Bio

Siah Ngata, Garrett MacRae, Troy McKubre and Dave Clark are Savänt – a high-energy hard rock group based out of Auckland, New Zealand. From their humble beginnings in 1999 Savänt have worked incredibly hard to establish themselves in the NZ rock scene, being described by Rip It Up magazine in their formative years as "one of Auckland’s hardest gigging bands".

Savänt recorded their first demo 'Fight, Shine, Calm, Ready' in 1999 and in July 2000 they independently released the 'Easy Way' EP. Throughout 1999/2000 Savänt performed numerous live shows including the Sound 2000 Music Expo and an appearance on Ground Zero, TV2. Savänt have been featured in many magazines in recent years including Rip It Up, Real Groove, Sony Pulse and NZ’s men magazine - Brass, where Savänt were voted as NZ’s ‘hardest heavy band’.

In 2001 they opened the Auckland Big Day Out and performed ‘live to air’ on Channel Z’s James Coleman Show and The Rock FM’s Electric Kitchen as part of NZ’s Music Month. Savänt also returned to perform at the Vodafone Xtreme Air for the second year and the Hamilton Summer Festival. In August Incubus selected Savänt as their NZ support act. Savänt also toured the North Island extensively throughout 2001 in association with Tui and The Rock FM and launched their own website.

NZ On Air have funded two Savänt video’s to date. 'Solitary’, released in 2001 was shot on Digital Film as used on Star Wars ‘Episode 2’. This was the first time a music clip had been shot using this technology in Australasia. Both ‘Solitary and ‘Underground’ videos have received considerable airplay on Juice (SKY), M2 (TV2) and TV4’s Most Wanted. ‘Solitary’ was also nominated for ‘Best Indie Video’ at the Juice TV music awards in 2002.

Savänt signed a distribution deal with Zomba Records for the ‘Underground’ CD Single, released in 2002. Also that year Savänt headlined the annual Waitangi Day outdoor festival on Auckland's North Shore and in March Savänt replaced U.S. band Sevendust to support U.S. rockers Creed and Incubus on a massive stage at Western Springs stadium in front of a 20,000 strong crowd. In May as part of NZ Music Month Savänt performed at the all NZ event True Colours in Auckland.

In 2003, work continued in the studio on the debut album with producer Chris van de Geer (Stellar*). Performances included the Infamous Greenman’s Big Day Out after Party with 8 Foot Sativa and Blindspott, an appearance on Mary Lambie’s Good Morning show and support for Audioslave at the Auckland town hall.

In August 2003 Savänt released their debut album entitled ‘Nothing Sacred’ on the Rajon Music label with distribution in NZ through Sony Music.

Band Members:
Siah Ngata (vocals)
Garrett MacRae (bass)
Troy McKubre (guitar)
Dave Clark (drums)