Song about music on Mars wins APRA NZ’s Silver Scroll
Photo Credit:Terry Longley
The winner of New Zealand’s most prestigious songwriting award, the APRA Silver Scroll, was Wellington roots singer-songwriter Thomas Oliver for If I Move to Mars.
“On the surface, it’s a light-hearted song about taking someone to Mars and lying in the dirt, drinking Cognac and listening to records,” the 30-year-old told guests at Vector Arena as he received his trophy. “But at its core, it’s a love song and I meant every word.”
Oliver, a first-time finalist, is also internationally renowned as a leading player of the Weissenborn lap-steel guitar. The song is from his Floating In The Darkness album, due in early 2017.
Oliver was up against Tami Neilson for The First Man inspired by the death of their father, indie pop band The Phoenix Foundation for Give Up Your Dreams, Auckland singer-songwriter Lydia Cole for Dream about falling in love when you least expect it, and Auckland band Street Chant for Pedestrian Support League about returning to their dismal flat about being on the road.
The Silver Scroll acknowledged excellence in songwriting for the 51st year and were voted for by 10,000 APRA NZ members. Past winners have included The Swingers, Bic Runga, Scribe & P Money, Dave Dobbyn, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Tami Neilsen and Lorde & Joel Little.
Oliver got a loud cheer when he mentioned how pleased he was with how the night recognised so many Maori musicians. “New Zealand is a country that embraces and celebrates its indigenous culture,” he said.
One of the most emotional highlights was the induction into the NZ Hall of Fame of globally recognised singer songwriter Moana Maniapoto, which received two standing ovations. Her music combines hip hop, electronica and reggae with traditional Maori music.
She emerged in the late 1980s with Moana and The Moahunters who issued a single, and now Moana and The Tribe who just finished recording their sixth album.
Maniapoto said she was honoured that her music helped bring Maori culture to younger generations. She also called for a quota for Maori music on radio and television (not only because it was beautiful music but because was an obligation under the Treaty of Waitangi, she said), and received two standing ovations.
The APRA Maioha Award went to Rob Ruha for Kariri, about the April 1864 Battle of Gate Pa (Pukehinahina) at which British forces were humiliated.
Karl Stevens, former singer of 1990s band Supergroove, won Best Original Music In A Series for NZ-Australian drama 800 Words.
The equivalent category for films went to Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper and Tama Waipara for their work on acclaimed director Lee Tamahori’s Mahana, about two Maori sheep-shearing families on the East Coast in the 1960s and. based on Witi Ihimaera’s novel Bulibasha.
The contemporary classical recipient of the SOUNZ Contemporary Award: was 23-year old multi-award winning Salina Fisher for Rainphase. The music captures the coming of rain, and performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s youth orchestra for which she plays violin.