Former Street Chant frontperson Emily Edrosa releases her long-awaited debut solo album today. In honour of its arrival, we asked her to explain what inspired Another Wave Is Coming. 1. Mould I spent the four years that I lived in LA drying out, literally. When I lived in the Grey Lynn flat where Street Chant … Read more
The erstwhile Vodafone Music Awards returned to Spark Arena last night with a new format – and a new Covid-inspired appreciation for the joys of live music. Here’s what Spinoff’s staffers thought. There was a moment during the awards last night where I had a rare feeling (for 2020 anyway) of hope. Maimoa had just … Read more
If you’ve listened to New Zealand music from the last decade-and-a-half, chances are you’ve heard the influences of Josh Fountain. He has collaborated with Benee on a string of hits. He’s just collected the Aotearoa Music Award for producer of the year for the second year running. And he’s achieved it all with debilitating arthritis. … Read more
Twenty years ago, TV made TrueBliss into New Zealand’s biggest girl band. In this piece, first published in 2019 by AudioCulture, Gabe McDonnell tracks the rise and fall of the country’s first made-for-TV popstars. Before “Our image is kind of like naughty but nice.” Once upon a time in 1999 Peter Urlich sat sipping wine … Read more
In the last year, Benee has taken the world – or at least TikTok – by storm with her viral hit singles ‘Glitter’ and ‘Supalonely’. Ahead of her debut album release, the young star spoke to Elle Hunt about going international from her Auckland home. This time last year, Benee won not one, not two, … Read more
For an entire generation of music lovers, Ready to Roll was appointment viewing. In this piece, first published by Audioculture, Fiona Rae looks at the impact the show had on New Zealand and our appreciation of homegrown music. TVNZ’s news hour at 6pm has always rated big, but from the late 1970s it had a … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Morgan Donoghue from InMusic. Auckland’s Karangahape Rd has long been a home of live music, but it might … Read more
Drax Project are back from LA, and finalists in next month’s Aotearoa Music Awards for single of the year. Sherry Zhang catches up with the band as they get ready to release their new single ‘Firefly’. In a corner of the lounge at Universal Music’s Auckland offices sits an oversized plaque, made to commemorate a … Read more
Each year, the highlight of the annual Silver Scrolls aren’t the speeches, but the covers. In advance of tonight’s ceremony, Sam Brooks runs down his favourite performances since 2010. Tonight is the 2020 APRA Silver Scroll Awards, New Zealand’s most prestigious prize for songwriting (and you can stream them right here from 7:30pm). The nominees … Read more
After a lockdown spent creating stop motion in their laundry, Sports Team is now nominated for an Aotearoa Music Artisan award. The duo talk to The Spinoff about making music videos. The first music video Annabel Kean and Callum Devlin made was accidental. It happened on a date, wandering around Auckland city, Kean wearing a … Read more
One of New Zealand’s most revered culinary exports, BurgerFuel is also one of our most enduring. With the renowned burger chain reaching its big two-five this month, we reached out to a few of the folks who’ve worked with them along the way. Every great story has to start in a particular place. For BurgerFuel, … Read more
After almost 15 years together, Cut Off Your Hands are officially disbanding. Frontman Nick Johnston spoke to The Spinoff about where he’s been and where he’s going. Three years into their decade-and-a-half-long career, Cut Off Your Hands needed a break. The Auckland band were high-energy, sweaty, and perpetual; frontman and singer Nick Johnston reckons they … Read more
Disclosure are an act whose huge success comes from their sheer unpredictability. Andrew Drever talks to half of the duo to get the story behind their new album. In the long lead-up to Disclosure’s latest album, Energy, the UK dance music duo have been releasing standalone singles and EPs that are experimental, sample-heavy and strongly … Read more
Pop star Benee has launched her own record label, Olive and her first signed artist is a young Raglan lad called Muroki. The Spinoff spoke to them both about their next moves. Young Benee’s having a big week. Her latest music video, for the wavy post-lockdown song ‘Snail’, was released this morning. She’s just been … Read more
Simon Grigg writes on the phenomenon of the New Zealand records which now fetch thousands online – and details a few of the more interesting examples. Long before New Zealand had record fairs and online auction houses, we had hundreds of cluttered, dark and dusty opportunity shops, affectionately known by all as “opshops”. There’s even … Read more
They’ve been on the album charts for two years, they’ve had a number one single, and now they’re one of our biggest live draws too. So what comes next for L.A.B? Even in a year marked by disruption, L.A.B’s 2020 has been more eventful than most. Forced to postpone local shows and an Australian tour … Read more
With live shows and events at the mercy of a mercurial virus, the New Zealand music business has been warped into a frustrating limbo. So how are local musicians dealing with it all? Alongside Covid-19, 2020 will be forever known as the year of “the pivot”; that dreaded term that was once isolated to the … Read more
‘Mapping Auckland’s Venues’ is a series by music writer and historian Gareth Shute that looks at the growth, contraction and general change in the city’s live music scene over the years. In this instalment, first published by Audioculture, Shute takes a look back at the decade where ‘Think Big’ applied just as much to shoulder pads … Read more
Aucklander and Triple J veteran Ollie Wards has landed a role as Tiktok’s first director of music for Australia and New Zealand. He talked to The Spinoff about what’s in store. TikTok is looking unstoppable. Trump wants to ban it, Microsoft wants to buy it, and the Chinese government is allegedly using it for propaganda. … Read more
Love her or hate her, US musician Amanda Palmer has no plans to leave New Zealand anytime soon. She opens up to Stewart Sowman-Lund about her new life in Havelock North and the moment she was left alone in a foreign country during a pandemic. Amanda Palmer has been in the country since just before … Read more
In the latest episode of Final Mix, Yadana Saw and The Phoenix Foundation’s Samuel Flynn Scott road test new songs from the band’s forthcoming album Friend Ship. Samuel Flynn Scott originally wanted to call The Phoenix Foundation’s new album Anxiety. “Everything comes back to anxiety on this record,” the songwriter says in the latest episode … Read more
The follow up to last year’s African Giant sees the breakout Afrobeats star attempt to surpass his own high bar. We run through a few of its highlights. After close to a decade of grinding to achieve a steadily bubbling success, Burna Boy entered the final year of the 2010s as an artist on the … Read more
This past weekend the five shortlisted songs for the 2020 Silver Scroll Award were announced. Here, exclusively for The Spinoff, the finalists discuss each other’s nominated songs. Benee on ‘Get the Devil Out’ by Nadia Reid This is a beautiful, poignant and moving song. I love its wistfulness and the depth of feeling her voice … Read more
In the first episode of Melodownz’ new show, Kava Corner, John Campbell got a bit lit on kava, and it was utterly bloody delightful. Watching John Campbell do just about anything is guaranteed to make your day a bit better. His calm, empathetic style has been a balm to the nation for ages now, as … Read more
Just over a week ago, Auckland had a full slate of live events going ahead. But this week and next? Silence. Sam Brooks reports on how returning to lockdown has affected Auckland’s live scene. If you were an Aucklander leaving the house on Tuesday morning, you might have been leaving that house with a full … Read more
Paige Tapara is a fast-rising young singer-songwriter whose debut EP explores themes of sexuality, coming of age, mental health and relationships. We asked her how it came together, and why she thinks it’s so important for NZ music to include voices like hers. Paige swoops into the room, a cream doughnut in one hand and a … Read more
Taylor Swift’s surprise album is a step away from noisy popstardom and into the quiet woods, writes Sam Brooks. I spent most of quarantine dreading the kind of art that would come out of it. I was expecting movies shot on Zoom, TV shows about unlikely flatmates being stuck together, and plays about how we … Read more
It’s our tucker, sure, but how do the items on the new song hold up against a good ol’ ranking? Sam Brooks puts his New Zealand passport on the line to rank them. How many fast food items do you know that have their own song? Not many, if any, am I right? Well, even … Read more
As one of the few places on earth where live events are still taking place, New Zealand is seeing its Facebook events pages overrun by scammers trying to trick fans out of cash. Sherry Zhang explains how it works, and shares her own exchange with a ticket scam bot. Ticket scams? Bots? What’s all this … Read more