by song/release by release basis?

We definitely would all agree that our creative process differs greatly, sometimes it can be a rough epiphany that one member has for a song idea or something that one of us has been working on for a while to eventually present to the rest of the band, and we wouldn't say having a differing creative process is a bad thing because it actually helps us to collate our ideas and make something we all can proudly call our own collective work.

What qualities do you appreciate the most in other musicians?

Artists who are humble and those who prioritise musicality while also making sure their live act is something that will entertain and leave the audience wanting more, this is something we see with our fellow bands in the scene building these cool, loyal fanbases and all adding their own twist to the way they want to be seen as, as individual artists, just as we hope we successfully do.

Photo Credit: Bradley Kearney

If you could collaborate with other NZ musicians/bands, who would you choose?

We love many NZ bands and artists and would say the ones we would most love to collaborate more soon with are the bands we have created close connections to such as Sprawl, the energetic nu-metal band who we have grown a tight-knit connection (even self-claiming ourselves as Sprawlceline). Other bands we love and would be so thrilled to work with are Stray Dogs (again), Death Chemist (again), Ratso, Dartz, Dick Move, Out of Luck, Peaking In High School, and Late to Chelsea. We also think Mozart would be pretty sick to work with so if anyone has his email, let us know. :)

How do you keep an eye to the future in regards to your work and work ethic? Do you generally focus on just the project at hand or are you considering how it fits into a larger plan?

We are quite messy and unorganised with our writing and song-learning process, but somehow it always works out in magic ways, honestly, would say we definitely focus on the now and what's happening sooner than later on, but we try our hardest to keep a close eye on our future and what our band can be moving forward. Our goal is to continue moving forward and becoming more musically skilled so we can keep giving our audience what they want.

Photo Credit: Joshua Saunders

You have garnered a great local following in the Auckland punk scene already. What has been your mindset and approach to achieving this?

Getting to know others in the scene is very important and getting known through whatever means, whether that be simply word of mouth, social media such as TikTok and Instagram etc. Also, all being good friends in the band is very important as we all are to keep the chemistry working and we are very lucky to all have gone to the same high school together and been in the same music class (at Birkenhead College - now graduated) which we believe helped us getting to know each other every single day and ultimately making Marceline what it is. Another thing we always make sure to do is create an entertaining live performance, with plenty of movement, dancing on stage, humour, silly moments and audience interaction and we think we have stapled ourselves as known to be a very fun band to watch. One last thing we all have agreed on is don't try to be better than everyone else and don't be a dick, it's as simple as that.

What have been your favourite moments in your young career so far?

Our favourite moments so far have been getting to play some of the bands we've loved and looked up to for ages and also all the opportunities we have received from so many around us, these being, Sprawl and Buzz, Stray Dogs, The First Child, Video Nasty and Fishbait, and Death Chemist. Also, earlier this year we won New Found Sound 2024 which meant we got to play at the Tuning Fork to a very large crowd and won an opportunity to record our first single at Crescendo Studios, which was a really great experience which we all really enjoyed. Making it through to the North Shore Regional Finals at Rockquest 2024 was a highlight too! But along with the opportunities of getting to perform in places, we have loved all the love and support our school, Birkenhead College has given us, we would be nowhere even close to the success we have found this year as a relatively new and rising Auckland band.

Photo Credit: Joshua Saunders

There are so many resources available to musicians in Aotearoa, such as MNZ, Music Managers Forum Aotearoa, Recorded Music NZ, and APRA/AMCOS. Have any of these (or other opportunities) played a significant role in your journey so far?

Not yet, but we are planning to get more in touch with these things as we begin to release music hopefully in the next year, keep an eye out.

What are the next goals you would like to achieve and have you got plans in the pipeline to achieve these goals?

Build a loyal fanbase, write more songs, release some music and try to deliver and become better and better till we rule the world. Ultimately we would like to continue as we are and hopefully find even more success and please our precious fans who we love so much, in the end, we think the real Marceline was the friends we made along the way.

*****

Shannon Coulomb is the co-songwriter, guitarist and producer for Auckland Based band Impostor Syndrome. He currently the Head of Music at Birkenhead College, Auckland, as well as a tutor for Music Education at AUT University.

Impostor Syndrome:
Stream Impostor Syndrome

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  Horror Story
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  Fraser Ross
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  Fur Patrol
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  L.A.B.
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  Devilskin
• 7
  Michelle Rounds
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  The Feelers
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  The Boondocks
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  Coridian

• 
  Come On Up @ Festival of Lights - Pukekura Park, New Plymouth - 10/01/2025
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  Courtnay & The Unholy Reverie @ Festival of Lights - Pukekura Park, New Plymouth - 09/01/2025
• 
  Louis TM @ Festival of Lights - Pukekura Park, New Plymouth - 05/01/2025

• 1
  APT.
  ROSÉ And Bruno Mars
• 2
  DIE WITH A SMILE
  Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
  Billie Eilish
• 4
  TASTE
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 5
  I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
  Gracie Abrams
• 6
  ESPRESSO
  Sabrina Carpenter
• 7
  SAILOR SONG
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• 8
  LOSE CONTROL
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• 9
  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
  Shaboozey
• 10
  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
  Chappell Roan

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