I AM GIANT ANNOUNCE NEW SINGLE AND ALBUM RELEASE TOUR

Over the last decade, I Am Giant (Teresa Patterson) have dominated mainstream rock radio in New Zealand and wowed some of the biggest festival audiences around the world with their melodic alternative rock anthems. And although they’ve had a phenomenal impact on their home country, I Am Giant’s journey is one that has played out on a global scale, with all the sweat, guitar fuzz, and onstage mayhem you could hope for in a rock and roll story.
 
Since releasing their first EP City Limits / Neon Sunrise in 2010, I Am Giant have taken their music through Australia, Asia, the UK, and Europe. They have headlined festivals in Poland alongside the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, 1979, Outkast, and Limp Bizkit, performed at Skate and Surf events throughout the UK, Europe and Asia, rocked the Viper Room in Los Angeles, and shared stages in Singapore with the Stone Temple Pilots and Guns N’ Roses guitar hero Slash. That’s all without mentioning Australia, where they toured extensively and rocked the Big Day Out in Sydney twice plus their epic nights in Vietnam and Bali, or the love shown to them by the likes of Zane Lowe (when he was at BBC Radio One) and Kerrang! Magazine and Radio in the UK.

With their third and final album ‘Life in Captivity’ due for release on March 16, the band are pleased to announce their NZ album release tour  along with a new single ‘Don’t Look Back’.
 
With ‘Don’t Look Back’, I Am Giant found a way to honour the frenetic energy of their early days and the adventures that came with them while smoothing out the vibe and acknowledging that those days are days gone by. Some things can’t be recaptured, but they can be celebrated as they’ve never been celebrated before.
 
Bassist, writer and producer Paul Matthews says, “This is one of our favourite tracks off the new album and has a pretty sentimental tone and message. This also lines up with the fact that, I actually brought this song into the band when we formed and we have been playing around with it in different incarnations for 10 years now and finally got it right on this record.  As one of our last releases, its a pretty fitting way to close the show.”

‘Don’t Look Back’ is available today on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and all other digital platforms.
 
I Am Giant’s third and final album ‘Life in Captivity’ will be released on March 16th via AWAL and Rhythmethod.
 
The Rock presents ‘Life in Captivity’ Album Release Tour
 
Thursday 5th April               Tauranga – Totora Street
Saturday 7th April                Wellington - Homegrown
Friday 13th April                  Hamilton - Altitude
Saturday 14th April             Auckland - Galatos
Thursday 19th April             Nelson – Armadillos
Friday 20th April                  Greymouth – The Australasian Hotel
Sat 21st April                       Christchurch – Armadillos
 
 
Tickets on sale now from www.iamgiant.com and www.nztix.co.nz

APOLLO STEAM TRAIN 'BRAIN BELL JANGLER'

TAURANGA POP/ROCK BAND APOLLO STEAMTRAIN ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF THEIR NEW SINGLE ‘BRAIN BELL JANGLER’

“Brain Bell Jangler” is the first offering from a collaboration with international producer Greg Haver. Recorded at Roundhead Studios in Auckland and mixed by TUI Award winning UK based Engineer Clint Murphy, the track is a combination of catchy guitar hook and vocal melodies, layered over hard hitting drums that take the listener on a no nonsense sonic journey.

“It’s been a pleasure working with Apollo SteamTrain on their new recordings and helping them forge a vision for Brendan’s songs. Their determination to keep the band’s music moving forward is inspiring” – Greg Haver

Written by front man, Brendan McCarthy, the track is inspired by his formative musical and partying years in Dunedin, where he was developing a sense of himself. The “Brain Bell Jangler” is the voice that exists in all of us, always pushing us to not settle for second best and to get out there, enjoy life and fulfil our dreams.

“Motivation is often the underlying theme for the lyrics that I write”, says McCarthy. “ To find where we belong, we just need to listen to our BBJ”.

Apollo SteamTrain was formed in 2016 by singer songwriter Brendan McCarthy, with drummer Les Robinson and Bass Player Ian Clark providing a powerful rhythmic edge. The band plays solid guitar driven melodic rock delivered over a punching rhythm section, dressed with relentlessly catchy vocal melodies.

The band signed a publishing deal with Songbroker on the strength of their first few recordings, with one of the catchy pop rock tracks, “The Electric Sun” appearing in NZ Television show, Shortland Street.

The release of “Brain Bell Jangler” will be followed by shows in Auckland, Hamilton,Tauranga and Waihi Beach.

“Brain Bell Jangler” is available on Spotify, iTunes and all good digital outlets.

ALIEN WEAPONRY SIGNS INTERNATIONAL DEAL WITH NAPALM RECORDS

New Zealand’s ‘Te Reo Metal’ sensations, Alien Weaponry (Niel de Jong), have signed an international deal with Napalm Records in Europe, which will see their debut album marketed and sold worldwide.

The deal comes in the wake of the band signing with German based management agency das Maschine last September, and announcing a European Festival tour which includes coveted slots at MetalDays in Slovenia and Wacken Open Air in Germany.

Sebastian Muench, A&R for Napalm Records says the three Northland teenagers are “the youngest musicians we have ever added to the Napalm band roster, [and] also one of the most exciting and unique bands in recent years. Their combination of old school thrash metal and Māori culture elements and language creates intense and energetic songs that should be highly attractive to all true genre fans, especially those who stopped listening to Sepultura after the ‘Roots’ album.”

The young NZ music icons are equally thrilled to be working with Austrian-based Napalm – one of Europe’s two big independent metal labels. 

"Napalm is a great label for us to work with because their whakapapa includes a lot of thrash metal, which is where our roots are,” says 17-year-old drummer, Henry de Jong. “So we fit within their whanau, but we're also doing something different, introducing our own language and style … we think we will both grow and benefit from this relationship.”

15-year-old bass player Ethan Trembath adds, "Being based in Waipu [Northland], we are pretty much as far away as you can get from the heavy metal centre of the world (which to most metal fans is Wacken, Germany), so this is a massive step for us towards establishing our career internationally."

Henry’s younger brother, lead singer and guitarist Lewis de Jong (also 15) says the Napalm deal will make a huge difference to how their debut album is released. “We were planning to release the album ourselves, on Waitangi Day, and although we have had to put it back a few months, it will allow us to take our music to the world. Napalm are also going to do a vinyl release, which lots of our fans have been asking for, so in the end it will be worth the wait.”

The album was recorded at Roundhead studios in Auckland over a period of two years, and will be released in the second quarter 2018, in advance of the band’s European Festival tour, which kicks off with MetalDays in Slovenia at the end of July.

ANDREW PAPAS 'TROUBLEMAKER'

Andrew Papas today releases his latest single ‘Troublemaker’.

Listen HERE

As a one-time member of the now disbanded Titanium, one of New Zealand’s most successful and well-known boy bands, Papas is no stranger to topping charts and packing arenas.

Now the Auckland-based singer is making strides in his own right with his second solo single, ‘Troublemaker’ - a fun, feel-good tune that glistens with touches of 80s pop. “It’s all about forgetting tomorrow and your responsibilities and just living in the moment,” says Papas.

From its infectious beats and hooks, to its joyous chorus brought to life by Papas’ lush vocals, the track has all the hallmarks of a club banger.

Co-written and produced by Kiwi pop extraordinaires - Josh Fountain (Theia, MAALA, Thomston) and Djeisan Suskov (Leisure, Matthew Young and Mitch James), ’Troublemaker’ showcases Papas’ unmistakable voice and demonstrates his growth as a pop artist.

It follows the independent release of his debut solo single ‘Burn It Down’, which debuted at #1 on the New Zealand Heatseekers chart and featured on Spotify’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist for New Zealand and Australia, reaching #28 in the Australian Viral Chart. The song received more than 33,000 in its first week on Spotify.

JED PARSONS RELEASES VIDEO FOR 'GET LOST'

Christchurch indie-pop artist Jed Parsons (Mel Parsons) has followed the release of his debut single ‘Get Lost’ with an aptly hilarious video featuring topless tennis on a trampoline, seriously smooth martial arts moves, Holden Kingswood burnouts, the oldest turbine helicopter in New Zealand and piloting skills that would put Richie McCaw to shame.
 
‘Get Lost’ debuted on Apple Music NZ’s ‘Best of the Week’ playlist and soared up the NZ Spotify Viral Chart when it was released on January 19.  It was instantly added to RDU, Radio Control, Radio Active, as well as Radio Hauraki, where the video is premiering online today.
 
With a killer hook paired with dreamy melodies and clever lyrics, the song serves as the perfect introduction to Parsons’ unique concoction of indie-pop and lays the foundation for his debut full-length album, set for release this year.
 
Made by a team of brilliant Christchurch-based creatives from Ruffell Productions, including director Tim McInnes, the video for ‘Get Lost’ is a literal representation of the song, which is all about not settling for a life that’s anything less than what you want.
 
The video depicts a character, Jed, carrying out meaningless and boring tasks, juxtaposed with glimpses of an alternative version of himself living out a life of fantasy.
 
“It’s an abstract and lighthearted take on the very real, very tragic, modern day crisis of people getting sucked into lives they don’t want,” explains Parsons. “In this case, the reality of our character - who dreams of naked tennis on a trampoline - is life in a boring suit, pouring tea at his organised desk and pointing aimlessly at a calendar.”
 
“My character appears he’s got his shit together, but begins to lose it as his alternate-self soars in a parallel life or dream completely void of stability and organisation.”
 
Parsons is a consummate live performer and multi-instrumentalist, who has played in many bands, taking him around the world and into the studio with the likes of nomad, Pacific Heights and Mel Parsons.
 
As a solo artist, his music balances eccentricity and energy with intimacy and musical sensitivity, maintaining a focus on catchy hooks and lyrical prowess. His songwriting is sculpted from his observations and analysis of a strange world he enjoys.

JENNY MITCHELL 'LET ME BE'

Release of 2017 Gold Guitar Winner, Jenny Mitchell’s (Sarah Perriam), single ‘Let Me Be’ produced by Nashville producer Jay Tookes (as part of her $15,000 prize package) is out today!

She is currently recording her sophomore album “Wildfires” with award-winning Sydney producer, Matt Fell, due for release in June this year.

Jenny’s alt-folk-country sound is paving the way of a powerful sounding country through strong lyrics that have won her multiple songwriting accolades.

A really exciting future for New Zealand alt-country well received at her recent international tour in the UK, Europe & Australia before returning home for New Zealand dates in 2018.

SABOTAGE THEORY TRIBUTE SHOW

Christchurch band Sabotage Theory (Alex Newfield), normally better known as New Zealand's Rage Against the Machine tribute band, are putting on a very special one-off tribute show next month to raise money and awareness for the Mental Health Foundation of NZ.

They have recruited musicians from various other local bands to join them to form a local "super group" and play the music of Chris Cornell (Soundgarden & Audioslave) and Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) who both tragically took their own lives last year.

"So we are doing something a little different for our next show... after tragically losing 2 great musical influences last year to suicide we were thinking about how issues with mental health affect so many musicians; from teenagers picking up a guitar for the first time to even rock gods like Chris Cornell & Chester Bennington.

And we thought about how important music is as an outlet and how for those who are affected it can provide a sense of belonging to a community.

We then thought it would be cool to put on a show to bring our local music community together and raise awareness of the great work the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand does and hopefully (if enough people show up!) we could raise some $ to donate to them"

Saturday 10th February: New City Hotel, Christchurch

Tickets available from Cosmic Ticketing; instore or online www.cosmicticketing.co.nz

ALAE RELEASE ACOUSTIC VERSION OF SMASH HIT ‘TOO STRUNG UP’

In celebration of reaching over 1 million streams on Spotify with their latest single release Too Strung Up, Alae (Mikee Carpinter) deliver a brand new acoustic take on their digital streaming smash, with the video premiering last night through MTV Upload Australia.
 
The original version of Too Strung Up has been the fastest DRM distributed, kiwi track to reach 1 million streams, taking 6 short weeks to reach this milestone. Andy Low from the digital rights management and distribution company states, “The boys put together a mean tune that has clearly resonated with a wide audience, both locally and overseas. We’re proud to be involved in the band’s successes to date.”
 
The song has been added to over 100 Spotify playlists, wooing 6.1 million new listeners, with inclusion on New Music Friday in the USA, Australia and NZ. Additionally, the track has earned hard won places on the Global, USA and NZ Spotify viral charts across all genres. USA’s college radio network has sat up and taken notice of this swelling fanbase by adding the track to 25 USA college radio stations, further extending Alae’s reach into the US market.  
 
Closer to home, Too Strung Up has recieved solid support from MTV, Double J and ABC Radio in Australia and locally, NZ radio stations ZM, More Fm and The Hits have recognized and celebrated this earworm of a track with consistent spins on air.
 
The continued success of Too Strung Up punctuates a huge 2017 which saw Alae play sell out dates across their Spring NZ and Australian tour, and a showcase at Brisbane’s prestigious Big Sound Festival and Conference which was met with warm industry response.
 
Keeping the local tours pumping, NZ tour booking agents Twice The Hype have added Alae to their books. Jaz Kapow from Twice The Hype says, "We are so excited to have Alae joining our Twice The Hype roster! These guys are making massive waves in the NZ music industry and we can’t wait to take them to the next level with their live performances throughout NZ in 2018. Watch this space.” 
 
With support from NZ On Air music project funding, Alae are currently in the studio crafting tracks for their debut full length album which will release in Autumn 2018. In the meantime, Alae will be playing two key dates in Auckland in February and March which will see Alae share the stage with Julia Deans, Fly My Pretties and Bailey Wiley.
 
North West Wine, Food & Beer Festival 2018 – 10 February, Kumeu
 
Music in Parks: Open Air Orchestra – 24 March, Pakuranga