2025
COVER STORY
Interviews
NO CIGAR: Deprecation Lies Under The Surface
Since lighting up in 2019 NO CIGAR have been captivating audiences on both sides of the Tasman with their infectious guitar-rich, semi-rock sound and compelling lyrical storytelling. Featuring among the ...
FEATURES
Interviews
Neive Strang: Space Inviter
Extending a catalogue of diversely successful indie releases, Ōtepoti artist Neive Strang has returned with her third album. Compiled over a four year period, ‘Find Me in the Rabbit Hole’ is a collection ...
Industry
Let’s Go: The New Mainz Channel
When Te Pūkenga dropped the bombshell news, early in 2023, that the flood-damaged Auckland MAINZ campus was not ever going to be re-opened, a group of dismayed MAINZ employees came together to mount a ...
Observation Posts
More Than A Mailing List: The Potential of Substack for Kiwi Artists
Dave Johnston is a music producer, mixing engineer, musician and educator. As the artist-producer behind n1ghtmar3cat he has adopted Substack as the online home for his n1ghtmar3cat Music Factory creative ...
Interviews
Brooke x Starce: Double Input x Double Output
Brooke x Starce are independent artists coming for the Aotearoa dance music scene, full throttle. These South Auckland twins form an unstoppable creative duo. From dancing, to lyricism, to beat production, ...
Interviews
Powder Chutes: Wickedness Increase
Self-described garage rock upstarts Powder Chutes look to be carving a track towards Shihad’s just-vacated crown as the nation’s leading hard rock exponents. A band of their youthful calibre coming ...
Interviews
Robinson: Becoming Happy To Create
Anna Robinson has a family history of moving around, and since her 2018 breakthrough single Nothing To Regret propelled her to international status the Greymouth-born pop artist has mostly made London ...
Interviews
Bub: They Certainly Can
If you believe their (probably) tongue-in-cheek hype, Bub is probably your new favourite band. Mixing doo-wop harmonies with post-punk energy, they make songs that hit you right in the feelings while ...
Ex-Pat Files
Ex-Pat Files: Lucie Watson
The website banner describes Inward Bound as a ‘London-based community supporting Kiwis in music’. The inwardbound.uk site includes pages of online resources covering things like visas, grants, venues ...
Interviews
Phoebe Rings: Drifting Into Reach
There’s a certain otherworldly quality that drifts through the music of Phoebe Rings, but if their self-titled EP was up in space, their debut album has landed back on earth. The Tāmaki Makaurau four-piece ...
Industry
What’s happening with Music? The proposed NZ On Air and NZ Film Commission merger
In February 2025 the Ministry for Culture & Heritage (MCH) released a discussion document outlining “five draft proposals to create modern media legislation for New Zealand’s media and content ...
Interviews
Byllie-jean: Independent Excellence Acknowledged
The 2025 Taite Music Prize ceremony held in Tāmaki Makaurau mid-April was memorable for several reasons. One of significance was the prevalence of Māori winners, with Mokotron taking out the night’s ...
LESSONS
Guitar Cool
Guitar Cool: The 80/20 Rule and How it Applies to Guitar
If you search ‘guitar lessons’ online something like hundreds of millions of guitar lessons come up! Almost all apply to physically playing the guitar – how to play different chords, songs, riffs, ...
X-Factory
X-Factory: Mel Parsons – Sabotage
Award-winning singer/songwriter Mel Parsons has developed a loyal fan base since releasing her debut album 'Over My Shoulder' in 2009. Her unique vocal tone, delicate guitar playing, and introspective ...