Former MAINZ student scoops music awards

Former MAINZ student scoops music awards

Former MAINZ student Joel Little has capped-off an extraordinary year with top New Zealand accolades for his work on Lorde’s Pure Heroine album.

Joel has won Best Producer and Best Engineer in the technical categories of the Vodafone NZ Music Awards. He was among a number of former MAINZ students to be recognised at the event last week, which revealed winners in the technical categories and the finalists for the Tuis in November.

Joel’s career started with the Diploma in Contemporary Music Performance at MAINZ. He was lead singer and guitarist with Goodnight Nurse, but as his career evolved, focused more on songwriting, producing and nurturing new talent, including up-and-coming pop duo Broods, also recognised at last week’s awards.

The past year has been a big one for Joel, as his collaboration with Lorde has seen him step into the global spotlight. Lorde’s hit single Royals, co-written and produced by Joel, surged to the top of the charts, won them the 2013 APRA Silver Scroll Award for songwriting excellence and then scooped the 2014 Grammy for Song of the Year. Success means embracing a more international lifestyle, but even with projects on the go in London and LA, he still considers Auckland home.

Joel has maintained a connection with MAINZ, saying: ‘I loved being able to make music all day, it was the only thing I wanted to do so having all the facilities at MAINZ was great. I appreciate the leg up that MAINZ gave me in terms of having that basic understanding of the business and the industry.

It’s a cool place and I’d like to encourage people to get involved with music.’
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