Nocturnal Projections were a post-punk band from Stratford. Their sound has been described as "one of New Zealand's stand out responses to the bottomless pool of left-field sound coming out of the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s". The band was made up of Peter and Graeme Jefferies (vocals, guitar), Brett Jones (bass) and Gordon Rutherford. Resident at New Plymouth's Lion Tavern from July 1981 to February 1982, the band then shifted to Auckland, self-releasing their first single in June 1982 and their EP Another Year later that month. Their busy live gig schedule included supporting John Cooper Clarke and New Order in December 1982.

The members of Nocturnal Projections became involved with the New Zealand indie scene at its earliest stages, in1981 (the same year Flying Nun was established). Nocturnal Projections in particular is noteworthy because it is an early and influential form of 1980s New Zealand styled indie music which goes in a different direction than the jangly, bright, direct pop music that Dunedin became famous for. Nocturnal Projection is driving post-punk, with percussion-driven songs revolving around repetitive yet deceptively musically sophisticated riffs. It is recognisably music of the New Zealand scene, especially in how it is recorded: a direct, intimate, unadorned sound, but with a mood and themes closer to the darkness of Joy Division and The Velvet Underground than the lighter music New Zealand later became famous for.

Nocturnal Projections split in 1983, with Peter and Graeme Jefferies forming their own band, This Kind of Punishment, with Peter then pursuing a solo career and teaching music in Taranaki, while Graeme went on to form well known indie project The Cakekitchen.