It’s tough being an alternative musician — especially if you want awards recognition.
One look at the Best Alternative Music Album category at the Grammys reveals strange winners, even stranger nominees, and a general tendency to favour commercial behemoths at the expense of the best and true alternative artists of years gone by.
At the Aotearoa Music Awards, though, it’s a different story.
The Best Alternative Artist category at New Zealand music’s biggest night has an excellent track record, with The Beths, Na Noise, Vera Ellen, and Princess Chelsea all winning within the past five years.
They were joined earlier this year by Jim Nothing, an unassuming (see: artist name) Auckland musician with a supreme gift for making catchy indie rock.
James Sullivan, the man behind the moniker, was named Best Alternative Artist thanks to his excellent second album Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn, a musical love letter to the titular Tāmaki Makaurau neighbourhood.
We lauded Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn alongside the AMAs, placing it in the top 25 on our 80 Best New Zealand Albums of the 2020s So Far list.
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“James Sullivan marked himself out as a slacker rock artist of note on In the Marigolds (2022), his first release as Jim Nothing, but his talent comes together cohesively on his latest album. Whether he’s mellowing out in the blissful ‘Easter at the RSC’, or speeding through the rockier ‘Raleigh Arena’, there’s a clear vision here,” we wrote.
What we loved most of all, however, was that Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn was a proudly New Zealand record, from its distinct sense of place to its creator’s clear fondness for his country’s independent music scene — the bands of Flying Nun’s heyday and beyond. “The New Zealand indie music songbook has a new entry,” as we also wrote.
This weekend, just a short walk from the neighbourhood which inspired his album, Sullivan will bring his Jim Nothing project to The Others Way 2025, where he shares bill with Connan Mockasin, Florist, Geneva AM, The Bats, and many more.
We caught up with him ahead of Auckland’s favourite street party to chat about the festival, the making of Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn, his future plans, and more.
The Others Way 2025 takes place on Saturday, November 29th across Karangahape Road, Auckland. Ticket information can be found here. Stream Jim Nothing’s Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn here.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: Congrats on such a big year! Did you ever expect that Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn would be received so well
Jim Nothing: Thank you… yes, definitely a big year… can’t believe it’s still going. I didn’t think at all [about] how it would be received and [I] definitely didn’t have any expectations. I started releasing singles quite early on before we actually finished the album so it was nice to see them get picked up and resonate with people along the way.
Has your Aotearoa Music Awards win sunk in yet? How did it feel on the night when your name was read out?
Honestly, that whole night was just so utterly buzzy. It was all quite rushed… we arrived pretty late and then the award was one of the earlier ones so it just kind of happened and then [I] went into automatic mode. I didn’t have a speech or anything prepared so [I] was just running on a flood of dopamine. It was pretty surreal. [I’ve] got the award on the mantle. [I’m] still so stoked.
There’s such a beautiful sense of place in your album. How far back does your connection with the Grey Lynn neighbourhood go?
Not super long, I think maybe seven or eight years? I moved up to Auckland in 2015 and floated around a bit till I found a flat there. The awards weirdly felt like a closing chapter on that era because about three days after, we got given notice that our lease was ending as the house was getting sold… It was a wild time but I’m really thankful to have captured some of the aspects of my life there in music. The album was recorded in my garage there and a lot of the songs were written on walks so it’s all very woven in. I’m glad you can hear it in the album.
Name your three favourite things about Grey Lynn.
RSC, interconnected park walkways, leafy streets.
Be honest: is it the best neighbourhood in Auckland?
It is the neighbourhood I’ve lived in for the longest and met some very dear friends in. We were lucky as we had cheap rent and there was a real community feel on our street but nowadays the rents are pretty wild…
What artists majorly influenced your album?
This one is actually kind of tricky as the songs were written over a long period of time. “Wildflowers” has a big-time LA’s influence, there’s a bit of Snapper in the album with the drone notes and stuff — Kilgour / Stephen stuff, GBV, some shoegazey-pop stuff like Alvvays… Aussie pop like Dick Diver et al. Power pop stuff like Tommy Keene and definitely The Replacements album Tim.
Are you excited to play The Others Way? Is this your first time?
Definitely, can’t wait! I’ve played once before in a previous band but this will be the first time JN has played.
The lineup is so impressive this year. Which other act on the bill are you hoping to catch when you’re not playing?
Yeah, it’s wild aye, it’s really hard to choose and you can’t see it all so it’s best to just float in and out and go where the tide takes you. I’ve heard W.I.T.C.H. are great so keen to catch that. [I] saw Sharon Van Etten last time they were here and that was awesome so keen to see that… [I’ve] never seen HDU before so keen to see that… [It’s] always a pleasure to watch the Bats play and also Phoenix Foundation… I could go on….
Are you working on a follow-up to Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn?
Yeah, definitely… some [tracks] are pretty well-formed already but there are a whole bunch in that nice, early stage where you’re going on lots of walks and listening to the demos and voice memos and writing lyrics and stuff. [I’m] enjoying the ride.
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What else have you got coming up? Any tour dates?
[I’m] looking to lock in some Australian dates for 2026. Thinking of releasing something soon, maybe a new single or a B-sides / demos compilation from across the years.
We have a series called Musicians on Musicians, in which we pair up two artists who admire each other’s
work. If we could pair you up with any NZ artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Woah, thats a hard one. My initial thought would be David Kilgour — The Clean and DK solo / Heavy Eights / Stephen stuff was really very influential on me growing up and playing guitar. More contemporary [artists] would be Peter from Fazed on a Pony – I just adore the songs so, so much — or Amelia from Fazerdaze… [I] would love to talk writing, production, and life as a musician in 2025. Amelia always has a real earnest vibe in interviews and I think that would be a great yarn. Get those stones rolling, Rolling Stone!!!
