Winner encourages contest entries
Winning the Play It Strange competition earned Keira a $10,000 grant, time in a recording studio, and the support of a mentor as they went through the process of recording their winning song Lambs Aren't Waking Yet .
The Play It Strange charitable trust works to promote and inspire songwriting among New Zealand secondary school students through competitions and performance opportunities.
The 2025 Play It Strange songwriting competition is open now to students in years 9-13, offering a top prize of a $10,000 new music single package, funded through NZ on Air, mentor sessions, a $1000 Rockshop voucher and an artist development session with Sole Music Academy founder Sascha Vee.
Ten national finalists will also receive smaller prize packages.
The competition closes on July 16.
Keira was a Taieri College student when they won the competition on their fourth attempt with a songs quickly demoed in their bedroom over two days.
"I kind of left it to the last minute, and I was hopeful but not really expecting to win," Keira said.
"So it was very exciting to win and have the chance to work with my mentor musician Dave Kean on recording my song at Roundhead Studios in Auckland.
"Alex Corbett produced the track and I had a friend there to play violin and mandolin — it was heaps of fun."
A music video for Lambs Aren't Waking Yet was also created by Wanaka-based Bunker Street Film Co and included filming on location in Tarras.
The single was released earlier this year through Keira's own distribution platforms, and they played release shows in Lyttelton and Dunedin.
"The whole process was really fun — you get so much support with Play It Strange," Keira said.
Receiving a $1000 Rockshop voucher was also a real bonus, enabling Keira to buy their first electric guitar.
Now studying Music and Marketing at the University of Otago, Keira continues to perform solo and is also a member of shoegaze rock band Motheaten and folk-country duo Dolly Possum with Kristian Groves.
"It's a different and enjoyable experience to perform alongside others in the band and in Dolly Possum," they said.
"At university I'm taking an array of music papers, including composition and production, in the hopes of ending up somewhere in the music industry in the future."
Keira heartily recommended the Play It Strange experience and urged other young musicians to give it a go as well.
"It is an incredible opportunity."
"I found it really inspiring and have been doing more recording at home — I'm working on an EP at the moment."
brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz
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