About I Hate Mondays

I made my first I Hate Mondays playlist in early 2015, as part of my application for a role as contributor for an Auckland based blog.

What was initially intended to be a one off, quickly evolved into its own entity of weekly (or as weekly as I can) installments, consisting of my top music discoveries from the weeks prior.

A bit about me

As a teenager I adopted a bit of a reputation for myself as a music geek. I had an undying passion for metal music, and immersed myself in the scene as much as I possibly could. I was constantly sifting through magazines, forums, podcasts and anything else I could get my hands on, I loved to be up to date. Most of all though, I loved discovering new artists/bands, to me the search was just as exciting as the discovery.

I grew up in Dunedin, with a paper run paying just over $8.00 an hour. It sounds like an exaggeration but I swear almost all of that money either went towards flights and concert tickets in Auckland or cymbals and hardware for my drum kit.

I moved to Auckland when I was 16 and gone were the days of dedicating months’ worth of savings towards flights and tickets for a singular concert. It’s fair to say, I’ve certainly made the most of living in New Zealand’s music capital, having probably attended well over 100+ shows since the move.

While my taste in music has evolved somewhat over the years, my passion and immersion in music has remained the same.

Soundcloud has been what I wake up these last few years, it’s stream to me has been what Facebook or Instagram newsfeeds are to others. I don’t even want to think about how much data I must have wasted over the years due to Soundcloud!

While it has always been the intention to release a playlist each and every week, it’s often been a lot easier said than done. I am also a third year medical student, and balancing the two has been a little difficult and stressful at times to say the least. I’m not dropping that to show off, but more to help explain why there’s been the odd dry spell between playlists at times.

I make no money from these playlists, nor have I ever received any. It has never been a motivating factor, but to know that even at least one person listens to and enjoys my playlists… That’s enough of a reason for me to keep doing so.

But because of this, it’s not really been possible for me to take on any additional contributors.

You may have noticed on the page’s Facebook posts that I’ve often said “we” as opposed to “I”. I decided to post about things as a collective simply because people just seem to take things more seriously if it sounds like you’re part of a group. But since day one, so far anyway, it’s just been me.

Up until now I Hate Mondays has existed purely as a collection of playlists on Soundcloud, but I hope to also use this as a medium for writing reviews and expressing my feelings and opinions on all things music related - on top of the weekly playlists.

Whether you are a dedicated follower or an occasional dabbler, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support, no matter how big or small, it’s so greatly appreciated and the reason why I keep doing this. I hope that you will enjoy these future additions as much as you have the playlists.

There will be many more of I Hate Mondays to come. We’re just getting started.

Much love,

Oli