There has been a flurry of New Zealand music related enterprises celebrating their 20th anniversaries in the last few years, this very magazine included. NZ On Air and Rockquest also recently passed the two decade milestone and 2009 marks 20 years of operation for contemporary Christian music purveyors Parachute. Well known and highly regarded internationally in the Christian music world, Parachute remains all but invisible to our own secular music industry, known to many only in context of the annual festival held at Mystery Creek. Richard Thorne spoke to Parachute founder Mark de Jong (pictured right) to find out more about what is in fact, the biggest independent music label in the land. ...more

Blur and Sharpen may not be a company name you are familiar with, but if you watch any music TV you will almost certainly have seen their work. Their client list this year has included Kidz In Space, The Checks, Opensouls, Motocade, Miriam Clancy, Artisan Guns, Smashproof, Sola Rosa and Collapsing Cities. Director Tim Van Dammen (who also drums for Collapsing Cities) and director of photography Tim Flower are the creative duo behind this independent music video company bringing some of the most innovative and cool videos to our screens. The pair spoke to Lydia Jenkin about turning small budgets into high profile videos, and treating the three-minute medium as an art form. ...more

Just over two years ago The Brunettes had recently signed to resurgent US indie label Sub Pop, were releasing their third album internationally and about to embark on mammoth tours across the US and Europe. They’ve certainly had quite a journey since then – the kind of long and windy one that somehow can lead back pretty much to where you started. Their fourth album ‘Paper Dolls’ has just been released here in New Zealand and the troupe have been back on home shores for a tour. They spoke to Lydia Jenkin about enjoying independence and how things have (or haven’t) changed in their 11 years as a band. ...more

Wellington’s Tommy Ill may not be an established figure of New Zealand’s core rap community, but the MC/producer’s lyrical tales and raw sample-heavy foundations provide an eccentric and refreshing palette that makes him one of the country’s brightest hip hop talents. With his third EP. ‘Come Home Mr. Ill’ just hitting shelves, Tom Young sat down with Adam Burns to talk about digging for samples, copyright laws and his love of the Beastie Boys. ...more

Wellington-based Bevan Smith’s musical soundscapes spread far and wide, encompassing electronica to techno to pop – under the guises of Aspen and Signer, in Skallander with Matthew Mitchell, Over the Atlantic with Nik Brinkman and more recently as part of The Ruby Suns. He’s about to release a new Signer album called ‘Next We Bring You The Fire’, and talked to Amanda Mills about his love of ’80s pop, the importance of touring internationally and balancing his many musical identities. ...more

Despite the fact that Grayson Gilmour is about to bring his sixth solo release into the world, this young musician remains largely unknown. The elusive figure has always spent more time recording his albums rather than performing them, and when he is not working on one of his many side projects he is busy being one quarter of science rock sensation So So Modern. Having won one of this year’s APRA Personal Development Awards Gilmour shows no signs of slowing down – as he puts the finishing touches on his latest solo album ‘No Constellation’ and simultaneously gets ready for the release of So So Modern’s first album called ‘Crude Futures’ in February. He spoke to Tosh Ahkit about his musical obsessions and exploring new territory to find his voice. ...more

News that Chris Knox had suffered a major stroke on June 11th spread quickly through the music community, around the country and across the globe. It seemed as improbable as his jandal-shod, multi-dimensional genius and as inappropriate as the antics of some of his own cartoon characters. Following the stroke many friends and fellow musicians were looking for ways to help. The idea of doing an album of others covering Chris Knox songs popped into the head of his friend Roy Martyn, engineer and bandmate in The Nothing. Roy, who had been appointed as family spokesman and blogger, spent his next four months liaising with local and international artists, amassing the 34 tracks which make up the Yellow and Black discs of the double album. ‘STROKE – Songs For Chris Knox’ was released mid-November on Chris’ own label A Major. The artists and musicians involved donated their time and talent so that all proceeds can go towards assisting with his recovery. With other artists’ voices and musical treatments, the album reveals previously obscure lyrics and often disguised musical gems, rewarding buyers with a genuine and enduring selection of the extensive Chris Knox catalogue that spans 30 years of music making. Being such a complex, public, yet deeply personal project, we asked Roy Martyn to tell NZM readers the story of its genesis and production in his own words. ...more

When I first met Karl Steven, he had left his musical career behind him and was tutoring a philosophy class that I was taking. He introduced the first tutorial by running through the structure of the course and then asking if there were any questions. After half a minute of silence, finally one of the other students put up his hand. “Are you the guy from Supergroove?...” ...more