Mokotron wins 2025 Taite Music Prize
Mokotron, the musical identity of academic Tiopira McDowell, was honoured for his album WAEREA, which aims to represent the sounds of urban marae.
Electronic musician Tiopira McDowell (Ngāti Hine), better known as Mokotron, has won the prestigious Taite Music Prize for 2025.
His album WAEREA was honoured at an exclusive ceremony at Auckland’s Q Theatre on Tuesday night. The honour included a $12,500 cash prize from Recorded Music NZ.
The Taite Music Prize, named after the late music journalist Dylan Taite, highlights outstanding independent New Zealand albums released in the previous calendar year.
Electronic music producer and academic Tiopira McDowell (Ngāti Hine) is the artist behind the music venture MOKOTRON
Ngaru Garland
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WAEREA takes listeners on a spiritual journey with live taonga pūoro (traditional Māori instruments), heavy breakbeats and sub-bass.
In a 2024 interview with RNZ Music, McDowell said the album was a challenge to himself and other electronic musicians in Auckland to clear their own “cultural cringe” and create for the city a distinctive local sound.
“Are we really as a nation so uncreative that we have to basically appropriate everything from overseas? Do we believe in ourselves so little? Every great city has its own genre of music these days and they’re always specific to an urban area. What about Tāmaki Makaurau?”
In receiving the award, McDowell said he tried to write waiata that represented what it means to be urban Māori.
“Whānau, when I write music, I wanna write music that if anyone in the world heard it they’d know it could only come from one place in the world and that’s Aotearoa.
“I’m thinking of urban marae… when I'm writing music I’m actually emulating the voices of the kuia who have run those marae and given me a space to learn my craft. I’ve been ripping off their sound for years, doesn’t mean they get any royalties, I just pay them with aroha.”
The ceremony on Tuesday night honoured the contributions of many local artists and featured performances from previous Taite Music Prize winners, including Vera Ellen and JUJULIPPS.
Byllie-Jean (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, Ngāti Pahauwera) took home the Auckland Live Best Independent Debut win for her debut EP Filter.
Byllie-Jean performing at a Music 101 live session at Christchurch Art Gallery, May 2024.
Chris Wethey
She thanked her fellow nominees and wāhine Māori in her speech, including her daughter who she described as one of her “greatest teachers”.
“I win for all wāhine Māori. It doesn’t matter what happens, we just keep holding it down.“
Rohan Evans, founder of Auckland music venue The Wine Cellar, was awarded the Independent Spirit Award for his championing of independent music and emerging local artists for over two decades.
Evans remembered and thanked friends made and lost during the venue's 20 year run, including his mother who didn’t live long enough “to see me be anything but an idiot".
"Look Mum, I got an award.”
Shihad received the Independent Music NZ Classic Record award for their 1995 album Killjoy.
Music journo, photographer and label owner Murray Cammick said the album had a special energy.
"As the decades have gone, those songs from Killjoy have been the encore people have been looking forward to.”
Cammick fondly recalled a 1991 university orientation gig at Auckland venue The Powerstation, where the band decided to play their setlist backwards, starting with the encores.
“The people who arrived early took great pleasure in telling the people who arrived late what they missed. It’s not really a great idea,” he laughed.
Chris Schulz received the NZ On Air Outstanding Music Journalism for his Boiler Room newsletter, which is dedicated to long form stories about New Zealand’s musical identity.
