The Only One You Need - The Neighbours Compilation

We were going to be touring the West Coast and she’s from Greymouth so we decided to do it there. She got Alun Bollinger — the great DOP [director of photography] — who lived in Reefton. We met him and he asked for a day’s pay for a week’s work. We came into Blackball and the main street was full of trucks and vans and cranes — all willing to work for free because they were fans of the band. At the time there were lots of movies being made in New Zealand because of the tax breaks. and they used to film in off the wall places and we’d go and play for them so we had a following.

– Singer Trudi Green on working with director Gaylene Preston, AudioCulture, 13 May 2020

Word of our shoot had travelled and helpful locals wanted to join in. Everyone had something to contribute — a car, a costume, free labour. Each car came with a set of instructions about what to tell the traffic cop if we were pulled over ... The whole town of Blackball got into it.

– Director Gaylene Preston on the kindness of Blackball locals, in her 2022 autobiography Gaylene's Take - Her Life in New Zealand Film, page 214

We met Gaylene after a gig at The Cricketers pub in Wellington — we were packing up, she had returned to look for a cardigan she had left and we started chatting. She asked us if we were going to make a video, we replied no, but we’d like to and she said she was a filmmaker and that she would do it. You meet a lot of people after gigs who make all sorts of promises that don’t eventuate so I was sceptical ... We drove into Blackball in the midst of a South Island tour ... The Blackball Hilton, which was to be our base for the week was buzzing. All these people were there to make our video — professional film people who weren’t being paid. The street was full of vehicles and gear — all loaned, not rented. The whole week was a triumph of enthusiasm and cooperation — that’s "the power of Gaylene". It was one of the highlights of our long careers.

– Vocalist Trudi Green and Sam Ford on that time in Blackball, NZ Musician

[The Blackball Hilton was] a colonial hotel full of single beds, faded pink candlewick bedspreads and a cracked washbasin in every room. A speaker hung above every door; the current owner had wired the place for sound and blasted the Grateful Dead and The Doors to get everyone up in the mornings.

– Gaylene Preston on the Blackball Hilton, in her 2022 autobiography Gaylene's Take - Her Life in New Zealand Film, page 214