Auckland punk-pop trio formed in 2007 as Mean Street by Emily Littler and Billie Rogers. Known for their ferocious live performances, they won the inaugural Critics’ Choice award at the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards for debut album Means and the 2017 Taite Music Prize for Hauora.
She’s Insane were a punk and alternative rock band from Christchurch, New Zealand, active throughout the 1990s, who won the Rejuvenation Battle of the Bands in 1997 and became the most requested band on Christchurch’s RDU radio station in 1998.
Dunedin-based free improvisation ensemble formed in August 1993, occupying a singular position in New Zealand underground music history across three decades of releases.
Sandra Bell is a New Zealand experimental artist from the West Coast of the South Island whose career spans cassettes, vinyl, and CD releases from 1984 to the present, gaining international recognition through releases on Xpressway, Turbulence Records, and VHF Records.
Dunedin bassist, guitarist, and songwriter at the heart of New Zealand’s underground music scene since the late 1970s. Co-founder of the Every Secret Thing cassette label and fanzine, bassist in The Clean, and frontman of The Bats.
Wellington neo-folk musician Sean Kelly, who has performed alongside Grizzly Bear and Jónsi.
Wellington post-punk/ska band active 1981-1987, founded by Jon McLeary. Blended angular ska-punk with gothic-folk influences, releasing the celebrated ‘Fishing’ EP on Ripper Records. Their song ‘Your Body Stays’ became TV personality John Campbell’s all-time favorite NZ song.
Supergroove formed on New Year’s Eve 1989/90 in Auckland, New Zealand, when the members were still in high school. The band began as “The Lowdown Dirty Blues Band” before transitioning to their signature funk sound. The core lineup included Karl Steven (vocals, harmonica), Joe Lonie (bass), Nick Atkinson (saxophone, keyboards), Che Fu (vocals), Ben Sciascia (guitar), and Tim Stewart (trumpet).
Biography One of the earlier Christchurch acid-rock groups of Celia Patel (aka Celia Pavlova / Mancini) along with twins Sharon and Joanne Billesdon and Reta La Quesne. Forming after Celia and Rita’s former group The Axel Grinders, Stepford 5 only… Read More »Stepford 5
Cabaret-punk from Palmerston North’s Victoria Singh with (former Builders drummer) Derek Champion. The duo released a CD and 7″ on Andrew Tolley’s Kato Records label in the late 1990s. In a live context Singh was backed by The Santina Droids – Champion and Chris Swain.
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In 1995 The 3Ds guitarist and vocalist Dave Saunders got together with well-known drummer Alan Haig to record a 3-song single for Flying Nun Records under the name Spacious – all 3 songs were eventually re-recorded by The 3Ds for their final album ‘Strange News from the Angels’.
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Mainstream kiwi pop-rock group out of Auckland with a very disputed history thanks to a split between the two key members – frontman and original song-writer Mark Loveys and guitarist / vocalist Deane Sutherland (aka Tommy Joy).
Best known for their 1985 hit ‘Destiny in Motion’ and the 1994 single ‘It must be love’ – released by Sutherland’s later edition of the group.
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Auckland-born singer songwriter who made an impact in 2006 while studying a Bachelor of Music at the University of Otago in Dunedin, with several choice support slots and a mega-talented backing band. Self-released an EP produced by Arc Life Records Thomas Bell, utilising the Universities Albany Street Studio.
Moved to Auckland and formed The Sami Sisters, along with Priya and (comedic actress) Madeline Sami, then the 2012 Taite Music Prize nominated shoe-gaze group She’s So Rad.
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Say Yes To Apes were a loose, noisy, often sloppy and usually creative Dunedin-then-Christchurch-based underground rock outfit formed by frontman Kevin Smith (several years before his acting career took off), drummer Pat Faigan (aka Duane Zarakov of Space Dust, King Loserand multi-instrumentalist Steve Watson, born out of the earlier Picnic Boys.
Biography Straitjacket Fits were a corner stone in New Zealand independent rock from their formation in 1986 till their inevitable break-up in February 1994. Though predominantly a kiwi indie-rock group, they were at times dissonant (and incredibly loud), hiding their… Read More »Straitjacket Fits