New Zealand Music Awards Winners

The who’s who of the New Zealand music industry headed off to the New Zealand Music Awards ceremony on October 8 to see who would be recognized for their contribution to the local music industry. In the end two bands received more awards than most, a clear indicator of their popularity, style and contribution to the industry.

The local group known as Opshop were completely flabbergasted at being selected to win four Tuis at the New Zealand Music awards that night. Speaking on behalf of their fellow musicians, Matt Treacy (guitarist) and Clint Harris (bassist) said “the heart jumps into the throat – that sort of thing, and I think we all thought, ‘What the hell?,’” Despite the fact that they were surprised, many of their die-hard fans likely felt they deserved it. The band received the Radio Airplay Record of the year, the Single of the Year for “One Day”, the Highest Selling Album and Highest Selling Single. They were also the first band to soar to number one on iTunes in the history of the country.

The other big winners of the night were Flight of the Conchords. Unfortunately the group was overseas on the big night, but they managed to scoop up Album of the Year, Best Group, Breaththrough Artists and the International Achievement Award. While not present in person, they managed to accept their awards via satellite connection. Other winners include: Parachute Band (People’s Choice Award), Anika Moa (Best Female Solo Artist), Liam Finn (Best Male Solo Artist), Ian Hart (Best Music Video), Shihad (Best Rock Album), Scribe (Best Urban/Hip Hop Album), Tiki Taane (Best Aotearoa Roots Album), Recloose (Best Dance/Electronica Album), Ruia (Best Maori Album), All Left Out (Best Gospel/Christian Album), Michael Houstoun (Best Classical Album) and Straitjacket Fits (Legacy Award). Technical awards for Best Album Cover (Barney Bewick), Best Engineer (Lee Prebble) and Best Producer (Lee Prebble) were also given out. This was the 43rd annual New Zealand Music Awards and they were proudly presented by Vodafone. The show was opened by Tiki Taane and a number of the evening’s winners performed during the course of the event.