Photo: supplied
This year marks 25 years since the Aotearoa band Stellar exploded onto the music charts in 1999 with multi-platinum album Mix. To celebrate the milestone, the band are back together, touring in early 2025. Along with their numerous hits including ‘Violent’, ‘Part of Me’ and ‘Undone’, they’ll also perform songs from their other albums Magic Line and Something Like Strangers.
To many listeners Mix sounded international and ahead of its time. The band, led by Boh Runga with her flaming red hair, had a clear and focused vision.
One of three children in a rather creative family, Runga has fond memories of growing up in Ōtautahi Christchurch. She recalls at age 13 catching the bus from Hornby to the Christchurch School of Instrumental Music for band practice. That was the start of her music career.
It was the late ‘80s in Christchurch when she met drummer Andrew Maclaren to potentially join his band as a vocalist. The two hit it off, writing music together. Eventually, in 1992 the pair moved up to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to find more opportunities and like-minded creatives.
The band knew they had good songs but Runga says they didn’t expect the success. Mix went five-times platinum, debuting at number two in the albums chart, and reached number one seven weeks later. It sold 75,000 copies in New Zealand and went on to win Album of the Year at the 2000 NZ Music Awards.
In the 25 years since, while the band has performed together over the years, they’ve never played the entirety of the album. Something we can look forward to early next year on tour.
Runga joins Perlina Lau of Culture 101 for ‘Fast Favourites’.
As part of her recommendations she includes the band’s Studio Stories episode on Spotify, detailing the formation, motivation and making of the Mix album.
Recently, Runga visited the Auckland Museum for the A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa exhibition (recently extended until October). The singer was reminded of just how beautiful the space which is available to the city’s residents and its visitors at any time.
Come October, Runga will be joining the likes of Ria Hall, Che Fu and Kings on stage with a 22-piece band that includes a 10-piece horn section for Big Horns at the Powerstation in Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland.
Stellar will be performing their 25th Anniversary tour in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington from the 28th-30th March.
