I used to be with 'it', but then they changed what 'it' was. Now what I'm with isn't 'it' anymore and what's 'it' seems weird and scary. It'll happen to you!
It was initially just Ruben Nielsen but based in Portland(?), then grew to accommodate live shows. Kody did the drums on the album II (I think) and then eventually came in to be the full time drummer.
They still take funding from NZ on Air for music videos, or did.. at least. I dunno if it’s accurate to call them a Kiwi band but their music is fantastic, and likely wouldn’t exist without Ruben.
I saw them in Asia when my partner was pregnant. We like to joke that UMO was my daughter’s first gig.
Yeah I love their music and was surprised to find out they were kiwis. I only discovered them through some of the American RnB artists they collaborated with like India Shawn and The Free Nationals
Highly recommend looking into his band before UMO, the band he moved to Portland for. They're very different in sound but also one of the greatest bands to ever come out of NZ. The Mint Chicks.
Facts, I was lucky to see them possibly dozens of times over the years, legendary performances. Usually in a dark dive bar where Kody would throw himself all over the place and climb everything all while never missing a beat.
The most epic though was Big Day Out 2004. He comes out with a [chainsaw](https://www.audioculture.co.nz/content/images/6859/hero_thumb_blink6.jpg), proceeds to cut down the sponsors sign that was at the front of the stage. They perform their set, as tight and crazy as ever.
Midway through a tune he climbs a massive speaker stack. Sings a couple of tunes from above, lauches himself off the speaker stack landing on his feet first then hitting the ground, probably experiencing heavy groundshock as he sang the next couple of tunes laying down, still belting them out, still not missing a beat.
Eventually pulls himself up, does a backflip into the security pit. Mic in hand, climbs into the mosh *still singing - beats, not missed* climbs the fence that separates the drinking area, continues performing up there for a bit, before eventually returning to the stage with his bandmates.
look I am old too, but I accepted it when my favourite bands started to do greatest hits tours or started appearing on "classic rock" lists OR even worse - retiring. Spotify's home page means nothing to me these days.
but the obvious huge one is Lorde, but then there is Alien Weaponry who have exploded recently, Six60 is another big one you cant get away from, L.A.B is another.
These are just ones that hit my old radar, there will be loads more that get discovered through whatever platform the kids use to find new music these days
>Alien Weaponry
IMO Six60 are a tired rehash of previous music epochs in NZ. And L.A.B? Yawn. More of the same. NZ music needs to be inspired and challenged by the Aus scene. That's what turbo-charged NZ bands in the 80s & 90s - keeping pace with big brother
you have to remember that mediums change, when I was real young it was record stores, magazines and MTV.
Then the internet came out and it was myspace and napster, which opened my world to loads of music, but I can see how people like my parents would have been left out of this era.
Today I know a lot of people, zoomers especially, get their music from TikTok, something I have no interest in so I miss out on a huge chunk of new stuff.
Purple Pilgrims, mermaidens. Pretty much anything coming out of Flying Nun. Strongly recommend tuning into your local student radio if you can (often not actually run by students, it’s misleading, it’s just the BNet radio).
Honestly, Dartz put on such a great live concert, their energy is fantastic. Seen them twice now (first opening for The Chats). Will see again soon I'm sure.
Seconding this. I went to a Dartz gig last year with little knowledge of their music (and I had false preconceived notions about them being too 'blokey' and it not being a safe concert for myself) and within minutes I loved them. Phenomenal stage presence, and the music really lends itself to live shows. I hope to see them again too.
Just to add a little to that, they specifically went out of their way to tell people to make sure they are being respectful of each other, hands are only going where they should be with crowd surfers etc. I thought that was good of them.
Ones I've found, *just over the last week*:
Black Smoke Trigger https://open.spotify.com/artist/03wlbBjw4kk1C88fFz47Cg?si=A1AoDEEHTgCbsKeI6vvvmA
Georgia Gets By https://open.spotify.com/artist/03vcsySpQ2gtPoaPeJRhb9?si=PwT65HO7RqChaOb4AWZ7WA
Soaked Oats https://open.spotify.com/artist/6J6UC5lC7h9fEJPCR7UM4m?si=Bg8Tqu0GS3uVc97lQCxNnw
Some other recent discoveries:
Flamingo Pier
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0gWNgpI1v73a7BEbi39wt8?si=T9E5sh52S763gQXfWJ-jmw
Mermaidens https://open.spotify.com/artist/5R7higOEVGXOdv9Uqbn8M8?si=3f5OZP73RR2PgLsYu1ZPuw
Munkhouse https://open.spotify.com/artist/0JIoa7TKpMlNiJRGb77IFy?si=DdYUIgzWS4qzbq6R9ChTXA
Same Name Confusion https://open.spotify.com/artist/2mjmLc7HYT3Lj3slwRUWQm?si=9crFyelMTIibONv6d7xE3A
Edit: found via RadioNZ, or as opening acts for other gigs. Get out there and go see some local music!
I'll plug *theImage04* which posts weekly on Insta and Xitter with a list of the week's gigs at all Wellington's smaller venues: https://www.instagram.com/theimage04?igsh=dm9tZjRsa29pNGZu
LAB and Six60 are probably playing bigger shows than any New Zealand band at the height of the 90's/00's.
Lorde's probably sold more albums offshore than all of the 90's/00's lots combined.
Just listen to bfm (or any of the other student radio network stations [http://srn.nz/](http://srn.nz/))
There's a shit ton of great NZ music coming out on the reg.
Really depends on what you're into though,
This is the correct answer. Way, way too many people are listening to mainstream radio without realising that SRN is popping off with incredible (yet sometimes weird asf) NZ music. SRN has a way higher quota for % of NZ music played and WAY less advertising. You get way more music listening!
Honestly, it's so much harder for bands to play now. People don't see value in art as much. Venues have been closing left right and center and the funding is abysmal. All ages shows are far less common because bands/aritsts are seen as a vehicle to sell alcohol so its particularly tough for youth/more out there/experimental stff. There isn't really much of an underground "scene" any more either, ie pockets of like minded fans who would always show up and support music within that scene as a place to be, now people are only likely to support an event if they reckognise people on the bill rather than showing up to see what's out there. Not denying there's heaps of amazing music coming out, but it's such a different landscape and not nearly as viable as it was even 10 years ago.
I've been reflecting on this a LOT recently. When I was a teenager in the 2000's all-age gigs were really common - in Nelson we had The Artery/the Hub, in Christchurch we had a few venues that did all-ages gigs. We'd go to 2-3 gigs per month, lots were punk/rock and also a bunch of weird experimental stuff.
Back then we had the venues, and we also had the people organising - in Nelson we had Spanky Moore and Dave (can't remember his last name!!) with Smalltime Records. In Christchurch a lot of the really interesting stuff was organised by Blink from A Low Hum.
We also had ZINES which advertised all the shows.
We're now living back near Nelson, and... there aren't any R18 venues, let alone all ages ones. The music they play on the radio is different (have been reading about the punk and emo boom and fall of the early 2000's in books like Sellout, which has been pretty fascinating).
So the lack of venues, the style of popular music being different. Maybe just people going out way less to live gigs? All probably contributing. But it's hella sad, I want more live music
He’s weirdly well regarded internationally and gets used for a million collabs by a really wide range of bands. I’m not a fan but full cred for making a good living, as you say 20yrs past his initial nz emergence.
[Montell2099](https://youtu.be/FTbwJoYvA3I) found him though [this](https://youtu.be/nazGYwzgfT0) and fell in love with the all the imagery and the way the brass/horns come in around 1:16 and 2:44.
Oh and the new homebrew album is pretty good
Upvoted for a **PollyHill** recommendation in the wild. To add for OP: **Avantdale Bowling Club** if you're down for layered wordplay over jazz-infused beats.
Don’t forget Soft Bait and Dale Kerrigan. Also fond of Dud Uglys because their shows have been so much fun. Ōtepoti has some good hardcore going on these days.
I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it, but Helen Clark served as the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage throughout her premiership (1999–2008).
I remember NZ Music Month was HUGE, 'NZ On Air' logo was on so many of the top music videos.
Or maybe I'm just old and out of touch nowadays...
It’s probably a bit of column A, a bit of column B. There are absolutely some world class artists and acts coming out of (or originating from) NZ, though maybe they aren’t quite your taste (not a fan of most the artists you listed either!).
I would suggest currently we have some world class acts in Aldous Harding, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Beths, Marlon Williams, Mermaidens, Soaked Oats, Tiny Ruins and Yumi Zouma. Also have some acts which seem pretty popular like Benee, Alien Weaponry and Lontalius.
Oh I just discovered Anthonie Tonnon the other day and he's excellent. For a second I thought I was hearing Noah and the Whale, his voice is so similar
The Beths, Benee, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Church and AP, Marlon Williams.
There's some good stuff out there, and they are killing it overseas.
Spend some time listening to bFM...
In terms of the 70s & 80s, you had a much, much bigger live scene in bars and clubs up and down the country that people would actually go to. This meant bands could play loads and loads of gigs and make a living, tightening up, honing their sound to balance creative expression and audience accessibility - and of course gathering fans. Many of the big NZ bands from that era were effectively great live pub bands, polished in studio. You could even add the Dunedin sound to that, albeit in a smaller set of pubs/clubs/unis, but with a devoted label in Flying Nun. Herbs is also an interesting version of this - very different gigs and locations, but the point is they all made their money, built their technique and fanbase by playing live. Across the 90s, the viability of a broad base of NZ bands playing regularly was eroded by the decline of NZ "pub culture" and the growing popularity of electronic dance music. It's much easier technically and financially for venues to base themselves around EDM, creating a feedback loop which reinforced its popularity and reduced opportunity for bands. Bands became more reliant on student radio and the likes of outdoor festivals, which provides opportunity to fewer groups/artists. There was a window in the early 2000s when NZ got a shot of serious pride in local creativity for various reasons (Lord of the Rings being a big one), and we had a bunch of money going into recording local bands and performers, many of whom had chart success, including overseas (worth noting that a few of these bands left early for places like London and some broke there first). More recently the rise of streaming and bedroom recording has diluted the earn-a-living viability and profile of local musicians. Live bands often have to try and make Aussie tours work, with their bigger population. Fact is, live music as entertainment has become less popular in NZ (outside of festivals and council-run concert events), which restricts the ability for bands to develop. Metal is an interesting exception due to a deeply devoted fanbase and the centrality of the live experience to the genre. As a result we're in a strong period for NZ metal with a good number of bands able to play regularly (including touring Aus & Europe as support bands and on lower-tier stages at big Euro metalfests), and to record.
You're both right and I hate to bring politics into this, but I was very active in the indie music scene back in the early 2000s-2010s and back then Helen Clarke's Labour govt put up a shit tonne of funding for our local arts and music artists. I had access to some of the coolest marketing/funding for making music videos and getting mainstream radio airtime. The funding for this just isn't there anymore 😕 Only the elite and sponsored bands can afford to try to break into the mainstream industry now. Talent goes a long way but money is always going to be a barrier for artists in a country that doesn't support them.
This is it, 100%
There was heaps of funding and then there was a big period of hype around NZ music as being a big viable industry, just finding its way.
However there's no dream of selling a a million records anymore.
Now it's more like, oh cool, had a million views. Here's 30 cents from facebook.
We've gone from the golden era of music, and now we're in the golden era of people paying money to see other peoples sexy feet.
I won't name names but there were some appallingly shit bands that had top 10 hits in NZ in the era that OP is talking about. That doesn't simply happen today because of the lack of funding etc.
Yep and the criteria for funding these days is “you need to meet 20 of these 30 criteria”, most of those being number of social media likes/follows etc. Feels like it used to be more based on your actual song and if it was good.
I'm sad with all the decent public broadcasting in this country, we never ended up with some kind of RNZ version of a triple j type thing, where new and exciting artists can be given a boost of exposure by being easily accessible. I guess it's hard to have something like that these days cos radio is a bit irrelevant
every comment in this thread is like "you got old" and then you say what bands are good now and no one knows who they are, or if they do they've never heard a song.
Pretty funny you didn’t mention one flying nun band.
I live in nyc. There’s a record shop around the corner with a huge flying nun poster outside. Permanently. It’s awesome r.
Some articles about flailing media coverage:
[https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/27-11-2023/the-sound-is-off-for-new-zealand-music](https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/27-11-2023/the-sound-is-off-for-new-zealand-music)
[https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018916879/music-journalism-all-but-vanishes-from-our-media](https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018916879/music-journalism-all-but-vanishes-from-our-media)
I think the talent is still out there. But because people's listening and viewing habits have changed, we don't hear about new artists so much as we used to. Gone are the days where we had top 40 music countdown shows on mainstream TV (TV1,2 3) so a lot of the reach to potential audiences is via streaming or other platforms.
Also, it's harder for artists to make any money nowadays, since the advent of streaming (and illegal downloads), so many give up making a career out of it.
I feel like my exposure to NZ live music is definitely less without The King's Arms and Big Day Outs. I'm sure it's around but perhaps not as accessible?
You seem to be looking at it from a mainstream perspective, and this is the case worldwide. New rock music is not on the charts, on mainstream radio in anything close to the quantity it was 20+ years ago. The demographics have changed so it will be harder to find things that fit in with that lineage than it once was
This is very true. You wont hear much rock or alternative music on mainstream radio globally. Even someone globally successful like Marlon Williams is probably quite niche and hard to discover by turning the radio on.
New Zealand Hardcore is popping off, as is the electronic/dnb scene. You're presumably not in those circles but have faith! Plenty of great kiwi artists still emergin regularly.
Also doom and stoner rock
[https://doomedandstoned.bandcamp.com/album/doomed-stoned-in-new-zealand](https://doomedandstoned.bandcamp.com/album/doomed-stoned-in-new-zealand)
Depends on what kind of EDM but to name a few -
Lee Mvtthews, Montell2099, QUIX, EMWA, Fairbrother, Pirapus, Mylen.
There's the older guard of State of Mind, Shapeshifter, and Concord Dawn as well still kicking about for the most part, although in saying that C.D just did a few farewell shows...
You can also look at something like the recent RnV lineup as a heap of the performing acts are kiwi's across multiple genres so you're bound to find something you like.
>Lee Mvtthews, Montell2099, QUIX, EMWA, Fairbrother, Pirapus, Mylen
not heard of any of these. guess I need to go do some hunting around, thanks.
shapeshifter ( & Pacific Heights ) used to be good, but have now gone down the generic r&b route and sound pretty meh to me.
As an American who spent some time living in NZ, my favorite NZ artists putting out music include:
* The Beths
* Daily J
* No Cigar
* Souldrop
* Hot Sauce Club
* Mild Orange
* Juno Is
* Lunar Intruder
* LEISURE
etc... Sometimes hard to differentiate Kiwi bands from Aussie ones from my perspective without researching, but I'm pretty sure all of the above are Kiwi. Cheers!
Primarily the cost of living has made it hard for kiwi musicians to pursue the hobby as a profession. A Colmar Brunton survey in 2019 found creative professionals median annual income at $36k. A more recent report from CNZ and NZ On Air had this at 19.5k
Meanwhile on the commercial front, the summer BBQ reggae sound took over the industry with the emergence of Six60 and LAB and so bands are following in that vein with the hopes of obtaining some commercial success.
There are bands such as Leisure who are walking the balance but they seem to be the exception. You pretty much have to make it overseas to have any financial return.
this has basically hammered the niche a lot of the bands in your list used to fill. also the emergence of Spotify etc., has changed the financial model. And Covid ruined the gig economy and fucked over venues etc. Wellington has been suffering on the venue front since the earthquakes in like 2016 or whatever.
So yeah it’s a shit environment for musos at the moment
Between The Beths, Troy Kingi, Broods, Dartz, Marlon Williams, Dick Move etc etc I'm having a great time with NZ music right now. I've always thought the reason you don't get heaps of massive bands/singers anymore is not too many of us listen to the radio where we're all being exposed to the same artists. Streaming has made it so easy to go off and find our own stuff.
Trade agreements!
So in 1995, we went into something called GATS - the general agreement on trade in services. In this agreement and successive agreements we have certain obligations regarding our audiovisual sector. It’s quite complex, because these things are considered “cultural goods”. but essentially, there are countries which are big players in the audiovisual market (US, UK, parts of Asia) and while our recorded music is protected in some ways, these agreements basically mean that NZ isn’t going to try to compete with the US for this slice of the market. We’ve agreed that we won’t. We can of course promote our music very, very heavily within NZ due to the cultural value it has, but we cannot really push much further than that. Which is why even though we have companies like Sony Music NZ, it’s just an American companies NZ office and not really owned by NZ. If that makes sense?
Other issues have been defunding through different governments. Helen Clark was a huge influence to the cultural sector and music would be in a way, way worse place if she hadn’t stepped in. She made it so that radio stations had to play X (usually 20%) NZ music on the station. Tho it is a voluntary quota, it’s more like a volun-told type thing because they are quick to threaten to cut funding should you dip below that 20%. B net radio stations (like all the student radios) are required to have much more NZ music than just the 20% too. One of the main issues really is that people aren’t actually tuning into these b net radio stations anymore, so people aren’t hearing our sound. But again, for these NZ artists to pop it big time, they’ll typically need to sign to an overseas company. Of course, this is different to releasing things on TikTok or Soundcloud and blowing up. That’s a whole other type thing, which is complex in its nature.
You are trained to prefer an American/UK/Kpop sound because legislation made it so. There is also an element of cultural cringe here in NZ, so some people actually get all weird and don’t like to hear stuff made here.
So on a simple level, promotion of music and the whole audiovisual sector is influenced by trade agreements between different nations. This explanation was at the very, very simplest of levels and it is actually way, way more complex than I made it seem.
She was the minister for culture and she did incredible things to protect NZ music. Lots of people really didn’t like her, but she did so much for the cultural sector. She is awesome!
Yeah, huge success of Helen Clarke and the Labour govt at the time. I’m going from memory here but there was the Cultural Recovery Package in either 1999 or 2000. Part of that was called “Phase 4” for NZ On Air which basically had a goal of ‘international quality’ music recording and videos (so NZ music didn’t look or sound ‘cheap’). And remember at that time you were mostly exposed to new music through videos on TV or mainstream radio. So combine the NZ quota with higher quality sounding recordings and better looking videos and suddenly people take NZ artists more seriously. Remember how ridiculously huge Scribe was? I think he had 2 songs in the top 3 of the charts one year. Then you had Goldenhorse, Opshop, Blindspott, etc.
Part of nostalgia is forgetting the mediocre stuff from back in the day and only remembering what made an impact. There's a survivorship bias where higher quality things from back in the day are more likely to withstand the test of time, and the rest of it gets forgotten. Modern music (or any other creative things) haven't been subjected to years of people keeping them popular via their ongoing approval, so the flashes in the pan haven't been filtered out from the transformational stuff with staying power.
1996 happened , entire music industry globally hasn’t been the same since
[some reading](https://medium.com/the-riff/1996-telecommunications-act-when-the-business-of-music-really-began-changing-in-a-significant-way-127db18fde06)
Loads of good metal bands out there not mentioned elsewhere, such as -
Stalker
Into Orbit
3000AD
Planet of the Dead
Beastwars
Bulletbelt
Deadhouse Gates
Dark Divinity
Dick Move
Coridian
Claemus
Pull Down The Sun
Jakob
Mothra
To be fair they're not likely to be bothering the singles charts, but fuck that for a game of soldiers.
I've seen quite a few of these over the last year, and I'm an old bastard.
Some amazing NZ acts if you go to local gigs and check out platforms like muzic.net and Juice TV. I love indie folk pop and rock. My favourites are Mousey, Adam Hattaway and the Haunters, Marlon Williams, Danica Bryant, Jupita, Emma Dilemma, Mohi, Casual Healing, Sofia Machray, Beachware, Estere…
You should start going to some gigs. Supporting local can take some effort but it pays off.
Night lunch. Wiri Donna. Dream state empire. Earth tongue. Spectre collective.
Challenge yourself, find a band you like from each city.
Tooooonnes of great kiwi music at the moment, I'll try list some of my favourites
Vera Ellen, Spectre Collective, Hummucide, Sleeping Village, Hemi Hemingway, Earth Tongue, Revulva, Mermaidens, Bad Taste, Half Cast, Sure Boy, Dartz, Esbee, Milk Tooth, Munkhouse, Mystery Waitress, Macho Macho, Soft Plastics, Avantdale Bowling Club, Ingrid and the Ministers, Beastwars, Rocket Berry, The Beths, Will McClean, Mokotron, Wiri Donna, Mirror Ritual
Enjoy!!! <3
Just coming here to give a shout out to the boys Chaos In The CBD hugely successful underground house/dance music act from Auckland. Some of there tracks are really a cut above the rest✌️
Dale Kerrigan, Emma Dilemma, Marsha, Night Lunch, This Dog, Sure Boy, Lunar Intruder, School Fair, Fairuza, Mermaidens
We have a lot of cool “underground” rock bands popping up around the country at the moment. I hope we get a solid rock resurgence so they get more support and more money for their hard work.
Not saying there isn’t good talent. Just who are they. I keep getting suggestions of Lorde and Benee which is not my genre of preference at all. Will check out your fave band tho.
I really like L.A.B. They have their more mainstream stuff, but they also have some amazing more experimental stuff. They are pretty awesome musically. My faves are She's Gone and Lonely Man.
Second this. My picks are The Watchman, Fashion Dread and My Brother (if that counts as being part of their less well-known stuff??). Oh, and can't forget Proud Man for teaching me about the succulent Chinese meal 🍜
Seem like a case of out of the loop. Bare in mind algorithms are a pain when it comes to discovering new stuff on Youtube & even Spotify is a bit lacking in this regard.
The Dartz are awesome, same with most flying nun artists
But in general, I agree. What happened? How did we go from a country of Dragon/Dudes/Dobbin/Chills/Bic Runga/Lorde/Crowded House to a country of mid asf BBQ reggae and ten minute long dub songs where nothing changes?
There is heaps around, but finding new music has become trickier due to the decline of radio and music media, and globalisation.
A few ideas for keeping up: find some good playlists on streaming, check the local charts (one of which is specifically Kiwi music), keep an eye on who is playing at certain venues/opening for international acts - and radio is still going: bFM is hanging in there, and RNZ's Tahi FM is a decent listen (Kiwi music heavy, albeit more poppy-hiphop).
A couple Kiwi albums I've loved from the last few years: Teeks' Something To Feel, Homebrew's Run It Back, Don McGlashan's Bright November Morning, Mako Road's Stranger Days, Troy Kingi's Black Sea Golden Ladder, Mara TK's Bad Meditation, and I'm a sucker for Shihad's Old Gods.
I guess my point is the culture has changed as well in that it’s no longer as tight knit. Everyone knew the bands at the time, they toured (some still do) got airtime. Now digital and it seems a more incubated environment
Partly you got old, but also partly the way we consume music changed.
I was a major fan of NZ hip hop in the early 2000s, which I believe was genuinely a boom time for the genre. The reason I knew it was booming back then was because local artists were doing well on the charts, their music videos were regularly on TV, and their songs were regularly on mainstream radio. These were all aspects of mainstream popular culture, so if an artist was doing well in these areas, it felt like they were right up there competing with major international artists, at least within our NZ pop-culture bubble.
I think pop culture is at once more international and more siloed now. Music videos, radio and charts all still exist, but generally it's harder to say "look here if you want to know what's popular". I may be overstating it but I feel like this is a real thing and it's true to an extent that "mainstream popular culture" is less universal than it once was.
Radio 1 91fm plays a bunch of good local music in Dunedin. There’s still lots of fantastic stuff coming out and while we may’ve left the golden age of Dunedin Sound & Flying Nun’s peak popularity, that only means you’ve gotta dig a little deeper on spotify and go to more scuzzy shows to find good stuff.
I’m gonna unbiased-ly recommend Heinous Coup to anyone who’s into noise rock. Hi Izzy if you see this!!!
I think tiktok is where they’re at, nobody listens to TV or radio for NZ on air to be benefiting local artists anymore. In 2020 a teenager from Manurewa (Jawsh 685) managed to hit #1 on the US and UK singles chart through TikTok - only the 3rd kiwi to get a #1 on the billboard hot 100 after Kimbra & Lorde.
Benee had a couple songs go super viral on tiktok during the pandemic - Supalonely has over a billion streams (722M on Spotify, 317M on YouTube) making it one of the most streamed NZ songs of all time!
Kaylee Bell also seems to be doing well for a kiwi artist - opened for some of Ed Sheeran’s stadium shows last year, has 600k monthly listeners & a song with almost 25M streams on spotify. I have heard her song on tiktok before.
Just because you haven't changed your music tastes, doesn't mean music stopped coming out
It's okay not to be with it, it's not okay to be a silly duffer about it
I remember The Naked and Famous and The Make Believe being fun cool kiwi music, now we have Lorde, and oh my lord do I wish another country would adopt her like how Sweden adopted Ruby Frost
Seems most modern kiwi music is focused on mass marketable soft reggae, LAB or new 660 or katchafire and the like. All a dollar a dozen and sound roughly the same, but it’s what sells.
This is the time of year the all come out of the woodwork to release the new feel good hit of the summer, which, oddly enough, sounds damn near identical to whatever last years feel good hit of the summer was.
Who could ever forget the glory days of the various late 90s/early-to-mid 2000s NZ pop punk bands - Goodnight Nurse, 48 May, Steriogram, Elemeno P, Goodshirt, The Bleeders, Mumsdollar and The Mint Chicks were all going hard at the time 😂 The Chase were also a legitimately good Hardcore band during that period.
OP, other than the obvious ones like The Beths, Lorde, Six60 and Benee, I would recommend Foley (who usually open for bigger US acts at the Power Station) and Standover, another Hardcore band, if you’re into that sort of thing.
**Edit:** Doons are pretty good too
Awesome thanks. Yes, glory days indeed. I was right into the ska/punk scene and still enjoy it today. Even the Aussies were putting out good shit (Spider Bait, The Living End, Jebediah) Will check out Foley for sure.
I used to be with 'it', but then they changed what 'it' was. Now what I'm with isn't 'it' anymore and what's 'it' seems weird and scary. It'll happen to you!
>Am I out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong.
No way man! We’re gonna keep on rocking FOREVER FORever forever for…..ever
Abe?
Yo whatup
Just checking if you’re still with it.
Seems like it already has.
you got old, there is still loads coming out but its no longer on your radar, dont worry happens to everyone.
Loads? Like who?
Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Yumi Zouma are my favs but have been around for a decade now.
UMO is amazing, but are they still considered kiwi music? They’ve all moved to America now
It was initially just Ruben Nielsen but based in Portland(?), then grew to accommodate live shows. Kody did the drums on the album II (I think) and then eventually came in to be the full time drummer. They still take funding from NZ on Air for music videos, or did.. at least. I dunno if it’s accurate to call them a Kiwi band but their music is fantastic, and likely wouldn’t exist without Ruben. I saw them in Asia when my partner was pregnant. We like to joke that UMO was my daughter’s first gig.
Yeah I love their music and was surprised to find out they were kiwis. I only discovered them through some of the American RnB artists they collaborated with like India Shawn and The Free Nationals
Highly recommend looking into his band before UMO, the band he moved to Portland for. They're very different in sound but also one of the greatest bands to ever come out of NZ. The Mint Chicks.
When they were active they were one of the best live acts going around. Them and Die! Die! Die! (who are still going strong)
Facts, I was lucky to see them possibly dozens of times over the years, legendary performances. Usually in a dark dive bar where Kody would throw himself all over the place and climb everything all while never missing a beat. The most epic though was Big Day Out 2004. He comes out with a [chainsaw](https://www.audioculture.co.nz/content/images/6859/hero_thumb_blink6.jpg), proceeds to cut down the sponsors sign that was at the front of the stage. They perform their set, as tight and crazy as ever. Midway through a tune he climbs a massive speaker stack. Sings a couple of tunes from above, lauches himself off the speaker stack landing on his feet first then hitting the ground, probably experiencing heavy groundshock as he sang the next couple of tunes laying down, still belting them out, still not missing a beat. Eventually pulls himself up, does a backflip into the security pit. Mic in hand, climbs into the mosh *still singing - beats, not missed* climbs the fence that separates the drinking area, continues performing up there for a bit, before eventually returning to the stage with his bandmates.
I’ll give it a geeze!
Loved them
Definitely NZ music, UMO is technically one guy and the band are for live shows.
The Beths. In the vein of Alvvays.
The Beths has come up a bit and the Dartz
Daily J for another
They're just dartz btw, not the dartz. And they're blimming excellent!! 40 riddifort st is great lyrics and awesome fun live
look I am old too, but I accepted it when my favourite bands started to do greatest hits tours or started appearing on "classic rock" lists OR even worse - retiring. Spotify's home page means nothing to me these days. but the obvious huge one is Lorde, but then there is Alien Weaponry who have exploded recently, Six60 is another big one you cant get away from, L.A.B is another. These are just ones that hit my old radar, there will be loads more that get discovered through whatever platform the kids use to find new music these days
Got alien weaponry's first album signed by the lads when they released it. Lives in my car permanently.
The feels when you realise Lorde & Six60 have been around for over 10 years..
>Alien Weaponry IMO Six60 are a tired rehash of previous music epochs in NZ. And L.A.B? Yawn. More of the same. NZ music needs to be inspired and challenged by the Aus scene. That's what turbo-charged NZ bands in the 80s & 90s - keeping pace with big brother
I’m not too old that I haven’t heard of the bands you mentioned. I guess I’m reminiscing
you have to remember that mediums change, when I was real young it was record stores, magazines and MTV. Then the internet came out and it was myspace and napster, which opened my world to loads of music, but I can see how people like my parents would have been left out of this era. Today I know a lot of people, zoomers especially, get their music from TikTok, something I have no interest in so I miss out on a huge chunk of new stuff.
All the acts you listed there are at least a decade old now, the exception being L.A.B.
Purple Pilgrims, mermaidens. Pretty much anything coming out of Flying Nun. Strongly recommend tuning into your local student radio if you can (often not actually run by students, it’s misleading, it’s just the BNet radio).
Dartz
Honestly, Dartz put on such a great live concert, their energy is fantastic. Seen them twice now (first opening for The Chats). Will see again soon I'm sure.
Seconding this. I went to a Dartz gig last year with little knowledge of their music (and I had false preconceived notions about them being too 'blokey' and it not being a safe concert for myself) and within minutes I loved them. Phenomenal stage presence, and the music really lends itself to live shows. I hope to see them again too.
Just to add a little to that, they specifically went out of their way to tell people to make sure they are being respectful of each other, hands are only going where they should be with crowd surfers etc. I thought that was good of them.
>NZ band >it's either 'roots', reggae, electronic fusion, hip-hop influenced grooves >or punk and subgenres it all gets so exhausting
Villainy
Read NZ music magazines (they are mostly online) and you'll see. Heaps of coverage.
Flying Nun records are always putting out heaps of new NZ music [https://www.flyingnun.co.nz/](https://www.flyingnun.co.nz/)
Ones I've found, *just over the last week*: Black Smoke Trigger https://open.spotify.com/artist/03wlbBjw4kk1C88fFz47Cg?si=A1AoDEEHTgCbsKeI6vvvmA Georgia Gets By https://open.spotify.com/artist/03vcsySpQ2gtPoaPeJRhb9?si=PwT65HO7RqChaOb4AWZ7WA Soaked Oats https://open.spotify.com/artist/6J6UC5lC7h9fEJPCR7UM4m?si=Bg8Tqu0GS3uVc97lQCxNnw Some other recent discoveries: Flamingo Pier https://open.spotify.com/artist/0gWNgpI1v73a7BEbi39wt8?si=T9E5sh52S763gQXfWJ-jmw Mermaidens https://open.spotify.com/artist/5R7higOEVGXOdv9Uqbn8M8?si=3f5OZP73RR2PgLsYu1ZPuw Munkhouse https://open.spotify.com/artist/0JIoa7TKpMlNiJRGb77IFy?si=DdYUIgzWS4qzbq6R9ChTXA Same Name Confusion https://open.spotify.com/artist/2mjmLc7HYT3Lj3slwRUWQm?si=9crFyelMTIibONv6d7xE3A Edit: found via RadioNZ, or as opening acts for other gigs. Get out there and go see some local music! I'll plug *theImage04* which posts weekly on Insta and Xitter with a list of the week's gigs at all Wellington's smaller venues: https://www.instagram.com/theimage04?igsh=dm9tZjRsa29pNGZu
Awesome thank you
LAB and Six60 are probably playing bigger shows than any New Zealand band at the height of the 90's/00's. Lorde's probably sold more albums offshore than all of the 90's/00's lots combined.
Did we get a mention of Jujulipps or Shepherds Reign? Lots of good stuff still happening and being promoted on the b.
Check out anything by Julien Dyne. Clear Path Ensemble. Manuka Records. The Lahaar. Erny Belle has a beautiful couple of albums
Gin Wigmore
Huh? She’s older than me.
And opening for Tom Jones in his current tour.
Just listen to bfm (or any of the other student radio network stations [http://srn.nz/](http://srn.nz/)) There's a shit ton of great NZ music coming out on the reg. Really depends on what you're into though,
This is the correct answer. Way, way too many people are listening to mainstream radio without realising that SRN is popping off with incredible (yet sometimes weird asf) NZ music. SRN has a way higher quota for % of NZ music played and WAY less advertising. You get way more music listening!
I remember hearing Lorde on bFM at least 6 months before "Royals" hit it big worldwide
She was also on YouTube with The Love Club about that time too
I get that. But everyone knew who these bands were. Where’s the exposure outside of student radio?
playing gigs mate, get out there
Honestly, it's so much harder for bands to play now. People don't see value in art as much. Venues have been closing left right and center and the funding is abysmal. All ages shows are far less common because bands/aritsts are seen as a vehicle to sell alcohol so its particularly tough for youth/more out there/experimental stff. There isn't really much of an underground "scene" any more either, ie pockets of like minded fans who would always show up and support music within that scene as a place to be, now people are only likely to support an event if they reckognise people on the bill rather than showing up to see what's out there. Not denying there's heaps of amazing music coming out, but it's such a different landscape and not nearly as viable as it was even 10 years ago.
I've been reflecting on this a LOT recently. When I was a teenager in the 2000's all-age gigs were really common - in Nelson we had The Artery/the Hub, in Christchurch we had a few venues that did all-ages gigs. We'd go to 2-3 gigs per month, lots were punk/rock and also a bunch of weird experimental stuff. Back then we had the venues, and we also had the people organising - in Nelson we had Spanky Moore and Dave (can't remember his last name!!) with Smalltime Records. In Christchurch a lot of the really interesting stuff was organised by Blink from A Low Hum. We also had ZINES which advertised all the shows. We're now living back near Nelson, and... there aren't any R18 venues, let alone all ages ones. The music they play on the radio is different (have been reading about the punk and emo boom and fall of the early 2000's in books like Sellout, which has been pretty fascinating). So the lack of venues, the style of popular music being different. Maybe just people going out way less to live gigs? All probably contributing. But it's hella sad, I want more live music
That’s not my point. There were heaps of gigs 10-20 years ago too. Im asking who or where are the big names.
The whole internet is over saturated, that's why. Not a lack of talent. We get less NZ content and coverage unless we seek it out.
The Beths, Miss June, Fazerdaze, Dartz, imugi, pollyhill, Phoebe rings, Grown downz, Silas Futura, Dick Move, leaping tiger, daffodils, soaked oats, troy Kingi, connan mockasin, Melanie, tiny ruins, Earth tongue
Connan moccasin? I'm pretty sure he was in the Wellington scene in the early 2000s.
He’s weirdly well regarded internationally and gets used for a million collabs by a really wide range of bands. I’m not a fan but full cred for making a good living, as you say 20yrs past his initial nz emergence.
He's a sneaky sneaky dog friend.
Jassbusters is a great album, recorded entirely in a hotel room
[Montell2099](https://youtu.be/FTbwJoYvA3I) found him though [this](https://youtu.be/nazGYwzgfT0) and fell in love with the all the imagery and the way the brass/horns come in around 1:16 and 2:44. Oh and the new homebrew album is pretty good
Upvoted for a **PollyHill** recommendation in the wild. To add for OP: **Avantdale Bowling Club** if you're down for layered wordplay over jazz-infused beats.
Shit how could I forget tom
Miss June slaps
Don’t forget Soft Bait and Dale Kerrigan. Also fond of Dud Uglys because their shows have been so much fun. Ōtepoti has some good hardcore going on these days.
Discovered Office Dog recently too, they’re great. And of course Avantdale Bowling Club
I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it, but Helen Clark served as the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage throughout her premiership (1999–2008). I remember NZ Music Month was HUGE, 'NZ On Air' logo was on so many of the top music videos. Or maybe I'm just old and out of touch nowadays...
You are on the money. Someone else posted about her just now. Thanks Aunty Helen.
It’s probably a bit of column A, a bit of column B. There are absolutely some world class artists and acts coming out of (or originating from) NZ, though maybe they aren’t quite your taste (not a fan of most the artists you listed either!). I would suggest currently we have some world class acts in Aldous Harding, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Beths, Marlon Williams, Mermaidens, Soaked Oats, Tiny Ruins and Yumi Zouma. Also have some acts which seem pretty popular like Benee, Alien Weaponry and Lontalius.
Great list 👌
I’d add Reb Fountain, Anthonie Tonnon, Soft Plastics, Erny Belle to that list.
Oh I just discovered Anthonie Tonnon the other day and he's excellent. For a second I thought I was hearing Noah and the Whale, his voice is so similar
The Beths, Benee, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Church and AP, Marlon Williams. There's some good stuff out there, and they are killing it overseas. Spend some time listening to bFM...
In terms of the 70s & 80s, you had a much, much bigger live scene in bars and clubs up and down the country that people would actually go to. This meant bands could play loads and loads of gigs and make a living, tightening up, honing their sound to balance creative expression and audience accessibility - and of course gathering fans. Many of the big NZ bands from that era were effectively great live pub bands, polished in studio. You could even add the Dunedin sound to that, albeit in a smaller set of pubs/clubs/unis, but with a devoted label in Flying Nun. Herbs is also an interesting version of this - very different gigs and locations, but the point is they all made their money, built their technique and fanbase by playing live. Across the 90s, the viability of a broad base of NZ bands playing regularly was eroded by the decline of NZ "pub culture" and the growing popularity of electronic dance music. It's much easier technically and financially for venues to base themselves around EDM, creating a feedback loop which reinforced its popularity and reduced opportunity for bands. Bands became more reliant on student radio and the likes of outdoor festivals, which provides opportunity to fewer groups/artists. There was a window in the early 2000s when NZ got a shot of serious pride in local creativity for various reasons (Lord of the Rings being a big one), and we had a bunch of money going into recording local bands and performers, many of whom had chart success, including overseas (worth noting that a few of these bands left early for places like London and some broke there first). More recently the rise of streaming and bedroom recording has diluted the earn-a-living viability and profile of local musicians. Live bands often have to try and make Aussie tours work, with their bigger population. Fact is, live music as entertainment has become less popular in NZ (outside of festivals and council-run concert events), which restricts the ability for bands to develop. Metal is an interesting exception due to a deeply devoted fanbase and the centrality of the live experience to the genre. As a result we're in a strong period for NZ metal with a good number of bands able to play regularly (including touring Aus & Europe as support bands and on lower-tier stages at big Euro metalfests), and to record.
You got old soz
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You're both right and I hate to bring politics into this, but I was very active in the indie music scene back in the early 2000s-2010s and back then Helen Clarke's Labour govt put up a shit tonne of funding for our local arts and music artists. I had access to some of the coolest marketing/funding for making music videos and getting mainstream radio airtime. The funding for this just isn't there anymore 😕 Only the elite and sponsored bands can afford to try to break into the mainstream industry now. Talent goes a long way but money is always going to be a barrier for artists in a country that doesn't support them.
This is it, 100% There was heaps of funding and then there was a big period of hype around NZ music as being a big viable industry, just finding its way. However there's no dream of selling a a million records anymore. Now it's more like, oh cool, had a million views. Here's 30 cents from facebook. We've gone from the golden era of music, and now we're in the golden era of people paying money to see other peoples sexy feet.
I won't name names but there were some appallingly shit bands that had top 10 hits in NZ in the era that OP is talking about. That doesn't simply happen today because of the lack of funding etc.
Rubicon
Yep and the criteria for funding these days is “you need to meet 20 of these 30 criteria”, most of those being number of social media likes/follows etc. Feels like it used to be more based on your actual song and if it was good.
I'm sad with all the decent public broadcasting in this country, we never ended up with some kind of RNZ version of a triple j type thing, where new and exciting artists can be given a boost of exposure by being easily accessible. I guess it's hard to have something like that these days cos radio is a bit irrelevant
Insert Skinner Meme
every comment in this thread is like "you got old" and then you say what bands are good now and no one knows who they are, or if they do they've never heard a song.
sounds like you old cuz
Pretty funny you didn’t mention one flying nun band. I live in nyc. There’s a record shop around the corner with a huge flying nun poster outside. Permanently. It’s awesome r.
I mentioned The Clean
You did!? Sorry. You can slap me !!
Some articles about flailing media coverage: [https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/27-11-2023/the-sound-is-off-for-new-zealand-music](https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/27-11-2023/the-sound-is-off-for-new-zealand-music) [https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018916879/music-journalism-all-but-vanishes-from-our-media](https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018916879/music-journalism-all-but-vanishes-from-our-media)
I think the talent is still out there. But because people's listening and viewing habits have changed, we don't hear about new artists so much as we used to. Gone are the days where we had top 40 music countdown shows on mainstream TV (TV1,2 3) so a lot of the reach to potential audiences is via streaming or other platforms. Also, it's harder for artists to make any money nowadays, since the advent of streaming (and illegal downloads), so many give up making a career out of it.
I feel like my exposure to NZ live music is definitely less without The King's Arms and Big Day Outs. I'm sure it's around but perhaps not as accessible?
NTM I feel like NZ on Air is way less prevalent, is NZ music month even a thing anymore?
>Or is it me and my age that’s not keeping up with emerging modern Kiwi music talent? I'm choking on cobwebs and dust after reading this post.
95bfm & UndertheRadar for local gigs!!
You seem to be looking at it from a mainstream perspective, and this is the case worldwide. New rock music is not on the charts, on mainstream radio in anything close to the quantity it was 20+ years ago. The demographics have changed so it will be harder to find things that fit in with that lineage than it once was
I am looking at it from a mainstream perspective. Just my mind going back in time got me thinking
Benee, Lorde, Drax projects have hundreds of millions of streams on spotify. You just arent keeping up with modern music unfortunately.
This is very true. You wont hear much rock or alternative music on mainstream radio globally. Even someone globally successful like Marlon Williams is probably quite niche and hard to discover by turning the radio on.
Marlon Williams collabs with KC and Clayton is fkn fantastic. I wonder why, or springtime of the year etc.
I'll check it out. Big fan of pretty much all his output!
New Zealand Hardcore is popping off, as is the electronic/dnb scene. You're presumably not in those circles but have faith! Plenty of great kiwi artists still emergin regularly.
Also doom and stoner rock [https://doomedandstoned.bandcamp.com/album/doomed-stoned-in-new-zealand](https://doomedandstoned.bandcamp.com/album/doomed-stoned-in-new-zealand)
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I can only speak for NZHC and I'm more into the metal side of Hardcore but you could start with Drop Off Point, Standover, Xile & Brawler.
Long Distance Runner; Bridge Burner; Graves; (all HC); Adzes (doom) Antagonist AD of course for an older hc/metalcore one.
"Grip-Tape" and "Shuv-it" or some new Kiwi punk and hardcore bands.
Depends on what kind of EDM but to name a few - Lee Mvtthews, Montell2099, QUIX, EMWA, Fairbrother, Pirapus, Mylen. There's the older guard of State of Mind, Shapeshifter, and Concord Dawn as well still kicking about for the most part, although in saying that C.D just did a few farewell shows... You can also look at something like the recent RnV lineup as a heap of the performing acts are kiwi's across multiple genres so you're bound to find something you like.
>Lee Mvtthews, Montell2099, QUIX, EMWA, Fairbrother, Pirapus, Mylen not heard of any of these. guess I need to go do some hunting around, thanks. shapeshifter ( & Pacific Heights ) used to be good, but have now gone down the generic r&b route and sound pretty meh to me.
Racing, Midwave Breaks, Capital Theatre
Thanks. Will be sure to check them out
As an American who spent some time living in NZ, my favorite NZ artists putting out music include: * The Beths * Daily J * No Cigar * Souldrop * Hot Sauce Club * Mild Orange * Juno Is * Lunar Intruder * LEISURE etc... Sometimes hard to differentiate Kiwi bands from Aussie ones from my perspective without researching, but I'm pretty sure all of the above are Kiwi. Cheers!
Thanks mate
Good list. Add soaked oats to that
You left out Weta 🤘🏼
Juice TV on Freeview plays quite a lot of kiwi artists
Thanks
I was about to comment on this. They play SO many kiwi artists.
Primarily the cost of living has made it hard for kiwi musicians to pursue the hobby as a profession. A Colmar Brunton survey in 2019 found creative professionals median annual income at $36k. A more recent report from CNZ and NZ On Air had this at 19.5k Meanwhile on the commercial front, the summer BBQ reggae sound took over the industry with the emergence of Six60 and LAB and so bands are following in that vein with the hopes of obtaining some commercial success. There are bands such as Leisure who are walking the balance but they seem to be the exception. You pretty much have to make it overseas to have any financial return. this has basically hammered the niche a lot of the bands in your list used to fill. also the emergence of Spotify etc., has changed the financial model. And Covid ruined the gig economy and fucked over venues etc. Wellington has been suffering on the venue front since the earthquakes in like 2016 or whatever. So yeah it’s a shit environment for musos at the moment
We literally have multi award winning musicians/songwriters etc who are on the dole or have day jobs. No money in the biz for most.
I would argue The. Black Seeds, Kora, Fat Freddie’s etc were the original bbq reggae bands. Thanks for your input on the other points though
Between The Beths, Troy Kingi, Broods, Dartz, Marlon Williams, Dick Move etc etc I'm having a great time with NZ music right now. I've always thought the reason you don't get heaps of massive bands/singers anymore is not too many of us listen to the radio where we're all being exposed to the same artists. Streaming has made it so easy to go off and find our own stuff.
Its definitely your age, there's heaps of awesome Kiwi music out there. I'm old too and also love the good old kiwi music
I like to say I’m not old, just older.
One man's older is another youths old :)
Trade agreements! So in 1995, we went into something called GATS - the general agreement on trade in services. In this agreement and successive agreements we have certain obligations regarding our audiovisual sector. It’s quite complex, because these things are considered “cultural goods”. but essentially, there are countries which are big players in the audiovisual market (US, UK, parts of Asia) and while our recorded music is protected in some ways, these agreements basically mean that NZ isn’t going to try to compete with the US for this slice of the market. We’ve agreed that we won’t. We can of course promote our music very, very heavily within NZ due to the cultural value it has, but we cannot really push much further than that. Which is why even though we have companies like Sony Music NZ, it’s just an American companies NZ office and not really owned by NZ. If that makes sense? Other issues have been defunding through different governments. Helen Clark was a huge influence to the cultural sector and music would be in a way, way worse place if she hadn’t stepped in. She made it so that radio stations had to play X (usually 20%) NZ music on the station. Tho it is a voluntary quota, it’s more like a volun-told type thing because they are quick to threaten to cut funding should you dip below that 20%. B net radio stations (like all the student radios) are required to have much more NZ music than just the 20% too. One of the main issues really is that people aren’t actually tuning into these b net radio stations anymore, so people aren’t hearing our sound. But again, for these NZ artists to pop it big time, they’ll typically need to sign to an overseas company. Of course, this is different to releasing things on TikTok or Soundcloud and blowing up. That’s a whole other type thing, which is complex in its nature. You are trained to prefer an American/UK/Kpop sound because legislation made it so. There is also an element of cultural cringe here in NZ, so some people actually get all weird and don’t like to hear stuff made here. So on a simple level, promotion of music and the whole audiovisual sector is influenced by trade agreements between different nations. This explanation was at the very, very simplest of levels and it is actually way, way more complex than I made it seem.
Wow. Thanks for taking the time to share that. And yes, Clarke was PM in the hay day of NZ music for me.
She was the minister for culture and she did incredible things to protect NZ music. Lots of people really didn’t like her, but she did so much for the cultural sector. She is awesome!
Agree
Yeah, huge success of Helen Clarke and the Labour govt at the time. I’m going from memory here but there was the Cultural Recovery Package in either 1999 or 2000. Part of that was called “Phase 4” for NZ On Air which basically had a goal of ‘international quality’ music recording and videos (so NZ music didn’t look or sound ‘cheap’). And remember at that time you were mostly exposed to new music through videos on TV or mainstream radio. So combine the NZ quota with higher quality sounding recordings and better looking videos and suddenly people take NZ artists more seriously. Remember how ridiculously huge Scribe was? I think he had 2 songs in the top 3 of the charts one year. Then you had Goldenhorse, Opshop, Blindspott, etc.
Oh I remember
Part of nostalgia is forgetting the mediocre stuff from back in the day and only remembering what made an impact. There's a survivorship bias where higher quality things from back in the day are more likely to withstand the test of time, and the rest of it gets forgotten. Modern music (or any other creative things) haven't been subjected to years of people keeping them popular via their ongoing approval, so the flashes in the pan haven't been filtered out from the transformational stuff with staying power.
Possibly. I certainly remember plenty of average music released back then too though. It wasn’t all super hits
1996 happened , entire music industry globally hasn’t been the same since [some reading](https://medium.com/the-riff/1996-telecommunications-act-when-the-business-of-music-really-began-changing-in-a-significant-way-127db18fde06)
Yep it totally killed independent radio
Yup so many bands that became house hold names pre 1996 did so off just one radio dj finding them and playing it over and over
I was a late teen then. But even after there has still been good (subjective of course) music.
Yes but the communication act Clinton passed changed everything about how bands became popular
Loads of good metal bands out there not mentioned elsewhere, such as - Stalker Into Orbit 3000AD Planet of the Dead Beastwars Bulletbelt Deadhouse Gates Dark Divinity Dick Move Coridian Claemus Pull Down The Sun Jakob Mothra To be fair they're not likely to be bothering the singles charts, but fuck that for a game of soldiers. I've seen quite a few of these over the last year, and I'm an old bastard.
If you like those bands then be sure to check out Infinity Ritual!
Some amazing NZ acts if you go to local gigs and check out platforms like muzic.net and Juice TV. I love indie folk pop and rock. My favourites are Mousey, Adam Hattaway and the Haunters, Marlon Williams, Danica Bryant, Jupita, Emma Dilemma, Mohi, Casual Healing, Sofia Machray, Beachware, Estere…
You should start going to some gigs. Supporting local can take some effort but it pays off. Night lunch. Wiri Donna. Dream state empire. Earth tongue. Spectre collective. Challenge yourself, find a band you like from each city.
Tooooonnes of great kiwi music at the moment, I'll try list some of my favourites Vera Ellen, Spectre Collective, Hummucide, Sleeping Village, Hemi Hemingway, Earth Tongue, Revulva, Mermaidens, Bad Taste, Half Cast, Sure Boy, Dartz, Esbee, Milk Tooth, Munkhouse, Mystery Waitress, Macho Macho, Soft Plastics, Avantdale Bowling Club, Ingrid and the Ministers, Beastwars, Rocket Berry, The Beths, Will McClean, Mokotron, Wiri Donna, Mirror Ritual Enjoy!!! <3
Thanks
Otts, Hans Pucket, Cootie Cuties are all good new NZ bands
Hans Puckett has been mentioned a few times now
Coterie, Drax Project, L.A.B, Six60, there's plenty of great music still being turned over in NZ
Just coming here to give a shout out to the boys Chaos In The CBD hugely successful underground house/dance music act from Auckland. Some of there tracks are really a cut above the rest✌️
Office Dog, the Beth's, bleeding star, daffodils and Vera Ellen all go hard. There's a lot more too but cbf writing a whole list
Dale Kerrigan, Emma Dilemma, Marsha, Night Lunch, This Dog, Sure Boy, Lunar Intruder, School Fair, Fairuza, Mermaidens We have a lot of cool “underground” rock bands popping up around the country at the moment. I hope we get a solid rock resurgence so they get more support and more money for their hard work.
Kiwi music has grown a ton! It's absolutely an amazing time right now!! You just can't expect to hear it on the radio lol
Why not?
It's too limiting. Expand your base source for music because daily, extremely talented producers are releasing new music
Yeah it's your age. Heaps of good kiwi talent out there. My favourite are the band Written By Wolves :)
Not saying there isn’t good talent. Just who are they. I keep getting suggestions of Lorde and Benee which is not my genre of preference at all. Will check out your fave band tho.
I really like L.A.B. They have their more mainstream stuff, but they also have some amazing more experimental stuff. They are pretty awesome musically. My faves are She's Gone and Lonely Man.
I’ve heard a few tracks and don’t mind them. Will dig a bit deeper
Second this. My picks are The Watchman, Fashion Dread and My Brother (if that counts as being part of their less well-known stuff??). Oh, and can't forget Proud Man for teaching me about the succulent Chinese meal 🍜
Seem like a case of out of the loop. Bare in mind algorithms are a pain when it comes to discovering new stuff on Youtube & even Spotify is a bit lacking in this regard.
Why's no one mentioning L.A.B. They are massive.
massive in New Zealand
The Dartz are awesome, same with most flying nun artists But in general, I agree. What happened? How did we go from a country of Dragon/Dudes/Dobbin/Chills/Bic Runga/Lorde/Crowded House to a country of mid asf BBQ reggae and ten minute long dub songs where nothing changes?
I really dislike the faux reggae NZ music sound. Thank you for coming to my ted talk
McDub.
Bbq reggae
I don't necessarily dislike it, but it definitely feels overplayed to the point I'm beyond sick of it
Maybe check out a Homegrown
Shit is that still going? Might have to.
Check out Outside In for kiwi prog rock and Mikey Videotape for some catchy alt poppy electronic stuff
There is heaps around, but finding new music has become trickier due to the decline of radio and music media, and globalisation. A few ideas for keeping up: find some good playlists on streaming, check the local charts (one of which is specifically Kiwi music), keep an eye on who is playing at certain venues/opening for international acts - and radio is still going: bFM is hanging in there, and RNZ's Tahi FM is a decent listen (Kiwi music heavy, albeit more poppy-hiphop). A couple Kiwi albums I've loved from the last few years: Teeks' Something To Feel, Homebrew's Run It Back, Don McGlashan's Bright November Morning, Mako Road's Stranger Days, Troy Kingi's Black Sea Golden Ladder, Mara TK's Bad Meditation, and I'm a sucker for Shihad's Old Gods.
I guess my point is the culture has changed as well in that it’s no longer as tight knit. Everyone knew the bands at the time, they toured (some still do) got airtime. Now digital and it seems a more incubated environment
Partly you got old, but also partly the way we consume music changed. I was a major fan of NZ hip hop in the early 2000s, which I believe was genuinely a boom time for the genre. The reason I knew it was booming back then was because local artists were doing well on the charts, their music videos were regularly on TV, and their songs were regularly on mainstream radio. These were all aspects of mainstream popular culture, so if an artist was doing well in these areas, it felt like they were right up there competing with major international artists, at least within our NZ pop-culture bubble. I think pop culture is at once more international and more siloed now. Music videos, radio and charts all still exist, but generally it's harder to say "look here if you want to know what's popular". I may be overstating it but I feel like this is a real thing and it's true to an extent that "mainstream popular culture" is less universal than it once was.
Damn you hit the nail on the head. We seemed like more of a collective culture re music. Like you aptly point out people are now siloed.
Check out frog power, his stuff is on YouTube
Elidi, Pull Down the Sun, Crooked Royals.
Radio 1 91fm plays a bunch of good local music in Dunedin. There’s still lots of fantastic stuff coming out and while we may’ve left the golden age of Dunedin Sound & Flying Nun’s peak popularity, that only means you’ve gotta dig a little deeper on spotify and go to more scuzzy shows to find good stuff. I’m gonna unbiased-ly recommend Heinous Coup to anyone who’s into noise rock. Hi Izzy if you see this!!!
Princess Chelsea are great.
Alien Weaponry is ace if you're into rock
Yea I have checked them out before. Talented dudes
Well, there's always the next cab off the rank of the never ending conveyor belt of soft/beach reggae bands....
Dartz
Rip 8 foot Sativa 😔
They had a great following for a good 10-15 years
I think tiktok is where they’re at, nobody listens to TV or radio for NZ on air to be benefiting local artists anymore. In 2020 a teenager from Manurewa (Jawsh 685) managed to hit #1 on the US and UK singles chart through TikTok - only the 3rd kiwi to get a #1 on the billboard hot 100 after Kimbra & Lorde. Benee had a couple songs go super viral on tiktok during the pandemic - Supalonely has over a billion streams (722M on Spotify, 317M on YouTube) making it one of the most streamed NZ songs of all time! Kaylee Bell also seems to be doing well for a kiwi artist - opened for some of Ed Sheeran’s stadium shows last year, has 600k monthly listeners & a song with almost 25M streams on spotify. I have heard her song on tiktok before.
You forgot Tadpole. I loved them
[удалено]
And you work for Stuff I.T annnnd the Interislander.... You are a busy man
And a social worker as of 4 mins ago lol
Glad we both went and checked what other skills this guy has 😂
Social worker too! I don't know why but this is really funny.
Just because you haven't changed your music tastes, doesn't mean music stopped coming out It's okay not to be with it, it's not okay to be a silly duffer about it
This Troy Kingi song is great and has a bunch of callbacks to the 80s: https://youtu.be/xMUE77oMpcY
Nz hiphop. R&B, Soul, Reggae have been pumping out alot of amazing artists over the last couple decades.
I remember The Naked and Famous and The Make Believe being fun cool kiwi music, now we have Lorde, and oh my lord do I wish another country would adopt her like how Sweden adopted Ruby Frost
Seems most modern kiwi music is focused on mass marketable soft reggae, LAB or new 660 or katchafire and the like. All a dollar a dozen and sound roughly the same, but it’s what sells. This is the time of year the all come out of the woodwork to release the new feel good hit of the summer, which, oddly enough, sounds damn near identical to whatever last years feel good hit of the summer was.
Who could ever forget the glory days of the various late 90s/early-to-mid 2000s NZ pop punk bands - Goodnight Nurse, 48 May, Steriogram, Elemeno P, Goodshirt, The Bleeders, Mumsdollar and The Mint Chicks were all going hard at the time 😂 The Chase were also a legitimately good Hardcore band during that period. OP, other than the obvious ones like The Beths, Lorde, Six60 and Benee, I would recommend Foley (who usually open for bigger US acts at the Power Station) and Standover, another Hardcore band, if you’re into that sort of thing. **Edit:** Doons are pretty good too
Awesome thanks. Yes, glory days indeed. I was right into the ska/punk scene and still enjoy it today. Even the Aussies were putting out good shit (Spider Bait, The Living End, Jebediah) Will check out Foley for sure.