Original music is thriving in Hawke’s Bay, thanks to support from those in the know. EIT’s IDEAschool and Hawke’s Bay Music Hub sponsored a competition on The Breeze Hawke’s Bay radio station, encouraging locals to submit their songs.
Seventeen-year-old Kenya Boerman won the popular vote that will see her career catapulted with a single release package. She recorded her song, ‘Let’s Go’, in an Auckland professional studio earlier this month. A photo shoot and PR package will ensure her music gains the recognition it deserves. “It was such an amazing experience; just seeing how they do it all and being able to record my own song. It was just amazing,” says Boerman.
Boerman wrote ‘Let’s Go’ during lockdown, emoting the frustration of curtailed freedom with a wisdom of word and strength of voice well beyond her years. “The song is probably more about being stressed and having all these things happening in your life and you really just want to hit pause, turn around and just walk away from all your problems and everything happening at the moment. So, it’s kind of an angry emotional song,” she explains.
She certainly caught the ear of the sponsors. EIT Executive Director for Strategic Projects and Partnerships, Glen Harkness, “just loved everything about her, how she was different, how she showed herself through her music and didn’t follow all those trends.”
Though still a student at Napier Girls High School, Boerman is making a name for herself on the local music scene, playing weddings and wineries among other live gigs. Her musical taste is broad but has an affinity for P!nk, borne out in the power of her performance. “I’ve always loved music since I was little girl, playing with my dad with guitar and everything,” she says. This competition win and the exposure it brings will help her realise her dreams of sharing her music with the world. “It’s just amazing. It’s getting me close to where I want to be in the future,” she says.
The Breeze Live Lounge invited local artists to submit original songs which were then played on the radio and put to a popular vote. Boerman found the experience of being broadcast on the Breeze “surreal… I got butterflies in my stomach. It just felt so cool to hear myself on the radio.”
The range of talented entries were noted by those at EIT and The Breeze. “Kenya absolutely blew us away along with all the other artists who applied. We have some serious talent here in the Bay and we were so happy we could work with EIT’s IDEAschool and Hawke’s Bay Music Hub to give multiple artists airtime during the month-long promotion,” said The Breeze’s Rochelle Street. Fellow Napier Girls student, Ella Pollett and local muso, Nick Herbison rounded out the top three.
Those at IDEAschool and Hawke’s Bay Music Hub are heavily invested in promoting local music beyond NZ Music Month, the impetus for this competition. They provide a range of educational, promotional and performance opportunities for aspiring musicians in the region, elevating those with talent, like Boerman, to the peak of their potential.