New Zealand

Hollie Smith (born 1983) is a female soul singer from New Zealand. In 1999, as a 16 year old, Smith recorded her album Light From a Distant Shore after winning Best Female Vocalist at the National Jazz Festival of New Zealand. The album of Celtic music was produced by her stepfather who was a well-known musician in New Zealand. In 2003, Smith moved to Wellington (New Zealand) singing with Trinityroots. She recorded an album Home, Land and Sea and toured with the band.

Originally a 4-piece, King Cannons formed at the end of 2007 in Auckland City, New Zealand. Percussion and keys came soon after and at the beginning of 2009 after a myriad of obstacles along the way, including a short re-location to London, King Cannons relocated to Melbourne, Australia. Following the whirlwind success of their first single “Teenage Dreams”, King Cannons have risen to become one of Melbourne’s finest Rock & Roll acts.

The Clean are an influential indie rock band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1978. The Clean soon forged a distinctive and quirky sound, inspired by punk filtered through to the relatively isolated New Zealand. Although they released several chart-topping singles in their native country, The Clean are a little-known cult band outside of New Zealand, although their influence is surprisingly far-reaching.

Te Vaka is a unique group of ten musicians and dancers from Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Cook Islands, and New Zealand brought together under the inspired leadership of Opetaia Foa'i. They have been wowing international audiences since 1997, presenting a rich, luscious mix of Polynesia's ancient culture, to the modern world and in 2008 won the “Best Pacific Group” award. The language they sing in is usually Tokelau but more recently they have been singing in Samoan and Tuvaluan too.