It’s been 10 years since the release of Dane Rumble’s solo album The Experiment. Josie Adams looks back on why New Zealand fell so hard and fast. It sometimes feels like Dane Rumble was a mass hallucination. In the space of a decade, we’ve seen what was once just a standard summer bop – ‘Cruel’ … Read more
The effects of Covid-19 on New Zealand music won’t be short-lived. Here’s how some members of the industry – both on stage and behind the scenes – are coping. On a plane to New York, musician Joe Locke is dry-retching. He’s having a panic attack. Soon he’ll be flying home to New Zealand, back to … Read more
Formerly known as Tom Lark, Shannon Matthew Vanya is an artist familiar with reinvention. The Spinoff is extremely excited today to premiere his new single ‘Closer’, a roller disco hit that walks a careful line between Japanese city pop and smooth French neo-disco. Here, Shannon explains how it all came together. I worked on a … Read more
In Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, the titular Zoey starts to hear the thoughts of those around her – but expressed in song. Sam Brooks investigates what would happen if Zoey took a trip across the Pacific to sunny ol’ New Zealand. If you could pick any superpower, what would it be? Flight? Maybe, but all those … Read more
Earmarked for big things since she left high school, the ‘Nothing to Regret’ singer has been dealing with the weight of expectations for a while now. With her debut EP just released, she’s OK with where she’s at. Given the circumstances, Robinson is surprisingly relaxed. It’s early afternoon on a swelteringly hot mid-February day in … Read more
Despite what some critics claim, there isn’t a ‘gig problem’ in Auckland, writes Josie Adams. You just need to look beyond indie rock. There are around 20 gig spaces in Auckland’s CBD. Over a three-day period last month, Whammy Bar alone hosted the Laneway afterparty, the bFM anniversary weekend party, and an Eartheater show. The … Read more
19-year-old Benee’s track ‘Glitter’ is climbing international charts thanks to being given a TikTok dance. How does that work? Josie Adams explains what a TikTok dance is, and how this social media app is the new MTV. Who is Benee? Benee has had a huge 2019, with the Aucklander riding sparkling pop singles to multiple … Read more
Sam Brooks interviews Cecily, the local singer behind surprise sleeper hit ‘Thinking ‘Bout Me’. “Getting thinner, feeling fatter, laughing more, feeling sadder.” That’s one of a few killer lines that adorn Cecily’s gem of a sadbanger ‘Thinking ‘Bout Me’, which wound up on the top of every pop music nerd’s favourite New Music Friday playlist, … Read more
The Spinoff presents the exclusive premiere of MAALA’s new music video, the Connor Pritchard-directed ‘Fire Burning’. Evan ‘MAALA’ Sinton says: I released Composure, my first album, in 2016 and then I did these two quite random singles – ‘In My Head’ and ‘Crazy’ – in 2017. Those songs were quite a weird tangent, which I … Read more
Tom Scott, otherwise known as Avantdale Bowling Club, has leaked his collaboration with producer choicevaughan, shortly after winning album of the year at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. Avantdale Bowling Club’s first, eponymous album propelled Auckland-based rapper Tom Scott to new heights. After working in groups Home Brew and Average Rap Band earlier in … Read more
The Spinoff presents the premiere of buzzed-about Auckland post-punk band Daffodils’ new music video ‘Boys’. Daffodils songwriter and frontperson Theo Spike Salmon says: I wrote ‘Boys’ two years ago, around the end of high school. We’ve revised stuff, and played around with slightly different structuring, but it’s honestly not changed much at all. When I … Read more
Onehunga-bred hip hop collective SWIDT have released what might be one of the most politicised music videos in New Zealand history. They talked to Josie Adams about why it felt like the right time. At just over two minutes long, ‘BUNGA’ is short, but it says more about the Pasifika community than most Palagi will … Read more
Auckland rapper JessB has just released a new EP and wraps up a national mini-tour tonight in her home town. Jogai Bhatt talked to her about her world travels, performing at Ihumātao, and how her community and her music intersect. It’s only been two years since JessB entered the public radar as the first woman … Read more
A new version of Bic Runga’s classic single ‘Sway’ is among the tracks on Waiata/Anthems, a compilation of te reo Māori versions of hit New Zealand songs. Runga spoke to Alice Webb-Liddall about how recording ‘Haere Mai Rā/Sway’ helped her reconnect with her whakapapa. Bic Runga’s father Joseph was a Māori ex-serviceman whom Runga and … Read more
As part of this year’s World of Wearable Arts Award Show, musical director Paul McLaney has brought six of New Zealand’s best and most acclaimed composers together and commissioned a new work from each of them. Here they comment on each other’s work – not just for WoW, but across their careers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwMqdLxaFoM Tane Upjohn … Read more
Jordan Hamel interviews Gussie Larkin from Mermaidens ahead of the release of their new album Look Me In The Eye. Mermaidens have always been masters of subversion. Making music that challenges expectations of heavy rock, it jumps between genres to give listeners something as surprising as it is satisfying. Their legendary live shows can have … Read more
The K Road festival, which turned five on Friday, has reached mainstream-level popularity without compromising its local acts focus. While the old-timers encamped in The Studio to sing the Flying Nun classics, Josie Adams went exploring. Not even the most determined and fleet-footed fan could hope to make every one of the 46 acts across … Read more
A shitload of acts, a shitload of stages, and the potential for a shitload of fun: how to attend The Others Way. Tonight, The Others Way festival makes its welcome return to basically everywhere on Auckland’s Karangahape Road. Part vaunted local music festival, part exercise in divining the exact organisational midpoint between chaos and transcendence, … Read more
Talking to Ātea editor Leonie Hayden, Herbs: Songs of Freedom director Tearepa Kahi discusses the ‘constant riddle’ of documentary making, and the joys and sorrows of celebrating 40 years of one of our most important bands. A Tongan, a Sāmoan, a Cook Islander, a Māori and a Pākehā walk into a bar, and make music … Read more
Since their first single release in 2015, Leisure has had over 75 million streams and a handful of sold-out international concerts. Jaden Parkes sat down with Josie Adams to talk about the secret of success: leisure time. Leisure is made up of the New Zealand music industry’s shining stars, and its quiet heroes. They’re writers, … Read more
The 2019 longlist for the prestigious APRA Silver Scroll Awards have just been announced. Here’s the full list of 20 finalists, with the songs themselves to listen to. This morning saw the announcement of the longlist for the APRA Silver Scroll, New Zealand’s most coveted music award, recognising outstanding achievement in the craft of songwriting. … Read more
Before Rachael King was an author and a puller-together of literary festivals, she was a bass player in a heap of bands. At the start, she was a schoolgirl rocking in the Battling Strings, opening for the Chills and other 1980s Flying Nun bands, including Straitjacket Fits. Reading Shayne Carter’s memoir Dead People I Have … Read more
Lovepreet Brar was a migrant who scrapped his way from a one year diploma to New Zealand residency, before becoming an international bhangra hip hop star. In between, he was part of an epic and dangerous fraud. In early March 2016, Arvinder Singh left his Takanini home, nestled in a small section at the end … Read more
One of New Zealand’s great pop maestros returns, the rein (geddit?) of Lil Nas X continues, and sci-fi series Stranger Things inspires a superb single: welcome to The Spinoff Music’s best songs of June 2019. International ‘Jealous’ by Ingrid Michaelson Ingrid Michaelson’s new single hits on two obvious truths and subverts a third. Truth the … Read more
Ahead of their new album release, Toby Morris wore a different Beastwars t-shirt every day. He reflects upon his week and the entire Beastwars catalogue. Monday This week the impossible is happening: the mighty Beastwars, probably New Zealand’s most beloved metal band are back from dead (almost literally) with a new album. I’ve decided to … Read more
Lontalius’ new single ‘Make My Dreams Come True’ is out today. To commemorate its arrival, Matthew McAuley spoke to Eddie Johnston about music, life, and the transient nature of fandom. The last time The Spinoff spoke to multidisciplinary Wellington musician Eddie Johnston, just a few weeks off exactly a year ago, he was an artist … Read more
Dance down memory lane with us to a time when the Māori showbands ruled supreme. After World War II, Māori concert parties became a huge attraction in Aotearoa, like the kapa haka groups we know and love today. Action songs and haka were still a novelty for Pākehā New Zealanders that hadn’t been to Rotorua … Read more
Wellington’s music scene is diverse, vibrant, and full of community spirit – but it doesn’t come easy. Ben Lynch looks into the reality of being a music venue owner in the capital. Whether you subscribe to Wellington’s widely used moniker of ‘coolest little capital’ or not, there’s no denying that the city has a depth … Read more
Today is Love Your Local Venue Day, part of NZ Music Month, and it marks the 15th anniversary of beloved Auckland venue The Wine Cellar. Gareth Shute pays tribute to the best dive bar in town. This piece is republished with permission from Audioculture.. The Wine Cellar has become a well-loved landmark within the live music … Read more