It's a wrap!As this years celebrations draw to a close, we thought a quick look back at NZ Music Month 2019 was in order. There is not enough space to showcase all the amazing events, shows and programmes that have occurred across the country, so here is just a selection of what happened. The NZ Music Month team will stay active on our social channels, so you can still check out our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram across the year. There is sure to be something new for you to discover every single month until next May - on the airwaves, online and in venues across Aotearoa. Facebook / Twitter / Instagram: @nzmusicmonth For a full list of NZ Music Month events, celebrations and gigs please check out the official website www.nzmusicmonth.co.nz or click below. 1 MAY: The Chills premiered in Dunedin - An amazing career was captured in a movie that showed all the highs and lows of a legendary artist. The Chills - The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps had a huge hometown NZ premier, followed by sold out events in both Auckland & Wellington. 2 MAY: Newshub Late featured hard-touring indie act, Carb on Carb - their first of many stories featuring local artists. Newshub Late also played great kiwi tunes during the weather section & closed with NZ music videos throughout the month. 3 MAY: 95bFM Drive Island series at the Ellen Melville Centre debuted this day with upbeat funk band, Skilaa. Every Friday in May, great acts like CHAII, Being, Lucky Boy, Surf Friends and Bailey Wiley performed live and on air. Through May there was also an exhibition of punk/post-punk poster art put together by Murray Cammick. 4 MAY: Christchurch City Libraries kicked off a great month-long run of events with musical performances at libraries across the city. They ended the month with Hook, Line and Sing-a-long at Tūranga (Central Library), where artist Mark Vanilau and local teachers led a sing-along with schools from the Christchurch region, as part of the nationwide MENZA and Music Commission event. 5 MAY: The Nook and Cranny Festival at the Dunedin City Library, on the first Sunday of May, saw performances by over 40 different acts, ranging from full bands performing on professional stages to solo artists in more unusual locations throughout the Dunedin Library. 6 MAY: Live at the Museum at Auckland Museum hosted their second concert, with Mara TK & Hollie Smith. Other artists at the sold out series included Finn Andrews & Reb Fountain, Holly Arrowsmith & ALAE; closing with Warren Maxwell & Laughton Kora. 7 MAY: Auckland Art Gallery hosted an online art collection for NZ Music Month showcasing the artworks in their collection on the subject of music, from Michael Parekowhai’s ‘Tua Whitu’ through to vinyl by artist & musician Phil Dadson. 8 MAY: Independent Music NZ's Going Local seminars kicked off with an event in Wellington. There was an informative discussion what it takes to tour successfully, followed by an showcase of fresh young acts curated by the awesome team at Something Something. This was followed by Going Local in Christchurch, Dunedin, and Auckland later in the month. 9 MAY: Rotorua NZ Music Month had an amazing line-up of seminars, workshops and live shows during NZ Music Month - with music everywhere from the night markets, to venues, to theatres and all kinds of stages. This included a host of great New Zealand artists including singer Louis Baker, King Kapisi, Moana & The Tribe appearing as part of their I Am Moana tour, Maisey Rika and many more. 10 MAY: The Mai Big Break competition for budding hip hop and R&B acts was back for 2019. Artists could upload their track, which would be played on air and listeners were able to vote for their favourite. The prize included professional mixing/mastering at Woodcut Studios, $500 and guaranteed airplay on Mai FM! They were also busy over on the MAI FM Instagram, looking back at milestones in NZ music history. 11 MAY: Mangere Love was a series of gigs every Saturday across May in the town centre of Māngere. On this day, artists from Dunamis Music performed, showcasing a great range of musical styles - everything from R&B to reggae to hip hop … even opera! 12 MAY: Anthems: New Zealand's Iconic Hits Episode Three explored some of the ways local musicians have found an audience - whether it was Peking Man making a innovative music video or Lorde initially releasing her first EP for free. Anthems was a fascinating series with an amazing line-up of local talent across its six episodes - available on Prime Catch Up. 13 MAY: The Big Idea ran a week of NZ music stories, including Mel Parsons on this daydiscussing managing her own career as a musician in New Zealand. They also had insightful pieces about the local music industry from music journalist Graham Reid, Hayley Dingwall from NZ On Air, our own Rodney Fisher (Goodshirt) and five female music industry leaders - Jan Hellriegel, Ria Hall, Lorraine Barry, Victoria Blood and Savina Fountain. 14 MAY: Going Live were mini-gigs from all over NZ streamed on Facebook Live every Tuesday and Friday afternoon throughout May. This day saw the return of the most popular act from 2018, Pereri King (Napier), whose mellow acoustic performance has garnered 13,000 views so far. We also had acts like Adam McGrath live from Paeroa, Sam Cullen in Invercargill, Daniel&Ashley in Gordonton, PRINS (Chch), Keri Pewhairangi (Rotorua), and Wham Bam Thank You Mam (Whangarei). 15 MAY: Rip It Up Magazine on Papers Past was a great announcement by National Library - that the first 101 issues of Rip It Up magazine (1977-85) would be added to their online archive, Papers Past. The project was initiated by the current owner of Rip It Up, Simon Grigg, and the hard copies of the magazine were supplied by Chris Bourke - editor of NZ music history website, Audioculture. 16 MAY: Hocken Library talks continued on Thursday with 17 MAY: Madcap NZ Music Month Showcase was held at Meow in Wellington this Saturday, with an exciting line-up that blended live indie electronic & pop performances with a mix of DJs crossing from hip hop to house, techno and drum & bass. 18 MAY: YouthWeek Buskers Showcase in Takapuna was held throughout the day, with a dozen performers taking to the stage in the centre of Takapuna. The music ranged from modern rock and singer-songwriters through to a performance on electric violin. They also held a drum workshop and acoustic drum jam the following Saturday in the same spot. 19 MAY: What Now hosted indie pop band, Openside for a live performance, who brought a burst of energy to their Sunday morning performance. What Now hosted live artist performances all month, including appearances from General Fiyah, Vince Harder, pop singer Razé and Samoan band Punialava’a (feat Tha Feelstyle). 20 MAY: From The Pit was a live photography exhibition at the Flying Out store in Central Auckland, featuring NZ artists captured by twenty of the best local music photographers. 21 MAY: 95bFM Live in the Lounge hosted eight-piece 70s-style rock group, Magic Factory the bFM offices. There were dozens of shows in this spot during the month, with these slots sponsored by Jumping Goat & Rudi's beer. 22 MAY: Auckland Libraries hosted a Music History talk with NZ music historian, Gareth Shute, who spoke about his project to map the historic venues of Auckland. His presentation also included a range of amazing photographs from a wonderful collection of Auckland nightlife images (ranging from the late 1950s to the early 80s) which were donated to the library by John Rykenberg. 23 MAY: The Pacific Music Awards marked their fifteen year of celebrating music by Pacifika artists with a star-studded event. They ended the awards evening with an amazing medley - dozens of ground breaking songs by Pacific artists were performed in one genre-bending remarkable performance. 24 MAY: Sennheiser presents SOJØURN: Live from Heads Garage saw Mangawhai-based psychedelic reggae group SOJØURN do a session live at Swish HQ and that video was dropped on this day. This collaboration each Friday also featured rapper Melodownz, indie pop group Balu Brigada, and pop singer Tijay. 25 MAY: The 2019 Official NZ Music Month Summit had an impressive line-up of panellists speaking on the most exciting aspect of the music industry - live performance. Among the speakers were top musicians like Tami Neilson, Julia Deans, Laughton Kora and Mel Parsons. The Summit was presented by the MMF & the Music Commission. 26 MAY: Radio One's Friendly Potential Radio, crew broadcast their fourth annual NZ Music Month special - this time featuring Green Grove live from the Hollywood Avondale, a selection from brash talent Tash van Schaardenburg (BIB KIDS/VSSL), and a mix from FP DJ Harmony to cap it off. 27 MAY: 1 News Tonight had NZ music play over the weather forecast through the month, and tonight viewers got to hear kiwi classic ‘Don’t You Stand In My Way’ by The La De Da's. Photo: Jason Oxenham NZ Herald 28 MAY: Cordy’s Inaugural NZ Music Month Auction was held this day. The auction house decided to mark NZ Music Month by running an auction drawn from the collections of local musicians and music collectors. The lot included items previously owned by Midge Marsden, the Graham Brazier Estate, the Billy T. James Estate, and Eddie Rayner. 29 MAY: Sofar Sounds x NZMM x Music Helps was a fundraiser for MusicHelps, the charity that helps change lives through music. So Far Sounds is an organisation that runs gigs in unusual locations - often people’s own homes. With this special NZ Music Month show held at Parachute Studios, they raised funds to support the work of MusicHelps. 30 MAY: Barry Saunders played at Cable Car Museum in Wellington, alongside Caroline Easther and the Kelburn Viaduct Municipal Ensemble Jugband! Wellington Museums put on a range of awesome events for NZ Music Month, including the She Shreds event, which had a line up incorporating Wellington’s best female-identifying musicians, including Hex, Womb, Linen, Mr Sterile Assembly, and Oonaverse. 31 MAY: Love Your Local Venue Day. What could be better than getting out to see a live show and supporting local artists & venues at the same time? The last Friday of May is #loveyourlocalvenueday and we have been encouraging people to get out and see some live acts at their local music spot. NZ Herald covered the campaign and The Spinoff celebrated the 15-year anniversary of Auckland venue, The Wine Cellar. Thank you for being part of NZ Music Month 2019: Discover Live. #NZMMv20 |