Graeme Humphreys started his musical career in the Whangārei band Sister Ray. Located in the subtropical north, Whangārei is the furthest NZ city from the Flying Nun epicentre of Dunedin. Humphreys moved to Auckland to study zoology and recruited classmate…
Supergroove barely made an impact outside New Zealand, but they were inescapable there in the summer of 1994 and 1995. Their blend of hip hop, funk, and metal had already been employed by bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers,…
The Chills started on the legendary Flying Nun indie label during the 1980s. Martin Phillipps was the only constant member. His sophisticated writing was different from most of his post-punk labelmates. He was the son of a Methodist minister, growing…
‘Chains’ is New Zealand hip-hop and soul’s equivalent to Queen and Bowie’s ‘Under Pressure’. Two musicians from different bands jammed together, and produced some magic. DLT and Che Fu Darryl Thompson, aka DLT, was a DJ for Upper Hutt Posse.…
New Zealand is presently enjoying a strong crop of female singer-songwriters. Along with Hollie Fullbrook of Tiny Ruins, we also have Aldous Harding’s weirdness and Nadia Reid‘s imagery-laden writing. Pop superstar Lorde isn’t a singer-songwriter but shares the introspection of her contemporaries. Hollie…
Growing up in Auckland’s North Shore, Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair deferred their chosen careers when they returned from their OEs. McGlashan was a musician. He had already drummed for the Auckland post-punk trio, Blam Blam Blam. He penned the…
They’re barely known outside New Zealand, but The Dance Exponents were reliable hitmakers in the 1980s. They kept enjoying success through the 1990s after they shortened their name to The Exponents. They weren’t edgy or pretentious, a pop/rock guitar band…
In January 1994, Straitjacket Fits played their last gig at the Big Day Out festival. Disillusioned by the music industry, Shayne Carter returned to Dunedin and spent years largely away from the music industry. He later described this period to…
Dunedin has a small population and is located in the deep south of New Zealand. But Dunedin’s Flying Nun record label produced a string of critically acclaimed and influential guitar bands throughout the 1980s, including The Chills, The Clean, The…
New Zealand indie band The Phoenix Foundation was formed by Wellington High School students in 1994. The group features two singer-guitarists – Polish-born Luke Buda and Samuel Flynn Scott (the son of a prominent NZ cartoonist). Keyboardist Conrad Webbe is…
Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor was born in Auckland, New Zealand, the daughter of a poet and a civil engineer. She grew up immersed in poetry and literature. She built a profile through SoundCloud and talent shows, and in June 2013,…
Marlon Williams grew up in Lyttleton, New Zealand. He toured Europe as a member of the choir of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and started playing guitar in high school. His band The Unfaithful Ways, formed with two friends…
Breaking up Split Enz, Neil Finn retained drummer Paul Hester from the final Enz lineup and created a more streamlined band. They recruited Australian bass player Nick Seymour (brother of Hunters and Collector’s lead singer Mark) and secured an American…
I’ve already covered the Split Enz and Crowded House catalogues separately. This page covers Neil and Tim Finn’s solo albums and duo projects. I’ve only covered a handful of Tim’s solo albums, but I’ve written about most of Neil’s solo…
The Beths met at jazz school in Auckland, New Zealand. Guitarist Jonathan Pearce stated that playing jazz provided a “very clear idea of what we didn’t want to do”. Instead, the quartet reverted to the music they loved in their…
Don McGlashan kicked around the arty end of the New Zealand alternative scene during the 1980s. He played the drums in Blam Blam Blam, providing lead vocals for the iconic and ironic ‘There Is No Depression In New Zealand’. On…
Emma Paki was born in Whakatane, the New Zealand town closest to where White Island erupted in December 2019. She was born to a Maori heritage; and received her first guitar at the age of 8. Paki’s debut single was…
Neil Finn joined the band Split Enz as a guitarist when he was still a teenager. His brother Tim was the band’s leader, writing most of their material, but Neil Finn wrote many of the band’s successful singles in the…
Every country has a songwriter who’s very successful in their home territory but hasn’t translated well elsewhere. Australia has Paul Kelly, while Canada had Gord Downie from The Tragically Hip. New Zealand’s equivalent is Dave Dobbyn, a songwriter who emerged…
A bunch of New Zealand acts where I don’t have the patience to review all their records. It’s a mixed bag – Fly My Pretties’ debut is the worst album I’ve ever covered on this site. Fat Freddy’s Drop Based…
As a New Zealander, this site is naturally biased towards New Zealand artists. I’ve collated them all into one page. New Zealand pop music didn’t start in earnest until later than the rest of the world. Despite flickers of brilliance…
Ed McWilliams and Geoff Maddock met in art class at high school in Auckland, New Zealand. They formed the trio Breast Secreting Cake with drummer Joel Wilton. Forced to change the name of their band, the group chose Bressa Creeting…
Kimbra Johnson was earmarked for stardom early. Online videos show her singing as a pre-teen, while she placed second in New Zealand’s national secondary school rock quest at 14. But after a generic debut single ‘Deep For You’, she took…
Singer-songwriter Nadia Reid hails from Port Chalmers. It’s a port suburb of Dunedin, New Zealand, known for alternative life-stylers and artists. Her mother is a local jazz singer. Operating in the singer-songwriter genre, it’s easy to overlook what a capable…
After success with Th’ Dudes and DD Smash, Dave Dobbyn’s reputation took a hit with his involvement in the Queen Street riot. He rehabilitated his reputation with this classic song from an animated movie. Dave Dobbyn Every country has a…
My favourite musical discovery of 2018 has been Nadia Reid. Reid is from Dunedin in the south of New Zealand, and ‘Richard’ is from her second album, 2017’s Preservation. Preservation was runner-up for album of the year in Mojo magazine,…
Don McGlashan is up with Dave Dobbyn and the Finn brothers as New Zealand’s best mainstream guitar-rock writers. He’s best-known for his work in 1990s rock band The Mutton Birds, but they were the third group he recorded with. His…
The small city of Dunedin, in the south of New Zealand, produced a lot of great music in the 1980s – The Flying Nun record label distributed acclaimed albums by acts like The Chills, The Clean, The Bats, and Chris…
Each May is New Zealand Music Month. It’s a promotion that has outstayed its welcome, especially as New Zealand has outgrown the cultural cringe for homegrown music that was evident in the 1960s and 1970s. But, perhaps not coincidentally, I’ve…
Formed by a group of Auckland students in 1972, Split Enz is an iconic New Zealand band. They had a distinctive visual image – percussionist Noel Crombie designed their costumes and album covers. Their career had two distinct phases. In…
New Zealand’s Bic Runga has only released four albums of original material, starting with her 1997 debut Drive. But despite her limited output, she reigns supreme as the queen of New Zealand pop music. Runga comes from a unique cultural…
Prominent popular music from New Zealand in the late 20th century was often Caucasian. Most internationally recognised musicians came from the Flying Nun stable of twisted guitar pop or the mainstream pop of the Finn Brothers. The early 21st century…
