Thursday 2 May 2013

Dirty Love


“You got me good
I saw the blood in your eyes
Bang, bang, baby, leave me dead or alive
Now that wind is howling for the same old lies
I know what you're asking for
I'll give you what you want and more
Your dirty love”

Dirty Love – Gin Wigmore

As is common on a Thursday night, my flatmate and I sat down to watch Bones a couple of weeks ago. Near the end of the show was the “chase scene” where Booth and Brennan ran after their suspected killer and tackled him to the ground. This was accompanied by the music in the video below and about half way through this scene my friend said to me “is that Gin?” I said “I thought so too, but I think it’s actually Duffy”. We asked Google and I was to be proved wrong – Kiwi girl Gin was indeed had a song on Bones. I was so excited a New Zealand artist was featured on a huge television show and felt proud of our homegrown music.

However, not long after watching Bones and hearing Gin I started to wonder why it was I was surprised to see a New Zealand song on an overseas television show. The New Zealand music industry is not an unknown factor to overseas markets: Crowded House* were covered on Glee, Flight of the Conchords had their own show, Bret McKenzie won an Oscar for his song work on The Muppets Movie and Kimbra recently co-won a Grammy.  I realised I had no reason to be surprised of Gin’s or any other New Zealand artists success. I really do believe the New Zealand music industry is much stronger than we give it credit for and it is celebrated globally.

The success of New Zealand music has to begin at the roots to build awareness of artists and a fan base of followers, and then it can go from strength to strength. This is why May is such an important time for Kiwi musicians. New Zealand Music Month aims to fund and increase the knowledge of all types of New Zealand music through gigs and album releases. It’s about New Zealanders and it’s for New Zealanders – whether it is the acts that already have international fame or that small indie band that opened for a major international artist or that guy who is making electronic tracks on his computer late at night, May is the time to celebrate New Zealand music for a 31 whole days.

So, happy New Zealand Music Month my wonderful blog readers; I’ll be jumping aboard with three more Kiwi blogs to come this month on varying topics which tie in with May. And while I’m thinking up my weekly post do let me know what you love about New Zealand Music Month and Kiwi Music in general.



*Crowded House is, and will always be, a New Zealand band. Don’t argue.

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