Great Sounds Great festival

Amira is a Pōneke-raised selectress blending Arabic beats with modern electronic sounds. Rooted in percussion and bass, her sets move between grounded grooves and ethereal highs, a journey of culture, movement, and self-discovery.

Anthonie Tonnon returns with new music and a set that swaps the guitar for the vocoder, converts dual Synthstrom Deluges into honorary CDJs, and takes performative cues from turn of the millennium dance culture.

Asset’s journey into the world of electronic music began with a love for bass heavy beats, latin & soul, her sound has evolved into a genre-defying blend that embraces any rhythm capable of moving the whole body. Now she is drawn to the infectious grooves of dub, afrobeat, dembow, deep house, progressive and tribal rhythms.

Baby Zionov makes high-speed girly bubblegum laser-sound boogie shoes dance music inspired by 90s rave culture and the mid-2000s Internet.

Weaving kaleidoscopic synthesizers and swirling guitar strums with rock and electronic drums, BADTAB is a psychedelic and unpredictable auditory experience.

The brainchild of esteemed turntablist/beatmaker extraordinaire ALPHABETHEAD, and multi-disciplinary lyricist YOUNG GHO$T, Bad Taste is the sum of your wildest dreams and your worst nightmares. Whatever you're expecting, don't do that - be prepared for the best, and worst time of your life.

Baeoli plays jungle with heart, that's rough and rooted in raw ‘90s energy. Fast breaks, deep bass, and tracks built for release on the dance floor. Their sets are all about the rhythm that pulls you in and keeps you moving. Just sound system pressure, shared energy, and a proper love for dancing!

Bathysphere play sometimes very quiet and sometimes very loud. Just ya classic Dunedin indie-pop-noise-rock really!

Perrenial provedores of melodic twisted wistful folk to psychedelic rock to bouncy twee pop. The Bats, are gearing up to celebrate the release of their new album, “Corner Coming Up”. Recorded at the historic Chicks Hotel Studio, the album promises to offer some moving music, both on the dance floor and in your hearts.

A sound-bed of big droning guitars and pop melodies, abstract confessionals and melodic guitar pyrotechnics shot through an antipodean lens.

It's like the Beach Boys if they had found crack.

dj kristen stewart is inexorably attached to the club, having an affinity for tracks that are packed full of intricate percussion that will have you switching up your footwork. Supporting some of the most seminals names in deconstructed and boundary pushing club music, they will imprint their sonic style in the hallowed halls of Meow.

Eveline Breaker is the solo project made by a blonde girl from Wellington. Her music combines sparkly digital bliss, dense and emotional soundscapes, sugar-sweet songwriting and the occasional crushing wall of guitar noise. Truthfully all she really cares about is writing a really catchy melody so she prefers to just call it pop music.

Three still-youthful gentlemen arrive abruptly to their third decade of life. The path they had taken now obscured, they look only ahead, ruminatively, writing indelible this moment of angst, of triumph, of sadness, and exuberant joy.
Lower back pain in musical terms, sensible shoes are a must.

Half/Angel defy genres & expectations, with a sound that’s equal parts experimental noise rock and ambient psychedelia. Blending intricate melodies with lush, textured soundscapes, Half/Angel makes music that is as unpredictable as it is captivating.

Informed by their deep knowledge of every pop hit: from wedding band dance-floor fillers, to pub-rock anthems and kiwi classics: broken down, fermented, digested and reassembled into almost unrecognisable new forms, Hans Pucket create utterly charming hits of melody and groove.

Iris Little walks between worlds, genres and gender. An experimental singer-songwriter and storyteller who looks beyond binaries and boundaries, they effortlessly combine quiet moments cribbed from jazzy folk with the physical heft of industrial, trip-hop and EBM, and the ritualistic psychedelia of avant-R&B.

As seen on TV, Jazmine Mary is a Superstar singer song-singer overall phenomenon. Visceral and haunting. Their surreal rose-tinted sounds will allow you to be transported somewhere bold and watery.

Melbourne indie icon Jen Cloher (now based in Ōtaki) has been hailed as one of Australia's finest songwriters. "A modern day Patti Smith whose brutally honest, politically charged lyrics mark them out as one of the most interesting and important artists of their day.” - The Independent UK

Mixing afro-inspired diaspora sounds, both high energy & introspective, JessB is becoming a force to be reckoned with both at home and around the globe. Collaborating with acts such as Saweetie, Kranium, G Flip, Stan Walker and Baker Boy, JessB is also a MTV European Music Award winner.

JHL blends pop and noisy club music to scratch ADHD-riddled brains.

Maestro of the uplifting tune and poetic suburban sentiment, Tamaki Makaurau's green thumbed guitar slinger - Jim Nothing is set to play Wellington for the first time EVER. Hot off the heels from his win for Best Alternative Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards 2025.

Jordan Hamel is a poet who lived in NZ, then America, now he's back in NZ. His debut poetry collection "Everyone is Everyone Except You," was published in New Zealand by Dead Bird Books in 2022. He is the winner of the 2023 Sonora Review Poetry Prize, and the 2023 New Writers UK Poetry Prize.

Leah Dodd is a poet living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Her first collection, Past Lives, was published in 2023 by Te Herenga Waka University Press. Leah was the 2021 recipient of the Biggs Family Prize in Poetry for her work completed at the IIML during a Masters of Creative Writing.

LEAO is a Samoan band blending Pacific musical roots with contemporary sounds, creating "niu wave" and "Pacific neo-psychedelia." Since their 2019 debut GHOST ROADS, they’ve been crafting a bold alternative Pacific music catalogue.

Searingly honest lyrics, coupled with visceral guitar riffs and dark looping melodies make Nicklin’s music an easily identifiable and totally enveloping world to experience. She will be coming down from Tāmaki Makaurau to play new and old sulky, grungy tunes.

Mystery Waitress are shifting genre for a Great Sounds Great special. The same songs, told from a softer, folkier angle. Performing as a trio, Olivia Campion and Tessa Dillon will be joined on the double bass by Phoebe Johnson, Pōneke bass legend.

Wellington’s The Phoenix Foundation have released numerous EPs/singles and seven albums. Their eighth is on the way! They have toured with the NZSO and sung on the interislander. Their music will outlive the holocene era.

Reb Fountain is an award-winning artist known for her spell-binding live performances, unparalleled voice & magnetic style.

Rebecca Hawkes is a queer poet and artist originally from rural Aotearoa. Her first book was Meat Lovers (Auckland University Press) - winner of a Laurel Prize for ecopoetry. In the US her poems have been awarded Salt Hill's Philip Booth Poetry Prize, Palette Poetry's Sappho Prize, and an Academy of American Poets Prize.

Over exposed indie rock god working on obscurity.

Sig Wilder & Friends blend kiwi authenticity with American grit, bringing you a well-worn handwritten journal of lived experiences rendered through metaphor, poetic prose, and the stylistic conventions of folk, alt-country and late-night heartbreak radio.

Stretching out over moody rockers and soft burning hooks, Pо̄neke based indie dream-rock songstress Sofia Machray is an electric master of the singer-songwriter gone rouge.

Ōtepoti sci-fi-soaked post-rock collective - part frenzy, part noise, full doom. Founded in 2011, Space Bats, Attack! is renowned for their spellbinding and frenetic live performances, drawing on their love for angular, expansive and hard-hitting instrumental rock, which is interweaved with samples and immersive visuals.

Wellington weirdos The Spectre Collective delivered a highlight of Great Sounds Great 2024 in the form of David Lynch’s masterpiece “Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8” scored live by a band consisting of multiple theremins, a gong and many more instruments. They return in 2025, with who knows what in store…

A founding member of Sigil Sound, $tacey lee's influences span from 80's hip hop to nu metal and modern pop. Always coloured by her lived experience as a trans woman and her obsession with fast beats, a $tacey Lee set is high-energy and unpredictable, but always staunchly grounded on a foundation of heavy electro.

A 10-piece Afrobeat Jazz powerhouse from Wellington, Star Time creates an electrifying spectacle for the dancefloor. Their mission is to make the crowd the undeniable stars of the show with their ever contagious, high-energy sound.

Nam Chucks possesses a deep appreciation and respect for Soundsystem philosophy - dedicating her musical selections to the concepts of unity and inclusivity in rave culture. Soundsystem music serves as a vessel for her to heal others, guide the dance and respect all things sacred & indigenous.

Daniel Beban performs on a number of different instruments and builds sound sculptures and invented instruments out of found objects and recycled materials. Drummer Riki Neihana Pirihi’s work spans multiple disciplines, including composition, performance, sound art, production, and academic research.

Tucked away down alley-like Edward St, Meow is a stalwart of the Wellington music scene, a hallowed space for serial gig-goers. Some of the biggest names on the line-up will perform here including alt-folk-rock powerhouse Reb Fountain and everyone’s favourite Taite winner/elevator operator Anthonie Tonnon, who will be presenting a live show inspired by turn-of-the-millennium dance culture. The night will also end at Meow as it hosts the unofficial afterparty with DJs playing long into the morning.

Another big name among capital venues. San Fran sits in prime position, right in the heart of Te Aro and of the festival, its famed balcony looking out over central Cuba St. This grand old dame, the largest venue of the festival, will feature more big names including indie guitar pop icons The Bats and The Phoenix Foundation, as well as hometown heroes Hans Pucket playing their last show in Pōneke for a while before heading overseas.

Valhalla holds a special place in the heart of Wellington live music lovers. It is unique, sounds incredible, and is 100% original. Fittingly, the vibe here will be heavier, the programme skewing more punk/post-punk/post-rock in terms of genre. A choice pick would be local noiseniks Goya who have just marked 10 years as a band with the release of their blistering third album Home Turf.

These twin bars are not only important music venues, particularly for those of a jazz persuasion, but also some of our most beloved watering holes. During Great Sounds Great they will feature alternating sets from an incredible list of performers. Among them, LEAO will be bringing their peerless Pacific neo-psychedelia from Tāmaki Makaurau to Rogue, and at Bedlam some of our top local poets will perform live, presented by (and featuring) best-selling bard Jordan Hamel.

Not normally a live music venue, but a beautiful space for performances and an integral part of Cuba Mall, Hotel Bristol will be hosting two stages during the festival. Within the stacked programme, you could catch exciting local rising stars BADTAB on the downstairs stage, or icon of Aotearoa’s underground electronica scene Baby Zionov upstairs.

New to the festival for 2025, three amazing artists will be performing in the breathtaking St Peter’s church, sitting proud on the corner of Willis and Ghuznee streets. A stunning space in which to experience live music, we have carefully curated a lineup to fit this unique venue, including Aotearoa music legend Shayne P Carter delivering a special solo performance and Melbourne-by-way-of-Ōtaki indie royalty Jen Cloher.

Festival partner RadioActive presents another new stage at 13 Garrett St. The top storey of this long-time home of capital creatives will be transformed into a space in which punters can experience a diverse range of artists, delivering unique performances in an intimate setting. Early birds will get to witness a special screening of an undisclosed feature film scored live by Pōneke psychonauts The Spectre Collective (their score of “Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 8” was a highlight of the 2024 festival.

The flagship Wellington record store for legendary label Flying Nun has been a welcome addition to Cuba St and our music community in recent years. For Great Sounds Great, they have asked a couple of local up-and-coming bands and Dunedin/The Bat’s Robert Scott to help test their new stage with a series of in-store performances.

An ambitious addition to the festival this year is a roaming venue takeover orchestrated by electronic music collective Tonic. They will be hosting pop-up DJ and electronic performances at several different spaces, armed only with a PA system and a trolley. Bouncing between Swimsuit cafe, Little Beer Quarter, and Level 1 of 13 Garrett Street, punters are encouraged to grab a map, choose your adventure, and dance your way around Te Aro.