Just wanted to put together a list of some of my favourite beat makers and producers from New Zealand. This list is purely based on my tastes and focuses more on new artists who are making both live and electronic beats which stand up against anything else internationally and have a really soulful and futuristic edge. I’ve thrown in a few heavy weights of the NZ scene too for those visitors from outside of NZ who may not know who they are. The local scene for beat makers is healthier than it’s ever been since I moved here from the UK in 2000 but still doesn’t get enough attention locally despite many of these producers exporting their tracks out to the world on a regular basis.
Local heads might notice that I’ve missed out most of the NZ hip hop producers who are putting together some amazing beats but I’ll be covering them in a future post. In fact I’ve missed out a huge number of acts like Concorde Dawn, Greg Churchill, P Money, Pitch Black, Simon Flower, Rhian Sheehan and many more of the amazing producers from NZ. I’ll look at doing some more artists features in the future.
If you have any suggestions for additions to this list or the u coming NZ hip hop list then just leave me a comment and I’ll check em out.
First DJ I saw play in NZ down at the Box and one of my favourite DJ’s. The Solephonic EP is well worth checking out and is taking Manual to the world, you can check out release info. and bio here.
Killer DJ and broken beat/ soulful house producer, recently worked with Nathan Haines on his latest album and is one half of Universal Sun with Mdcl.
Amazing keys/ synth player and a master of live MPC. Check out his new Mashi beats blogspot for new info. on music and upcoming projects.
Local multi instrumentalist who recently released his first album “Wake” which is being played by Benji B, Domu and Michael Ruetten who puts out the fabulous soul patrol podcast. Lewis will hopefully be playing synth on one of the new Bluevibe studio tracks.
Adi Dick is another multi talented musician and beat maker, you can check out tracks from his solo album here but I’m really lovin his new beats projects at the moment. Adi’s contributed a killer remix for the new Bluevibe studio EP which you can check out the pre master version on his beats site.
Killer drummer for the Open Souls and released the Phantom Limbo EP which got play from Wajeed and Madlib, as we say in the north of England, nuff said! Check it.
LP and the cherished collective
Lisa Preston has blessed one of the new Bluevibe studio tracks with her vocal talents and will be putting out an amazing EP with K15 providing the beats. 2008 is gonna be LP’s year.
Definitely top of my list of NZ producers and musicians, check his myspace profile for the full rundown and if your lucky you might still be able to grab his limited instrumental 7″. Super nice tracks on super nice vinyl, nice.
Fresh new producer from Christchurch, don’t know much about him but love the tracks and will be keeping an eye on future releases.
Member of Solaa and amazing beat maker who has worked with the likes of Waajeed, Oddisee, Todd Simon, Flying Lotus, Ladi6.
Another member of Solaa and an amazing musician who has worked on a huge number of projects with some of NZ finest, it’s all about the fusion.
Andy Morton or Submariner is another of my favourite NZ artists who has a long list of production credits and is one of NZ’s finest DJ’s as part of “The Turnaround”crew. Just google the name and dig in to some real NZ history from pure talent.
Let me know if you’ve got any suggestions for additions to the list, it’s always inspiring to find new beat makers and producers with this level of talent so leave me a comment and continue my education.
Tags: Influences, music
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Nice line up man,
I’d include Mu, Sola Rosa … I’ll drop a few more names as they come to me
Thanks man Mu should def. be on there, seconds is still one of my all time favourite tracks plus freddies is always next level. Sola Rosa’s got some deep tracks too, particularly liked the Diva Mahal colab, keep em comin…