Steve Newall: entertainment correspondent on the big winners from the 2026 Taite Music Awards

The 2026 Taite Music Awards took place last week, where Kiwi artists and industry experts celebrated New Zealand's independent music scene.

Geneva AM, The Mint Chicks and Marlon Williams were among the big winners on the night.

Entertainment correspondent Steve Newall explained further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Steve Neil joins us, good morning, Good morning. Last week
you said to me, you said, on Lock Marlin story
at the top of the list, but you know he's
had quite a few accolades already. Be interesting to see
which way the judges go.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
But absolutely, and you know, it might have been the
most low odds outcome, but still nonetheless deserved an award
that's given for undeniable originality, undeniable skill and undeniable creativity,
the qualities championed by Dylan Tate himself, and I think
that lines up with those really nicely. So the big
winners included Marlon Williams Geneva Am for their record pickI Picky,

(00:47):
which won Auckland Live Best Independent Debut, and The Mint
Chick's astonishing still incredible record Crazy Yes Dumbno received the
Independent Music New Zealand Classic Record Award. So aside from
the big winners, other takeaways from the night were included
the messages from the stage. Some are about affirming the
value of the arts, like mccrah thompson, who noted that

(01:11):
music and all its joys exist within a wider system
that seems to be struggling. And while it's reductive to
speak of the value of music and dollars and cents,
Thompson noted that nine hundred and thirty two million dollars
contributed to the GDP of al Tedara in one year,
noting that music is not a nice to have, it's
an engine that creates jobs as well as joy so
it's a good side I think to looking at the

(01:32):
sort of creative elements at play here. Others took the
opportunity to directly address Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith,
who was in attendance. Some of those were fairy direct
comments and others were quite straightforward, like Independent Spirit Award
Carmel Bennett, who had two very clear asks sort out

(01:52):
the copyright acts and get local acts on every international show.
I personally couldn't agree more. There was a standing ovation
for the latter in the room.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Camill Bennett is one of these people who's been behind
the music scene for decad you know, she has worked
in so many different areas and done so many different things.
I can remember being around for a long long time.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Totally.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
She knows what she's talking about.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Her work is defined by care and empathy, and it's
seen no more clearly than her current role at music
charity Music Helps but very direct nobs.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Now I knows what she's talking about.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
And then the other takeaway from the night for me
was the venue. It was hosted held at the New
Zealand International Convention Center. This is exactly what the name describes.
It's a very nice convention center. Is it a place
for music and entertainment? For me, the jury is still out.
I know that Beck Gringer played there recently. Would have
loved to have seen that show. There are a whole

(02:50):
bunch of upcoming shows on the night. It did feel
like a nice new convention center rather than kind of
a glitz and glamour nightlife spot. So I think the
jury remains out. That's interesting, but undoubtedly there'll be a
big stuff coming and I'm really really keen to see
some shows there. Just the vibe didn't quite feel maybe

(03:13):
maybe it could be.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
It's fair enough.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Now we both stumbled to cross a new TV show
on Apple TV. It's called Widow's Bay.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
This is this is awesome. It's so nice to find
a new contender for what might be one of the
better shows on Apple TV, which is already a pretty
high pedigree. I'm stealing someone else's description here, but you
can't go past Parks and rec meets Stephen King sat
on a small island. Matthew Reese, the fantastic lead of

(03:42):
the awesome show The Americans, is the town mayor. There's
kind of a whiff of the mayor from Jaws about him.
He's trying to ignore all the bad things about his
town because he just wants tourists to come. It's a
very familiar setup, but there's a really interesting tone in
the show. It's comedy horror, it's kind of satire, but
it's also got a really kind of strong anchor to it.

(04:03):
Even though there's sea hags and zombies and killer a
fog and killer clowns and stuff. So the kind of
premises there's a small town, it's got a whole bunch
of mythologies to it. They are a bit more truer
than anyone really wants to acknowledge. And yeah, Matthew Reese's
mayor is trying to kind of just drag this place,
kicking and screaming into the twenty first century tourism, but

(04:24):
it's really spooky. The scares are good, the laughs are
really good. But crucially Reese and his co stars kind
of anchor it with actual performances. It's there's something special
going on here. I can't quite find. I can't quite
put my finger on the shot. It reminds you of
the most something kind of nineties about it. You mentioned
Midny's mass before, but that's way too serious, too serious.

(04:44):
It kind of blends these things in a way that
is a really hard mixed to pull off.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
You're just stepping back in time into sort of this
timeless place. It has its own sort of myths and legends,
and they're just sort of existing in their own world. Yeah,
knowing it's a contemporary.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Proud of their witch trials, unlike most cities in America.
And I think just a couple of credits that are
worth noting here is it's created by Katie Dipple, who's
a writer on Parks and Rex, so it kind of
explains that connection. And the first five apps have been
directed by Hero Moodai, who's probably best known for his
work on Atlanta, which is Donald Glover's comedy which kind

(05:18):
of had the same thing right like that was sort
of all over the place tonally and somehow managed to
pull these elements.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Together ever so gently. Takes some make out of people
who have never left the island, but it does it
with the fondness that you kind of love their quirks
about there night.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
Yeah, and no one escapes that kind of scathing I
but certainly not least of all the mayor who's very
much not a local. No, there we go.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
I love it. So if you want to check out
a new TV show, try Apple TV's Widow's Bay. Thank
you so much, Steve. We'll talk to you next week.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio