New Zealand, or Aotearoa as the indigenous Maori people call it—has long been known for its outstanding natural beauty. But in recent years it has also developed a reputation as a hotbed of musical innovation. Home to just over four million inhabitants and located way down in the South Pacific, the country (which is comprised of two islands; north and south), punches well above its weight in an assortment of genres from opera, jazz and indigenous music to alternative rock, electronica, "Pacific dub" and homegrown hip hop. After avidly absorbing the major international trends of post-war period (jazz; rhythm & blues; the British Invasion; punk; hippie rock; reggae; synth pop; electronica; hip hop) New Zealand has spent the latter half of the twentieth century fleshing out its reputation for rurality with a series of musical movements that reflect the increasing urbanization of the country.
The first locally recorded record emerged in 1949, but it wasn't until the 70s that psych-rock bands such as Human Instinct, Space Farm, Living Force, Billy T.K., and Hello Sailor created a notable scene and kickstarted the trend for homegrown sounds. The explosion of punk in also created a significant local movement (spearheaded in particular by Chris Knox's influential outfit The Enemy), but right up until the 80s the phrase 'internationally successful' primarily meant being popular in neighbouring Australia. That began to change with the emergence of new wave pop pioneers Split Enz, who later morphed into Crowded House, one of the most internationally popular New Zealand pop bands ever.
More significant for the country however was the birth and growth of the Flying Nun record label in Dunedin, a city located on the country's South Island. Via influential bands such as The Clean, The Chills, The Verlaines, Sneaky Feelings, The Bats and The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, Flying Nun spawned what quickly became known as the 'Dunedin Sound', a distinctive jangle-pop noise characterised by lo-fi production quality and an insouciant indie-pop aesthetic. As Flying Nun grew to commercial proportions an alternative pop tradition developed via labels such as IMD and Arclife (both based in Dunedin) and Arch Hill Recordings and Lil' Chief Records in Auckland, heralding an independent infrastructure that has held sway in the music scene throughout the last fifteen years.
Throughout the late 80s and early 90s the urban movements of hip hop and electronic club music washed up the shores of Aotearoa, the former resonating in particular with the country's indigenous Maori and Pacific Islander populations and resulting in a high profile "Urban Pasifika" movement that combined competent studio skills with positive messages of Maori/Islander pride. The Upper Hutt Posse were the first out of the gate, followed by scores of emcees and producers such as Che Fu, P Money, Nesian Mystik, Scribe and King Kapisi. In terms of electronica, labels like Kog (Auckland) have been hugely influential in defining an independent paradigm for local artists, and acts such as Pitch Black and Condord Dawn have gained large amounts of international exposure. A loosely related reggae/soul sound known vaguely as ´Pacific Dub´ has also garnered a lot of global attention of late, thanks mainly to South Island bands like Fat Freddy's Drop (Wellington), Trinity Roots (Wellington), Salmonella Dub (Christchurch) and Katchafire (Hamilton).
All of which has of course boded well for New Zealand's indigenous music scene, which in the last decade or two has bounced back against centuries of prejudice to become a vital thread in the country's multicultural fabric. From the constant flow of underground rap and reggae acts to globally acclaimed opera singers such as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Deborah Wai Kapohe and homegrown pop celebrities like Hinewehi (Hine) Mohi and Che Fu, the revival of New Zealand's indigenous music completes the picture of a nation in thrall to its abundance of diverse and original sounds. —Paul Sullivan
