Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Live music and drinking tend to go together like rock 'n' roll and guitar solos, but journalist Guyon Espiner says he has found that living a more sober life doesn't mean the music has to stop.
The former Morning Report co-host has a 20-year career in both print and broadcast media.
Espiner is now an investigative journalist at RNZ and this week his Mate, Comrade Brother series has been investigating the lobbying that goes on behind the scenes of our democracy.
He has also just released his first book The Drinking Game - where he explores what drives drinking culture in NZ and how big business, the media and politicians shape the way New Zealanders drink, with a focus on his own battles with the bottle.
But for this week's Music 101, Espiner has turned his attention to showcasing his favourite songs for a special edition of The Mix Tape.
"Music is a big part of my life," he tells host Charlotte Ryan.
"I remember the first album I bought. I bought a KISS album, Double Platinum, it was $12.99. I bought it from Cashel Street in Christchurch.
"That was probably my very early teenage years, and then by 13, 14, 15 music was a massive part of my life.
"And then of course like every other boy at that time in Christchurch, I got guitars and played in bands and stuff for a while.
"I still play the guitar - not terribly well, but I do doodle around on it."
Espiner, who calls himself a former "hazardous drinker" in The Drinking Game, hasn't had a drink since 2019.
He says going to concerts has actually been improved by abstinence.
"I've found too, not drinking alcohol that you go to gigs and actually listen to the music," he says, laughing. "That becomes the main course rather than just an excuse to go out for drinks."
Going to a gig sober is "something you get used to," he says. It's difficult at first if you've associated drinking with concerts your whole life, as he did.
"But once you've done it for a while and got some strategies and just changed your mindset on it, it's great.
"The first gig I went to sober was the Radio Awards 2019 and it was an utter sort of piss-up as these things tend to be, and it was an utter nightmare. I thought, how am I going to do this?"
Things are changing and being sober at gigs is a little more acceptable now, he says, like free glasses of water being offered at the Powerstation in Auckland.
"That message that hey, you don't have to drink beer or wine, there's water here if you want it, and it's just those little things that make it a bit easier for those who choose not to drink."
Guyon's Mixtape tracks:
I am Neon (Julia Jacklin)
Yellow Eyes (Rayland Baxter)
Visions of Joanna (Bob Dylan)
Down in Splendour (Straitjacket Fits)
Bad Decisions (The Strokes)
Walking on a String (Phoebe Bridgers and Matt Berringer)
