A month after the release of their first album ‘Henry St’, the founding fathers of Auckland indie pop act Alae, Alex Farrell-Davey and Allister Meffen talked with Katherine Parsons about growing the ...
READ MORE >Recorded Music NZ has announced three finalists for the 2019 Folk Artist Tui Award to be celebrated at the 2019 Auckland Folk Festival on January 27. Strong newcomers Jono Heyes and The Frank Burkitt Band join two-time Best Folk Artist winners Great North as the 2019 finalists. Hailing originally from Central Otago, Jono Heyes’ 2017 album ‘9 Pilgrims’ was released in October and features a number of musicians from across the world – including Ireland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic ...
READ MORE >Intended for local art organisations, these Creative NZ-produced Youtube mini-seminars on the metrics of Instagram and Facebook are worth watching for anyone having to wrangle the necessity to be present on social media in 2019. While quite dry and introductory in nature they're a great starting point to help lift your understanding of the important subjects. Instagram Facebook
READ MORE >NZ On Air Music has published the results of their December 2018 New Music Singles funding round. Out of 159 songs that were submitted, 25 songs got through, including 10 artists who have not received NZ On Air funding before. The panel was made up of RNZ's Alex Behan, Erin Broughton of Dunedin's Radio One, Hannah Brewer of NZ On Air, Stuff's Kate Robertson, publicist Leanda Borrett, Reagan White of The Rock network and MMF's Wairere Iti. NZOA also announce a New Music Single funding ...
READ MORE >Nominations are open for the Taite Music Prize 2019. Any record label, self-releasing artist or music-related company is eligible to nominate NZ albums for consideration. More information, as well as the nomination form, can be found here. All entries have to be submitted by February 5, 2019. Inspired by the UK's Mercury Prize, the purpose of the awards is to recognise outstanding creativity for an entire collection of music contained on one album. The winner receives a cash prize of $10,000, ...
READ MORE >Paul Bimler and Gabriel Calcott have a long history of creating music together, most recently as reggae duo Reality Chant. Their single Future Navigator, featuring Wellington's Israel Starr, was included on NZ On Air Music's NewTracks compilation this December. NZM caught up with Gabriel (aka Messenjah) to find out more about this project. Hi Gabe, where are you from and what's your musical role? Kia ora. I was born Gabriel Calcott and raised in Otautahi. I also go by the name Messenjah. I'm ...
READ MORE >The humble USB audio interface. Since entering the MI market 15 years ago or so, they have become one of the most ubiquitous and taken-for-granted items within a musician’s kit. I still have a first generation Focusrite 2i2 bought some five years ago. These days it is somewhat forgotten on a shelf, but once every couple of months it comes out of its box and functions gloriously in whatever situation I throw at it. That’s what appeals to me about these devices. They’re simple, robust, and ...
READ MORE >It’s been a while between drinks and EPs down at Orangefarm. The band’s first, ‘Joined At The Hip’, was released in 2000 with its follow up, ‘The Water' in July this year. Richard Thorne caught up with band leader Nigel Mitchell, the quartet’s main — and well, only — man following their Kumeu Live performance in October. The Water by Orangefarm The seeds for Orangefarm were first sown back in 1992 when Nigel Mitchell formed Two Persons Bodiene with Peter Holm and Greg Goulding. ...
READ MORE >“We write songs in our style. And our style encompasses heaps of different stuff,” Drew Smith of Te Henga Collective explains. My Life - Single by Te Henga Collective “You get six different people’s personal taste of music and what they’d like to make, and then you just mash it all up, and that’s almost what it’s got!” adds Logan Callesen. So although many words are thrown over the table in an attempt to describe their music, only one seems to really capture the essence of the ...
READ MORE >You may remember him from such bands as the ’80s Flying Nun outfit Sneaky Feelings (who staged a return recently to release their new album ‘Progress Junction’ and play at the 2017 Others Way Festival) and Dribbling Darts of Love. Or perhaps The Muttonbirds and sometime later his own The Weather. As 2019 approaches Matthew Bannister has another new musical vehicle, to which he has attached the surely rather appropriate sobriquet The Changing Same. Kat Waswo talked with him about his music and ...
READ MORE >Singer/songwriter Camila Antonia Roa Núñez, aka Amila, was born in Chile but has been living in NZ for a decade now. Still attending high school in West Auckland she sent a demo of the first song she'd ever written to local record labels, which led to her being signed by Sony Music NZ. After working with songwriter and producer Alexander Wildwood her light and bright debut single Owe It All To You was released whilst she was in the middle of final school exams and featured on NZ On Air Music's ...
READ MORE >Hard case all right. Out of the blue, middle of a very busy week, promoting a gig… my usual part-time work dried up, bills piling in. Then… “Hey, Otis, would you like to review a high-end Martin acoustic for NZ Musician magazine?” -“Well hell yes!”. Martin’s 2017 Standard Series D-28 was delivered in its own elegantly shaped shell case, a dark grey, five-clasp, three-hinge, scalloped beauty, inset with the curved ‘C.F. Martin and Co’ logo on the lid, four sturdy upright and four ...
READ MORE >With Christmas parties left, right and centre, it's hard not to overdo it this time of the year. In case you missed Under The Arcade, a charming Christmas mini-festival set up by Arcade Records and Second Hand Records, you're in the luck because Trevor Villers took some photos of the night for us.
READ MORE >The weather could have been better, but the music and atmosphere at Devonstock 2018 were excellent, tells us photographer Trevor Villers, who headed out to make the most of his day on December 9. The line up was curated to showcase local newcomers, namely Ben Glanfield, Masonic Silk, Gretel, Munkhouse, Daffodils and Skilaa this year.
READ MORE >In spite of the weather, Grey Lynn Festival 2018 took place last weekend at trusty Grey Lynn Park. Photographer Trevor Villers reports back with photos. "It certainly was a grey old day. In fact, the sun didn’t come out until Che Fu came on well towards the end. He was in top form, but honours must go to his Dad [Tigi Ness, Unity Pacific] who was sublime. Some pretty resolute folk down there, with or without umbrellas."
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