Moments presents Discwoman is a series of shows, panel discussions and workshops aimed at encouraging more women and gender minorities to get involved with electronic music. Emma Hall-Philips, the founder of local collective Moments, tells Katie Meadows what it’s all about. Since its inception in 2014, New York-based collective Discwoman has become so much more … Read more
Miriama Aoake on JessB’s Block Party, an event which celebrated both the release of JessB’s debut EP and women of colour in New Zealand hip-hop. Last Friday, Galatos played host to a sundry of performances curated by JessB, coinciding with the release of her debut EP, Bloom. The night served to both celebrate and exhibit the potency … Read more
Jessie Moss talks to Coco Solid about her upcoming mixtape, what Waitangi Day means to her, and how she stays cool on these increasingly muggy days. In the middle of the hottest week Aotearoa has seen in years, somewhere in Auckland Coco Solid is getting a lot of things done. I first met Coco in … Read more
2017 was the 10th year of Auckland Museum’s popular panel discussion series, LATE. The person behind LATE, Dina Jezdic, looks at the events’ role in giving the museum a modern, provocative voice. The creation of ‘museum’ as a public space, open to anybody, is a very radical concept. Today it is something we take for … Read more
The world famous Girls Rock! Camp is coming to New Zealand. Two of the event’s organisers, Jana Whitta and Nicole Gaffney, had a chat to US-based musician and mentor Fiona Campbell about the initiative and the impact the camps have had around the world. The first ever Girls Rock! Camp Aotearoa is taking place at MAINZ … Read more
Jessie Moss crunches the numbers on the VNZMAs and discovers some surprising – and unfortunately not so surprising – facts about gender representation in our biggest music awards. 2017 has been a big year for women in the New Zealand music industry. There has been constant agitation at the roots, propelled by the likes of … Read more
Being a woman in rock shouldn’t be something worth writing about, writes Emma Cameron of Christchurch band Decades. Yes, I am a woman and yes, I play rock music – but the truth is, I did not grow up being aware that I was different for being someone with breasts and a vulva playing a … Read more
Last week, the Otago Daily Times published a conspiratorial and objectively terrible opinion piece claiming APRA’s ‘gender-affirmative action regime’ is a mediocrity-encouraging membership drive. Dunedin musician, pop music scholar and APRA member Millie Lovelock responds. It’s a losing battle, arguing with idiots. Unfortunately, being an idiot is currently very much en vogue in Dunedin, especially … Read more
Miriama Aoake reacts to the male-dominated lineup announcement for dance music festival Northern Bass. It’s hardly surprising that last week’s first lineup announcement for Northern Bass hardly set Aotearoa alight. The festival’s lineup has remained relatively unchanged for perhaps the past 10 to 15 years, with the exception of two or three international headliners. One … Read more
After last month’s Equalise My Vocals events on gender equality in music, Coco Solid reflects on the project and shares video and audio of the panel discussions. Equalise My Vocals was a project about everyone being treated fairly within all factions of New Zealand music. That’s it. Over a year in the making, the project – … Read more
A classical pianist turned singer and producer, Tei has just released one of the best New Zealand mixtapes in ages. She talks to Alaistar Moghan about the making of OMW. It’s a familiar narrative. The self-taught bedroom artist watches a few YouTube tutorials, buys some basic kit, uploads a track to SoundCloud and it blows … 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 multi-disciplinary punk Sarsha-Leigh Douglas. Sarsha-Leigh Douglas (Ngāti Maru, Te Arawa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Kahungunu) is a local punk icon with an array of bands, underground projects and achievements under her heavy belt. … 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 Coco Solid and Trixie Darko about Equalise My Vocals. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver talks to Coco Solid and Trixie Darko about Equalise My Vocals, a panel event and music showcase on gender … 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
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
As part of Equalise My Vocals, a new Spinoff project focusing on equality in the music community, Coco Solid speaks with the DJs behind Auckland club night Fully Explicit. Fully Explicit is a monthly club night held in Britomart, downtown Auckland. Free to the public, the night specialises in club bangers, explicit rap and R&B (of … Read more
As part of Equalise My Vocals, a new Spinoff project focusing on equality in the music community, Coco Solid speaks with Marie Celeste Lawrence about her work as a promoter, event manager and musician. In Auckland, Marie Celeste Lawrence is a fixture within the male dominated worlds of event management and music promotion. A music … Read more
As part of Equalise My Vocals, a new Spinoff project focusing on equality in the music community, Coco Solid speaks with Jessie Moss about her research on gendered participation in the music industry. Jessie Moss is an educator, musician, writer and Te Reo Māori enthusiast who lives in Newtown, Wellington, with her partner and two … Read more
An update from Coco Solid on Equalise My Vocals, a new project focusing on gender equality in the music community. Ngā mihi nui! Firstly I’d like to thank everyone, including The Spinoff, for supporting the Equalise My Vocals crowdfunder to get this mini-summit off the ground. Gender equality in New Zealand music is something we … Read more
Coco Solid and The Spinoff wants to have an actual conversation about gender equality in New Zealand music. That’s why we’ve teamed up to launch a new project focusing on sexism and sexual assault in the music community – and we’re inviting you to get involved. Writing was always the more traditional interest of mine, … Read more