NSL, the NZ distributor of legendary microphone and headphone brand Shure, have announced the winners of their ‘Shure: be the next Extraordinary Sound’ competition, which was promoted during NZ Music Month earlier this year.

“The response from artists around New Zealand was amazing, we had over 300 entries from both established and up-and-coming vocalists, bands, and musicians who wanted to be part of the Shure story,” says John Faulding, artist relations for NSL. “Many of them were already loyal to this iconic brand and it was really hard to choose the winners as the quality of talent out there was inspirational.”

The five winners will become Shure Artists and have already received exclusive Shure gear that includes custom-coloured SM58 microphones, in-ear headphones and merchandise.

They are:

• Cory Newman who is the frontman of punk band Sit Down In Front sings from a wheelchair. His band recently released their third long player, an EP tilted ‘Fuelling My Rage’.
• Rebel Reid is guitarist for the unique, female-led South Auckland band Valkyrie. Her band spent time this year in LA, recording singles and filming videos for their upcoming debut album.
• Reshma Martin is a Malaysian/Kiwi powerhouse pop/alt pop singer and songwriter who began her professional music career in 2016, after appearing on the final season of Malaysian singing competition Akademi Fantasia. 
• Thabani Gapara is one of the country’s most high-profile saxophonists. Originally from Zimbabwe, he currently performs with the likes of Katchafire, Stan Walker, Tomorrow People, Synthony, Hipstamatics and others.
• Wallace Gollan (aka Wallace) released her debut album ‘+Other Colours’ in August this year. Describing her music as ‘future soul’, Wallace draws from different influences including jazz, soul, hip hop and electronic music.