Amanda Mills has been writing and reviewing for NZ Musician since 2007, and since 2011 has been employed at Hocken Collections in Dunedin, as a Liaison Librarian and Curator of the Music and AV Collections. With 2021 marking 40 years of Flying Nun, Amanda and her equally Kiwi music enthusiast colleagues set about figuring out how best the Hocken Collections might celebrate what was, by dint of office geography, after all, a Christchurch label. A fun, but hardly enviable task as it turns out. When ...

Michael Llewellyn McMillan hails from Warkworth, a fast-growing township town north of Auckland on the banks of the Mahurangi River. He lives in Auckland and is deeply inspired by the power of the landscape of the Taranaki region. In October this year, Llewellyn released his quite remarkable debut album titled ‘Oh My Darling’, and with it leapt into our musical consciousness with his reverential vocals and filigree guitarwork. Clare Martin helps in telling his extraordinary story. Oh My Darling ...

Mel Parsons always has an interesting project on the go. Following 2018's 'Glass Heart', an album that saw her winning the Tūī for Best Folk Artist, alongside nominations for both the Taite Music Prize and Silver Scroll Award, she did some high-profile theatre shows with local all-star casts, amid other Covid-impacted personal touring. The second half of 2021 brought new original material, including the latest single, Already Gone. Hayden Pyke talked to her. Made with the support of NZ On Air. Mel ...