Shining Lights of Children's Music

Shining Lights of Children's Music

Finalists Announced for the 2013 Children's Music Awards

Music made for children weaves magic, engages the imagination and wraps life's lessons in quirky rhyme. The Children's Music Awards celebrate the people behind the music - music that's guaranteed to put a smile on your face and to get your kids dancing.

The finalists for the Children's Music Awards have been announced in three categories, featuring both up and coming writers as well as stalwarts of the burgeoning industry.

"It is an exciting time for children's music" says APRA's Anthony Healey. "Music and young people are synonymous, and with music comes movement, creativity, learning and play. APRA is pleased to celebrate those who write the songs that fill our children's lives with music."

Finalists for the awards are:

APRA Best Children's Music Song of the Year

The Fixing Song by Levity Beet
It's Cool to be Kind by Zoo Boogie
If I was a Fuzzy Buzzy Bumblebee by Chanelle Davis

Recorded Music NZ Best Children's Music Album (Tui Award)

Circus of Fleas - fleaBITE
Zoo Boogie - Zoo Boogie
A Pirate's Life - Captain Festus McBoyle

What Now Best Children's Music Video

It's Not a Monster It's Me! by The Little City Critters, video by Raymond McGrath
Hair by fleaBITE, video by The Talented Templers
Hank The Wrestling Shark by Gerry Paul, video by Ryan Fielding

2013 is a special year for the Children's Music Awards, as it sees the reintroduction of the Recorded Music NZ (ex RIANZ) Tui for the Best Children's Music Album.

"Recorded Music NZ is thrilled to bring back the Tui for Best Children's Music Album. Congratulations to all the finalists - FleaBITE, Captain Festus McBoyle and Zoo Boogie - for their absolutely fantastic releases and obvious passion for creating great music!" says Damian Vaughan, CEO of Recorded Music NZ.

Each year the annual Children's Music Awards are awarded as a part of Singapore Airlines Starfest, the grand final of the two-week long Kidsfest, organised by Christchurch City Council. This year the Singapore Airlines Starfest takes place on Saturday 27th July at the Aurora Centre, Christchurch.

Following the awards APRA will be releasing a promotional album of the top 20 entries into the APRA Best Children's Music Song Award. The album will be distributed to schools, libraries and children's media around the country. It will also be available as a free download for the general public for two weeks following the award. Keep an eye on www.apra.co.nz for details.

The Children's Music Awards were started by APRA in 2008 with partners What Now and the Christchurch City Council. The re-introduction of the Recorded Music NZ Tui award for the Best Children's Music Album is a welcome addition to the awards that further fosters this important industry.

Ends

For further information, images and interviews contact:
Jamie Newman, Communications & Events APRA NZ / jnewman@apra.co.nz / 09 623 4719

Australasian Performing Right Association Limited (APRA) was established in 1926 and now administers the performing and communication rights of 70,000+ composer, songwriter and music publisher members in Australia and New Zealand. Public performances of music include music used in bars, cafes, fitness centres, shops, cinemas, festivals, whether performed live, on CDs or played on the radio or television. Communication of music covers music used for music on hold, music accessed over the internet or used by television or radio broadcasters.

Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society Limited (AMCOS) collects and distributes mechanical royalties for the reproduction of its 10,000+ members' musical works for many different purposes. These include the manufacture of CDs, music videos and DVDs, digital downloads and the sale of mobile phone ringtones, the use of production music and the making of radio and television programmes. Since 1997, APRA has managed the day-to-day operations of the AMCOS business.

www.apra-amcos.co.nz

Recorded Music New Zealand
Recorded Music NZ is the industry representation and licensing organisation for recording artists and their labels.

www.recordedmusic.co.nz

Finalist Bios:

APRA Best Children's Music Song of the Year

Levity Beet

Levity Beet is a songwriter, music-producer, musical comedian and children's author based in Golden Bay-New Zealand. He is a guitar and ukulele tutor for about seventy children as well as a father of two and says he gets many ideas for songwriting from paying attention to the trials and tribulations of the children in his life. Levity also makes new musical inventions and likes to use unlikely recycled materials like electric heaters, air-bed pumps, plastic bottles, rubber gloves, plumbing and tyre valves and drainage pipes to create the instruments for his one man quirky orchestra. He has released four albums of music for children and their families and has a fifth album awaiting artwork that will be released in August. Levity won the 2009 and 2012 APRA Best Children's Music Song of the Year awards with 'Little Blue' and 'Sometimes I Make Mistakes' and was a finalist in the 2009 International song-writing competition with 'The wheels on the bus they don't go round'

www.levitybeet.com

Zoo Boogie

Blair Dale, or as most children know him, Zoo Keeper Dale, began writing songs for children in 2009. After attending a Wiggles concert with his own children in 2008, he was inspired to launch a values based Kiwi entertainment group for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Zoo Boogie launched in 2011 with a debut album featuring Dale's values based kids songs and several re-worked classics. His vision to share positive values and life lessons with young children is given an extra boost through the loveable characters and engaging live show of Zoo Boogie. Dale hopes that his songs and Zoo Boogie will play a key role in supporting kiwi families by helping to shape the character of young children.

www.zooboogie.com

Chanelle Davis

Chanelle is a Kiwi singer / songwriter who is currently based in Melbourne, Australia. She has released two albums, Better Than Alone and Since Yesterday, and has recently released her latest EP Just the Way I Found You. Since Yesterday features the song Dear Jon which won the 2007 New Zealand Songwriters Trust Award.

Chanelle is a songwriting graduate from Waikato Institute of Technology, and has further studied songwriting abroad with the author of Writing Better Lyrics, Pat Pattison. This has led to her work being published in Pat's recent book "Songwriting Without Boundaries". She regularly engages with other songwriters around the world to encourage them through challenges, coaching and cowriting.

Not just a songwriter, Chanelle is passionate about encouraging children to discover a love for music through teaching, something which allows her to build a future generation of songwriters and performers.

www.chanelledavis.com

Recorded Music NZ Children's Music Album of the Year (Tui Award)

fleaBITE

fleaBITE is the latest innovative and children's entertainment venture from Robin Nathan, the producer of the award-winning FATCAT & FISHFACE CD series.

FATCAT & FISHFACE, the acclaimed outlaws of NZ children's music, have released seven albums. They won awards in the USA (Best Recording Artist for Older Children at the Children's Music Web awards) for Horrible Songs for Children and Meanie, and in NZ took the Tui for Best Children's Music album with Dogbreath. They have produced five animated music clips which have screened at film festivals in NZ, Melbourne, London and Korea. Their latest venture is a book/DVD of The Wreck of the Diddley with Craig Potton Publishing.

fleaBITE continues the distinctive, theatrical style with bold (and often nonsensical) songs that explore the power and fun of words, and musical inventiveness. fleaBITE has released two albums: In Your Ear (2011) and Circus of Fleas (2012).

www.fleabite.co.nz

Zoo Boogie

Blair Dale, or as most children know him, Zoo Keeper Dale, began writing songs for children in 2009. After attending a Wiggles concert with his own children in 2008, he was inspired to launch a values based Kiwi entertainment group for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Zoo Boogie launched in 2011 with a debut album featuring Dale's values based kids songs and several re-worked classics. His vision to share positive values and life lessons with young children is given an extra boost through the loveable characters and engaging live show of Zoo Boogie. Dale hopes that his songs and Zoo Boogie will play a key role in supporting kiwi families by helping to shape the character of young children.

www.zooboogie.com

Captain Festus McBoyle

Self anointed as NZ's Ultimate Rotten Pirate entertainer and Master of Music and Mischief, Captain Festus Mcboyle, sailed in from Greenwich, London one day and... well....just never left.
Semi vaudiville musical comedy for children, compared to Spike Milligan and Monty Python. These scoundrels tend to be more fun than a squirrel up ya jumper.
Accompanied live by simpleton sidekick Fungal Finnegan ( Richard Raine, a wonderfully talented musician and producer), the Pirates perform all over NZ at festivals, corporate events, parades, schools, private parties and weddings.You name it , they've done it. These blokes are a massive hit with kids and adults alike.

www.festusmcboyle.co.nz

What Now Best Children's Music Video

It's Not a Monster It's Me! by The Little City Critters, video by Raymond McGrath

Raymond McGrath is an award winning Animation Director, animator, illustrator, designer, writer who has been working in children's television and advertising for nearly 20 years. He has completely lost count of the number of books he has illustrated, television shows he has worked on and TV commercials he has made (because that requires maths and remembering and he isn't so good at either...).
But he does remember that he loves gardening, photography, music and drawing, that he is the creator and director of the educational pre-school TV series 'Puzzle Inc'
He also remembers that he lives in the country with his lovely wife, his beautiful daughter, two cats and a schnauzer whose legs are made out of springs!

...but that's because those things are easy to remember!

www.theonetrickpony.net
www.penguin.co.nz

Hair by fleaBITE, video by The Talented Templers

DIRECTOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Stephen Templer:
ANIMATOR/DESIGNER: Ruth Templer
PRODUCER: Robin Nathan

Brother and sister team Stephen and Ruth Templer are known as The Talented Templers. 'HAIR' is the third animated music clip they have made alongside producer Robin Nathan. Their first music clip 'THE WRECK OF THE DIDDLEY' was invited to screen at festivals in London, Melbourne, New Zealand and Korea, and 'NIGHTCLUB' debuted at the NZ International Film Festival (Animation for Kids).

Stephen Templer is an accomplished illustrator and designer. His style is quirky, fun and original, and combines old world imagery infused with Mexican mysticism and twilight Aotearoan fairy tales. Stephen worked on 'The Hobbit' in Wellington, and regularly exhibits his own work. He has developed a large following for his unique and imaginative installations, sculptures, dioramas, automatons and paintings.

Ruth Templer is a freelance motion graphics designer, working in film and television for over ten years

Hank The Wrestling Shark by Gerry Paul, video by Ryan Fielding

Gerry Paul cites his influences as Spike Milligan, Elvis Presley & Bob Dylan, his experiences travelling the world and diving beneath the ocean, Gerry Paul is a writer with a passion for quirky and wacky stories. Last year, he released an album of children's songs called "Tales From the Sea & an Elephant Tree". The first song "Hank the Wrestling Shark" was awarded the 2010 Grand Prize in the prestigious international John Lennon Songwriting Contest, a coveted award among songwriters. Another song "Workin' on the Worm Farm" was a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition 2011.

Ryan Fielding is a director/cinematographer/editor who graduated from Victoria University with a degree in film studies in 2010. Since then he has worked on a number of personal and commercial film/video projects including music videos, short films, experimental pieces, and web promotional films. Ryan has had selected works screened at local and international film festivals, as well as receiving online media coverage. He is based in Wellington, NZ.
called "Tales From the Sea & an Elephant Tree". The first song "Hank the Wrestling Shark" was awarded the 2010 Grand Prize in the prestigious international John Lennon Songwriting Contest, a coveted award among songwriters. Another song "Workin' on the Worm Farm" was a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition 2011.

Ryan Fielding is a director/cinematographer/editor who graduated from Victoria University with a degree in film studies in 2010. Since then he has worked on a number of personal and commercial film/video projects including music videos, short films, experimental pieces, and web promotional films. Ryan has had selected works screened at local and international film festivals, as well as receiving online media coverage. He is based in Wellington, NZ.

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