Atmospheric indie pop group The Map Room combine their love for well-constructed pop songs and embellished instrumentation with themes of displacement and motion inspired in part by their travels through South America.

Brendon Morrow and Simon Gooding met while studying Audio Engineering in Australia, and upon returning to their hometown of Auckland the pair began to write music together. During a year-long trip from Argentina to Colombia, the duo developed their sound by writing and playing shows along the way.

Armed with a portable recorder and two old acoustic guitars purchased from an antique store in Buenos Aires, the pair set off on their odyssey and began writing and recording the first fragments of new songs. As the transient nature of their year unfolded, lyrical themes of movement, displacement and strange encounters began to rise to the surface. 

The demos turned into fully-formed songs the duo would perform along the way, including slightly awkward Spanish-language live to air radio performances, and various gigs throughout Peru and into Colombia. No Spanish has made it into their songs thus far, but the band have crafted a sound which reaches from solo acoustic guitar (both acoustic guitars somehow making it home in one piece) to full band dynamics, rich with synthesizers, piano and electric guitar.

"Simon Gooding and Brendon Morrow's music is full of layers… sharing vocal duties, with Simon's voice a high floaty contrast to Brendon's lower grittier voice…the duo's music is sculptural and delicate. 'Pilot' is my favourite; a dreamy pop song sprinkled with synths so light and airy they sound like they're floating high above you, with vocals equally sky-high." (Einstein Music Journal)

A quirky Wellington-based production company dedicated to presenting fresh and edgy theatre - www.freshdada.com

Sheep, Dog & Wolf - https://linktr.ee/sheepdogwolf

To get a handle on the layered, undulating momentum of Sheep, Dog & Wolf’s sound, one needs to understand the world of Auckland pop polymath Daniel McBride - a classically trained saxophonist cum software engineer cum human canvas that records every facet of his music himself. Bringing his technical nous to life is an acute pop sensibility, uncanny rhythmic flows and viscerally honest lyrics.

Given his young age and the fact that he worked quickly and totally alone, his debut full length album ‘Egospect’ of 2013 was extraordinary; intricate but fluid, sturdy but supple, grounded but euphoric, winning the Critics’ Choice Prize at the New Zealand Music Awards and making the shortlist at 2014’s Taite Prize. 

Eight years later McBride finally returns with the dizzying rhythms and voices of his new album ‘Two-Minds’, showcasing his unique ability to document a young life in disarray, against a complex backdrop bridging mutant R&B, post-classical minimalism and electronica. More dextrous and ambitious than its predecessor, full of colour and energy, this new musical direction sounds totally joyous and free.

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