New Project Launched To Help Taranaki Musicians

A new project launched to help Taranaki musicians gain practical tools and resources towards their music career.

Taranaki based musician and promoter Andre Manella from Manella Productions has teamed up with Matt Sephton, a freelance sound engineer and electronic music producer based in Coromandel, to host an exciting new project – ‘Ngā Waiata Poipoia’ - aimed at empowering musicians with tools to help sustain a fulfilling career in music in Aotearoa.

Initially running as a pilot programme to help refine the idea and determine the project’s scope, Ngā Waiata Poipoia’s main focus is a unique weekend retreat - held on August 19th to the 21st - with a selected group of musicians from across the Taranaki region. The programme is designed to reduce barriers that people face when working towards a career in music, particularly those who are living rurally, and to give people practical tools that can otherwise take years to develop, and is followed up with ongoing support and goal setting with Manella and Sephton.

5 musicians will stay on location in Opunake, where they will spend time together learning through practical workshops and specialty sessions, covering topics such as preparing songs for performance, home recording techniques, booking tours and applying for gigs, music production and writing an effective artist bio. Participants come out of the weekend with a live music video filmed and produced on site; a press kit with professional photo and artist bio, learned skills, and perhaps most importantly inspiration to embrace a career in music knowing there is support and a community of people around them. Over the weekend special guests join the weekend sessions to bring additional expertise; including musician Barnaby Weir from ‘The Black Seeds’ and ‘Fly My Pretties’; Rebecca Johnson from TAFT and Womad; producer and musician Graeme Woller from band ‘Into The East’ and Photographer Joaco Dibbern.

Funded through Manatū Taonga / The Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s ‘Te Urungi: Innovating Aotearoa’ programme, Manella and Sephton hope this pilot will help to refine the programmes potential scope and guide the develop of a business plan with an aim to eventually roll it out on a national scale: hosting workshops and supporting musicians across Aotearoa with practical tools such as live music videos and artists bios which musicians can use to apply for festival gigs, learning how to set up and operate simple home recording equipment to record high quality demos in their own space, advice around copyright and royalties, and tips on how to navigate their own way in the music scene.

Applications are now open until the end of June at www.ngawaiatapoipoia.co.nz.

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