Announcing the 2024 APRA Professional Development Award recipients

Diaz Grimm (Ngāwhā, Ngāpuhi) is a pioneer at the crossroads of music and technology. In his latest project he stepped out as the world’s first indigenous avatar rapper, creating from the perspective of a musician standing with one foot deeply entrenched in the rich world of Māoritanga, and the other in a futuristic metaverse. His face and body are made of pixels, but his heart and soul were raised on by the ethos of te ao Māori.

Leading the way for modern NZ hip hop to break from the safety of the norm, Diaz began experimenting with new flavours and sounds in 2012, in a climate that didn’t want change. Diaz helped to open the door for Aotearoa to join hip-hop in the new global climate of the internet. In 2015, Diaz released his debut album Osiris, a soundtrack to the end of the world. A post-apocalyptic sonic journey that resonated with audiences and critics alike, the success of Osiris saw Diaz nominated for Best Urban/Hip-Hop Album at the New Zealand Music Awards that year.

His newest project, Māui and The Sin, is a sci-fi, indigenous hip hop, audio/visual experience, that debuted across Aotearoa in May. Diaz looks toward a future where independent and indigenous artists have the autonomy to draw their own path.

Diaz will use the APRA Professional Development Award to undergo a self-designed intensive boot camp - up-skilling to hone their skills and set a standard for their artistic practice to continue long after. The camp involves specialists in areas of lyricism, rhyming, performance, freestyling, cultural knowledge, and voice control. Additionally, the camp will be documented so Diaz can watch back and learn from moments to aid in ongoing development and progress.

As Diaz puts it themselves: “The PDA funding is going to allow me the ability to develop myself in ways that I just couldn't achieve without the extra help of funding. It's a great opportunity for me to level up in a way that I've been wanting to move towards for a long time but have been held back due to the costs involved. Really looking forward to seeing how far this support will help me go!”

Garling Wu is a composer and sonic artist from Aotearoa whose love of music and technology guides her practice in many different fields.

She has built interactive sound installations, collaborated with choreographers and dancers, used innovative motion-tracking systems for live performance, and composed music for multi-channel speakers. Weaving together real and imagined sound worlds, she hopes to create music that evokes a gestalt reaction—something more than the sum of its individual parts.

Garling's arts practice has roots in the unique aesthetics of Aotearoa sonic artists: where narrative, spoken word, and the human voice are leading characters. The subjects of her work are diverse, but have recently included an interactive acousmatic installation titled '皇潮 King Tide' at the Pier-2 Art Centre in Taiwan, a work which recounts the story of her father who fled China in 1983 by swimming from China to Hong Kong and later stowing away on a ship. Another project set to be completed in 2024 is Earthworks, an album of contemporary music co-written with Jessie Leov, that brings together elements of electroacoustic music and contemporary composition to explore the natural world and the growing urgency of climate change.

Garling will be using the funds from APRA Professional Development Award to network, upskill and immerse in contemporary music by attending three festivals over the next year. Sound Image Festival in London brings in leading sonic artists from around the world with a programme of talks, screenings, concerts and workshops. Mixtur Festival of Sound Creation in Barcelona is aimed at fostering musical and education activities with a range of workshops, masterclasses and conferences exploring everything from multichannel music to interactivity and performance. Setouchi International Art Tienniale in Japan is an opportunity for Garling to immerse in site-specific artworks to understand large-scale installations and develop her own acousmatic installations for international audiences.

Garling says: "Receiving the APRA Professional Development Award is an incredible honour. With the support of this award, I’ll be able to travel to three international music and arts festivals in Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan. These experiences represent a once in a lifetime opportunity for me - they will allow me to learn and develop as an artist in ways that simply would not be possible without the support of APRA. Through my experiences growing up in Manurewa, South Auckland, I believe it is so important to support creative people who come from working class backgrounds, and to elevate voices that often don't have the resources or opportunity to contribute to the arts and culture of Aotearoa. I hope that more people from these communities will be encouraged to apply for this award in the future."

Gussie Larkin is a New Zealand songwriter and music industry multi-hyphenate. The 30-year-old formed the band Mermaidens in 2014, and since then they have achieved cult status for their unique psych-pop sound, hypnotic live shows, and striking compositions. Gussie also writes and performs in the band Earth Tongue, a heavy psych two-piece who since forming in 2017 have toured the UK and Europe multiple times, played alongside bands such as IDLES and Queens of the Stone Age, and released their second studio album Great Haunting via LA label In The Red Records.

Mermaidens early releases caught the attention of critics over the years, and eventually the attention of New Zealand’s iconic Flying Nun Records, who signed them in 2016 and released their second album Perfect Body. Mermaidens went on to release their third and most internationally recognised album Look Me in the Eye in 2019. Both albums were nominated for the prestigious Taite Music Prize. The band were also nominated for Best Alternative Artist at the 2020 Aotearoa Music Awards, and won Best Album Art for Look Me in the Eye.

Mermaidens have toured to the UK and Europe twice, as well as performing at BigSound and around Australia. Their fourth studio album, produced by Samuel Flynn-Scott (The Phoenix Foundation), debuted at #1 on the official NZ music chart, and garnered a number of award nominations including the Taite Music Prize and four Aotearoa Music Awards this year.

Along with her musical pursuits, Gussie is an industry professional, with a wealth of experience in promoting special events. Gussie has worked for Live Nation, Rhythm N Vines, Banished Music, Radioactive.FM, CubaDupa, and many more respected organisations. She has channeled her love for New Zealand music into pursuits such as Girls Rock! Aotearoa, programming stages at Newtown Festival and CubaDupa, and mentoring young people at educational events. Gussie has also directed a number of music videos, both for her own musical projects and for other bands, as well as lending her hand to art direction for many artists including Broods, Bret McKenzie and The Phoenix Foundation.

Gussie is currently living in Berlin, Germany where she is immersing herself in the live music scene by playing over 50 Earth Tongue shows and festivals throughout the 2024 summer.

Gussie will be utilising the APRA Professional Development Award to link with her long-term career goals, and focus on professional mentoring sessions, production upskilling and songwriting development sessions both locally and internationally. The Reeperbahn Festival and Conference in Hamburg is the largest club festival in Europe and an international platform for pop culture and the music industry. Gussie will attend panel talks and workshops and form international music connections. With the aim to continue learning and becoming a multi-disciplinary musician, and make the break into composing for film, TV and commercial projects, Gussie will take a comprehensive ‘Introduction to Pro Tools’ online course through UCLA and undergo co-writing and mentoring sessions with Samuel Flynn Scott (The Phoenix Foundation). Additionally, Gussie plans to utilise the award to attend songwriting sessions with an acclaimed musician in Los Angeles.

Gussie says: "It means a lot to me to be recognised by APRA through this award. I have and always will write songs, but it isn't easy to maintain a balance between real life responsibilities and the magical inner world that I get to access through writing songs. The PDA will allow me to dive right into that zone and to slow down my songwriting practice. I'll be working one-on-one alongside some musicians I really admire, developing my production skills, and generally getting out of my comfort zone. I feel very privileged to be receiving this award!"

James "Mac" McDonald, is a seasoned session musician and musical director. With over a decade of international experience, he has worked with a diverse roster of artists, including Luca George, Mitch James, Will Swinton, Ladyhawke, Robinson, CRYSTAL, and Tom Lark.

Mac has developed a comprehensive toolkit of performance technology and resources he is eager to share with emerging artists and youth. In 2024, where live performance standards demand both technical proficiency and cutting-edge equipment alongside a creative vision, Mac focuses on turning artistic concepts into technical realities and is committed to expanding and sharing his expertise.

Mac will be utilising the funds from the award to attend the Electronic Creatives MasterTrack course in Los Angeles. The 12-date course will allow James to spend one-on-on time with some of the most successful live musical directors and arrangers in the world. The trip will align with a week-long Mix the Masters seminar in Europe, where participants spend time together with a guest speaker sharing ideas about music engineering and production. Having worked with RockQuest, Big Fan, To The Front! Aotearoa and more, James intends to recap and share his knowledge domestically with emerging acts in the hope that the benefits of the investment reach to our wider community.

James says: “With such a wealth of information about live show direction online, and also technical manuals on the how-to, there is very little creative and thorough help on how to execute a high standard of production. The incredible APRA Professional Development grant will directly allow me to attend Los Angeles and E.U. based in-person workshops led by the MDs behind Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, and others at the very top of the performance sphere. My aim is to apply these learnings to Aotearoa-based artist formats - in an effort to lift the performance production of all our emerging acts.”

Paloma Schneideman (a.k.a. PollyHill) is a multi-hyphenate artist based out of Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland. Over the last ten years she has established herself across both music and film, moving between performing, producing, composing, writing, directing, and ultimately - storytelling.

A self-taught musician and producer, she works mostly electronically, through a combination of sampling and repurposing sounds, using a range of synthesizers, beat pads, and digital audio workstations. In 2017 she began teaching herself production from a hip-hop centric space, but since then, she has branched out into more cinematic, R&B, dance, and experimental genres, releasing two EPs as well as a collaborative album, AQUARIES, with Samara Alofa - which was listed among Rolling Stone AU's top 30 releases of 2023. PollyHill has played some of the biggest music festivals in Aotearoa including Splore, Laneway, The Others Way, Rhythm and Vines, and supported international acts like Arlo Parks, Kae Tempest, and NYC rap legend Wiki.

As a composer, she scored the short film that she directed Gate Crash (2023), which was selected for both NZ International Film Festival’s ‘Best Short’ programme, and Melbourne International Film Festival. In 2022 she scored Ella Hickson's The Writer, staged at Silo Theatre to critical acclaim, and in 2020 she scored the dance work ‘Faceless Hair Cry' choreographed by Sofia McIntyre, which went on to win Best Sound Design at the 2020 Auckland Fringe Festival. She has just completed as director and composer, a film adaptation of Faceless Hair Cry.‍ Her films have been selected for the NZ International Film Festival, Wairoa Maori Film Festival, Tahiti International Film Festival, and she won ‘Best Short’ at the Asian Micro Film Festival.

In 2023, Paloma was selected to be part of Dame Jane Campion and Philippa Campbell's Netflix-supported year-long director's master-class, A Wave in the Ocean. She is currently gearing up to direct her debut feature film, slated for production in early 2025.

Paloma intends to use the funds to support up-skilling of practical abilities, with a mentorship in composing for screen. With a focus on growing live mixing, engineering and performing in technical skill and sound quality for live scores in dance and theatre, Paloma will attend the School of Synthesis in Melbourne for a six-week training course in the specific field of live engineering. Additionally, Paloma intends to shadow an established composer for film and television. The sessions will provide one on one time to learn the technical aspects of scoring, as well as observing other essential aspects like client/relationship management.

Paloma says: "Receiving the APRA Professional Development Award is a huge privilege. This sort of validation and support has come at a pretty crossroad moment for me so feels like a big affirmation to keep going. As someone who’s battled with imposter system for the longest time (I still regularly wonder if I’m garbage and wasting my time), I feel very reaffirmed and held by my creative network. I am incredibly grateful and honoured for this opportunity, especially as someone who is so astutely aware of the immense talent among my community, who’s work continues to inspire me. Thank you APRA, for this chance to fully invest in my craft and move forward with renewed energy and inspiration."