Parachute Studios present: THE NEVERENDING

Our studio fundraiser THE NEVERENDING has, er, ended. In a whirlwind of Brit-pop hooks sharper than McCartney’s winklepickers, Young Lyre closed out the final hour of our 24-hour rock n’ roll fundraiser on Saturday night. With the aim of raising money needed to complete Parachute’s new studios, THE NEVERENDING saw 24 bands descend on Parachute H.Q for a non-stop party The line-up was positively all-star. The music was streamed live around the world. And we mean around the world. Over 5000 people tuned in over 24 hours, checking from over 20 countries, including the US, Australia, UK, Canada, Singapore, Philippines, Germany, Netherlands, Thailand, Latvia, Qatar and Egypt. 17 people from the Faroe Islands even. Don’t worry, we had to look it up too. They sit in between Norway and Iceland, governed by Denmark – hello over there Faroe Islands! Your generosity was even more impressive. We needed $35K to finish the studios – the final tally came to just over $30K. We’re still blown away by how many of you are getting behind this. You can still give and help us finish this thing. Thank you team. We had a real blast. And at the heart of all of this is our little studio. Built by you, for the sake of aiding the dreams of New Zealand musicians. Thanks to your kind donations, they now have a space where they can rehearse, record and hang out, and not be constrained by huge costs. It feels good. It feels community. We couldn’t be more pleased to open our doors to the local music community. THE NEVERENDING has ended. But really, it’s just the beginning. See you soon. Of course, we’d be remiss not to extend our thanks to the huge team who made this weekend possible: All our sponsors listed below: you kept us running all weekend and went above and beyond to make this event a success. The bands involved: you are why we do what we do. So glad you could come to our party. Thanks for sharing your tunes, wheeling in your full brass sections, agreeing to play the 3am slot, encouraging people to give. The tireless crew, who survived on 5-minute powernaps and intravenous coffee. And you.

We are now just over $20K for all donations - THANK YOU SO MUCH. That $35K target looks closer all the time, so if you love Parachute's work, you know what to do! THE NEVERENDING 24 hour party is still raging at www.parachutemusic.com, or if you are in Auckland come and see the bands live in the almost-completed Parachute Studios, 399 New North Road, Kingsland! Everyone welcome for a donation at the door! We are here til 8pm today - so plenty of great music to come...

Well it's only a few hours until THE NEVERENDING event starts. The Parachute offices are a flurry of activity! The studio gear and PA are all set up, we are excited. Thanks so much for all the contributions, a really amazing response so far. Including off line donations, we have received just over $14,000 to date - so cool. Live streaming of the event starts at 8pm from our website www.parachutemusic.com . Feel free to drop in anytime from 8pm tonight until 8pm Saturday. The address is 399 New North Road, Kingsland.

With cash donations, we're sitting on $12K! Not literally, of course. It's not as if someone's wheeled a barrow of gold coins into the office. That wouldn't be safe at all. I can't even leave half a pack of Toffee Pops on my desk for 30 secs. I'll find you, whoever you are. We're astounded at your generosity. This weekend's going to be a celebration of good, good things to come. And, while we're at it, here's the finalised schedule! Looking forward to seeing you. BYO Toffee Pops.

Alright kids, we're well on our way. Bob Geldof just dropped by the offices to wish us luck. He suggested we add "Aid" to the end of the event title, but we were all like "But Bob, the flyers have already been printed", and he was all like "That's SIR Bob to you". Then we tried to get a photo with him but he said we couldn't. He only does photo ops with Bono. And then we made fun of him for calling his daughter Peaches. Who names a human after a piece of fruit? Honestly. In other news, everything's coming up spades for Friday! Confirmed artists so far: Ruby Frost, Lydia Cole, Luke Thompson, Alaska, Young Lyre, Parachute Band, Tim Richards, Edge Kingsland, Luke Parker, Tokyo Keys, Chloe Bartlett, East of Eden, The Latest Fallout, Paper Plane, Chris Cope, The RIght Ones, Jocee Tuck, Asher Bastion, Jon E Clist And more to come! We'll be streaming the event live from parachutemusic.com. In case you haven't seen it already, here's a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu7ykfBr4Po) of the Chief taking you through the studio space and outlining where your money's going. We need $35K to finish this thing. The result will be a community space for artists. A recording space that they can use at whatever budget they can afford. We're not asking you to fund a commercial venture here, we're asking you to fund dreams. Too cheesy? It's true though. You can donate above. You can also help us out by sharing this link on your Facebook/Twitter. You can drop in during the event, pop some money in the bucket, have a coffee and a gander too. Mi casa, su casa, aye? x

We're T-Minus one week until The Neverending - 1.We've got a stellar final line-up of bands to announce on Monday. 2.We have a coffee sponsor! (perhaps this should be at the top of the list) 3.I just singlehandedly lifted an oak studio desk up two flights of stairs. People offered to help, but with guns like mine, who needs it 4.The Chief has just filmed a walk-through of the studio so you can see where all your money's going 5.You're all very lovely and generous. 6.We're very excited about this. Remember, this money will allow us to keep the studio as cheap as possible. We want it to be a community thing, much more so than a commercial venture. It's all about helping musicians get their songs heard. That's pretty cool 7.We're currently arguing over whether the new Dr. John album sounds "spooky" or not. Is "spooky" a bad thing? It's the New Orleans sound, right? Is New Orleans a spooky place? 8.I just googled "What do you call someone from New Orleans?" New Orleanian apparently Stay tuned for Monday. We'll be announcing the line-up, where you can catch the live stream, and plenty of other details. P.S For those of you who have asked, you're all welcome on Friday. Our door will be open from 8pm Friday night, right through to 8pm Saturday. We promise to be gracious hosts - drop in, we'll show you round and make you a tasty brew. Think of it as a big old housewarming.