Announcing the finalists for 2021 Artisan Awards

Recognising the success of Aotearoa’s behind-the-scenes music talent

For the sixth year running, Recorded Music NZ and Massey University will celebrate the unsung heroes of Aotearoa’s music industry at the AMA Artisan Awards.

The 2021 Artisan Award finalists and winners will be celebrated in a pre-recorded showcase made at Massey University and released on TVNZ OnDemand. 

The show will feature performances from Jaedyn Randell and Dream Chambers, The Nudge V Troy Kingi, and Ka Hao.

The five Tūi presented are:

·         Massey University Te Kaiwhakaputa Toa | Best Producer

·         NZ On Air Te Kiko Puoro Ataata Toa | Best Music Video Content

·         Te Kaipuoro Tāhiko Toa | Best Album Artwork

·         Te Kaipukaha Toa | Best Engineer

·         Kaiārahi Puoro o te Tau | Music Teacher of the Year

Alongside these five the Music Managers Forum Aotearoa will also be presenting the Recorded Music NZ Kaiwhakahaere Puoro o te Tau | Manager of the Year

Recorded Music New Zealand Kaiwhakahaere o Ngā Tohu Puoro o Aotearoa Sarah Owen says it’s been another challenging year for the creative industries, with COVID-19 impacting all aspects of Aotearoa’s hapori puoro.

“While this year has certainly had its challenges, it’s also been filled with success stories from Aotearoa’s music community. Everything comes together behind the scenes and we’re lucky to have some of the world’s best producers, engineers, designers, directors, teachers, managers and artists,” says Owen.

The Best Album Artwork finalists for 2021 are Amanda Cheng for her work on Wax Chattel’s Clot, Jaime Robertson, Matthias Heidrich and Andrew Spraggon for their work on Sola Rosa’s Chasing the Sun, and Frances Carter for TEEKS’ Something to Feel. All three album covers can be found here.

The finalists for Massey University Best Producer are Delaney Davidson and Jol Mulholland for Troy Kingi’s fifth studio album Black Sea Golden Ladder, Harry Huavi for his work on Team Dynamite’s Respect The Process.

Joel Little is the third finalist for Best Producer for his work on Noah Kahan’s ‘Part of Me’, Jarryd James’ ‘Miracles’, Tate McRae and Khalid’s ‘Working’, Imagine Dragons’ ‘Follow You’ and Vance Joy’s ‘Missing Piece’.

Jol Mulholland sees his second 2021 Artisan nod for Troy Kingi’s Black Sea Golden Ladder in the Best Engineer category, alongside Lee Prebble and Ara Adams-Tamatea on L.A.B.’s fourth album L.A.B. IV and Simon Gooding on TEEKS’ Something to Feel.

The finalists for this year’s NZ On Air Best Music Video Content are Alexander Gander for Georgia Lines’ ‘No One Knows’, Anahera Parata for Louis Baker’s powerful tribute to his late grandfather ‘Brighter Day’ and Connor Pritchard for MELODOWNZ’s ‘Money’.

Andre Ktori, Head of School, School of Music and Creative Media Production at Massey University says: “As always Massey University is proud to be hosting the Artisan Awards. Like so many in our sector, we have been challenged again with producing a live event this year but are pleased that our students, staff and industry whānau have all come together to create a show that acknowledges and celebrates the awesome talent here in Aotearoa”

This year, we will again be recognising the enormous impact music teachers have on the beginning of our homegrown talents’ musical careers and the foundation of their understanding.

The nominees for Music Teacher of the Year are Papakura High School’s Andrea Rabin, Hobsonville Point Primary School’s Jeni Little, while Gisborne Girls High School’s Jane Egan receives her third nomination for the award.

Finally, the three nominees for Recorded Music NZ Manager of the Year celebrates the strong wāhine paving the way for their artists, with Cushla Aston, Lorraine Barry and NicNak Media’s Nicole Thomas and Paula Yeoman.

MMF Aotearoa chair Teresa Patterson says: “We’re so honoured to be presenting the 2021 Music Manager of the Year award with the Artisan Awards again. Our industry has taken such a massive hit this year, and music managers have been critical in helping our nation’s artists continue to create and their business to survive. This award allows us to recognise and appreciate all that hard work.”

The 2021 Artisan Awards are being pre-recorded at Massey University’s flagship recording studios in Wellington and will be available on TVNZ OnDemand at a later date.

2021 Artisan Award Finalists

Te Kaipuoro Tāhiko Toa | Best Album Artwork

-       Amanda Cheng – Clot (Wax Chattels)

-       Jaime Robertson/Matthias Heidrich/Andrew Spraggon – Chasing The Sun (Sola Rosa)

-       Frances Carter – Something To Feel (TEEKS)

Massey University Te Kaiwhakaputa Toa | Best Producer

-       Delaney Davidson & Jol Mulholland - Black Sea, Golden Ladder (Troy Kingi)

-       Harry Huavi – Respect The Process (Team Dynamite)

-       Joel Little – ‘Part of Me’ (Noah Kahan), ‘Miracles’ (Jarryd James), ‘Working’ (Tate McRae & Khalid), ‘Follow You’ (Imagine Dragons), ‘Missing Piece’ (Vance Joy)

Te Kaipukaha Toa | Best Engineer

-       Jol Mulholland - Black Sea, Golden Ladder (Troy Kingi)

-       Lee Prebble & Ara Adams-Tamatea – L.A.B IV (L.A.B)

-       Simon Gooding – Something To Feel (TEEKS)

NZ On Air Te Kiko Puoro Ataata Toa | Best Music Video Content

-       Alexander Gander – ‘No One Knows’ (Georgia Lines)

-       Anahera Parata – ‘Brighter Day’ (Louis Baker)

-       Connor Pritchard – ‘Money’ (MELODOWNZ)

Kaiārahi Puoro o te Tau | Music Teacher of the Year

-       Andrea Rabin (Papakura High School)

-       Jane Egan (Gisborne Girls High School)

-       Jeni Little (Hobsonville Point Primary School)

Recorded Music NZ  Kaiwhakahaere Puoro o te Tau | Manager of the Year (presented by the Music Managers Forum Aotearoa

-       Cushla Aston (Aston Road)

o    Louis Baker

-       Lorraine Barry (Lorraine Barry Management)

o    Sir Dave Dobbyn, Tom Scott, Team Dynamite, Aaradhna and VGB

-       Nicole Thomas & Paula Yeoman (NicNak Media Ltd)

o    Theia, Chores, Paige, Abby Wolfe, & Nganeko

MUSICHELPS COVID-19 DELTA HARDSHIP GRANT, OCTOBER 2021

Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Carmel Sepuloni recently announced a further targeted support package of reprioritised funding to protect jobs and incomes in the arts and culture sector as it faces the ongoing challenges of COVID-19. This COVID-19 Delta Relief Package, managed by Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, included funding for cultural agencies to support at risk organisations, key infrastructure, artists, and projects.

In association with the New Zealand Music Commission, MusicHelps can announce the details of an emergency hardship fund grant in response to this continuing crisis, which has impacted the livelihoods of artists, and music workers across Aotearoa.

“People are at the heart of our music community and it is critical we do everything we can to support them right now when the need is so great” says MusicHelps Chair, Anthony Healey.

“We need to navigate through this current difficult period in the hope that there is a busy summer of music ahead. This support should help those who we will rely on to make that summer happen” he says.

The MusicHelps COVID-19 DELTA HARDSHIP GRANT will be making a $1000 rapid response grant available to people that are New Zealand citizens; who reside in New Zealand; who have been in paid work in the music industry for at least the last 2 years; and have experienced loss of income as a result of COVID-19 restrictions and cancellations. To assist MusicHelps with the assessment and review of the submissions, it will be useful if applicants can provide their confirmation of accessing the COVID-19 Wage Subsidy scheme.

The charity will be making 250 grants available initially, after which it will review the outcomes of the Fund to date.

MusicHelps is encouraging applications from the full range of music industry workers. Artists, roadies, riggers, technicians, crew, performers, songwriters, managers and anyone who has lost income from their work in the production or performance of live or recorded music in Aotearoa are invited to apply.

Applications for the grant can be made online from 9am Monday 1st November through the Music Commission application portal website. More information on the grant is available at this address and the MusicHelps website MusicHelps Covid-19 Emergency Grant

SOJØURN TO RELEASE ‘MORE’ - NEW SINGLE & VIDEO FROM THE FORTHCOMING ‘MYSTIC WAYS’ EP

Kiwi psych & surf-rock reggae-heads SOJØURN are set to drop a summer gem with new single ‘More’ out 29 Oct on Meow. Accompanied by a stunningly shot video that captures their roof-raising live energy, it’s a track that fuses glorious grooves with fantastically psychedelic production elements. The increasingly popular six-piece have been whipping up a storm on tour recently with standout festival appearances at Bay Dreams and Soundsplash, and ‘More’ represents a giant leap forward as they ramp up towards the release of the forthcoming EP ‘Mystic Ways’.

The critically acclaimed east-coast groovers are set to realise their endless potential with the new EP set for release early 2022. Produced by Connor Jaine of Mako Road, it’s a body of work that brilliantly captures their true sound, and showcases the band’s recent journey through change, adversity, loss and positive growth. Drawing on influences including Ocean Alley, Mild Orange and The Black Seeds, ‘Mystic Ways’ is a celebration of the good times; and a mature acknowledgement of how they got there. It’s the fresh soundtrack for summer, and exactly what we all need right now.

With youth on their side, SOJØURN have been earmarked by critics and fans as a band on the rise with lofty ambitions. Their joyfully cruisy debut Summer Tape EP (2019) received favourable airplay across their home country, with singles ‘Stand Up’, ‘How It Grows’ and latest ‘Saturday Sipping’ earning the band a fast-growing fanbase that is absolutely frothing for the next release. Alongside their notable festival appearances, SOJØURN have shared stages with like-minded established artists including Mako Road, Summer Thieves, The Butlers and Sons of Zion.

Hailing from the sun-drenched surf-town of Mangawhai, NZ, SOJØURN are made up of members Isaac Hunter (Lead Vocals / Guitar) James Finlay ( Lead Guitar / BV) Jim Bokma (Drums) Tony Baker (Bass) Jacob O’Brien ( Saxophone / BV) and Elias Giles ( Keys).

RELEASE SCHEDULE – SOJØURN ‘More’ – single – out Fri October 29, 2021 ‘Mystic Ways’ – album – out early 2022

TOUR DATES

Velvet Arrow create a dark and twisted fairytale in the official Music Video For 'Red Revenge'

VELVET ARROW takes you down a lost path of dark nights and lonesome dreamers. Dan Stenhouse and Hannah Jane share a unique blend of harmony; wandering through fields of Indie-Folk into Alt-Country and somewhere in between.

Something of a pandemic project, 'Red Revenge' was born over one sleepless night from one house to another via Messenger during New Zealand's first lockdown in 2020, and the video editing was completed in lockdown last month, ready to release this Friday 29th October.

https://www.velvetarrowmusic.com/redrevenge

"Listening to Velvet Arrow’s new tune ‘Red Revenge’, one can’t help but hear it set to a dramatic scene of Peaky Blinders. With the gothic vibe of Nick Cave and honest integrity of PJ Harvey, this is a beautiful leap forward for folk-noir band Velvet Arrow."

Chris Foot - Beagle Radio

Lyrical Sample: 

"Too close to home, just out of reach, down a beaten track
Just like that my world died, never coming back.” 

The song from Velvet Arrow's EP 'Songs of Solitude' was produced by Dan at Creative Lab Studio and the video was shot in Whangarei, Northland, N.Z as a result of a successful Boosted crowdfunding campaign.

Rising Kiwi Country music star Arun O'Connor releases "Too Far Gone" first single off anticipated debut album

Arun O'Connor comes from a family of award-winning country musicians, so it seems only natural that he would follow suit. The lone wolf guitar player in a line of drummers, Arun swept the 2018 Gold Guitar Awards in the Vocal and New Country categories, winning Southland Musician of the Year and sending him on the road to recording his debut album with industry greats in Nashville. Having never previously written his own songs, the two self-penned singles from his Stateside stint reached the top of the NZ charts. "Too Far Gone" is his first single from the upcoming debut album Songs from the Reading Room - an infectiously catchy tune with poignant introspective lyrics about life and how we lead it.

Arun says, "'Too Far Gone" is a song about the mistakes we make in life, with all the bad choices that lead us down the roads we don’t want to go down. It is a song that will hopefully make us question our own intentions and reevaluate what is most important in our lives. Maybe we deserve that second chance. Maybe we can change and be the person we had always set out to be. "Too Far Gone" speaks of a seemingly never-ending cycle of mistakes and regrets but with a stubbornness of not wholeheartedly wanting to change."

Growing up in the small city of Invercargill at the southern tip of Aotearoa New Zealand’s South Island, Arun’s musical sensibilities were shaped not only by his dad and brothers, but also by the American country music his parents played – Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, et al. These influences - and Arun's fascination with Eagles musicianship - are evident in the sing-along melody and chorus of "Too Far Gone".

"Too Far Gone" is available via all good streaming services from Friday 29 October on a/b Records.

Apollo SteamTrain Announce Studio Album ‘Generation Overload’

Tauranga musical artist Brendan McCarthy aka Apollo SteamTrain has announced his debut album ‘Generation Overload’ will be released on Friday 29th October, 2021.

The album is the culmination of a considerable 6-year project that has involved contributions from multiple local musicians and production from New Zealand and England, and reflects a lifetime musical and personal journey for Brendan with some of the collection of tracks being written as far back as 1995.

The project itself started out in 2014 as a solo activity but diversified into a band with Apollo SteamTrain playing live for a number of years. After suffering the usual pressures of keeping a group of musicians together, the band split in 2019. Brendan decided to return the project to its roots and continue as a solo artist.

Recording took place over several years at three different studios beginning with initial sessions at The Colourfield Studio in Tauranga with producer Tim Julian, before moving on to Neil Finn’s RoundHead Studios in Auckland where international producer Greg Haver produced two songs that were released as the singles ‘Brain Bell Jangler’ and ‘Superstition’. Finally, production moved back home to Brendan’s home studio in Papamoa where the last tracks were completed to finish the project.

 “I started out writing songs using more of a singer-songwriter approach delivered with rock guitars and you can definitely hear the influence of the nineties rock sound on some tracks but as things evolved I diversified into ballads and pop rock that introduced more piano, synth and violin – so I guess the record is a journey in soundscape as well ”

‘Generation Overload’ is available for digital download or CD at apollosteamtrain.com plus streaming on all popular services.

Rock Your Music Program – and take Baby Shark off repeat!

Award winning children’s composer, educator and Director of kindyRock Judi Cranston, is having a VERY busy year – despite the disruptions that Covid has caused during the last few months.

Hot off her successful Happy Minds project supported by NZ on Air – new videos to accompany  three of her best loved affirmation songs, Judi is now thrilled to be offering a music training course for early childhood educators.

Thanks to the NZ Music Commission, Judi has created a  comprehensive programme that will run for seven weeks. Originally she was going to hold a full day in-person training session  in Auckland... but Covid has put paid to that! Instead there will be a 90 minute zoom run each Monday  evening from 1 November to 13 December.

Rock Your Music Program comprises  Level 1 Confident Foundations and  Level 2 Leading with Confidence. The purpose of the training is to give teachers confidence and skills to run a fun, engaging and educational music programme for young children.  Teachers will also learn about how amazing music is for the development of growing brains. On completion, participants will receive a certificate which can be used for their Professional Development portfolio.

Judi ran a free 30 minute introductory zoom session on Monday 18 October with almost 170 attendees.

“It seems that teachers are stretched for time, they feel a bit stale (or even totally STUCK) with their music times and most of them don't feel very confident....” Judi says. She wants to remedy that!

If you know anyone who is working with young children and would like to lift their music sessions to a new level, see https://www.kindyrock.com/training/ to find out more and register to be part of this awesome opportunity.

Zilla_ - What You Want

After co-founding the record label and production studio ‘Loane Records’, Zilla_ is here with the release of ‘What You Want (feat. Killloane)’

Co-founder, producer and artist at the record label and production studio ‘Loane Records’, Auckland’s newest rap artist and producer Zilla_ is preparing for the release of his single ‘What You Want (feat. Killloane)’ dropping on FRIDAY 5th NOVEMBER.

Zilla_ is a hiphop artist from Auckland, New Zealand, taking a wide range of influences from the likes of Eminem, Yelawolf, Tech N9ne and Logic. Over minor scales, smooth synth samples and using warped vocal chops, Zilla_ tells his experiences and feelings which many can relate to. The emotional trap beats have led many artists to record in Zilla_’s home studio and now he is branching out with an expression of his own.

Zilla_’s new single ‘What You Want (feat. Killloane)’ will be released 5th November and in support of the single a week later, on 12th November, Zilla_ will be releasing an Album called ‘Shadows’. The release of ‘Shadows’ lays the pathway to the many singles Zilla_ has been working hard on in preparation for a flow of singles for your continued enjoyment.  There’s a new rap artist on the radar and his name is Zilla_