Put them together and malt, water, hops and yeast creates something beautiful. Henry Oliver looks inside his beer, and discovers it’s really quite simple. In some ways, buying beer is more complicated than ever. What seemed like a simple choice in the past – basically: lager, ale or something fancy-sounding – is now complicated by … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Devin Abrams, who makes music as Pacific Heights, about his dreamy new album and making a huge pop hit with Drax Project. Devin Abrams knew he had to finish his new album as Pacific Heights, A Lost Light, quickly. With a baby on the way, he knew his life was about … Read more
This week, Airbnb announced the New Zealand-wide launch of its ‘experiences’ guided tours and the forthcoming Airbnb Plus. These extensions to the global brand’s business got Henry Oliver thinking about the future of travel and the places we call home. Friends, I have seen the future. And, I must say, it’s a little underwhelming. Rather … Read more
Today, the National Business Review, New Zealand’s most prestigious and weirdly-run business publication, published its annual Rich List. If you’re interested but not interested enough to subscribe, here are our biggest takeaways. 1. Graham Hart is way richer than Peter Thiel Like, wayyyy richer. Two-and-a-half times richer. Putting aside how weird it feels to see … Read more
With its fascinating regional diversity, New Zealand’s most popular red has evolved into a wine that’s making the world sit up and take notice. Pinot noir is a fickle friend. It’s one of the most difficult grapes to grow and wines to make. It requires a sunny, cool climate; its tightly clustered bunches are particularly … Read more
The Phoenix Foundation’s Samuel Flynn Scott on longevity, listening to your old work and the band’s four-date tour with the NZSO to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Tonight, in their hometown of Wellington, the Phoenix Foundation start their four-city tour with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in celebration of the band’s 20th anniversary. Like many things … Read more
Henry Oliver asked John Tookey, AUT’s deputy head of the School of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Science, to explain how Ebert Construction is going bust just as New Zealand’s building industry is supposed to be ramping up. This morning, construction company Ebert Construction went into receivership, leaving workers on several major projects across the country … Read more
What’s the best way for under-privileged kids to get the nutritious school lunches they need? This post was originally published on 26 July 2018 Yesterday, Eat My Lunch, the social enterprise which provides a lunch for a hungry school kid for every lunch it sells to the public, came under fire for claiming that 290,000 … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Jon Toogood, best known as the frontman of evergreen rockers Shihad, about the new record of his collaborative project The Adults. Last time I talked with Jon Toogood – Shihad frontman, wild rock’n’roll singer, wirey mass of relentless energy – he had recently got married and was preparing for the album tour … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Eddie Johnston, the man behind Lontalius, about living and working in LA and his first new music in two years. Eddie Johnston, who makes music as Lontalius (and also as Race Banyon, but that’s another story), grew up as some sort of Wellington indie rock prodigy – going to cool shows … Read more
Once Auckland’s retail centre, K’ Road was forever changed by the Western Motorway, but is on its way back to being a thriving retail centre where more and more people want to live. Henry Oliver went to look at one apartment building’s addition to K’ Road’s continual evolution. The ‘real’ Karangahape Road – like the ‘real’ … Read more
Henry Oliver explores the corridors and changes happening at Auckland Museum, and what they say about Tāmaki Makaurau. Cities change. It’s part of their essential nature. A product of their population, cities are constantly transforming as they attract new people and lose others. While the hills and the water and sky remain, essentially, unchanged, everything … Read more
This morning, news reports confirmed that the speedway will be leaving Western Springs. In today’s cheat sheet, we explain where it’s going and what’s going to take its place. Hey, so I hear the speedway is getting kicked out of Western Springs… Well, kinda. According to my former-colleague and still-neighbour Simon Wilson, the operator of … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to pop artist Matthew Young about his new EP and re-evaluating success after mental illness. “I’m very obsessive,” Auckland-based pop artist Matthew Young tells me near the end of the almost two hours we spent talking over juice and chocolate tart at a bakery in Pt Chev. Every night since the first week … Read more
For The Spinoff Music, the big question of the day isn’t what dress Meghan Markle is going to wear, but what song she’ll be dancing to with Harry. Thanks to Spotify, here’s our best guess. Choosing a song to have your first dance to as a married couple is either super easy or super hard. … Read more
Earlier this week, a concerned parent shared photos of an NZ Drug Foundation pamphlet that was being used in a high school health class. Controversy, of course, ensued. But what exactly was the pamphlet? And what were the kids doing with it? So, I’ve been hearing about this drug pamphlet telling kids how to do … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Wellington artist and producer Estère about technology, attention and her new album My Design, On Others’ Lives. Estère has had one crazy year. She’s released a conceptual double album, My Design, On Others’ Lives (recorded with help from NZ on Air) opened for Grace Jones toured Africa, Europe, Scandinavia, UK, South Korea, Australia and … Read more
This week, Fijian-New Zealand artist Luke Willis Thompson was short-listed for the Turner Prize, Britain’s most prestigious contemporary art award. Don’t know what that means? We’re here to help. I see contemporary art is in the news again. What charlatan is leaching from the public purse for their conceptual pile of trash this time? First … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Kimbra, the Hamilton-raised, New York-based art-pop star, about her new album, Primal Heart. Since leaving New Zealand ten years ago (and topping the singles charts of twenty-something countries with Gotye seven years), she’s moved to LA and then to New York where she set up a home studio to write what … Read more
Last week, Auckland-based producer and musician October released her debut album, Ultra Red. She tells Henry Oliver about how, two months before the album’s intended release, she took the recordings back and remade it by herself. “I had my pre-album release freak out – no big deal, I just reproduced the entire album, as you do,” … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to E^ST, a young Australian pop artist whose two recent singles are turning heads around the world. Last week, up and coming Australian pop singer-songwriter E^ST (pronounced ‘East’) released her new single ‘Blowjob’, a confrontational look at the loneliness and emptiness that can result in the mismatched expectations of hook-ups. “I really … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to JessB about her first EP and how her professional netball career is helping her in the music industry. JessB is a force of focus and energy, the kind of person that seems to, at all times, be moving toward some kind of achievement. A bit over a week ago, Jess (birth … Read more
Auckland bar/venue/restaurant The Golden Dawn is closing for good on Saturday. Four days before its final party, Henry Oliver talked to entertainment manager Matthew Crawley and general manager Nick Harrison about the birth, death and music of the weirdest bar on Ponsonby Road. For the last seven and a half years, The Golden Dawn has … Read more
Henry Oliver sits down with Freddie Highmore to talk about his TV journey from the cellars of Bates Motel to the corridors of The Good Doctor. In The Good Doctor, Freddie Highmore plays Shaun Murphy, a surgical resident with autism and savant syndrome. So, basically, he’s both a genius with diagnostic powers exceeding those of his superiors at … Read more
Last night, during Cyclone Hola, King Krule played Silo Park as part of the Auckland Arts Festival. Henry Oliver was there in all the wet weather gear he could find. If you despair about that state of music, you need to listen to King Krule. If you’re worried about streaming and the unfettered, ahistorical, decontextualized … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Astro Children’s Millie Lovelock about the band’s new single and Dunedin’s indie music generational rift. The Spinoff: So… You’ve got a new record out? Millie Lovelock: Yeah, it’s exciting and stressful and all sorts of fun things. How come it’s stressful? I don’t know, I just find the releasing music quite difficult. It … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Beck about guitars, Bruno Mars, and his new album Colors. Last weekend, I left the early-afternoon heat of Auckland City Limits to meet Beck, a seemingly ageless musician who’s been musically mutating for over 25 years now. In person, Beck is small, slight and smiley. He talks in a deep, mid-paced … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, Henry Oliver answers your questions about Donald Glover’s mysterious Pharos Experience announcement. So… Donald Glover is coming to play a Childish Gambino show in New Zealand? Yes. Kind of. Yes – he’s playing. Well, Childish Gambino (his current, … Read more
In February, Marlon Williams released the first great New Zealand album of 2018. He talked to Henry Oliver about the heartbreak and honesty that went into making it. “It’s not, but it is,” Marlon Williams said, introducing his song ‘Love is a Terrible Thing’ at a showcase for his new album, Make Way For Love, … Read more