Tāmaki Makaurau ALTFEST 2026 Announced ft. Swallow The Rat, Back To The Hillside + More

Aotearoa artist-run independent imprint Rothko Records are amplifying the fact that live local music is where it's at, assembling an awesome lineup for the first ever Tāmaki Makaurau ALTFEST. Co-curated by Angelo Munro — frontman of Bleeders and Erase Everything — and Rothko Records’ Mathew Bosher, eleven acts including guests from Pōneke and Tauranga will converge upon Morningside’s Big Fan for an early summer, all-ages extravaganza.

Kicking off at 4pm with back-to-back sets up until midnight, Tāmaki Makaurau ALTFEST boasts an inclusive and diverse selection of left-of-field, guitar-ripping sonics. The multi-generational bill includes world-touring noise-rockers Swallow the Rat and rising grungegaze four-piece Back To The Hillside co-headlining the fest, cult doom collective Demons of Noon, Tauranga post-punks Threat.Meet.Protocol, Pōneke shoegaze / fuzz dynamos King Hit, emerging heavy psych sludge crew Exit Sign (whose recent Fancy New Band live to air on 95bFM was excellent), the aforementioned Erase Everything, and even more.

Learn about the kaupapa of Tāmaki Makaurau ALTFEST from the organisers, scope out the official timetable below and celebrate your local underground on 5th December...

"Our goal with the Tāmaki Makaurau ALTFEST is simple: bring the wider alternative community under one roof and break down generational silos. Big Fan gives us an accessible, all-ages and licensed space where the new, savvy, DIY heroes can share a stage with artists who’ve toured the world for twenty years. It’s about learning from each other, cross-pollinating audiences, and celebrating the special culture of Auckland live music." - Mathew Bosher (Rothko Records)

"Having played in bands here and abroad for decades, you realise the scene only stays healthy if we actively build spaces where younger bands feel seen, backed, and challenged. Putting this bill together was about recognising authenticity and energy. Every band on this bill brings something undeniable to the table." - Angelo Munro (Bleeders, Erase Everything)

Rothko Records Presents
Tāmaki Makaurau ALTFEST
Saturday 5th December - Big Fan, Auckland

16:00 - Somniium
16:45 - Nailfile
17:30 - King Hit (WLG)
18:15 - Demons of Noon
19:00 - Exit Sign
19:45 - Threat.Meet.Protocol (TGA)
20:30 - Chlorine
21:15 - Sunwraith
22:00 - Erase Everything
22:45 - Back to the Hillside
23:30 - Swallow the Rat

Early birds on sale HERE via UTR (all-ages & licensed)

Hit play on the title track to Swallow the Rat's 2025 Face Unpopular EP...

Check out Back To The Hillside's 2024 single 'Worth (All For You)'...

Press release:

Artist-run independent label Rothko Records has announced the inaugural Tāmaki Makaurau ALTFEST, an 11-band gathering taking place at Morningside’s Big Fan on Saturday, 5 December. Co-curated alongside local scene legend Angelo Munro (Bleeders, Erase Everything), the all-ages and licensed event bridges Auckland’s emergent young alternative circuit with stalwarts of Aotearoa’s heavy and post-punk underground.

ALTFEST celebrates tenured artists and provides a platform for the next generation with a near-even split between senior and youth acts alongside touring guests from Wellington and Tauranga. Running continuously across eight hours, the festival showcases a spectrum of alternative adjacent genres: from shoegaze and post-punk, to sludge and prog.

Framing the bill’s two creative generations are co-headliners Swallow the Rat and Back to the Hillside. Seasoned post-punk outfit Swallow the Rat bring their dense, propulsive blend of prickly rhythm and psychedelic fuzz, honed across extensive US and European tours and supports for the likes of Sebadoh, Gang of Four, and Quicksand. Self-produced grungegaze torchbearers, Back to the Hillside, showcase their crushing wall of distortion and lush vocals as vanguards of the city’s underground youth circuit.

The veteran contingent of musicians features hardcore-infused alt-rock group Erase Everything (members of Bleeders, Shitripper, and Fever Lake), cinematic post-metal trio Sunwraith (ex-Decortica), monolithic doom act Demons of Noon, chorus-soaked heavy-hitters Nailfile, and visiting Tauranga hardcore agitators Threat.Meet.Protocol.

Representing the next wave alongside Back to the Hillside are fast-rising post-metal trio Exit Sign, Pōneke shoegaze/Midwest-emo outfit King Hit, and vital alt up-and-comers Chlorine and Somniium.