Troy Kingi has won the 2021 APRA Silver Scroll Award for 'All Your Ships Have Sailed', with Maisey Rika and Seth Haapu's waiata and a composition from music collective Plan 9 also recognised in the awards.
Troy Kingi, Maisey Rika and Seth Haapu. Photo: Supplied, Supplied, Josh Griggs
The 2021 awards were postponed three times, before the ceremony moved to an online format. Watch it here:
Tonight was the third time Kingi has been a top five finalist for the Silver Scroll Award.
His winning song is from his album The Ghost of Freddie Cesar - a funky, slinky, retro-70s record which reminisces over his biological father who disappeared in 2005 and takes inspiration from a mysterious 'Freddie Cesar' cassette tape found in his father's belongings.
"That part of the song is mine," he told RNZ in 2020, referencing the lyrics in 'All Your Ships Have Sailed' about his children.
"Maybe it's a bit daddyish. I don't know if that song fits with the rest of the story, but I wanted to say it.
"The rest of the song sounds like a drug deal is going down on a corner, but I added the bit about myself to give a reason for why he's doing drug deals; to support his family."
Today, he said his song felt like it was about seeing your dreams pass you by but remembering that your love for your whānau was enough purpose in life.
"I'm humbled and honoured to receive this award. Thank you to APRA and the wider community for allowing it so, for deciding I was worthy of this award. Much gratitude."
A special version of 'All Your Ships Have Sailed' was filmed and recorded by Deva Mahal with a band of nine wāhine toa to mark tonight's win.
Watch it here:
Maisey Rika (Te Whānau-a-Apanui) and Seth Haapu (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Atihaunui a Pāpārangi) were awarded the Maioha Award for 'Waitī Waitā' from Rika's album Ngā Mata o te Ariki Tāwhirimatea.
The waiata spotlights Waitī and Waitā, two stars that form part of the Matariki cluster, expressing their connection with each other and tangata whenua.
Rika's song Hiwa-i-te-rangi was also in the running for the top award, which was the first time in 26 years a bilingual song had been included in the top five finalists.
David Donaldson, Janet Roddick, and Steve Roche, who form music collective Plan 9, won the 2021 SOUNZ Contemporary Award for their composition The Bewilderness.
The Wellington-based trio released their album The Bewilderness in June 2021 in response to the strangeness of 2020, the sudden lockdown, and the moments of calm amidst the ongoing disarray.
Composer Arli Liberman's work in Sam Kelly's film Savage and New Zealand/Swedish composer Karl Steven's arrangements for a five-part fictionalised story about the Bain family, Black Hands, both received a nod in the awards.
All winners and finalists of 2021 APRA Silver Scroll Award:
- Winner: Troy Kingi - All Your Ships Have Sailed
- Maisey Rika - Hiwa-i-te-rangi
- The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers
- Anthonie Tonnon - Leave Love Out Of This
- Tipene - Turangawaewae
2021 APRA Maioha Award
- Winner: Maisey Rika and Seth Haapu - Waitī Waitā
- Haami - He Aio
- Mara TK - Toroa
2021 SOUNZ Contemporary Award
- Winner: The Bewilderness by Plan 9 (David Donaldson, Janet Roddick, Steve Roche)
- So flamed in the air by Neville Hall
- Klein Fountain by Reuben Jelleyman
APRA Best Original Music in a Film
- Winner: Arli Liberman for Savage
- Ewan Clarke for The Turn of the Screw
- Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper for Shadow in the Cloud
APRA Best Original Music in a Series
- Winner: Karl Steven for Black Hands
- Rhian Sheehan for The Sounds
- Tom McLeod for Fight for the Wild