New Zealand Music Is Making Waves Worldwide. But Why Aren’t Kiwis Listening?
New Zealand acts are winning fans worldwide, but Kiwis aren't streaming and supporting them as much at home. Rolling Stone AU/NZ spoke with NO CIGAR, Borderline, and Earth Tongue to work out why.
On a dismally cold Canterbury night last Thursday, Earth Tongue almost tore the roof off The Loons. A more than healthy crowd had gathered inside the Lyttelton venue to hear their relentless fuzz-rock songs, perhaps curious to see what all the fuss was about following their impressive Aotearoa Music Awards win for Best Group last month.
The duo of Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons were performing in their home country, but Lyttelton is actually a long way away from their home base these days. The couple recently set up Earth Tongue headquarters in Berlin, Germany, and the attraction of moving to one of the world’s foremost music cities was immediately evident, as Larkin notes.
“We’ve seen so many different types of shows since moving here, from experimental techno in huge old factories to PJ Harvey in the courtyard of a castle. All this makes me even more excited and motivated to write new Earth Tongue songs,” she tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
It’s been a richly rewarding move for Earth Tongue so far. The group have played notable rock music events across the UK and Europe, including Meltchester and Desertfest, and they also embarked on a European summer tour in support of Brant Bjork. From Berlin to Barcelona, Hungary to Croatia, their particular brand of noisy and theatrical rock is going down a storm in the Northern Hemisphere.
Earth Tongue’s on-ground success is being reflected online, too. They’re one of a number of Aotearoa acts boasting massive streaming numbers in overseas cities, with these figures often being much higher than those in local cities.
What’s driving this discrepancy? Larkin doesn’t think it says anything negative about her home country’s music community. “I think it’s just down to population numbers,” she tells us. “We also play niche music, so in a country of five million there are only gonna be a certain number of freaks that love Earth Tongue!”
Larkin and Simons, along with Kaylee Bell, TEEKS, The Beths, Alien Weaponry, Tami Neilson, Balu Brigada, and more, feature in ‘Outplay the World‘, the New Zealand Music Commission’s campaign to remind Kiwis about the greatness of their local acts.
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“All across the globe, people are listening to New Zealand’s music,” the campaign notes, calling on music lovers at home to stream their favourite Aotearoa acts in order to get their monthly listeners higher than their most-played global cities – to ‘Outplay the World’.
“It’s a time to spotlight homegrown talent, amplify community voices, and bring more of our music to the front — to support local, stream local, see local and buy local,” the campaign urges.
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Like Earth Tongue, pop-rock band NO CIGAR have been building a strong following overseas, but that doesn’t mean they feel removed from New Zealand.
“Support from home is crucial, and you still feel it abroad. Kiwis certainly spread their wings far and wide, so the likelihood of one of them popping up at an international show is common. For them it’s probably a nice taste of home, having a NZ band perform in their new home,” they say.
When NO CIGAR sold out a recent headline London show, the Kiwi voices in the crowd stood out to the band. “Selling out shows on this side of the world is something we don’t take for granted, with our three largest headline shows all having been in London. The Kiwi and Australian support we have here certainly helps fuel the local interest, and creates that scarcity (Kiwis in London are a lot more diligent in buying tickets in advance than Kiwis in NZ it seems).”
The band, who will release their third album, Under the Surface, at the end of July, have also been making progress in Australia, a common next step for Kiwi acts hoping to expand outside of their home country. According to NO CIGAR, this success is directly correlated to the digital expansion of modern music.
“Streaming music on global platforms can send your music so much further, so much quicker, which facilitates the possibility of international touring. We are often reviewing our streaming stats, and that helps gauge what markets are best to target for touring and marketing… We’re constantly being fed data and messages through our social channels with proof of these audiences existing, but it feels all the more real when you finally get to perform to them in person.”
Rising pop quartet Borderline were just in Australia for our Rolling Stone Local Legends series, where they played to a packed crowd inside Manly’s Hotel Steyne. Knowing their biggest audience is overseas feels “really strange,” the band admit.
“It’s been the most special thing playing shows halfway across the globe, where the fans are just as excited and die hard as at home. It’s been great connecting with those fans, and hearing stories about how our music has impacted them and how they discovered us,” they say. “It’s crazy to think anyone outside of our little bubble in NZ could relate to our music, or even be aware of who we are. But we are so so grateful, and we do not take it for granted in the slightest.”
Borderline have been incredibly busy building their overseas audience, showcasing their music at SXSW Austin (with SXSW Sydney to follow later this year), completing a North American tour, and performing in the UK and Europe for the first time, but they always look forward to returning home. On June 5th, they took to the Tuning Fork stage in Auckland for One NZ and Live Nation’s Ones To Watch series, performing alongside fellowing up-and-comers Aidan Fine and Lucy Gray.
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“It’s great knowing we’ve got NZ backing us while we’re overseas… seeing how excited the fans were, and how proud they were of us was really heartwarming. It’s those interactions that inspire us to keep growing and building at home and internationally,” they say.
But are Kiwis backing bands like Borderline enough? A look at the current Aotearoa Music Charts (June 13th-19th) says no.
US pop superstars like Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, and Alex Warren dominate the Top 20 singles, with not one local act making the cut; things are slightly better in the Top 20 albums, where Marlon Williams (No. 6) and the omnipresent Six60 (No. 10) and L.A.B (No. 17) represent Aotearoa.
Kiwis could be listening to local acts much more, clearly, and the talent is here. For every Addison Rae, there’s an ASHY; for every Alex Warren, there’s a Mitch James; Kaylee Bell has just as many country-rock anthems as Morgan Wallen.
“There is so much talent in this little country, and we punch well above our weight. We traverse so many different genres, and bring a refreshing perspective to the world,” NO CIGAR say. It’s a sentiment echoed by Larkin. “Our geographical separation from the rest of the world fosters music that I find much more unique and interesting. We’re less beholden to trends and have less copycat bands. I think a lot of NZ musicians don’t see the possibility of their music being a huge commercial success and that is actually an advantage. It makes our local scenes much stronger in that they look inward for inspiration.”
In a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone AU/NZ, Princess Chelsea, so long one of New Zealand’s brightest pop talents, admitted to feeling somewhat underrated in her home country, at least until her Taite Music Prize win that same year for her fifth album, Everything Is Going to Be Alright.
“I’ve kind of just flown under the radar for most of my career in New Zealand,” she said at the time. “There’s a certain size audience for my music, or there has been historically, that’s kind of niche. And so in a smaller country, the niche is smaller, and in bigger countries in Europe, my niche is bigger.” (At the time of that 2023 interview, Princess Chelsea had her most monthly Spotify listeners in Istanbul, with the US, Turkey, and Mexico being her top countries on streaming platforms. )
It’s not just Earth Tongue who have felt the need to move elsewhere to further their career. New Zealand acts have long headed to Australia in search of career growth, with punk rockers DARTZ – otherwise known as The Band From Wellington – being one of the latest notable bands to make the move to Melbourne. Toy Love, Split Enz, Dragon have all looked towards Australia as a land of possibility – the list goes on.
One wonders how much of an effect New Zealand’s notoriously suffocating Tall Poppy Syndrome has on all of this. As far back as 1993, Auckland rock band Push Push told NZ Musician they were bitter about the lack of support following their chart-topping debut single, “Trippin'” (1991).
“We’ve been let down by the music scene here,” lead singer Mikey Havoc told the publication. “It really fucks me off that there are so many people who don’t believe we deserve all the success we’ve had.
“There’s this stupid bunch of fat, old, has-beens in the Kiwi rock scene who have never achieved anything and they certainly can’t bear to see anyone doing well. We’ve been labelled a corporate-glam bunch of faggots by this industry. That is just crap. People that scoff at us would all freak out if they knew how much work we’ve done to get to where we are.”
Three decades later, Larkin says getting more Kiwis to support local acts begins at the grassroots level.
“I’ve been enjoying doing interviews with the student radio network stations since basing myself overseas. Those stations have played us from the beginning and we owe a lot to them… I’m grateful for the visibility that NZMM (NZ Music Month) gives bands, and I think it should be particularly focused on emerging bands.
“Give those young bands that are just starting out the opportunities that come along with NZMM. Whether that’s playing an event that has some special funding or being part of a campaign like ‘Outplay’ – this all makes a difference for Aotearoa musicians that are starting out.”
“NZ Music Month is so important, it gives Kiwi artists of all sizes a chance to shine and the general public really get behind it. It’s great seeing all the events and buzz around the country in the month of May, and it’s such a privilege to be a part of,” Borderline agree.
NZMM really puts the country’s music scene on the map every May, but what about the rest of the year?
The COVID-19 pandemic devastated New Zealand’s live music industry, and it’s been a slow recovery process ever since. There are many who care about its recovery, including Music Managers Forum Aotearoa with its ‘Spotlight Aotearoa’ initiative, a bold call to action encouraging the inclusion of local acts as openers for international tours. Conversely, the current NZ Government slashed funding to the arts by $42 million in its first Budget last year, with more brutal cuts proposed this year.
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“Buying tickets to shows, buying merch… a little goes a long way,” NO CIGAR insist. “Even with healthy streaming numbers, you still get very little, so the real money comes from touring and merch sales.
“If you can recommend friends to go see a Kiwi act, I implore you to do so. Naturally supporting the social media channels helps, and using Kiwi music on your posts and stories goes a long way in organically promoting NZ music.”
It might be a while before Kiwis ‘Outplay the World’ when it comes to supporting their local acts. But inside The Loons last week, as Earth Tongue plowed through their grand set in front of a filled room, it felt like there was a little hope to be had.
“Buy tickets to their shows. It’s really the most tangible way to support. Plus you get to enjoy the music you love in real life AND support your local music venue,” as Larkin, who must have at least been buoyed by the stellar turnout for Earth Tongue’s show, says.
Find out more about ‘Outplay the World’ here. Follow NO CIGAR, Borderline, and Earth Tongue.
