MAINZ students winners at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards

Graduates from the Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand (MAINZ) featured prominently at last Thursday’s Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, taking away a number of highly sought-after Tuis.

“MAINZ graduates are increasingly making their mark in the industry and their success last week is further evidence of this,” says MAINZ director Harry Lyon.

Amongst the MAINZ alumni who took away Tuis were three members of Midnight Youth, who won the Steinlager Pure Best Group Award and the PPNZ Best Rock Album. Midnight Youth were also nominated as finalists for the Vodafone Album of the Year, Vodafone Single of the Year and Pacific Blue Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

Gin Wigmore, who guested with Smashproof on Brother - the highest-selling New Zealand single of the year - studied performance and song-writing at MAINZ. Smashproof featuring Gin Wigmore also took away the People’s Choice Award and the C4 Best Music Video and the band were finalists in the Vodafone Single of the Year, the Pacific Blue Breakthrough Album of the Year and the 42Below Best Urban/Hip Hop Album.

“Nothing pleases me more than to see ex-students playing a role in the music industry, either as artists or with support organisations. To see them achieving at the highest level and having that recognised at the Music Awards is incredibly satisfying and the MAINZ table was very proud of Gin and our Midnight Youth boys on the night," says Lyon, himself a well-known Kiwi musician and guitarist for Hello Sailor.

Also on the winners’ list was Joel Little, co-writer and label owner of Kids of 88, finalists in the Vodafone Single of the Year. “Joel is no stranger to awards, having received the Outstanding Overall Student prize at MAINZ for two consecutive years,” says Lyon.

Current MAINZ students watched their predecessors receive their awards from behind the scenes where they were helping out on various aspects of the show, including providing backstage hospitality for artists and presenters, assisting the live show stage management, sound and lighting and the outside broadcast for the television show.

“This involvement has been invaluable,” says Lyon. “It has created wonderful opportunities for our students to work on the production of a major live event that included the complexities of managing various stakeholders like sponsors, nominees, judges, finalists, artists, record companies and the media.”

Andy Dowding from J & A Productions, who project-managed the event with Justine McKay, says he was impressed with all the MAINZ students involved in the Awards.

“They were all fantastic to have around, had great attitudes and handled the pressure
extremely well. They were a real asset to the whole process."

Some of the students had significant roles to play, including Diploma in Music and Event Management student Nga Remu Tahuparae, who worked with J&A Productions for several months leading up to the event.

“Nga Remu was an excellent asset to my team,” says Justine McKay. “She was always enthusiastic and willing to do whatever I threw at her. I was particularly impressed with her ability to remain calm under pressure which is one of the best qualities needed for live events. She is a natural and will do well in this industry.”

Another MAINZ student to impress organisers was Kris Ivos (Diploma in Contemporary Music Performance), who composed, produced and recorded the theme music.

“We were really happy with the music Kris came up with,” says Arwen O’Connor, who produced the televised Awards show for C4. “He worked to the brief, took our feedback onboard and was very professional to deal with.”

Also garnering praise was Cliff Fua, a student in Contemporary Music Performance at MAINZ, who composed, produced and recorded the music for the finalist video packages for Pitch Black’s Michael Hodgeson.

“Cliff was awesome,” says Hodgeson, who produced the segments. “He listened to the brief, met all the deadlines and delivered fantastic music that suited the visuals that were created for the Music Awards.”

“For most people starting out, it would probably take years before their career got them into the sorts of roles we have been able to secure for them,” says Lyon. “These experiences all help build and maintain the great culture we have at MAINZ at an event that celebrates excellence.”

MAINZ was a sponsor of the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, with naming rights to the MAINZ Engineer of the Year and the MAINZ Producer of the Year awards.

Ends

For more information please contact:

Harry Lyon 09-308 7512
Director 027-497 0355
MAINZ harryl@tpp.ac.nz
www.mainz.ac.nz

About MAINZ

MAINZ is a division of Tai Poutini Polytechnic, attracting approximately 300 students per year to its music and audio programmes. As well as the Diploma in Creative Enterprise, MAINZ offers programmes in Audio Engineering, Contemporary Music Performance, Live Sound and Event Production, and Music Event Management.

The school also delivers short courses in song writing, Logic, DJ’ing and Pro Tools, the industry standard audio software used in the majority of recording and post-production facilities internationally. MAINZ prides itself on having New Zealand’s only Digidesign Certified Training Locations to deliver the internationally recognised Pro Tools qualifications.

MAINZ has two campuses - one in Auckland City, the other located in Christchurch. Their programmes are supported by Industry and approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.