Brand new agency Naked PR is currently accepting submissions of interest from musicians looking for free PR representation for the summer, and maybe even see them picked for the line up of a curated concert at Auckland's Whammy Bar! They are looking for indie guitar bands with an upcoming release or tour between December and February 2021, to do a publicity campaign for their summer projects. Submissions via email should include a link to music and a brief description of upcoming projects and ...
READ MORE >For the second year running, Benee has claimed the crown as Kiwi music’s ‘Queen Bee’, taking home another set of four Tuis from the freshly re-named Aotearoa Music Awards 2020, held at Spark Arena in Auckland on Sunday, November 15. Confirming her status as New Zealand’s trailblazing pop star, Stella Bennett started her night right by claiming Tui awards as our Best Solo Artist and Best Pop Artist, before claiming Single of the Year with her Covid-lockdown global smash hit Superlonely – ...
READ MORE >APRA have announced the producers and songwriters who will be taking part in the new Reo Māori SongHubs 2020 programme. The collaborative songwriting wānanga, will bring together experts in music creation and waiata reo Māori to further the development of a bi-lingual music industry. The curator of the program is superstar/producer/collaborator Joel Little, while pre-eminent mātanga reo/language specialist and songwriter Sir Tīmoti Kāretu is the reo curator. Five other mātanga reo/songwriters ...
READ MORE >Applications are now open for SongHubs Aotearoa in Napier, the first of a series of collaborative songwriting retreats that APRA AMCOS is presenting in five different locations across NZ during 2020 and 2021. They're bringing acclaimed local songwriters and producers - Devin Abrams (Shapeshifter, Drax Project, Pacific Heights), Estère, Kings and Simon Gooding (Pink, Dua Lipa, Mitch James, Alien Weaponry) - with them to collaborate with some of the Hawkes Bay region's best and brightest music creators. Applications ...
READ MORE >Getting onto NZ On Air Music's NewTracks compilation with your very first song ever released is rather remarkable. It sure helps if the aforementioned summery feel-good song was recorded and produced by none other than Tiki Taane, and if the song happens to altruistically support a charity well worth supporting, as is the case with young songwriter Analise Twemlow's debut Made in New Zealand... What's your name, where are you from and what instruments do you play? Analise Twemlow. I'm from Christchurch ...
READ MORE >Auckland pop duo Laiika is made up of two 18-year-old girls who have been making music for a lot longer than you might imagine. A similar time warp can be observed of the music they make; dream-pop dosed with the musical aesthetics of ’80s new wave and ’70s disco. Their first official release, Crush, is filled with jumpy bass and drums, as well as atmospheric synths and vocals that are relaxed and grooving. The easy-going pop sound convinced NZ On Air Music to feature it on their NewTracks compilation ...
READ MORE >Mali Mali, the adopted moniker of Auckland singer-songwriter Ben Tolich, is ten years old this year. Starting with 2010’s 'Brotherly' EP, it’s been enough time for him to develop a unique voice in his writing, picking his world apart to take listeners on journeys filled with dense symbolism and vibrant emotions hiding just beneath the surface of the mundane. His 2020 album, 'I Was Told to Keep an Eye Out', pushed this style even further, abstracting his songs’ structures into fluid, intricate ...
READ MORE >Award-winning Waitomo alt-country songwriter Kerryn Fields has just released a taster for her upcoming album 'Water', due in autumn 2021 – and holy smokes Batman, what a tune it is! Make space on your shelves next to the Nadia Reids, your Reb Fountains, Gillian Welchs, Neko Cases et al… Kerryn Fields’ Atlantis is so personal, tender and passionate at once, with production tastefully held back to put the vocal performance into the centre of the song. Kerryn possesses one of those voices nearly ...
READ MORE >Anthony Limbrick is a man of many talents, one of which used to be finding and sharing great new music via his Facebook page NZ Music 4U – which he put on indefinite hiatus in May this year. One can only assume that decision was made in the light of having his own musical projects ahead, as well as a new studio in central Wellington called PureSound occupying his time at that point. In October, he released an EP full of low key chill out electronic beats under the name of Bravo Bonez (pronunciation-wise, ...
READ MORE >You can tell Darren Watson enjoys a tongue-in-cheek joke just by the fact that he calls his own label Lamington Records, with a picture of whipped cream and cherry special as its logo. There are further clues in the title of his latest album, ‘Getting Sober For The End Of The World’, the cover picturing him reaching for a top-shelf whisky bottle – when the reality is that these days he’s given it away. Fellow blues aficionado Steve Hughes talked with Wellington’s top-shelf blues-folk musician, ...
READ MORE >It’s hard to imagine that Serious could be the first single that singer-songwriter Neko has released, her gymnastic voice is assured, and courtesy of a smart production team there’s a real sense of strength behind the youthful lightness of touch. NZ On Air Music agreed on the quality of the song and featured it on their NewTracks compilation this October. What’s your full name, where are you from and what do you play? My full name is Nganeko Kaera Whakaaro Wilson-Newman, it stands for the ...
READ MORE >Audiences for Auckland Museum’s Live At The Museum music gigs are typically diverse, united by their interest in seeing local acts perform in a more genteel environment than the norm. So it was for the crowd drawn to the museum’s opening night of a new series, combining the floating vocal simplicity of Tiny Ruins, with the cleverly subversive songsmithery and striking falsetto of Lawrence Arabia. As diverse as the audiences for these two artists might have been there was a palpable sense of ...
READ MORE >After a number of Covid-19-related delays, Record Store Day 2020 in Aotearoa took place on September 26, and like every year, photographer Trevor Villers went along to see what was happening in Auckland City. Here is a small selection of his many photos, including opening time queues, "plenty of masks (but no ear muffs!)", as Trevor observes, and, of course, lots of records.
READ MORE >Rubita is thrilled to invite North Islanders to one of the stopovers of the release tour for her debut indie-pop album 'Distinctive Thrill' this September. Rubita is the stage name for singer/songwriter Rachel Kibblewhite, who infuses her sweet and sparkling indie-pop with sultry, tropical melodies channelling the likes of Zero 7, Kimbra and Nancy Sinatra. Covid-19 or not, this tour is happening, and you can join the party of your choice. September 11, Wellington September 12, Whanganui September ...
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