Miriam Clancy calls out our tech dependency conundrum in 90s throwback track "Head Like A Hole"

New album Black Heart out 20th January 2023

"Head Like A Hole", the second single off Miriam's forthcoming LP Black Heart, drops on Wednesday 16 November!

Head Like a Hole is a clever, powerful 90s throwback track depicting a love/hate relationship with technology and its blurred lines in our everyday interaction. Miriam's voice expresses a hushed urgency, a lilting and listing musical thread, leading to the track's crescendo with a choir, oscillating synth and a scorching guitar solo.

Head Like A Hole focuses on our co-dependency with the internet, its knobby fingers needling into all aspects of our lives: the good news, bad news, validation, cancelling, discrimination and faux-friending. Miriam says, "How can we hate this? The great library in the sky! But it's so good though! We are entranced yet anxious targets zooming around the internet and it's beautiful and connected, addictive and thrilling! I love it, can't look away. At the same time, it's a great vacuum of space that our cyber-dimensional lives are making in our minds, constantly claiming more real estate till we have no room left to recalibrate and regulate - only react."

Filmed by Winger Brothers, and edited by Miriam Clancy, the video for Head Like A Hole drew on inspiration from old Split Enz videos, Miriam's favourite - Donnie Darko, and David Lynch's Lady In The Radiator, with a little Logan's Run thrown in for good measure. It's a personal video, the footage real, the themes universal - the internet is taking over, to the extent where Miriam feels at one with the machine. The lightning was filmed from Miriam's tiny balcony, downtown. The skating scenes are a metaphor for the great unplug, filmed on the back streets of Kutztown, Pennsylvania where Keith Haring came from, where roads are wild with cracks and old tarseal. "We would have looked bonkers, but it was one of my fave ever video shoots - Skateboarding isn't work, it's alive and awesome. Ride or die! Unless I break my guitar hand, then I'm burning that thing."

Miriam grew up on sci-fi and horror shows. The song and video together fall somewhere in the middle, but she loved the set design and "futurist" couture of Logan's Run with its dark narrative, a death cult in which no-one lives past their third decade. Miriam wears Karen Walker and Logan's Run chic in the video for "Head Like A Hole".

Sing for the Earth launches with ’This is a Family Show’ event

Sing for the Earth launches with ’This is a Family Show’ event on December 3

Children’s music performer Claudia Robin Gunn is launching her new album Sing for the Earth - Little Wild Animals with a community focussed warm up event ’This is a Family Show’ at Uxbridge Arts and Culture in Howick, Auckland.

With ticket proceeds going to support the charity that puts on the local Santa Parade in the village, Claudia is thrilled to use her music for good, and provide an opportunity for families with kids aged 3 - 8 a chance to sing, dance and play in this beautiful theatre.

The album, produced by Tom Fox, with support from Creative New Zealand, is part two of a two album project that has spanned a year in the making. It is going live December 9th, along with a songbook created in partnership with Claudia’s sister Dr Melissa R. Gunn, including lyrics, chords and science and activity notes for every one of the 25 songs. Howick artist Elise De SIlva is responsible for the illustrations throughout the book and album cover.

Artist features on the album include the song ‘Echidna Lullaby’ with Sydney artist Angie Who, 'Lovebirds Love’ with Itty Bitty Beats and ‘Zoo Hullabaloo’ with Loopy Tunes Preschool Music. Additionally, Claudia’s mum and singing mentor Deni Gunn features on backing vocals for the songs ‘Loopy the Inchworm’ and ‘Roly Poly Polar Bear’.

Tickets available now from Uxbridge Arts and Culture.

https://uxbridge.org.nz/product/this-is-a-family-show/

Album available for pre order on Bandcamp

https://claudiagunn.bandcamp.com/album/sing-for-the-earth-little-wild-animals

GENRE FLUID 'GROOVE MIESTA'

Dynamic Kiwi duo, Genre Fluid, fuse music and theatre into high-energy funk-rock anthems and improvised acts with their unique synergy on stage and in the studio; morphing style, sound and character into captivating experiences for all ages to groove and be moved.

The duo consists of Wellington-born vocalist and performance artist, Silk Satin Suede, and Nelson-born multi-instrumentalist and looping artist, Bosho. Their journey began in 2020 where they quickly found a synergy within improvised music in Bo’s jam room in Nelson, New Zealand. Max and Bo are both heavily inspired by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Talking Heads and Fat Freddy’s Drop, but all Genre Fluid songs are born with the channeling of one feeling and the passion of another; contributing to a multi-genre’d catalog of music.

Genre Fluid’s engaging theatrical street performances found them early local success, becoming well recognised for their creative musicality in live looping, improvisation, theatrics, humour, and their ability to adapt to all environments, making them an act well-loved by all ages. This led them to playing on festival stages and opening for legendary Kiwi artists such as Bic Runga, Julia Deans, Mako Road, The Narcs, and Albi & The Wolves.

On November 12, 2022 they independently released their debut single ‘Groova Meista’ - the gender defying musical wizard with the coolness of a rock and roll star and the weirdness of an unearthly flightless bird.

Genre Fluid frequently perform highly entertaining shows across New Zealand. Visit www.genrefluid.co.nz/live to find tickets.

Oh, and remember to always strive to be a Bonafide Lover…

Going Gold with MMA

A chat with Rory from Voodoo Bloo about the recent rise on Spotify and how they achieved this. Some good advice for other bands as their very first single MMA has gone Gold and on its way towards 30,000 streams!

“After a huge year for us, touring around Aussie and New Zealand, as well as releasing our second album, the band and I reached a point where we could grasp normalcy again, and with normalcy, comes a lot of admin. We loved every minute of what we did this year, but we realised that to make next year even bigger we needed to increase our reach even further, which in itself is a very vague concept, and one without a lot of focus or thought. 

We decided in the end, something that would be cool to try, was trying to get our music onto playlists that we really loved, and to increase our follower count on Instagram. With that goal in mind, it helped us focus our efforts to increase our reach to one specific area.

Going about Spotify playlist submissions isn't exactly an easy task, but as we saw after spending a lot of downtime finding ones that were right for us, it can really help you get your music out to the right people, without having to go through the normal means of promotion for your content (posting to specific groups, your music falling on cold shoulders etc…), this also lead to a healthy amount of new followers on all our platforms at the same time, whilst trying to upload consistent content.

It really should go without saying, but if you don't care about your content, then no one will. Spend time digging for gold on socials, videos or photos that actually make you think, or at least you admire in some sort of fashion. Giving any sort of visual passion project a go will really show off who you are as people, what the band is like outside of the music, and gives the people who follow you a real chance to see a completely different side of what you do.

Building your audience is about as much focus and goal setting as possible, don't spend your time doing a one hundred things with 1% effort into each, but just focus on 3 or 4 things with at least 25% effort when working on your project, people will see the love your putting into it more, and that love will resonate.”

Taylor Roche continues to free-fall in new single “lovemesober”

On a social media rise like no other, New Zealand pop artist Taylor Roche has been on an ascending slope thanks to TikTok (now sitting on 73.5k followers and growing by the day). While he’s become better known for his humor and turning audios into viral videos, his latest releases “similar feeling” and “day&night” haven’t gone unnoticed amongst his following.

His upcoming single “lovemesober”, dropping November 18th, is a sequel to the crumbling relationship and mind games told in “day&night” – which saw acclaim from Milky, MusicFeeds and AAA Backstage, as well as playlisting on Fresh Finds US and at #6 on Fresh Finds Pop. Co-written and produced by key collaborator Joel Jones, “lovemesober” is grounded by acoustic guitar and crosses into more indie/pop territory pulling from inspirations like Bazzi and The 1975.

On the making and inspiration behind the song, he says “it’s a song we wrote immediately after ‘day&night’ was released and the story kind of picked up from where that left one off. It really focuses on the insecurities that are brought on by not knowing if it is love or just disguised by the euphoric nature of a night out.”

Working towards an EP to be released in 2023, Taylor Roche has landed on his own authentic sound and platform – and if the numbers show anything, it’s that people seem to keep coming back for more.

MURMUR TOOTH & LARS MOSTON SHARE ELECTRO-POP BANGER AND FAUX SPAGHETTI WESTERN MUSIC VIDEO

Hot on the heels of their Berlin lovesong 'Antidote', comes the latest track from Murmur Tooth and Lars Moston, a bouncy electro-pop banger of a track, 'Now Is Love'. The music video is a faux spaghetti western epic, filmed in the desert in Egypt and the mountains of Central Otago, and three stonking remixes from international producers complete the single package.

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3UuUlC5

Music nerds might get the reference to ‘What Time Is Love’ by The KLF, and 'Now Is Love' is a shoutout to this tongue-in-cheek twist to dancey pop music. Built on a rock solid foundation of stompy beats and an 80s funk stab, the track oozes good times. The vocals are a sassy invitation to join the party, and, with bouncing hi-hats and a massive bass it's very clear that the party starts now.

While Murmur Tooth began as a doom-pop project of Leah Hinton, things have taken a more experimental/indie-dance approach since teaming up with British-German DJ and producer Lars Moston. Since meeting during the pandemic, the duo have explored how their polar-opposite musical backgrounds could clash and combine, with an upcoming full length album, No Time To Explain, combining Leah's composition skills and vocal hooks with Lars's production magic. The tracks drip with layered harmonies, and burst with weird and wonderful sounds of half-broken instruments, salvaged childhood toys, and repurposed household appliances. The first track, 'Antidote', released on the 7th of October via Motor Music entered the German Club Charts at #21 on release weekend, was Top 10 in the Apple Music / iTunes charts in Mexico, Greece, Nepal and Niger, and was also Claptone’s “Claptune of the week”.

'Now Is Love' is available on all digital platforms from Friday 11th November, 2022.

Info: https://www.murmurtoothandlarsmoston.com/

KORA 'GONE'

KORA’s new song Gone is a classic piece of broken-hearted soul that speaks of someone coming to terms with the end of a romance.

It is a song that follows a person’s struggle to save a doomed relationship.

The song and its accompanying video, however, show that there can be rhythm with the blues, and there is nothing wrong with dancing your sorrows away while you look to new horizons for the next mountain to climb.

Sometimes the answers never come, so you must find the strength to make peace within yourself and move forward a find a new groove.

A blend of timeless keys, acoustic guitars, groovy drums, and mellow bass creates a song that could be a hit in any decade. Mixed and mastered by Scott Banks (Studio DMI), the song has been a live favourite in KORA sets since the summer of 2021/2022 and is a hotly anticipated release.

The inspiration for this song is simply life. The highs and lows of love and loss have been sung about since the beginning of time, but how we come out the other side is the journey that makes us stronger.

LISTEN HERE

 summer festivals:

Dec 31st Rhythm And Alps, Wanaka

Jan 5th Rocking Horse, Whitianga

Feb 5th Beach Break, Nelson
Feb 25th Splore, Tāpakapanga Regional ParkMarch 4th Six60, DunedinMarch 18th Homegrown, Wellington

"We Jingle" - New Christmas Jingle for Kids and "Whero: Kirihimete|Kilisimasi" Christmas Album release!

Ōtautahi-based children’s music duo, Leah and Siu, of Loopy Tunes Music, are excited to release their fourth new Christmas single that will be added to their very first Loopy Tunes Christmas album for kids - "Whero: Kirihimete|Kilisimasi". 

​This final single release, "We Jingle​", is a simple jingle bell song that is perfect for use in preschool music sessions. It assists in the development of children motor skills through interactive movement with real jingle bells! It will be a total hit in preschools everywhere with its jazzy Christmas beat!

All of the new Christmas songs have included elements of the sisters’ Māori and Tongan cultures, and they all have a uniquely Aotearoa flavour, that will be enjoyed by all tamariki/children in many different settings and have been created with the support of funding from NZ on Air Music. 

They have been added to a compilation of already released Loopy Tunes Christmas songs, to become their first Christmas album. The album has a fantastic mix of songs that reflect New Zealand’s cultural diversity well. Entitled, “Whero: Kirihimete|Kilisimasi” (whero being red, in Māori; with Kirihimete and Kilisimasi being Christmas in the Māori and Tongan languages, respectively), it is the second in the Loopy Tunes ‘Rainbow Collection’ of children’s music albums, following on from their debut album, “Kākāriki: Simply Us” (kākāriki meaning green, in Māori).

The sisters will be celebrating the release of their Christmas album with an online album launch party on their Facebook page, on Friday morning at 10am! Come along with your tamariki and join them for a fun, interactive, festive-themed music session for tamariki, with giveaways and spot prizes!!

The whole "Whero" album is guaranteed to become a new Christmas fave in so many kiwi kids’ households and you'll be toe-tapping along to it, too, this coming festive season! 

A quick intro to the other new releases:

• Pōhutukawa Christmas Tree is the first of the four new songs and was released last week. It's a great rock 'n roll vibing song that puts our beautiful homegrown Christmas Tree in the limelight! It celebrates the pōhutukawa's uniquely festive qualities while paying homage to its significance i te ao Māori (in the Māori world), with a reference to ‘Te Rerenga Wairua’, the leaping place of spirits, in the bridge. Produced by Thom O'Connor and an awesome music video is on its way - currently under construction by animator extraordinaire, Ross Payne. 

• Muimui Ki He Fetu'u, is a sweet Tongan Christmas lullaby. It translates to ‘Follow The Star’ and is the duo’s first original full Tongan language song, collaboratively penned by Siu and their Māmā. The lullaby is sung by Leah’s eldest daughter, Olive, and Siu’s youngest child, ‘Ilaisaane. The girls’ gorgeous vocals are beautifully captured in this song, accompanied by the lovely harmony of their mothers. The guitar work of Toa Siulangapo is effortlessly stunning and complements the soft harmonic tones of the song superbly. .

• Christmas Dance is an upbeat and super catchy song that will absolutely have all children and adults alike on their dancing feet! This fun song encourages everybody to try out four different dance moves inspired by the different Christmas characters in the song, including a donkey. Giggles will be shared when they try to figure out how to dance like a Christmas tree?! Haha! This song was also produced by Thom O’Connor, who had a lot of fun putting this one together!

SONG RELEASE DATES (hit the links below to have a listen on your favourite streaming platform):

Wed, 26 Oct - Pōhutukawa Christmas Tree  

Wed, 2 Nov - Muimui Ki He Fetu'u 

Wed, 9 Nov - Christmas Dance 

Wed, 16 Nov - We Jingle 

Fri, 18 Nov – “Whero: Kirihimete|Kilisimasi” album