APRA have announced the 14 songwriters who will be taking part in SongHubs Ōtautahi | Christchurch in late March.

Curator Delaney Davidson will be supported by guests Julia Deans, Troy Kingi, Tami Neilson and Jol Mulholland.

Each day the participants will form different groups and each group will write a new song together in a separate studio space. Each songwriter has the opportunity to be a ‘lead’ songwriter at least once and will work with different guests during the week. Participants will also have the opportunity to work with Mātanga Reo to create lyrics in te reo Māori.

Participant songwriters

Ashy (CHC)

Ashy Batchelor is a pop artist with over 2 million streams across Spotify & Apple Music.  Her single Ego was added to Apple Music’s Top 100 Songs of 2020. 

Brooke Singer (WGT) 

Brooke Singer’s band French for Rabbits have seven international tours under their belt and have appeared in festivals from Iceland to Austin. Their music has featured on TV series’ including The Vampire Diaries and Being Human. 

Byllie-Jean (CHC)

Byllie-Jean Zeta / Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, has been performing in Ōtautahi for a decade with The Byllie-Jean Project, and in freestyle house bands. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Ara and teaches lyric writing. She is currently working to showcase Māori women in music. 

Chris William (CHC)

Bassist and vocalist Chris William has worked with a wide range of artists including Holly Arrowsmith, Nick Dow and Emily Browning. As a producer and songwriter he’s recently been collaborating with Byllie-Jean Zeta and Wairere Ropata. 

Name UL (WGT)

Emmanuel Psathas, Name UL, is a Wellington based hip hop artist who has recently returned from London. His collaborators include Drax Project, K-Lab, Eno x Dirty & Yancey, and Ariana Tikao. 

Emma Dilemma (CHC)

Emma Cameron – of the band Decades – has been writing and performing in rock bands since she was 15. She’s recently completed 11 solo songs under the handle Emma Dilemma due for release this year.   

Harry Parsons (AKL)

Since winning the national solo/duo category of Smokefree Rockquest in 2013, Harry Parsons has been writing and performing extensively. He’s opened for Tim Finn and Tash Sultana, and hit #3 on the NZ Singles chart with his single Complicate. 

Jenny Mitchell (DND)

Jenny Mitchell won the NZ Gold Guitar at 18 years old and has since toured Ireland & Australia, released two albums and a live EP. 

Josie Moon (WGT)

Josie Moon’s first single – Satellite was featured on MTV and her follow-up EP went to #1 in the Czech Republic. She’s played the main stage at Rhythm & Vines and opened for Tash Sultana.  

Mark Vanilau (CHC)

Winner of the 2014 Pacific Music Award for Best Song, Mark Vanilau counts Troy Kingi, Mara TK, Dave Dobbyn, Warren Maxwell, Tom Scott and Hollie Smith among his collaborators.  

Mad Frank (CHC)

Raquel Thomas, otherwise known as Mad Frank, is a singer/songwriter with interest in experimental sounds and song structures. 

Mousey (CHC)

A finalist for Best Independent Debut at the Taite Awards in 2020, Sarena Close, aka Mousey, was a Top 20 finalist for the APRA Silver Scroll in 2019 with her song Extreme Highs. 

Vallé (CHC)

Originally from Papua New Guinea, Tali Jenkinson moved to NZ as a child to be treated for malaria and remains deeply connected to his culture. He released his first song Love Me in 2018, and a recent mixtape ‘Care For Me’ featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday and more than 1,000 other playlists. 

Violet French (CHC)

Violet French began her career as a solo performer in Dunedin before moving to Christchurch and becoming a key player in the indie rock scene as a member of Kool Aid, Contact Rock, Tacoma Mould and Dogfish.  

SongHubs Aotearoa is a series of collaborative song-writing retreats that APRA AMCOS is presenting in five different locations across New Zealand during 2020 and 2021.