Neekoh: From Finland With Aroha
As a nation made up mostly of migrants, we often forget what some people leave behind in their home countries to live in NZ. Vibrant pop artist Niko Helenius, aka Neekoh, may be a newcomer to our shores ...
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News
2020 Pacific Music Awards To Go Ahead In September
The Pacific Music Awards Trust are very happy to announce that the 2020 Pacific Music Awards will go ahead as a (scaled back) live event on Wednesday, September 30, at the BNZ Theatre, Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau. The ceremony will be streamed live on the night and also will be filmed for broadcast as a television special on Tagata Pasifika on October 10. Acknowledging the 2020 finalists for their patience and understanding while options for this year's awards were worked through, the Trust ...
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2020 Waiata Māori Music Awards Nominations Open With Māori Music Month
August 1 marked the start of the fifth annual Te Marama Pūoro Waiata Māori - Māori Music Month, designed to nurture, grow and inspire up and coming performers and established artists alike. The start of the month also marked the opening of nominations for the 2020 Waiata Māori Music Awards. The awards celebrate music released in the year to June 2020 and artists can submit their work via the Waiata Maori Music website – nominations close on August 31. A panel of independent judges will ...
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New Music Single July 2020 Funding Results
Results are in for the New Music Single July 2020 funding round – the first singles round since NZ On Air were allocated additional budget to invest in New Music, via the Arts Recovery Package announced by the Government in late-May. Recipients now receive a $10,000 grant towards the costs of recording, video content and promotion for their single release, including a new 10% artist creation fee. In another new initiative Single funding recipients are also now offered a $500 additional allowance ...
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Music Venue Infrastructure Fund Open
Local music venues can now apply to the NZ Music Commission for the NZ Music Venue Infrastructure Fund. The contribution supports the infrastructure costs for original NZ music performance venues across the country. Applications will be open until 12 August 2020, or until the Fund is fully distributed (which may be before that date). Applications are encouraged from venues outside of the main centres to support ongoing domestic live touring, both nationally and in the regions. Criteria include ...
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NewTracks New Artist
NewTracks New Artist: Levi Lights On Project
Naming your band is hardly ever an easy task, but taking the easy option can prove a folly if there are one or more artists named anything similar. That simply ain't going to happen to Levi Sesega and his eclectically-instrumented cohorts in Levi Lights On Project – of that we're certain. As that vaguely confusing name possibly suggests it's hard to neatly categorise their music, elegant indie pop is a guide only, but if that comes close to turning your lights on then we strongly recommend you ...
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Sam Cullen: Chat Up Lines
Sam Cullen is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and Rockquest alumni, currently studying music at university in Wellington. Last year he was funking up the lounge dancefloor with Shut The Door, this August he's sitting alone at a bar table with All Night Long, life, after all, does have its ups and downs… and not all musicians are great at small talk. You can help cheer him up by buying his upcoming EP. Last year when we talked you had just moved from Invercargill to Wellington. How ...
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Laura-Mae: A Hint Of Stevie
'Laura-Mae from Golden Bay' slips off the tongue rather easily as an artist name for Takaka indie singer-songwriter, Laura-Mae Parker Barrett. Writing and performing folky pop songs in the vein of heart-on-the sleeve international peers King Princess and Alex Lahey, the 23-year old's acoustic debut single Betsy hit the internet in May, followed by the much slicker production of brand new indie-pop track Rug Of Numbers. Richard Thorne finds out more. Rug Of Numbers - nice metaphor, how and where ...
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Vanessa McGowan: Without Live Music, Who Am I?
Well folks, it’s been quite a year… and we’re only halfway through! I’ve already written about the Corona-crisis and how much life has changed in the last few months. I’ve also written about my first efforts to keep myself musically engaged and productive through this period; setting up a pretty decent home studio and working remotely with friends and colleagues for fun and (sometimes) money. So many of us right now are doing whatever we can to survive, unable to perform music because ...
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NewTracks New Artist: Hina
Aucklander Amy Boroevich performs as Hina. She was was lucky enough to be part of Pao Pao Pao music mentoring programme last year under the tutelage of (naming but a few) Ria Hall, Seth Haapu and Francis Kora. NZ On Air Music picked the resulting single Scratch for their New Tracks compilation this August. Officially the song will be out this Friday, but we're pleased to premiere it here today! What's your given name, where are you from and what instruments do you play? My name is Amy Boroevich. ...
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Madeleine Howard’s Mixtape
On July 31, Christchurch songwriter Madeleine Howard released Reaching Out, the third single from her upcoming September-release EP. Produced by Nomad's Will McGillivray, the song is special to her. "It's about two people who I was once really close with, and for various reasons have since drifted from. The song is my way of essentially reaching out to them." As lovers of a good playlist, we asked her to weave one around the new song, and give some of her picks a bit of personal context for us. ...
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Aotearoa’s musical hotbed is benefitting from a wave of songwriters, artists and producers who are now releasing music here, with the creative plus of having lived a part of their lives in environments quite outside of the norm for locally-born-and-raised Kiwis. Auckland student Aidan Fine is one such – indeed as a musician, he slips into all three categories – and has just released mellow hip hop track, Deadroses, that he sees as a milestone of his fledgeling career. NZ On Air Music liked ...
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Event Guide
Event Guide: Live Vibes w/ The Vibes, Strangely Arousing & Otium
How about recreating that cushy, cruisey, comfy lockdown feeling one more time, but this time with live sets by full bands you can stream from the convenience of your home sofa! Bringing you the full groove online at Live Vibes will be a line up consisting of Auckland X-factor funksters The Vibes, Strangely Arousing (Rotorua) and Otium (Whangarei), whose combined you-gotta-see-this live shows will be broadcast on Freeview Channel 200, as well as various social media channels, including NZM's own ...
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Gig Guide: Park Rd, Arlo Mac & There’s A Tuesday
Teenage Auckland band Park Rd have a very real mission: they believe that music can form a lifeline to those who feel lost or alone, especially young people like themselves. Their own special all-ages Level 1 celebratory gig is on Saturday June 27th at the Tuning Fork in Auckland, along with fellow Smokefree Rockquest finalists Arlo Mac and There’s a Tuesday. Tickets are on sale from Moshtix for just $15 – and they can’t wait to see you there. Released just ahead of NZ's Covid-19 lockdown, ...
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Gig Guide: Kerryn Fields, Auckland June 19
Award-winning alt-country singer/songwriter Kerryn Fields is back in the country from Melbourne to play a one-off solo show at Auckland's Wine Cellar on June 19. Rascal by Kerryn Fields Drawing comparisons with the likes of timeless creators, Cat Stevens, Townes Van Zandt, Joan Baez, and Neil Young, Fields’ trademark warmth of character - evident in both life and music - fuels a creative offering that’s equal parts captivating, refined and heartrendingly insightful. Tickets are available ...
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