New Zealand Music Features

"...You know when you’re in a plane and the turbulence is terrible and there’s lightning hitting the wings and you start praying to god and you really fucking mean it? That’s what it feels like before I go on stage..." Part two of a three-part series in which Vera Ellen talks to local musicians about the difficulties navigating live performance and turbulent emotion. To read part one, click here. 

“Mouthfull has created a sense of community that hasn't existed since the early days of student radio...In my opinion, the musical freedom the Mouthfull team has developed is healthy. It allows the hosts to express themselves outside of the generic demands of nightclub DJing or radio funded by advertising. To me, that's important for independent music in the long run.” — Paul Berrington (DJ. B.Lo)

"...It felt so extreme that something one person could perceive as light weekend entertainment, could drag me to such devastation..." Part one of a three-part series in which Vera Ellen talks to local musicians about the difficulties navigating live performance and turbulent emotion.

"When I produce music, it’s so important that the music is felt, and reaching those frequencies that are hitting a point in me. I don’t care about the technicality. All of my previous music is mixed properly, but it’s all off ear and whether I feel my body getting into that space. That’s it. I’m not trying to do anything other than create the feeling."   Violet Hirst spent the evening with Vanessa Worm to talk about the making and release of her latest album Mosaics, and to explore her freewheeling expression of self through her music and movement.