New Zealand Music Features — Gareth Shute

This month the NZ record label that produced viral musical talents Princess Chelsea and Jonathan Bree is turning 20 years old. One of the people behind the scenes at the label from the start was Gareth Shute and here he takes us through the ups and downs of two decades in the music industry.

Gareth Shute investigates four new record labels that have emerged over the past five years - Noa, Garbage, Sunreturn, and trace/untrace - and discovers the different approaches they are taking to pushing their artists out into the world.

When the first Covid-19 shutdown took place in 2020, it threatened to wreak havoc across the local music scene with shows cancelled and venues struggling to survive. However now that a year has passed, local acts seem to be doing larger shows than ever and breaking records for radio airplay. Gareth Shute talks to some of those in the industry to weigh up the positives and negative from a disruptive year.

Since it first arrived in the late-50s, the surf guitar sound has continued to re-emerge in each decade. Gareth Shute takes a short look back at the history of the style in New Zealand.