27 April 2022 - 0 Comments

NZ On Screen and AudioCulture join forces to launch the landmark music documentary series Give It A Whirl today, just in time for NZ Music Month May 2022.

Showcasing New Zealand’s rock and roll stories, the six-part series traces the evolution of popular music in Aotearoa – from early pioneers of the 1950s, through the mods of the 60s, the hippies of the 70's, the 80s punks, right up to the hip hop artists of the 21st century. With an engaging mix of interviews, news archive and music clips, Give it a Whirl tells the stories of the bands, songwriters and entrepreneurs, and the role they played in creating the soundtrack to New Zealanders’ lives over this five-decade period.

Alongside the six episodes, 12 full-length interviews recorded for the series are available to view. In-depth conversations with Alan Jansson, Allison Durbin, Chris Knox, Dalvanius Prime, Dilworth Karaka from Herbs, Dinah Lee, DLT, Hello Sailor, Johnny Cooper, Johnny Devlin, Peter Dawkins and Shona Laing join the series in NZ On Screen’s Give it a Whirl Collection.

Rounding out NZ On Screen’s snapshot of rock and roll history in Aotearoa is the radio series Give It a Girl, produced by 2021 NZ Music Hall of Fame inductee, Debbie Harwood. This seventeen-part radio series showcases a selection of wāhine toa who rose to chart success, and forged a path for the next generation of music-makers in Aotearoa.

Written backgrounders from Michael Higgins, researcher and associate producer of Give it a Whirl, Hello Sailor’s Harry Lyon, and Debbie Harwood complete the collection.

Across NZ Music Month this May, NZ On Screen's sister site AudioCulture will be delving deeper into our musical history and delivering further behind-the-scenes stories, profiles, interviews and quizzes — through a distinctly Give It A Whirl lens.

Funding support from NZ Lottery Grants Board and NZ On Air enabled the series to be published. Kathryn Quirk, Content Director for NZ On Screen, comments on its procurement; “Popular music is entwined in our social history. It reflects Aotearoa’s diversity and who we are as a nation – and it is important that we can look back at what has shaped us. Give it a Whirl has stood the test of time and deserves to be accessible to the New Zealand public that funded its production. Securing funding and undertaking the necessary clearances to enable this to happen has been an arduous – but ultimately rewarding – journey.”

Series director Mark Everton says, "When we started production on the first series of Give It A Whirl in 2001, the first order of business was figuring out what the hell we were doing. Here’s what we boiled it down to: a) Rock’n’Roll is the sound of the young spirit. b) Rock’n’Roll is always the alternative.3) Rock’n’Roll comes from the wrong side of town.

This story is repeated time and time again – as the next generation arrives – all attitude and arrogance – embracing change, dedicated to being different, challenging established views and – crucially – claiming ITS music back and then, putting its own inimitable stamp on it. So, over its six episodes, those were the New Zealand rock’n’roll stories Give It A Whirl celebrated."

To kick the series launch off with a bang, NZ On Screen and AudioCulture have partnered with the NZ Music Commission to create a bespoke Give It A Whirl T-shirt for NZ Music Month. Designed by Wellington-based musician and illustrator Lily Paris West (Mermaidens), proceeds of the T-shirt sales will be donated to music charity Music Helps. West elaborates on the design: “I was thinking of the paths forged by the musicians of our past, and the continuing impact their work has on the artists of today. I used elements from nature to tell the story — a river coming from the valley of a mountain, which speaks to a long winding history, a journey, and young ferns along the riverside represent ‘whirls’ of energetic new growth.”

The Give It A Whirl Collection launches on NZ On Screen on 27 April, and the series publishes on AudioCulture on 27 April, with supporting content dropping throughout NZ Music Month.

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