Chris Close

Chris is a talented drummer, tour promoter, and artist manager based in Ōtautahi who has developed a reputation for his exceptional ability to nurture and elevate fellow musicians. Initially starting out playing in local Christchurch bands, Chris quickly took on the dreaded admin roles of organising gigs andreleases for his bands. What started as a side-hustle has now turned into a considerable career.

As well as running his label Winegum Records alongside his wife Sarena (Mousey), Chris now provides management and tour booking services to other local artists such as Pickle Darling and Pretty Stooked, among others.

Chris is a passionate advocate for the Ōtautahi music scene, his unwavering work ethic and dedication to the Ōtautahi music scene make him a respected advocate and invaluable asset to the music industry and the artists he works with.

Chris can mentor on: Management / Touring / Branding / Record Labels / Publishing / Publicity / A&R / Production /Strategy / Merchandise / Radio / Digital / Other....

Nicky Harrop

Nicky’s career has spanned multiple facets of Aotearoa’s music community, and seen her work closely with a wide range of artists, labels, live events, industry bodies and culture change initiatives.

She is a Director and Owner of physical music distributor Collective Distribution, Co-founder and Trustee of SoundCheck Aotearoa, and currently holds the Independent Director position on the board of Recorded Music New Zealand.

Nicky’s background in music labels has seen her hold senior roles in marketing, label management, artist development and publicity.  She developed the music industry major for Massey University’s Bachelor Of Commercial Music, and has consulted as a researcher and developer for a number of local music-based screen projects.

Nicky can mentor on: Record Labels, Distribution, Release Strategy, Artist Development, Marketing  and Publicity.