The Mixtape

Rob Burns has enjoyed a professional career that has seen him playing with a who’s who of esteemed international & local musicians including the Verlaine’s, Dave Gilmour from Pink Floyd, Pete Townshend from the Who and Eric Burdon amongst many others. Trevor Reekie talks to Rob about his passion for music and the creative process has shaped his entire career and defined the man he has become.

Megan recently explored a life-long obsession with mermaids which resulted in her 'mer-moir' The Mermaid Chronicles. She studied art in the 90s, worked in all sorts of places - including a strip club - and talks about her experiences on the Mixtape with Charlotte Ryan.

Jon Toogood has just released his first solo album Last of the Lonely Gods . It's an album he wrote to make sense of a few challenging years which included the death of his mother, his brother in law, and health issues from long-covid. Jon joins Charlotte halfway through his NZ tour.

Tina Turntables has DJ’d every kind of party, from outdoor festivals to dive bars, including after parties for Peaches, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, The Black Keys and The Rolling Stones. Since moving to Ōtepoti she calls herself very lucky to be working as the manager of the student radio station, Radio One.

Picking the music is Pos' Mavaega, Musical Director for Pacific Underground, NZ's longest running Pacific performing arts group who are celebrating 30 years of theatre.

The Wellington Jazz Festival is about to kick off, and our guest picking the music over the next hour is multi-award-winning composer, singer/songwriter and festival co-director Tama Waipara.

Vishal Vasan’s musical journey started on Cuba Street Wellington, then to DJing with FFD, slinging records in Soho and organising the Brick Lane Music Festival. He has just opened Kemuri Hi-Fi, an underground bar in Auckland inspired by Japanese jazz cafes, where vinyl and high-end audio systems take centre stage.

Our guest picking the music is writer, ghost writer and editor Madeleine Chapman. Mad started as the very first intern at The Spinoff, and is now one of the youngest editors of a major publication in Aotearoa. Her time at The Spinoff has seen some eventful stories from her attempt to cycle an Onzo bike from Auckland to Hamilton to her definitive ranking of chip flavours which became one of The Spinoff’s biggest stories. Madeleine co-wrote the autobiography of New Zealand professional basketball player Steven Adams, and in 2020 a biography of the then Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern. She joins Charlotte to celebrate The Spinoff’s tenth birthday this month and pick the tunes from her life.

Our guest picking the music is musician, DJ, composer and producer Mark de Clive-Lowe. Mark started his career in the late 1990s as a central player in Auckland’s jazz scene and has gone on to make a life travelling the globe to work on interesting musical projects.

Our guest on the RNZ Mixtape is broadcaster, singer and author Anika Moa. Starting her music career over 20 years ago, Anika is one of Aotearoa's most loved musicians. She has written some of our favourite songs for adults and bubbas, hosted her own TV shows, worked as a radio breakfast host, but more recently has slowed down her work life to spend time with her children. But has she? Anika has just released a children's book, has been writing new music, and is about to act in a theater adaptation of Peter Pan.

Ahead of his NZ tour, our guest today picking the music is one of Britain's most controversial comedians and best-loved children's authors, David Walliams.

Our guest picking the music today is one of the most powerful voices in the music industry. New York-based music journalist Puja Patel was the editor-in-chief of Pitchfork, the taste-making music magazine.

The poet's job description is "keep your eyes open, your heart alert and allow a little bit of serendipity in," David Merritt says.

Our guest on the Mixtape is Kiwi actor, comedian, writer and director Jesse Griffin. Jesse is the co-creator of Educators, as well as starring in Nude Tuesday, 7 Days, 800 Days. Many will be familiar with his American country music character Wilson Dixon which UK magazine Time Out credits as delivering "some of the funniest songs you'll ever hear". Jesse is bringing Wilson Dixon back for the The Comedy Festival Winter Specials.

Our guest picking the music over the next hour is designer Kristine Crabb, the fashion artist who dresses NZ' s most boundary pushing musicians... names like Lorde, Aldous Harding, Erny Belle, and Taite Prize winner Vera Ellen. Kristine started her 20 year career in fashion with the boutique shop Rip Shit and Bust in 2001 and then went on to create Miss Crabb, a label which earned her a cult following that she has carried over to her new project Gloria - named after the rebellious spirit of her grandmother.