May is an extra special month for Oamaru School Community Officer Constable Jay Morriss.
It’s New Zealand Music Month - although every month could be music month as far as Jay is concerned.
“Music is my sport, my release, how I have fun and keep my head healthy, so I tend to play as much as I possibly can.”
Combining his busy work life with music has been helped by some supportive colleagues throughout his eight years working in Oamaru too.
“I’ve been really lucky to have managers who have encouraged me to think outside the box in terms of combining my work and music,” says Jay.
“My role is a School Community Officer, so I’ve been able to see opportunities where I can appeal and engage with people through music.
“However, there’s only been two times where I’ve been wearing my uniform while playing, and that was just because I was too busy, and in too much of a rush to get changed!”
One of those times that Jay rocked out in his blues was earlier this New Zealand Music Month with his band The Reveal, in a place that’s not often associated with loud music.
Oamaru Library has been the location of an initiative to bring together music events and performances that Jay has driven and organised for quite some time.
“Over the past five years, barring COVID, I’ve tried to create a bit of a vibe at the library during New Zealand Music Month having my band play there, and it works out well because we mostly play Kiwi covers.”
Jay also brings together a raft of other artists to perform over the month.
“This time around we’ve had the Waitaki Girls’ choir and also a waiata group.”
There have also been events such as demonstrations and talks coordinated by Jay, bringing together people he has met through his musical endeavours.
“We’ve had a couple of instrument builders too, who have made some really impressive percussive instruments. They’ve shown their creations, and they really like seeing them played.”
It’s certainly a rewarding time for the artists involved, and also for Jay who doesn’t mind the work involved in coordinating things.
“If I can find the time to organise these things and bring these people together through music, it brings me joy as well.”
Jay is always looking to expand his musical network, and a couple of years ago, through conversations with a colleague, he was able to set up another musical side project, one with even more of a blue tinge.
“I did a couple of shifts with Constable Olivia Winbush, who was working out of Waikouaiti at the time, and we got to talking about music and how much she enjoyed singing.”
“So, before you know it, we were jamming together with The Reveal, and formed a new band called Hot Mess to perform at the Harbour Street Jazz and Blues festival.”
“Olivia was pretty humble about her abilities, that’s for sure – she blew us away! It’s been great playing with her, and Hot Mess have even performed at Dunedin Central Station (pictured, right), which was really cool.”
So, does Jay have any further ambitions to combine his career in blue with his passion for music?
“In the back of my head I’ve got this idea that maybe there’s enough Police musos out there for us to create a real Police rock band – forget Sting, he doesn’t own the name ‘Police’ when it comes to music!”