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Your favourite local artists favourite local artist


CULTURE | ISSUE FIVE | PUORO O AOTEAROA / LOCAL MUSIC

Written by  Te Atamea Boynton (she/her) | Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Ruapani | @tayatamea Contributing Writer


When I hear a waiata, my taringa lock in. I catch a sound and want to know what it is. What instrument, how it’s been made. I jump on the rorohiko and start searching, moving from track to track, going down a rabbit hole of endless buzzy hardware until I’m somewhere completely different from where I started. 


Music has always been something I can sink into like that. Pick up the guitar and just jam for hours. Mucking around on my old iPhone, making shit beats just to make them. But lately, that kind of immersion has been harder to reach. It’s difficult to tune into sound when everything outside of it feels so loud. The ongoing pakanga in Palestine, widely visible yet continually normalised, far-right governments dismantling protections for people and the environment, and the constant churn of misinformation designed to confuse and overwhelm our hinengaro. All this mamae in the world only serves to amplify the collective hopelessness sown within our wairua. Now listening to music starts to feel different, almost void of the rongoā it holds for me.


What’s shifted, even slightly, is a turning toward local artists, especially those grounded in their own cultural contexts. I asked two artists to share their favourite Māori and Pasifika artists, their favourite tracks from those artists, and a track/mix of their own that expresses their sound. Since these two wāhine are so talented and musically on, of course, they shared some of the meanest local recs around.


Spdrtwnbby 

  • Singer/songwriter, beat maker and artist from Tāmaki Makaurau, raised in Avondale (Villages in Sāmoa: Lalomanu, Malie, Fagaloa). 

  • Began using the name Spdrtwnbby in 2021 as a clean slate to grow into her practice. In my opinion, one of the sweetest voices to come out of Aotearoa in a bit. 


Chosen track of their own: Back to Self - Spdrtwnbby (ft. JARNA)


Spdrtwnbby’s favourite artists:

Jordyn with a Why

“Amazing vocalist and singer-songwriter. I am always enjoying Jordyn’s choices in melody for her music, accompanied by the sickest production and even better live. Beautiful to watch her artist journey unfold” - Spdrtwnbby


This kaiwaiata is smooth as whānau - reminds me of a young Aaradhna with the velvet harmonies and vocal agility. Mean.


Romi Wrights “First saw Romi perform live at Sweatshop back in 2023 , and I was in awe. Romi’s songwriting is so on, and her energy is warm and genuine, which you hear in her music.” - Spdrtwnbby


Legit thought this wā was from the 60s oi. Sexy, soulful and mature layers sit easily within her voice.


JARNA

“My day one uso in music. The most talented, and one of the only Wahine I know who produces, mixes and masters. I need everyone to stop sleeping on her expeditiously.” - Spdrtwnbby


Talk about skills. I’m mad jealous of JARNA’s songwriting and producing ability. Save some talent for the rest of us ea.


HOPE “Oh man, oh man oh man. Hope is one of my fave vocalists in Aotearoa. Smoothest tone and effortlessly weaves through riffs. Seeing her live changed my life, not to be dramatic but fully dramatic.” - Spdrtwnbby

Another exceptionally talented vocalist rec from Spdrtwnbby. I see a trend here. HOPE’s use of reo in her waiata is also one of the more seamless examples I’ve heard.

Song recommendations:

  • Jordyn with a Why – Reia

  • Romi Wrights – Shine Your Light

  • JARNA – Back Then

  • HOPE – Taukaea



AJ Honeysuckle 

Soundcloud: ajhoneysuckle


Hailing from Tainui and Sāmoa, AJ is a musician, DJ and kaiwhakamana working across bass, club and experimental sound. Member of Sonic Hapori, with projects including Bad Poi radio and Bass Rongoa gigs. “Art haututu, shapeshifter, mutant vibes.” 


AJ’s favourite artists

Wai – WAI 100% “Early 2000s Māori experimental clubby, deconstructed indigenous buzzy vibes.” - ajhoneysuckle


Whanau mā don’t sleep on Wai’s iconic and highly influential album Wai 100%. I've been blasting it 24/7 since AJ’s rec. The amplified poi beats will have you dancing with the atua.


Silv-o “Making music primarily in the UK. Recently returned to record sounds on his whenua in the Waikato for the first time.” - ajhoneysuckle

Moody, textural and shadowy hokehoke vibes weave through Silv-o’s ambient music. Making you feel like you’re drifting in a moemoeā.

Wear Pounamu Producer from Te Whanganui-a-Tara working with industrial and machine textures. Part of the Mauri Aura collective, where sound becomes a space for experimentation and transformation. Collabs with SAVAGEHINE often.

Another moody producer rec from AJ, I see a trend here.

SAVAGEHINE “Wāhine artist making bold, cheeky, sexy, horny waiata Māori. Glitzy, staunch and sonic seduction dominance.” - ajhoneysuckle


This wāhine and her waiata will make you wanna embrace the real skuxx within you. 


The Coolies “South Auckland punk band - three wāhine creating raw, disruptive music with a disrupt the system kinda zero fucks vibe.” - ajhoneysuckle


These sick af wāhine remind me of when I discovered power chords and the distortion setting on my pakaru amp when I was a teen.


Song recommendations:

  • Wai – Mihi Tuatahi

  • Silv-o – Ka Mua, Ka Muri

  • The Coolies – Scorpio 10

  • SAVAGEHINE – RSS (RealSkuxShawty) (prod. billyskuxx)

AJ’s mix: Moody Māori Pt. 2 (dubtech, digi-pūoro, trip hop, breaks)

You can find AJ’s mix on Soundcloud.



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