NZ Music Month - Discover New: Live Artists

In celebration of New Zealand Music Month 2018 we've put together a four-part series exploring this year's theme of Discover New. Each week we'll highlight a range of artists bubbling up from the underground who we feel are representative of the depth and breadth of Aotearoa's emerging musical talent. For our third feature of the month we present five rising stars of our live musical community, a selection of locals who are either fresh out the gate or who have recently stepped up a gear in activity, all of whom have been owning stages near you.

As today is New Zealand Music Month's Love Your Local Venue Day there's no better excuse to venture out and discover the live music action happening right under your very nose. Dive in to explore sounds and words direct from the artists, and check out our previous Independent Labels and Singles features. If you like what you hear, do yourself a favour and experience the artists' work in the flesh (arranged in alphabetical order)...

Being.

"Being. is the moniker I adopted about two years ago for sharing my music and poetry writing. The music and poems I’m playing at the moment are a montage of works written during my years studying. It took me a while to resurface and share them, but after a personal and creative hiatus, I was bursting to play music again. Founded in angst and surfed-out guitars my music leans towards a melancholy-surf aesthetic. It jumps from zest-drenched indie pop to introspective spoken word. Backing me in recorded works and many live shows, are the rhythmical workings of David Waters and Joshua Worthington-Church - both known for their dynamic contributions and live performances." - Jasmine Balmer

You can catch Being. playing alongside Ha The Unclear and Soaked Oats as part of the Corduroy Cape Mixtape tour, at Auckland's Whammy Bar tonight and at Wellington's Meow on Saturday 26th May.

Executive Zone

"Executive Zone is a tight-knit family of content creators hoping to #break the innovation industries of Aotearoa and beyond. Our core philosophy is put into practice through the communication and promotion of like-minded, 'outside-the-box' ideas. Harnessing the tools of social media activism and radical self-love, we hope to bring our message of personal empowerment and personal self-determination of the individual to all of our targeted wealth demographic.

After the release of a couple of singles, Executive Zone are taking their first voyage across the Tasman in July 2018, playing in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane. Supporting us are the likes of Orlando Furious, Bloody Hell, Den, Orion, LA Suffocated and Kitchen’s Floor.

Our personal revolution will NOT be Instagram live-streamed, so don’t miss out on the shows."

You can catch Executive Zone at Borderline Music Festival 2018 at Auckland's Wine Cellar / Whammy Bar on Saturday 2nd June, and alongside The Coolies and The Futurians at the Dog's Bollix on Saturday 16th June.

Kimmy

"Frustrations with lack of physical labour has forced duo Alex Guthrie and Catherine Ellis into a high energy techno garage band known as Kimmy. "

You can catch Kimmy playing at 95bFM's Fancy New Band showcase of emerging local talent this Saturday 26 May at Auckland's Whammy Bar.

namesake

"Wellington three piece, poppy and a bit sad but having fun. Heavily influenced by what's happening with the weather. Songs for feeling sentimental during any season."

You can catch namesake (the trio of Teresa Collins, Ali Burns and Eluned Evan-Adams) playing at Wellington's City & Sea Museum on Saturday 7th July, and Caroline on Thursday 12th July. Burns is also hosting Dead Leaves, a showcase of "cute new bands" at Meow on Friday 1st June with I Love The Sea (featuring Burns), Louisa, Mystery Waitress and O-Boy. The show is intended to "create a friendly low pressure space for bands who might not have played a show or who have only played minimal shows so they can try out fresh new material."

Smith

"Smith is a solo experimental sound project exploring intuitive melody, tone and frequency intent. Experiments vary from improvised vocal loop drone to melodic noise pop. Recent live performances have been purely vocal but sometimes Shruthi, key or drum drone is also played. I first performed Smith about four years ago, but then not again for another year. The recent gigs have been the most I've played solo for a while."

Recent live appearances include supporting Berlin-based electronic artist Rashad Becker last month at Christchurch's The Dark Room, support for Baliphonics in April at Dunedin's The Anteroom, and playing alongside L$D Fundraiser at his epic record release party at Dunedin's YYY in March.