For the record

Member of iconic Dunedin band The Chills, Dr Oli Wilson is bringing an insider's perspective.

Music lecturer Dr Oli Wilson's involvement in the music industry provides a rich source of material for his academic research.

Wilson is a classically trained pianist who is a founding member of, and keyboard player with, the Dunedin group, Knives at Noon (currently in recess), and, since 2010, a keyboardist with the iconic Dunedin band, The Chills.

Wilson has co-written songs for, produced or recorded with a range of artists, including Knives at Noon, The Chills, Males, and Ha The Unclear. He has also toured throughout Australasia with Knives at Noon and The Chills and performed with The Chills in Europe.

Rather than getting in the way of his university work, much of Wilson's scholarly research feeds off this intimate involvement in music making.

“I have developed research methods that centre on participating in the production of popular music, as opposed to merely observing popular music production or analysing the finished text. Participating as an insider provides new perspectives on commercial music production.”

One research project focuses on The Chills. “I am lucky enough to perform in a band that has been around for 30 years and the band is putting out a new record, so I am treating the band's revival as a case study, exploring ideas about the relationship between technology, nostalgia and authenticity.

“I am interested in how these manifest in discourse surrounding the band. I am looking at discourses in social media and in the popular music press, as well as at the way the band members themselves talk about these issues and how the producer tackles them.

“So, what we get is a convergence of discourses about technology, time, place and meanings attached to the original Dunedin sound. There are tensions between the older notions of authenticity and the artist's right to continue to create.”

In another research project, Wilson is working with Tiki Taane, exploring the way the New Zealand artist uses a symphony orchestra and a kapa haka group to express his mixed cultural identity. Wilson has been responsible for bringing to the University of Otago Taane and other New Zealand and international artists and producers to talk about their work.

Wilson says that his research methods developed from his interest in the music industry in Papua New Guinea, the subject of his PhD thesis and of ongoing research.

The 30 year old has produced an ensemble of book chapters, articles and conference papers in the fields of ethnomusicology and popular music studies.