THOMAS OLIVER 'SHINE LIKE THE SUN'

New Zealand singer-songwriter and local Weissenborn meistro, Thomas Oliver (Cushla Aston) has shared his brand new single 'Shine Like The Sun' and announced the release date of his second studio album, Floating In The Darkness coming out 28th April 2017.

'Shine Like The Sun' is "a song of longing for love" wrapped up in a warm, slow-building groove, backed by healthy bursts of horns, features Louis Baker on backing vocals/electric guitar, Sam Notman (drums), Johnny Lawrence (bass), Ed Zuccollo (Hammond organ, Rhodes), Adam Page (tenor/alto sax, clarinet, flute) and Ariel Bamborough (backing vocals).

Floating In The Darkness (featuring his Silver Scroll award-winning song "If I Move To Mars") is a deep and raw, reflective body of work, largely self-produced, written and mixed by Thomas himself, with an additional soul-stirring collaboration with renowned producer and composer, Rhian Sheehan ("Let It Be This One"), input from Grammy Award-winning mix engineer, Trina Shoemaker, and mastering by Vlado Meller. As a result, he sees the songs on Floating In The Darkness as an intimate and honest reflection of himself - "a product of a whole lot of searching for the magic zone."

Thomas Oliver is a New Zealand singer-songwriter, internationally recognized as one of the world’s leading players of the Weissenborn lap-steel guitar. Thomas released the world's first full-length, all instrumental, all Weissenborn album in 2013, titled Beneath The Weissenborn. The album debuted at #6 on the NZ charts, received 5 star reviews with sold out shows across the nation.
 
With over two million views on his YouTube channel, Thomas has developed an international audience from his home base in New Zealand, and has performed throughout New Zealand, Australia, Europe and Vietnam, and has toured and shared the stage with such legends as Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton and Fat Freddy's Drop. 
 
His vast diversity in his vocal delivery has also earned him a reputation as a vocalist in Drum & Bass and other electronic music, and his list of collaborations includes some of DnB's most respected producers, including Black Sun Empire, Rido, Concord Dawn and Urbandawn, and boasts releases on prestigious labels, including Andy C's RAM Records, Goldie's Metalheadz. More recently, his single “If I Move To Mars” was remixed by Urbandawn and released on Hospital Records in January this year.
 
October 2015 saw the release of his much-loved (and critically appraised) single “If I Move To Mars”, which would go onto win the prestigious APRA AMCOS Silver Scroll award a year later. With airplay support from ZM, The Hits and The Edge, it nabbed a place in the Official NZ Music Chart for 5 weeks. 
 
“If I Move To Mars” gave us a glance into the melting pot of Thomas’ largely self-produced, written and mixed new album, Floating In The Darkness, which was finished with the love and support of a successful crowd-funding campaign. The pledge reached $22,500, which was $5,000 over its $17,500 target from fans and supporters, locally and worldwide allowing Thomas to finish the album he had conceptualized with the help of a few friends along the way such as Rhian Sheehan, Grammy Award-winning engineer, Trina Shoemaker, Louis Baker (b/v’s on “Shine Like The Sun”), Vlado Meller and more.
 
Following his Silver Scroll win, Thomas released an acoustic version of “If I Move To Mars” and added to the star-studded Bob Marley tribute album, Stir It Up – Aotearoa’s Tribute To Bob Marley, with his spiritual, airy rendition of “Is This Love”. 

 

WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2016 APRA SILVER SCROLL AWARDS

Wellington singer-songwriter and internationally acclaimed musician Thomas Oliver (Cushla Aston) has won the 2016 APRA Silver Scroll Award with his captivating love song ‘If I Move To Mars’.
 
Thomas Oliver accepted the prestigious award at a ceremony held at Vector Arena in Auckland tonight. The accolade acknowledges excellence in songwriting and has in the past been awarded to some of the most recognisable names and songs in New Zealand music, from the Swingers’ ‘Counting The Beat’ and Bic Runga’s ‘Drive’ to Scribe and P Money’s ‘Not Many’ and Lorde and Joel Little’s ‘Royals’.
 
A sweet and simple, yet compelling, love song, Thomas Oliver says, “On the surface, it's a light-hearted song about taking someone to Mars and lying in the dirt, drinking Cognac and listening to records. But at its core, it's a love song and I meant every word."
 
“It’s a wonderful thing to recognise talented and hardworking songwriters like Thomas” says Anthony Healey, Head of NZ Operations for APRA AMCOS. “The acclaim of your peers is special, it’s the highest praise and in this case a well-deserved accolade.”
 
Critically acclaimed musician and songwriter Sean James Donnelly (SJD) was the musical director of tonight’s 51st APRA Silver Scrolls ceremony, which saw a host of other Kiwi songwriters collect awards.
 
The incomparable Rob Ruha (Cilla Ruha) took the esteemed APRA Maioha Award, recognising exceptional waiata featuring te reo Māori, for his stirring battle anthem ‘Kariri’. The East Coast singer-songwriter is now a two-time recipient of the award.
 
Wellington composer and violinist, Salina Fisher, won the SOUNZ Contemporary Awardfor her exquisite composition ‘Rainphase’, inspired by the beauty and chaos of rain in the capital.
 
The APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award was won by Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper and Tama Waipara for their work on the Lee Tamahori-directed movie Mahana.
 
One-time Supergroove frontman and well-known composer of music for film and television, Karl Steven, received the APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award for the drama 800 Words.
 
Rounding off the evening was the induction of Moana Maniapoto into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. As one of the most recognisable and important voices in Aotearoa, Moana Maniapoto was honoured for the significant impact she has had on the New Zealand life and culture through her music.

TOP FIVE FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2016 APRA SILVER SCROLL AWARD

Five top New Zealand artists and acts have made the shortlist for the 2016 APRA Silver Scroll Award, recognising excellence in songwriting.

The finalists and their songs represent an eclectic mix of genres and range from iconic names in Kiwi music, to up-and-comers making their mark in the industry.

After winning the prized award in 2014, the internationally renowned Tami Neilson is back in this year’s list of finalists with ‘The First Man’ co-written with her brother Jay Neilson. It’s a heartbreaking song that reflects on the death of her father, written at a time of deep pain and grief, and yet also written out of deep love and celebration that narrates the time between a child’s life beginning to a parent’s life ending.

Stalwarts of indie pop ‘n’ rock The Phoenix Foundation (Samuel Scott, Lukasz Buda, Conrad Wedde, William Ricketts, Thomas Callwood, Christopher O'Connor) also make this year’s cut. It brings their total number of nominations over the years to six times in the Top 20 and an impressive four times in the Top 5. The band’s entry this year, ‘Give Up Your Dreams’, is an uplifting nod to the fine line between chucking it all in and soldiering on with a great big smile on your face.

Auckland singer-songwriter Lydia Cole is also up for the award with her song ‘Dream’. It’s a bittersweet two-part tale all about falling in love when you least expect it. It is the second song to have earned Lydia a spot in the Top 5.

Thomas Oliver is a first-time nominee with his love song ‘If I Move To Mars’, which explores the Wellington singer-songwriter’s fascination with the idea of living on the red planet with your lover – lying in the dirt, drinking Cognac and listening to records.

Also newcomers to the Top 5 are Street Chant (Emily Littler, Billie Rogers, Alex Brown, Christopher Farnham) with their song ‘Pedestrian Support League’. The indie-rockers’ song is loosely about life in their hometown of Auckland and that feeling you get when you return from life on the road, to a crummy flat in Grey Lynn.

“Great songs tell great stories and each of these songs give us beautiful, heartfelt tales of dreams, love and loss. It’s a diverse and eclectic group of songwriters, each at the very top of their craft and each very much deserving of our celebration,” says Anthony Healey, Head of NZ Operations for APRA AMCOS.

The APRA Silver Scroll Awards celebrated its 50th anniversary last year marking a significant milestone and a track record in recognising New Zealand’s brightest songwriting talent. It’s considered one of the most coveted awards in New Zealand music and has previously been awarded to Ray Columbus, Hammond Gamble, Shona Laing, Dave Dobbyn, Bic Runga, Don McGlashan, Neil Finn, Chris Knox, Brooke Fraser, James Milne & Lukasz Buda, Alisa Xayalith & Thom Powers (The Naked And Famous) and Ella Yelich-O’Connor (Lorde) & Joel Little.

The other awards presented on the night are:

●     APRA Maioha Award, celebrating exceptional waiata featuring te reo Māori

●     SOUNZ Contemporary Award, celebrating excellence in contemporary composition

●     APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award

●     APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award

As a part of the celebrations APRA will also be inducting a songwriter/s into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.

All awards will be presented at Vector Arena in Auckland on Thursday 29th September. Radio New Zealand will broadcast and live video stream the APRA Silver Scroll Awards ceremony on RNZ National, Freeview Ch 50 and online at www.rnz.co.nz/music. The awards are proudly supported by Panhead Custom Ales.

APRA Silver Scroll Awards – top 5 finalists 2016:

* Lydia Cole – ‘Dream’ – Lydia Cole

* The Phoenix Foundation – ‘Give Up Your Dreams’ - Samuel Scott, Lukasz Buda, Conrad Wedde, William Ricketts, Thomas Callwood, Christopher O’Connor. Published by Native Tongue Music Publishing.

* Thomas Oliver – ‘If I Move To Mars’ – Thomas Oliver. Published by Mushroom Music Pty Ltd.

* Street Chant – ‘Pedestrian Support League’ - Emily Littler, Billie Rogers, Alex Brown, Christopher Farnham. Published by Arch Hill Music Publishing / Native Tongue Music Publishing.

* Tami Neilson – ‘The First Man’ – Tami Neilson, Jay Neilson.

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