Laughton Kora

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About the Mentor

Laughton Kora, with his incredible voice and immense talent has been at the forefront of New Zealand music for over the past decade.

Laughton has been playing music since the age of 6 appearing on stage as part of his father's band until 17 years old when he won Smoke Free Rock Quest. His band Aunty Beatrice toured New Zealand and released a single.

He moved to Queenstown and formed Soul Charge with members KP (Sunshine Sound System) and PDiggs (Shapeshifter). In 2001 he headed to Wellington and formed KORA (2003-2012) with his brothers. Laughton has performed at The Big Day Out 3 times and have been featured alongside Tool & Dizzee Rascal. Vodafone Music Awards. WOMAD UK, WOMAD Aust. & WOMAD NZ. Crazy P, Cabaret Voltaire, Fat Freddy's Drop, Shapeshifter & Shihad. He toured Australia consistently and played Pyramid Festival, Sydney Festival, Stone Festival, FreshFest, Playgorund & Quicksilver ProShow 2009. He has performed at Koko's in London, UK, Ireland & Scotland with Crazy P & Norman Jay. Other overseas tours include Japan for 2 Tokyo shows, performances in Minakami and Habuka in early February 2010 and Mosaic Festival in Singapore. The USA - full West Coast Tour including Sierra Nevada Music Festival.

During the reign of KORA, Laughton also played in band The Heavy Metal Ninja's with guitarist Richie Allen. HMN opened for both Shihad, Coheed and Cambria.

In 2013 Laughton forged ahead with his own solo project and has also formed duo Neon Ninja with Andy Keys (ex Op Shop). The summer of 2013/14 saw Laughton perform at BW Campgrounds, Rhythm & Vines NYE & Music at Matua Festival.

In 2014 Laughton was the lead in the TVNZ mini series "Coverband" followed closely by his critically acclaimed performance in the Auckland Theatre Company's "Jesus Christ Superstar" as Judas.

2015 has seen him producing songs and mentoring starting with Redbull studios Auckland & Team Dynamite for their song "Feet in the Firma" with over 4000 free downloads in its first 3 weeks live on soundcloud... Watch this space as Team Dynamite & Laughton have something special up their sleeves.

Expect to be taken on a journey of electronic funk with that will tantalise the ears, give you the overwhelming urge to party harder & leave you wanting more.

 

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