Patrick ‘P.Mo’ Mowat and Rodney ‘Rodz’ Te Tawhero make up RTI Vibration, a name originally derived from the nickname for their hometown, Raetihi, but which has come to stand for ‘raw, talented, ...
READ MORE >Eclecticism is a common trait for artists wanting to stretch their musical boundaries. Known for their mostly instrumental, jazz-fusion albums, Carnivorous Plant Society (multi-instrumentalist Finn Scholes, ...
READ MORE >NZ On Air Music has released the list of 25 songs/artists that will receive funding from the July 2018 New Music Single funding – chosen from 166 applications. Notably, this round saw a gender split of 44% female, 48% male and 8% mixed-gender artists receiving grants. On the funding panel were; Radio One's Erin Broughton, Jeff Newton of NZ On Air, producer Josh Fountain, publicist Lisa Paris, Petrina Togi-Sa’ena of the Pacific Music Awards Trust and The Edge's Sean Hill. The next ...
READ MORE >Life after boybands: how singers from Westlife, Boyzone and Bros coped when reality hit. What do you do when global fame is pulled from under you? Over at The Guardian, Brian McFadden, Keith Duffy and Matt Goss discuss their curious – and sometimes difficult – transitions to the real world... Read the full article here.
READ MORE >The Alexander Turnbull Library, part of the National Library of New Zealand, has become the safe and secure repository of Flying Nun Records’ collection of master tapes. The library’s archive of NZ music now includes several hundred masters from recordings made between 1981 to the mid-2000s. The collection includes tracks from legendary Nun acts that include The Chills, The Bats, The Verlaines, JPSE, Look Blue Go Purple, Sneaky Feelings, Headless Chickens and Bailterspace. “The music of ...
READ MORE >APRA has announced the top 20 finalists for the 2018 Silver Scroll Award. The annual award recognises outstanding songwriting, as voted for by fellow Kiwi composers and songwriters. The semi-finalists (list and Spotify playlist below) were chosen from over 200 entries by a panel of songwriters who have themselves each made some wonderful NZ music. The nine judges were: Anji Sami, Anna Coddington, Cherie Mathieson, Jane de Jong (Ruby Frost), Hollie Fullbrook, Nadia Reid, Phil Bell (DJ Sir-vere), ...
READ MORE >Hailing proudly from the Bay of Plenty, Siena Mascheretti aka Siena Stone plays guitar (primarily) and dabbles on the piano. Her debut “public” single Freewheeler features on the August 2018 NZ On Air's NewTracks compilation, along with 27 other artists. Identified as an Alt & Indie track, Freewheeler is about the world's fascination with rock stars of the ’60s and ’70s,Bob Dylan in particular. Written when she was a teenager herself, the song’s title is a nod to one of his earliest ...
READ MORE >With the early 2018 release of their prophetically-titled debut EP, ‘Rise Of Destructatron’, five-piece Hamilton djent industrial metal band Destructatron bring their robot to life. “Our sole purpose is to make music that is fun to headbang to,” says guitarist Tim Ryan. Vocalist Alan Gregson, guitarists Ryan and Jesse Wheeler, Rob Walker on bass, Nate Walker (drums) and Cory McKenzie (synths/FX), are primed and ready get their music to the masses. Their eight-track EP showcases a band with ...
READ MORE >The title above is taken (a bit lazily perhaps), from the cover of Jed Parsons ’ shiny and polished debut album ‘Midnight Feast’ – the message you get when you lift out the CD. A nice touch in the presentation of an album full of nice musical touches, from an artist known for his niceness. Amberleigh Jack caught up with the Christchurch singer/songwriter ahead of his Auckland album release gig in July. Midnight Feast by Jed Parsons Jed Parsons is charming as hell. He’s warm and friendly ...
READ MORE >With his debut EP ‘Out Of Sight’ due on August 17, Christchurch musician Chris William is a fairly new name, despite having a broad range of musical experience. He's happy to have his music described as pop music with left field influences and is about to head out on an EP release tour that will see him playing in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. In this time of societal division and ready criticism, the single Out Of Sight has an inspirational origin, as Chris reveals. Can you tell ...
READ MORE >There is a very evident artfulness to both the music and presentation of Arma Del Amor, so it’s unsurprising that in discussion with them moody ‘90s dance trio Massive Attack warrant a mention. Beautifully floating vocals were part of that act’s chart-topping appeal, and in Arma Del Amor Martine Harding provides the lyrical and vocal track to Danny Fairley’s synths and beats. The Wanaka duo has released a debut album called ‘Onna Bugeisha’ in May. They talked with Mike Tweed about the ...
READ MORE >Auckland songwriter Sam Bartells is hardly prolific – it's around a year since he last released original material, and even longer between that and his prior single. There's good reason, namely struggles with addiction – and life in general as he reveals. Not to mention the old chestnut of determining just what is the right kind of music to write? Released at the end of July, Our Love May Go Away is an appealingly honest tribute to that time. What's your musical background, Sam? My first ...
READ MORE >Push Push are sick of being messed around and are moving to Australia this month. [Published in NZM 25 years back, July 1993.] Since the five-piece rock sensations' debut single, Trippin', soared to number one in the charts two years ago, Push Push feel they've suffered the infamous NZ tall poppy syndrome, and the music industry hasn't given them the support they deserve. They will arrive in Australia without a record company behind them – they effectively tore up their contract with Festival ...
READ MORE >Invited as an SAE Auckland employee to observe and absorb APRA AMCOS NZ’s SongHubs Sphere event last week, Lani Purkis reports that it was “a life-changing experience.” After mulling it over for a few days she provided NZM with this intriguing personal account. I have been battling with how to put August 6 - 10 2018, into words. SongHubs Sphere was a week in the studio without men – something I didn’t experience much as the bass player for Elemeno P. Often on tour I’d be the only girl ...
READ MORE >A lucky 13 different acts have been chosen to perform at the Going Global Presents 2018 showcase on September 1. Brought to you by the letters a, j, n, o, s, t and u – this year's showcase features artists crossing a suitably eclectic variety of genres. Alphabetically they start with R&B/soul artist Alayna; Americana-folk trio Albi & The Wolves; psych folk artist Arthur Ahbez; folkster Holly Arrowsmith; alt-pop duo Jaggers X Lines; electro-pop performer Nakita, popsters Nomad; ...
READ MORE >Filling in the gap for small venues, Auckland's Secondhand News sets up occasional house concerts, the latest a performance of Christchurch troubadour Adam McGrath (The Eastern). Photographer Trevor Villers joined the small group of punters in a suburban living room. "He was in fine fettle too. Lots of smiley faces about the place, many of them familiar," Trevor tells us.
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