There are only two things to remember.
Number one…Don’t Stop, and number two…Keep Going!”
– Frank Zappa
We are ridiculously chuffed to announce our tutors for 2025. Some have performed in front of hundreds of thousands. Some have won Aotearoa Music Awards. One has selected songs for Quentin Tarantino movies. One has put on shows for Harry Styles, Pink and Coldplay. All of them have worked incredibly hard to be a part of the music industry and all (lucky for you) are infinitely generous in sharing their stories and their tips for a successful career.
BARNABY WEIR (BW)
Singer, songwriter, guitarist, DJ and producer, Barnaby is founding member of The Black Seeds, musical director of Fly My Pretties and our 2025 Kiwi Legend. With over 27 years in music, he has performed in over 20 countries and contributed to 25+albums. The Black Seeds’ latest album Love & Fire (2022) and the recent ‘Dub &Fire’ shows a collaboration with dub producer Scientist and Dr Lee. We salute our Kiwi Legend for 2025. Weir also mentors upcoming musicians and also recently released experimental duo L.P, TRiPS in 2024.
GIN WIGMORE (GW)
L.A. based, Gin is currently working on her fifth studio album. Having won NZ Music awards for Highest Selling Album (Holy Smoke) Single of the Year (“Black Sheep”) Best Female Solo Artist and Best Pop Album (Gravel & Wine), Gin is superbly placed to guide singer songwriters as they compose, record and release singles.
FABIAN SHAW (FS)
Currently recording and touring with Aussie blues and soul band The Teskey Brothers, Fabian is a multi-instumentalist and audio guru who studied at Mt Aspiring College before heading off to Jazz School in Wellington. Now in Melbourne, Fabian is an engineer/producer/instrumentalist (Jade Imagine, Michael Rault, Pearl Charles, Earth Tongue) and loves nothing more than an explorational jam.
JAZ KAPOW (JK)
Since founding one of the country’s biggest booking agencies & event/site management companies (Twice The Hype) in 2012 with business partner Fenella Stratton, Jaz now wears many hats including manager, booking agent, tour manager, site manager and event producer. As well as the roster of 25+ artists (including Hollie Smith, Lee Mvtthews, Sola Rosa), Jaz is fully involved in event production and site delivery ensuring local (eg Six60, L.A.B.) and international (Coldplay, Pink, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Red Hot Chilli Peppers) events across New Zealand run smoothly.
TOM SCOTT (TS)
Tom Scott is one of the most compelling figures to emerge from the New Zealand hip-hop scene over the last fifteen years. In that time, he’s honed his skills as a rapper, songwriter and bandleader through membership in several cult groups – Home Brew, @Peace and Average Rap Band. More recently his jazz/hip-hop project, Avantdale Bowling Club and record label ‘Years Gone By’ ensure that he continues to influence and push boundaries across genres.
KELLY HOCKING (KH)
Kelly is a vocal coach and vocal technician with decades of professional performing experience. She has coached many singer-songwriters and is passionate about helping them maintain their unique sound while helping to make their vocal production easier.
ALEX CORBETT (AC)
In 2017, Alex moved to Berlin to study Audio Engineering and Music Production, quickly landing an internship at The Greenhouse Studio in Reykjavík, Iceland. After working with Valgeir Sigurdsson (Björk, Sigur Ros, Brian Eno), Alex joined Roundhead Studios as an engineer, mixing engineer, and assistant working with Crowded House, Lorde, Tami Neilson, Shihad, Troy Kingi. The first non-male winner of “Best Engineer” at the 2024 Aotearoa Music Awards, (My Boy, Marlon Williams), Alex has also been involved facilitating recording workshops (Record Enable) which aim to encourage women and non-binary engineers/producers, into technical studio roles across Aotearoa.
LAUGHTON KORA (LK)
Performer, Beatmaker, Musician, Producer, Actor, Lecturer, Teacher & Gamer Laughton Kora has been playing music since the age of 6. First winning Smoke Free Rock Quest with band Aunty Beatrice, Laughton went on to perform with his band Kora all over the world for 8 years and completing a Bachelor of Arts in film and theatre at Toi Whakaari in Wellington. Now lead songwriter, guitarist and vocalist with his band Black Comet, Laughton also has a consistent career in performance and production.
THE NOMAD (DS)
After a quarter century of pushing boundaries and frequencies Daimon Schwalger, aka The Nomad, firmly fits the bill as a pioneer of the electronica music scene in Aotearoa. Since his first album release ‘Movement’ in 1998, he has gone on to release 9 full length albums, remix albums, compilations and various singles while working with some of music’s leading talents. The past two years saw the release of his trilogy of vinyl releases, mapping the progression of Aotearoa’s electronic music scene, with many then-emerging artists now firmly established stars.
BOBBY BRAZUKA (BB)
With a DJ career that spans almost 20 years, Bobby Brazuka has carved out a niche playing Latin and Latin-inspired music in Aotearoa. Growing up listening to Brazilian greats Jorge Ben, Tim Maia and Marcos Valle, Bobby infused his rich musical heritage into Auckland’s DJ culture, building a community around his Latin parties and earning himself a reputation as our unofficial Brazilian Music Ambassador. With over 3000 records from samba and bossa, to cumbia, soul and funk, Bobby’s extensive collection of rare 45’s and original pressings define his curated vinyl show.
RYAN PREBBLE (RP)
Ryan is a guitar player, singer, and engineer/producer. He plays guitar and sings in psychedelic blues band The Nudge, reggae funk legends The Black Seeds, and the collaborative collective Fly My Pretties, as well as other groups including Spartacus R. He has a deep love of sound and tone, and loves to explore those worlds through experimentation.
LEE PREBBLE (LP)
Lee Prebble has established himself as one of New Zealand’s finest engineers and producers, and has worked with bands such as The Black Seeds, The Phoenix Foundation, L.A.B, Trinity Roots, Dave Dobbyn, Mel Parsons, Fly My Pretties and Bret McKenzie. After studying at The NZ Broadcasting School he spent 4 years as an audio engineer at Marmalade Audio in Wellington before setting up his own studio known as ‘The Surgery’, which has been in operation for well over 20 years.
MILOUX (RM)
Miloux aka Rebecca Melrose has been singing and writing since the early days, starting with jazz and pop before landing in R&B and electronica. As half of Haz & Miloux the duo have gone from strength to strength and are currently working on a new release.
HAZ HUAVI (HH)
Producer and beatmaker for Home Brew, Haz + Miloux and Team Dynamite, Haz was just 19 when he started making beats on a “big dinosaur” of a home computer in the family lounge. Winner of Best Producer (Run it Back), Best Soul/R&B Artist (Haz + Miloux) Given all the music he’s downloaded for free in the past, he’s happy to share his own creations with anyone who wants to use them.
LILY SHAW (LS)
After training at Jazz School in Wellington, former Wanaka local Lily Shaw is a singer and composer and plays saxophone for The Teskey Brothers. She is also a member of the band Revulva along with her own four-piece band when she finds the time!
LORRAINE BARRY (LB)
Lorraine Barry has managed Sir Dave Dobbyn for 20 years, as well as Avantdale Bowling Club, Home Brew, and others. She is a keen mentor of emerging artists, particularly around release planning and the realities of working in music. Formerly with Virgin Records (London), Barry worked globally as marketing manager Ice T, Massive Attack, The Verve, Chemical Brothers, The Spice Girls and more. Promoted to Director, she won the Special Achievement Award at the UK music industry’s Women of the Year Awards.
ANNA SHAW (AS)
Arts educator Anna has a wealth of experience both in Australia and Aotearoa as choir and theatre director. After completing her Masters at Toi Whakaari, Anna divides her time between music and arts teaching at the local high school and commissioned theatre projects. Along with her talented offspring (Fabian and Lily) and husband (Rick) Anna’s work within the musical community is legendary.
TERESA PATTERSON (TP)
Teresa is the Head of Music at NZ On Air. Her experience in the Music Industry encompasses working at Major Record Labels, Artist Management, Music Festival Management, local and international touring, marketing/ publicity and mentorship. She has sat on the board of MusicHelps and the NZ Music Commission and is currently a board member of SoundCheck Aotearoa and the Little Family Foundation.
MIKE HALL (MH)
Known throughout New Zealand as an incredibly versatile bass-player and musical collaborator, Mike abandoned the corporate lawyer world for life in a punk hardcore band before playing and recording with The Brunettes, Dimmer, Pluto, Reb Fountain, The Bads, Anna Coddington, Anika Moa, Mulholland, Tim Finn, Nightchoir, SJD and Tami Neilson. Mike is Director of Member Services NZ at APRA AMCOS.
KARYN RACHTMAN (KR)
Described as one of the “most influential music supervisors of all time,” Karyn has music supervised and/or served as the executive soundtrack producer on albums that have sold over 75 million copies worldwide. Formerly working in L.A (Quentin Tarantino, Baz Luhrman, Ben Stiller), she is now based in Auckland and constantly on the hunt for the next fabulous piece of music for film and tv.
ANISHTA PERMALLOO (AP)
As Associate at Entertainment Accounting Services Ltd for 7 years, Anishta specialises in the entertainment industry. Gaining great accounting experience and knowledge of the entertainment industry over the years. she is passionate about her work, always putting clients first with all their accounting needs and continuous support.
PENNIE BLACK (PB)
Pennie Black is the NZ Director of Concord ANZ Music Publishing (formerly Native Tongue Music Publishing). She works with a diverse roster of local songwriters, including Sir Dave Dobbyn, Don McGlashan, Marlon Williams, Gin Wigmore, Tom Scott, Haz Beats, Liz Stokes, Reb Fountain, Vera Ellen, and Jess B, as well as international writers and catalogues in the Australasian region. Her career spans management, publicity, and event coordination. She is also the Secretary for IMNZ and board advisor for 95bFM.
LAURA LUSH (LL)
Dr. Laura Marsh a.k.a. DJ Laura Lush a.k.a. LLUSH is DJ of 20 years, and builder and owner of feminist sound system: ninthWavesound. Hip Hop, Soul & RnB DJ LLUSH now frequents festivals such as R&A, Splore, & Shipwrecked showcasing dancehall, afrobeat, garage, bootybass and jungle. Following her doctorate in 2022, Laura created the first system of its kind in Aotearoa (hand-built by a woman) promoting gender balanced line-ups.
AMY OUGHTON (AO)
Amy is a Speech Language Pathologist and Clinical Voice Specialist and has a background of singing & performing. She completed postgraduate specialist training in Vocology and Laryngology focusing on Performance Voice Medicine.
