News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Kaylee Bell Wins Country Music Award in Nashville

Kaylee Bell Wins Country Music Award in Nashville

Waimate musician Kaylee Bell, has become the first New Zealander since Keith Urban to win at America’s prestigious CMA Awards, 1 News reports. Her song Keith – a tribute to Whangārei-born Urban – is a global…

Tenth DJ Champ Title for Kalib Strickland

Tenth DJ Champ Title for Kalib Strickland

New Zealand DJ Kalib Strickland, 19, who goes by the name DJ K-Swizz, is on a massive high after winning his tenth world DJ championship title, going back-to-back at the Olympics of DJing, the…

Beatles Fan Peter Jackson Directs Music Video

Beatles Fan Peter Jackson Directs Music Video

Following his acclaimed documentary Get Back, New Zealand director Peter Jackson is continuing his relationship with the Beatles by directing his first ever music video for the band’s final song, Now and Then, Guardian…

Producer 33 Below Shares New Club Cut

Producer 33 Below Shares New Club Cut

New Zealand-born producer Jack Laven, aka 33 Below, has shared his new single, “Hold Tight”, a hypnotising dancefloor number that’s likely to stay with you for some time, according to James Keith writing for…

Georgia Nott Reborn as Georgia Gets By

Georgia Nott Reborn as Georgia Gets By

With four studio albums under their belt, the Nelson brother-sister act BROODS remains a beacon not just of radiant sound, but of soul-stirring emotion – and with the release of Georgia Nott’s first solo…

Conductor Gemma New Makes Proms Debut

Conductor Gemma New Makes Proms Debut

“Every musical era has its characteristic audience faux pas. Once upon a time it was failing to remove extravagant headwear, which obscured the view of those sitting behind. These days – and despite rules,…

Milky Day Draws on Struggles to Create New EP

Milky Day Draws on Struggles to Create New EP

Korean New Zealander Milky Day tells digital music site Atwood Magazine about changing his life path to music, wanting to be genre-fluid, and how he turned his personal struggles into his upcoming EP. Milky Day…

Marya Martin Talks 40th Summer Festival

Marya Martin Talks 40th Summer Festival

New Zealand-born flautist Marya Martin is celebrating the 40th summer season of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Long Island’s longest-running classical music festival. celebrates its 40th summer season. With 11 concerts across July and August,…

Benee Sets Her Sights on Global Domination

Benee Sets Her Sights on Global Domination

Moving to Los Angeles has allowed New Zealand singer-songwriter Benee to tap into the city’s extensive repertoire of producers and mixers for new ventures, including her latest single Green Honda. “I made Green Honda with…

Life is Good for Taika Waititi and Rita Ora

Life is Good for Taika Waititi and Rita Ora

They fell in love in Sydney, so it’s fitting to shoot New Zealander Taika Waititi, 47, and British popstar Rita Ora, 32, for their first cover together against the backdrop of the glittering harbour….

Bi-Lingual Punk Trio Half/Time Tour Wales

Bi-Lingual Punk Trio Half/Time Tour Wales

Hamilton punk band Half/Time recently performed alongside Welsh artists who sing in Cymraeg as part of a musical cultural exchange, which aimed to spark important conversations about what it means to create pop songs…

Benee Speaks to Interview from New LA Home

Benee Speaks to Interview from New LA Home

Auckland-born Gen Z leading light Benee, 23, who recently took the stage at Coachella – “a pretty surreal experience,” she says – spoke with Interview magazine from her new apartment in Los Angeles about festival…

Aldous Harding’s Brighton Show Enraptures

Aldous Harding’s Brighton Show Enraptures

“Twenty minutes into Aldous Harding’s set, after a spellbinding version of Treasure, from her 2019 breakthrough album Designer, has provoked a particularly vociferous response from the crowd, she speaks her first words…

SpongeBob Gets the Tami Neilson Effect

SpongeBob Gets the Tami Neilson Effect

The favourite characters of SpongeBob’s underwater town Bikini Bottom are set to be given some Aotearoa flavours next year, Amberleigh Jack reports for Stuff. New Zealand-based artists award-winning Tami Neilson and The Phoenix Foundation…

Kirk Harding’s Bad Habit Label Growing Roster

Kirk Harding’s Bad Habit Label Growing Roster

The self-styled “outsider” label Bad Habit, co-founded in 2015 by New Zealander Kirk Harding and Nigerian-American Matthew “Baus” Adesuyan, has added a live piece to its existing management, publishing and distribution activities, and re-upped…

Musician Jen Cloher Embraces Māori Heritage

Musician Jen Cloher Embraces Māori Heritage

With haka chants and ancient proverbs, Australian musician Jen Cloher connected deeply with Māori culture for their new album, I Am the River, The River Is Me – another personal reckoning after understanding their…

How The Fall Nearly Sank Flying Nun

How The Fall Nearly Sank Flying Nun

When the New Zealand indie label Flying Nun got a chance to record a live album by Manchester band the Fall, the tensions fraying the group almost destroyed the record company – as documented…

Ten Essential Crowded House Songs

Ten Essential Crowded House Songs

“Crowded House is a band that initially won listeners over with their undeniable wit and oddball charm,” American Songwriter’s Alli Patton writes in an article, which recommends the band’s top ten best songs. “The New…

Our Musical Counterculture Like No Other

Our Musical Counterculture Like No Other

“Cut off from the ‘swinging’ innovations of 60s London, a generation of New Zealand musicians forged an underground scene that propelled the nation’s modern identity,” Garth Cartwright writes for The Guardian. “For a nation now…

Musician Lachi McBride One to Watch

Musician Lachi McBride One to Watch

In a new Rolling Stone AU/NZ series, the magazine takes a look at some rising Aotearoa artists who are looking to impress in 2023 and beyond. It may still be an uncertain time for…

Kimbra on the Ups and Downs of Fame

Kimbra on the Ups and Downs of Fame

At just 21, the New Zealand musician Kimbra became famous for her part in smash-hit duet Somebody That I Used to Know. So what happened after? The Guardian’s Katie Cunningham checks in with the…

The Beths Gifted Fans an Outstanding 2022 Album

The Beths Gifted Fans an Outstanding 2022 Album

In a round-up of the year’s most outstanding albums, the Boston Herald’s Jed Gottlieb includes Auckland indie band The Beths’ Expert in a Dying Field in his top five. Other albums making the cut are…

Jazz Pianist Mike Nock Relearns Seminal Album

Jazz Pianist Mike Nock Relearns Seminal Album

At 82, the exuberant Christchurch-born, Sydney-based pianist Mike Nock has a lifetime of stories to share, and an abundance of insights to accompany them, Jessica Nicholas writes for The Age. She speaks with Nock…

Violinist Bryony Gibson-Cornish Appointed at RCM

Violinist Bryony Gibson-Cornish Appointed at RCM

New Zealand-born violist Bryony Gibson-Cornish is one of five new professors appointed to the String Faculty at the Royal College of Music (RCM), London. Gibson-Cornish, who performs as part of the Marmen Quartet, will…

New Zealand’s Indy Forging Own Pop Path

New Zealand’s Indy Forging Own Pop Path

Last month, a new indie pop star emerged – and she’s making the main character anthems of everyone’s dreams, according to Brittany Spanos writing for Rolling Stone. After nearly four years of writing, workshopping,…

Cult Guitarist Roy Montgomery Records New Music

Cult Guitarist Roy Montgomery Records New Music

Beloved by the likes of Dry Cleaning and Grouper, New Zealand guitarist Roy Montgomery’s life has been hit by more than one tragedy, stories he traces in meditative instrumentals, Stevie Chick writes in a…

Gemma New Makes Houston Symphony Debut

Gemma New Makes Houston Symphony Debut

Gemma New has studied under conductors whose names are familiar well beyond the cloistered halls of classical music: Dudamel, Salonen, Michael Tilson Thomas. The 35-year-old New Zealand native, recently made her Houston Symphony debut,…

Titan to Tachyons’ Sally Gates Talks Surrealism

Titan to Tachyons’ Sally Gates Talks Surrealism

New Zealand-born composer Sally Gates, a member of New York experimental metal band Titan to Tachyons, has been described by renowned musician John Zorn as “a powerful young guitarist with a striking compositional…

Studio Kind of Green Performs for Scotsman Sessions

Studio Kind of Green Performs for Scotsman Sessions

With the performing arts sector still impacted by the pandemic, The Scotsman is commissioning a series of short video performances from artists all around Scotland and releasing them online, with introductions from their critics. For…

Maxine Funke’s Pieces of Driftwood Appraised

Maxine Funke’s Pieces of Driftwood Appraised

“Over a decade and four extraordinary albums, Maxine Funke has established herself as New Zealand’s premier purveyor of lightness, of songs whose beauty and mystery are only sharpened by their apparent ephemeral qualities,” Folk…

Pandemic Responses to Music from The Beths

Pandemic Responses to Music from The Beths

“Thanks in large part to an early 80s explosion of talent centred on Dunedin, and shared with the world via the Flying Nun label, New Zealand played a pivotal role in the evolution of…

Singing Shared Just How Marlon Williams Likes It

Singing Shared Just How Marlon Williams Likes It

Group singing has been central to New Zealander Marlon Williams’ life, journalist and author Jenny Valentish writes for The Guardian. He likens it to a spiritual practice, “without the theory or having to worry…

Famed Manager Alan Niven recalls G N’ R Days

Famed Manager Alan Niven recalls G N’ R Days

Former Guns N’ Roses manager Wellington-born Alan Niven, who ushered the band through their Appetite for Destruction era, has shared his first thoughts on meeting the band in 1986, Scott Ng reports for Guitar…

Around the Back of the World Tall Dwarfs Alchemised

Around the Back of the World Tall Dwarfs Alchemised

“The New Zealand duo of Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate have influenced generations of lo-fi rockers. This 55-track box set reminds us why,” Louis Pattison writes in a Pitchfork review of Unravelled:…

Marlon Williams Finds a Sunnier Mood

Marlon Williams Finds a Sunnier Mood

On his new album My Boy, New Zealand singer-songwriter Marlon Williams experiments with electronic flourishes in search of a lighthearted groove, Rumaan Alam writes in an article published in The New Yorker. “In 2018, Williams…

Conchord Bret McKenzie on His Serious Solo Debut

Conchord Bret McKenzie on His Serious Solo Debut

He has written duets for man and Muppet, parodied Morrissey in The Simpsons, and become Hollywood’s go-to for bringing ‘heart’ to the movies. Now Academy Award-winning Wellington musician Bret McKenzie, 46, is ready to…

Pop Idol Benee Voice of Pandemic Generation

Pop Idol Benee Voice of Pandemic Generation

Fresh off a world tour, in an interview with Dazed magazine, New Zealand singer Benee, 22, opens up about her viral rise to fame on TikTok, writing about Gen Z anxieties via her 2022…

Washington D.C. Out in Numbers for Aldous Harding

Washington D.C. Out in Numbers for Aldous Harding

New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding, who is currently on tour in the United States, performed songs from her latest album Warm Chris, to a capacity crowd at Washington D.C.’s Miracle Theatre. The show is…

Country Queen Tami Neilson at Her Imperious Best

Country Queen Tami Neilson at Her Imperious Best

“She’s laden with every music award her adopted homeland New Zealand can muster, but the queen of Kiwi country deserves a wider audience,” The Observer’s Neil Spencer writes in a review…

Emotional Homecoming for Tami Neilson

Emotional Homecoming for Tami Neilson

Canada-born, New Zealand-based singer and songwriter Tami Neilson is back in Ontario to tour new album Kingmaker, her first visit since the pandemic began. She talks to Toronto Star journalist Nick Krewen about being…

Looking at the Origins of Shanty The Wellerman

Looking at the Origins of Shanty The Wellerman

The sea ballad, “The Wellerman”, the meaning of which is both curious and historical, was born in New Zealand 150 years ago. Jacob Uitti investigates its catchy origins for American Songwriter magazine. “Known as ‘Soon…

London-Based Finnegan Tui on His Unique Sound

London-Based Finnegan Tui on His Unique Sound

New Zealand singer-songwriter and producer Finnegan Tui discusses his new nature-inspired EP Zephyr and how he developed his unique sound with Wonderland magazine journalist Britany Josephs. “ a kind of meditation where I am…

High Praise for Lorde’s London Night Out

High Praise for Lorde’s London Night Out

Lorde is Kitty Empire’s ‘Artist of the Week’, The Guardian reviewer deeming the pop singer’s sold-out Alexandra Palace concert a “magnificent night out”. “By turns tearful and rocking out, the New Zealand star is on…

Peter Jackson Has Hand in Beatles Duet

Peter Jackson Has Hand in Beatles Duet

Paul McCartney and his late Beatles songwriting and singing partner John Lennon haven’t sung together in 53 years, but thanks to New Zealand film director Peter Jackson, they got the next best thing recently…

Michael Braithwaite Builds Story of Military Tattoo

Michael Braithwaite Builds Story of Military Tattoo

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has revealed it wants to attract more local audiences to and transform “elitist” perceptions under a new direction for the annual cultural showpiece, arts journalist Brian Ferguson reports for…

How Chelsea Jade Joined a Dazzling Constellation

How Chelsea Jade Joined a Dazzling Constellation

With her second album Soft Spot released, Chelsea Jade, 32, is firmly established as a bright star in a constellation of dazzling New Zealand musicians chasing pop careers far from home, Cat Woods reports…

In San Francisco Lorde Shines Like the Sun

In San Francisco Lorde Shines Like the Sun

It’s been nearly a decade since New Zealand pop star Lorde rocketed to stardom at the age of 16, propelled initially by the chart-topping single “Royals” and then a steady stream of other terrific…

Singer-Songwriter Emma G Specialises in Empowerment

Singer-Songwriter Emma G Specialises in Empowerment

When Covid-19 closed venues and cancelled concerts, Waikato-born Emma Ghaemmaghamy, like many of her peers, took to new avenues to connect with audiences, including live-streaming and podcasting, Chris Kelly writes in a story for…

Joel Little’s Big Fan a Gift to the Music Industry

Joel Little’s Big Fan a Gift to the Music Industry

Walk into the unembellished black building tucked away in Morningside, Auckland, later this year and there’s no telling what musical superstars one might find, Leena Tailor writes in an exclusive story for Variety. The…

Star of 32 Sounds is Composer Annea Lockwood

Star of 32 Sounds is Composer Annea Lockwood

New Zealand-born composer and academic musician Annea Lockwood features in American filmmaker Sam Green’s documentary about the physics and emotions attached to sound. The film, called 32 Sounds, recently screened at the Brooklyn Academy…

Aldous Harding’s Latest a NY Times Critic’s Pick

Aldous Harding’s Latest a NY Times Critic’s Pick

“On her fourth album, Warm Chris, the New Zealand singer and songwriter delivers unpredictable but enchanting vocals and enigmatic lyrics that revel in simplicity,” Lindsay Zoladz writes in a music review for…

Solar Power the Best Song in the World

Solar Power the Best Song in the World

Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’ has won Best Song In The World at the BandLab NME Awards 2022, with the title track of the New Zealand pop star’s latest album, beating nine other nominated songs by…

Lychee a Mark of Benee’s Distinct Voice

Lychee a Mark of Benee’s Distinct Voice

“Where 2020 debut album Hey U X saw Benee gather an impressive guest list (Lily Allen, Gus Dapperton, Bakar) to pepper her bedroom pop with outside influences, the seven-track Lychee sees the New Zealander…

Will the Real Aldous Harding Please Stand Up?

Will the Real Aldous Harding Please Stand Up?

New Zealander Aldous Harding remains in an off-kilter space throughout Warm Chris, her third collaboration with producer John Parish, who’s worked alongside PJ Harvey and Jenny Hval, among others, Madison Bloom writes for online…

US Shows for Auckland band The Beths

US Shows for Auckland band The Beths

As The Beths make their way across the United States for a sold-out gig in Boston, it’s a good time to celebrate a strange band on a normal rock ’n’ roll tour. Fronted by…

Gang of Youths Bassist Max Dunn on the Bigtime

Gang of Youths Bassist Max Dunn on the Bigtime

Music magazine NME sits down with one of Australia’s biggest bands, Gang of Youths, in their adopted home of London to talk fame, grief and their powerful new album Angel In Realtime. In the…