Outward Sound Recipients Round 3 2012

September 14th 2012
Outward Sound is pleased to announce the 3rd round of grant recipients for 2012.

Outward Sound is pleased to announce the 3rd round of grant recipients for 2012.

Four Stage One, four Stage Two and one Business Development grants were awarded.


Opossom - Stage 2.

After eight years fronting New Zealand's acclaimed "trouble gum art punks" The Mint Chicks, Kody Nielson unveils a new project Opossom with the captivating album Electric Hawaii. Following a June release in Australia and New Zealand on Create/Control, the album will be released in the rest of the world via Fire Records (early Pulp, Guided By Voices, Spacemen 3 et al) in August.

Home-written, recorded and mixed by Kody himself, it is not the singer-songwriter solo album of a former punk rock band singer. Its a further exploration of Kodys musical journey into a lively, engaging world of carefully layered sonic layers of light and dark, incorporating some of his personal Polynesian background with his blend of beatnik psychedelica.

In October 2012 the band will be undertaking a promotional tour of North America, UK and Europe to support the release of Electric Hawaii. This includes showcasing at CMJ 2012.

Legacy Of Disorder - Stage 2.

Hardest working metal band from New Zealand have spent most of 2012 touring up and down the USA supporting high profile bands Gwar and Fear Factory. This hard work has paid off with an album deal with Megaforce Records (The original home of Metallica and the Black Crowes), a new manager in the form of industry legend Tom Maher (Motorhead/Anthrax) and hitting the top spot for the # 1 "Most Added Record" on CMJ's Metal Radio Chart.

This September the band are returning to the USA to support the release of their album Last Man Standing and to undertake an extensive promotional tour of the USA and Canada with Gwar and DevilDriver.

Lawrence Arabia - Stage 2.

The Sparrow is Lawrence Arabia's third solo album, the evocative follow up to the Taite Music Prize/Silver Scroll winning Chant Darling. Venturing away from the harmony-laden, classic pop production of Chant Darling, The Sparrow is a more measured and minimalist work, drawing particularly on the influence from the symphonic late-sixties work of Scott Walker and Serge Gainsbourg.
A fact which has not gone unnoticed in the press...

"A finely honed paean to the art of the songwriter" - NME (UK), 2012

"Thinking person's pop music - finely honed, tightly arranged" - Rolling Stone (AUS), 2012

To support the global release of the album through label Bella Union James Milne (AKA Lawrence Arabia) will be basing himself and his band in New York City to promote the album and tour the US/UK and Europe throughout the rest of the year. Lawrence Arabia will also be showcasing at this year's CMJ Music Marathon.

David Dallas - Stage 2.

David Dallas' revolutionary The Rose Tint was downloaded for free over sixty thousand times in 2011. Despite not releasing a retail version until it had already been freely available for 6 months, it would still go on to become the highest selling Hip Hop album in New Zealand that same year.

He was nominated for Album of the Year, Best Male Artist and Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the New Zealand Music Awards and took away the award for Best Pacific Male Artist at the Pacific Music Awards.

‘The Rose Tint' was also a finalist for the critically lauded Taite Prize, making David Dallas the only two-time finalist in the awards history.

Building on the success of the Rose Tint David Dallas will be launching phase two of his US strategy with a massive 58 date tour with high profile independent hip hop act AER.

The tour will further introduce David to the US hip hop market as well as laying the ground work for the release of his follow up album Falling into Place through Duck Down Records. In addition David will be showcasing at CMJ 2012 along side his fellow Duck Down recording artists.

Ghost Wave - Stage 1.

Having recently signed to US independent music company +1 Music Ghost Wave released their debut EP through the company this past August and are about to debut their live set on select US dates with an emphasis on showcasing at the CMJ Music Marathon this October.

+1 are a company with a reputation for taking on artists who are relatively unknown at the time, and introducing them to the music industry and music fans. Artists +1 have worked with include TV on the Radio, Basement Jaxx, The Kooks and Editors.

Home Brew Crew - Stage 1. (pictured)

Home Brew's highly anticipated self-titled album made its debut at #1 in the NZ Top 40 album chart; the first local #1 hip-hop debut album since Scribe's The Crusader in November 2003. Nearly five months after release, the album still sits at #20 in The Top 40 Album Chart and at #2 on the NZ Album Chart.

With little commercial radio and TV support due to the explicit nature of the majority of their songs, Home Brew's recent successes were sparked by strong album pre-orders, an infamous 48-Hour release party and Ponsonby Road Pop-up store, and the unrestrained communication Home Brew have maintained with their fans since forming in 2009 - proving commercial success can be achieved by doing things a little differently. Of course, it also helps that the album is being critically lauded as one of the best to come out of NZ...

"Three years in the making...it strikes me as the most sophisticated and insightful hip-hop album made in this country to date."
- Grant Smithies, Sunday Star Times

Upon release, hints that the Home Brew buzz had crossed the Tasman were confirmed by hundreds of album pre-orders and much interest from the Australian industry - all without promotion in that market. Home Brew signed a deal with Universal Music and while New Zealand recovers from the carnage of the release tour, are taking the party to Australia.

K.One - Stage 1.

Warner Music Group Australia has signed a P&D deal with Illegal Musik New Zealand in 2012. This partnership will allow Illegal Musik to take New Zealand artists into the Australian market. The first artist to utilize this new relationship with be K.One.

In the last 18 months K.ONE has risen from relative obscurity to being one of the country's most prolific artists. Some of his achievements in the New Zealand market include his single Night Of Your Life feat J Williams peaking at #4 on the NZTOP40 singles chart. The single was certified gold after spending 14 weeks in the chart. K.One's album Far From Home reached #21 in the NZTOP 40 album chart and #4 in the TOP20 NZ Album chart.

K.One will be touring to support the release of his debut Australian single All Over Again.

Mt Eden - Stage 1.

As dubstep production duo Mt Eden Jesse Cooper and Harley Rayner are truly putting New Zealand dubstep on the map.

What started as a hobby in their early teens has morphed into international success for the pair. In late 2010 Mt Eden signed to US booking agents AM Only and through that connection they have played 3 US tours and performed over eighty shows in the territory and including festivals such as Coachella, Ultra, and Electric Daisy Carnival. In addition the New Zealand based act can claim over 90 million collective plays of their tracks on YouTube.

The duo have now turned their sights on to the UK and Europe. They have signed to Primary Talent Agency and are setting up the worldwide release of their debut album.

Business Support Grants

The business support grant provides specific assistance to attend tradeshows (MIDEM, SXSW, CMJ, Big Sound etc) and to improve and broaden international commercial links. The grant provides basic costs for airfares, accommodation, and per diems.

CRS Music Management

Paul McKessar of CRS Music Management representing The Naked & Famous, Brooke Fraser, Collapsing Cities, Lydia Cole, Opossom, Breaks Co-Op amongst others.

 

Applications for the next round of Outward Sound grants close on October 23rd 2012 at 5pm.

 

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