More than three decades ago, Lou Moss moved to Kāpiti and was rather dismayed that there wasn’t a brass band for him to join.
Lou, who passed away in 1998, had been playing in brass bands since he was a young boy, and when he served in the army during World War II he was a member of the Wellington First Battalion Band.
After moving back home to Wellington, he was in several bands before his shift to Kāpiti where, much to his disappointment, there was no brass band.
For a few years he wrestled with that problem and, having spent so much of his life in various bands, Lou decided to start a brass band on the coast and was joined by five other like-minded music lovers.
One of those was Fred Driver (pictured second from right in the front row of the main picture) who helped found the brass band in December of 1990, which was aptly named Kāpiti Brass Band.
Fred had been in various bands throughout his life, and when he saw Lou’s advertisement in the paper, he thought it sounded great.
“I thought ‘that’s for me’.”
Typically, brass bands have about 28 players plus the conductor, and in the beginning, they only had those six founding members and no conductor - with Lou counting them in.
Fred said the band had a slow start - they didn’t have access to good instruments, and there just weren’t enough people interested in joining.
The Kāpiti Brass Band has grown from six to 30 members.
Now the band has grown significantly and, while only two of the founding members are left, Fred being one and Jan Krimp the other, there are now about 30 members in total.
But Fred says he, and others in the band, have never forgotten who started the band.
“We all have a lot of respect for Lou Moss.”
Brass bands typically consist of several instruments, including trombones, euphoniums, cornets and more.
Because the Kāpiti Brass Band is a fun, community band, rather than competitive, you don’t need to audition to enter - and the band’s retiring conductor Ian Imray says anyone is welcome, even if you have no prior experience.
Ian, who has been in the band on and off for 17 years, says the band is particularly focused on recruiting the next generation - even offering to teach new members with no experience how to play various instruments.
“If they have the commitment we would take them on board.”
They can also supply instruments to those who want to play but don’t own any.
For both Fred and Ian, there is a big social aspect to the band.
“It’s brought me music, friendship, and laughter,” says Fred.
Ian says he has gotten to know people he wouldn’t have otherwise met, and thinks the band is good for everyone because you can choose how involved you want to be.
“You can put into it as much as you want.”
The brass band has an agreement with the council so they can play at all the citizenship ceremonies, and they also play at charity events, like the Kāpiti Strawberry Festival, and Anzac Day ceremonies.
“You need a brass band in an Anzac ceremony,” says Ian.
If you want to join the band, you can attend their rehearsals at 7.30pm every Tuesday at Scots Hall, Raumati Beach.
