Seven years after he hung up his headphones at bFM, Mikey Havoc – musician, trouble maker, radio talent extraordinaire – is back at the station that made him. Ahead of his first Breakfast show on May 8th, Havoc sat down with his former producer José Barbosa to explain what lured him home. Mikey Havoc, the old … Read more
The Spinoff Music team review albums from David Dallas, Gorillaz, John Mayer and Craig Finn. ALBUM OF THE WEEK David Dallas – Hood Country Club D.Dot grows up gracefully Aging gracefully in the world of rap has never been easy, especially not in New Zealand. Name an artist that has come anywhere close to longevity and there’s guaranteed … Read more
Over lunch at Balmoral Chinese restaurant Spicy House, Henry Oliver asks David Dallas about how growing older, getting married and watching Roger Federer all influenced his new album, Hood Country Club. This has been the longest gap between albums for you, right? Everyone’s saying that. It doesn’t seem as long as it is, but when … Read more
With the penultimate season on Lightbox this week, Alex Casey does a deep dive into Reddit to find all the Psycho references in prequel series Bates Motel. As the Scary Movie franchise has demonstrated, nothing gets the party started like a pop culture reference, however slight or heavy. Bates Motel, both a prequel to and … Read more
Alex Casey talks to comedian Ed Gamble about his time impersonating a prince on Almost Royal, and how to catch a catfish. The BBC America series Almost Royal follows the aristocratic sibling duo Georgie and Poppy Carlton – supposed descendants of the royal family – as they travel to the United States to meet the … Read more
As part of Equalise My Vocals, a new Spinoff project focusing on equality in the music community, Coco Solid speaks with musician and audio engineer Jana Whitta. Jana Whitta (Ngāti Kahungunu) is a local audio engineering/music community overachiever who has seen and literally heard it all. Her journey in music has taken her from a teen … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens making the news. Today, Sensing Murder psychic Kelvin Cruickshank attempts to contact Jonah Lomu, again. Click here to watch Kiwis of Snapchat #1 featuring Jami-Lee Ross
In a tell-all appearance on The Real Pod this week, ex-Bachelor Jordan Mauger revealed how he chose the winner of season two, among other confessions including when he really wore the earpiece. Jordan Mauger, star of The Bachelor NZ season two, has revealed to The Spinoff that he flipped a coin to decide who was … Read more
In a Very Special Episode of The Real Pod, Jane Yee and Alex Casey have a revelatory two-on-one date with ex-Bachelor Jordan Mauger. Welcome to a landmark episode of The Real Pod, where Jane and Alex are joined LIVE and IN PERSON by Jordan Mauger of The Bachelor NZ 2016. Despite his resistance to watching … Read more
Kate Robertson on why Ariana Grande is more relevant than Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Fifth Harmony combined. Ariana Grande is incredible. Criminally underrated and often overlooked, her potential to be recognised as pop music’s It Girl has consistently been overshadowed by the more iconic players in the game. She’s always there, lurking around the top … Read more
Alex Casey tackles the sixth week of The Bachelor NZ, including tuk tuk tension, elephant dung and a dolphin in the mansion. In a bold comparison drawn by Ally, spending time with Zac in Bangkok this week was like “winning a ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.” Swapping out the everlasting gobstoppers for dried scorpions, and … Read more
The Spinoff’s in-house therapist Ms X returns after reading a concerning article about The Bachelor NZ contestant Claudia Hoskins. On Sunday morning, a reality TV article filed under the Entertainment section of the Herald caused me to fire off more “wtf” texts than I usually do. The Herald quoted a Woman’s Day article in which … Read more
How will Three add some Kiwi flavour to the unmissable televised trainwreck that is Married at First Sight? Tara Ward has some suggestions. Ladies, drag that net curtain off the window. Fellas, you might like to wash and condition your facial hair, because a new reality tv franchise is about to hit our shores in a Cyclone … Read more
Kate Robertson talks to Nakita about making music with some of New Zealand’s best pop songwriters. The name Nakita might not ring any bells just yet, but chances are you’ve heard at least one of her upbeat and youthful electronic pop songs blasting from the sound system of a hip clothing store or on the … Read more
As part of Equalise My Vocals, a new Spinoff project focusing on equality in the music community, Coco Solid speaks with Auckland musician and bar-keep Dorian Noval. Raised in the Philippines as a child, Dorian Noval’s family moved from the city of Cebu to New Zealand when she was ten. Coming of age in Wellington … Read more
In her first New Zealand interview since the release of ‘Green Light’, Lorde talks about her return to the stage at Coachella last weekend, Melodrama‘s surprisingly traditional roll-out, and what the deal is with the party tank. On Easter weekend Lorde played her first major show in nearly three years, sub-headlining the main stage at … Read more
The Spinoff and Spark proudly present Pod On The Couch, a weekly podcast exploring music and the people that make it. This episode: Henry Oliver talks to Ben Howe about Record Store Day and selling LPs to teenagers. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to Ben Howe, founder of Arch Hill Recordings, managing director at Flying Nun Records and … Read more
The international music community is beginning to take notice of Amelia Murray, who has been releasing music as Fazerdaze since 2014. After seeing her play in April last year, David Farrier followed Amelia Murray over the following year as she completed her album, Morningside, and prepared her band to take on the world. “Who is Fazerdaze?” … Read more
Ghazaleh Golbakhsh can’t stop watching property porn, from Location, Location, Location to The Block NZ. As a lifelong renter, she wonders why she bothers. A few years ago, I remember being at a party and witnessing my friends who had all just bought into the property market (yes there really was a time) moan on … Read more
Tomorrow is Record Store Day. Up and down the country music fans will be swarming their local record stores to buy records and see bands play. Here’s what’s happening when and where. Some people love it. Others hate it. Some people used to love it and now hate it but want to love it again. … Read more
David Farrier was sucked into a tickling vortex back in 2014, and spent the next few years immersed in the world of Competitive Endurance Tickling. Throughout 2016 he took the resulting film, Tickled, to festivals around the world and followed it up with The Tickle King on HBO last month. After three years he was … Read more
Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature where we trawl their catalogue for shows you might want to watch. This week, we outline six things you need to know about Six. New to Lightbox this month, History Channel original action series Six follows the daily lives of the members of the Navy SEAL Team 6 … Read more
Aaron Yap binges local series This Is Not My Life, a sci-fi mystery that could sit comfortably alongside Black Mirror and Orphan Black, and asks why New Zealand has stopped making genre TV. In this recent Spinoff piece, I wrote about my experience, or more so lack of, with New Zealand television. I pondered … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to Emily Edrosa, the creative force behind Street Chant, whose second album Hauora won the Taite Music Prize this week. On Tuesday night, Street Chant won the 2017 Taite Music Prize for their second album Hauora. The band’s singer/guitarist/songwriter/producer/etc, Emily Edrosa, was in Los Angeles where she has lived since shortly after the … Read more
Fresh from rocking Coachella, movie score titan Hans Zimmer is coming to Auckland to perform one show only, Hans Zimmer Revealed. He spoke to Madeleine Chapman about some of his most recognisable scores and how he avoids repeating himself. Whether he realises it or not (he definitely doesn’t), Hans Zimmer has scored the past five years … Read more
Calum Henderson watches TVNZ DUKE’s new fishing show Screaming Reels, Leigh Hart’s latest comedy venture to rival Outdoors With Geoff. Editor’s update: Screaming Reels premiered on Australia’s Channel 7 at 10.30am on Saturday 27 categorised under “sport” and “reality”, raising some questions as to whether or not our Trans-Tasman neighbours realised it was a parody. The network denies … Read more
Tara Ward drops her shortbread in fright as a brand new trailer for Outlander season three arrives out of nowhere. Praise be to all things mythical and bagpipey, for the latest Outlander preview dropped yesterday like a hot bannock onto a dusty floor. The fevered sighs of malnourished Outlander fans reverberated around the world, much … Read more
Jane Yee, Alex Casey and FAMOUS BACHELORETTE SHARI FLAVALL gather around the oval table and talk about the latest happenings in New Zealand television and real life in New Zealand. With Duncan rocking a flower crown with the best of them at Coachella, Alex and Jane are joined by Shari Flavall of The Bachelor NZ … Read more
Tonight the Taite Music Prize will present The Clean with the Independent Music Classic NZ Record award for their 1981 EP Boodle Boodle Boodle. Hussein Moses talked to the band and those involved to dig up the inside story of a record that became a New Zealand indie music legend. It was a defining moment … Read more