Tooled up with an arsenal of drums, guitar, synth bass and loop pedals, Christchurch New Zealand 2 piece Cairo Knife Fight pack a riff-driven punch that has seen them hold their own against title holders they’ve shared stages with – names like Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures and Queens of the Stone Age.

The collective back story of drummer/main vocalist Nick Gaffaney and guitarist/loop guru Aaron Tokona reads like a brag sheet of some of New Zealand’s finest musicians including Anika Moa, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Dimmer, as well as Tokona’s own former contenders, rock outfit Weta.  It’s as a duo however that they’ve blazed their very own trail, finding new ground between the power of Led Zeppelin and the fearlessness of Radiohead.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cairoknifefight

Andrew Keoghan

Andrew Keoghan’s music fuses groovy early eighties’ new wave sound with today’s carefully constructed new-folk for some contemporary good measure.  His debut LP Arctic Tales Divide was recently released to critical acclaim in his homeland, with The New Zealand Herald calling it ‘a magical, multi-layered pop gem’ and ‘an early contender for local album of the year.’

Arctic Tales Divide mixes pop, folk, classical and electronic influences and through the looping of electric guitar, violin and one-man-choir backing vocals, this Caribbean-born Kiwi offers an intriguing and truly international album about unexpected encounters and confused love.

A busy touring schedule has seen Keoghan hone an intense live show. He’s joined at CMJ by drummer Dan Ward (Lawrence Arabia).

Website: http://www.andrewkeoghan.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/andrewkeoghanmusic

Pikachunes is the solo project of New Zealand producer and musician Miles McDougall. The recording of McDougall’s debut self-titled album came about after he fractured his ulna while skateboarding, an injury that required reconstructive surgery. At the time of the accident, McDougall was midway through his Bachelor of Music, majoring in Jazz performance on drums.

McDougall had studied the instrument since childhood while also playing piano, guitar and trombone. Unfortunately, his injury left McDougall unable to play or study during rehabilitation and out of frustration, he turned to his love of digital production and the result is Pikachunes, a first person account of moving to a new city and the turmoil of building a name as a new musician.

The Pikachunes album impressed Lil’ Chief Records and was soon picked up by the label and mastered by Jonathan Bree of Sub Pop band The Brunettes. Fully recovered, McDougall soon began working with great vigour to earn the recognition (which he quickly began to receive) as one of Auckland’s most prolific and popular live acts.

His debut album “New Fiend” highlights McDougall’s ability as a beat maker, using pulsing electro beats to create a party tune that’s both groovy and awash with heavy club thuggery. This is hook and riff based pop music in its most basic form with lyrics borne of honest observation.

Website: http://pikachunes.lilchiefrecords.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pikachunes

Auckland trio Popstrangers burst onto the live circuit early in 2009, and immediately began making waves with their truly unique celebration of grunge, punk, and noise music winning punters over wherever they went.

The band self-released an EP of their early hits in September of that year, with song after song sitting pretty on both the bNet and New Zealand Alt Radio Charts for weeks on end.

Before long the group were in serious demand, and wound up playing with everyone from Peaches (US) to Crocodiles (US) and Die! Die! Die!

They released their sophomore EP, Happy Accidents, with the singles Happy Accidents and Arrest Your Body being played heavily on Alternative radio.

The band has just signed to New Zealand record label Flying Nun and has also been nominated for the Critics Choice Award at the 2011 NZ Music Awards

Website: www.popstrangers.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/popstrangers

Princess Chelsea is the moniker of New Zealand composer, Chelsea Nikkel. Nikkel studied classical piano throughout her childhood and teenage years as well as dabbling in drums, guitar and clarinet. While at high school she discovered her love of composition, writing and recording her first song “Monkey Eats Bananas”.

After leaving high school, Nikkel formed “circus punk” act Teen Wolf with Brad Fafejta (creator of Princess Chelsea’s album art). Nikkel went on to spend the better part of her twenties developing her recording and production skills while also touring as a member of Sub Pop darlings The Brunettes. The results of these experiences is the debut Princess Chelsea album Lil’ Golden Book, a triumph of high concept production.

Absolutely sublime.” - Rolling Stone

”...you’ll have a very hard time getting this catchy, witty number out of your head.” – Dangerous Minds

Website: http://princesschelsea.lilchiefrecords.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wonderfulprincesschelsea

Since their coveted Critic’s Choice Award at last year’s New Zealand Music Awards Emily, Billie and Alex have spent most of the year on the road tearing up stages around NZ and Australia as well as playing at the iconic SXSW festival.

Brooklyn Vegan called them “darlings of the night” at last years CMJ and the Guardian named them in the Readers Choice picks at SXSW earlier this year.

With their sophomore album close to being finished the band return to CMJ, with a hand full of new songs and shows booked around New York throughout October.

Website: http://www.streetchant.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/streetchant

The Golden Awesome are a four-piece band from Wellington, New Zealand. Following a series of successful shows with acclaimed local acts such as the 3Ds, Die! Die! Die! and Disasteradio, and playing one of the key slots at 2011’s Camp A Low Hum festival The Golden Awesome were signed by Brooklyn label M’Lady’s Records.

Stylistically, The Golden Awesome are easily identifiable as a shoegaze band. Slow, blissful major-key riffs generated by a heavily overdriven guitar and bass provide an enveloping background to the seraphic harmonized multiplied voice of Stef Animal. The song structures are simple and immediate throughout, leaving ample breathing space for the band’s dense sonic textures and sparse melodic highlights. Compared to their contemporaries, The Golden Awesome are less interested in dancey, Manchester-informed sample sequences than in a sonic indie rock band sound, bridging the gap between distortion-heavy noise rock and classic shoegaze pop bliss. The band features former members of prominent New Zealand bands Mink, Cloudboy, and Mestar, amongst many others.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Golden-Awesome

Unknown Mortal Orchestra first dropped into the world in late 2010 as a bandcamp account carrying a single, sweet little dose of ear candy called ‘Ffunny Ffrends’.

‘Ffunny Ffrends’ was everything you imagined it might be – alien beatnik pop music that echoed 60s psychedelia and krautrock minimalism with just a hint of gentle weirdness that suggested its roots might equally lie in the verdant indie of the equally distant New Zealand scene.

‘Ffunny Ffrends’ was immediately feted on hundreds of blogs worldwide. A self-titled UMO 7” EP was then released from behind a veil of secrecy on the UK label, Sounds of Sweet Nothing, ‘who is Unknown Mortal Orchestra?’ was more than just a question on people’s lips, it was a full scale clamour for the unveiling of one of the most exciting new bands of the moment.

Ruban Nielson is a New Zealand native who had transplanted to Portland with his band The Mint Chicks. UMO was a project conceived as Ruban’s escape hatch to a new musical dimension where his vision of junkshop record collector pop could be realized in a sound that recalled Captain Beefheart, Sly Stone and RZA jamming on some kids TV theme far too dark to ever be broadcast.

Out of the home studio, Ruban was joined by local Portland producer Jake Portrait on bass and teenage prodigy Julien Ehrich on drums. They have been on the road all year, sleeping in ditches and running drunkenly from venues when needs be, curling ears and turning heads with their intoxicating sound all the way.

Press Contact: Daniel@forcefieldpr.com

Website: http://unknownmortalorchestra.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/unknownmortalorchestra