Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Back room music producer creating stars

Simon Waters
Whanganui Chronicle·
4 Apr, 2017 09:33 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Hinera O'Rourke, creating stars from her back bedroom.

Hinera O'Rourke, creating stars from her back bedroom.

She laughs at being called New Zealand's Simon Cowell.

And while Whanganui's Hinera O'Rourke may not be a rich and famous music producer, she could be on the way.

Working from a back bedroom of her Castlecliff home, the 25-year-old has a knack for discovering new talent and exposing it to the world.

Acts like Ratana's Jackson Owens who was picked up by Tim Coombes, the United States producer of major bands the Back Street Boys and Nsync, after featuring on Hinera's Facebook and You Tube channels.

At just 17 he's already performed in Europe and the US, and features in a video with American Idol winner Jessica Sanchez singing a spine-tingling rendition of Georgia On My Mind.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hinera runs Aotearoa's Most Talented and since 2013 has published videos of more than 100 New Zealand music acts, including around 20 from Whanganui.

Her You Tube channel has over 4.5 million views and 20,000 subscribers. Her Facebook page peaked at 180,000 likes before it was taken down for alleged copyright breaches, but is up and running again and has already climbed back up to 44,000 likes.

Hinera has quit her job with Maori Television and now works fulltime on her project.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I would hop onto Facebook and find artists trying to get exposure for themselves and thought it would be great if they were all featured on the one page so I started linking to them and featuring them on my page," she explains.

Before too long artists "and their aunts" started approaching Hinera wanting to appear on her page. She started a companion You Tube channel featuring the acts also. She has a smaller presence on Instagram and Snapchat.

Occassionally she discovers raw talent - artists who don't have a video - and she brings them to her home to record them from a makeshift studio in a back bedroom.

"Some have never used a microphone before."

She's recorded two older ladies performing "hard out metal and rock" but prefers dealing with younger artists who are less set in their way and open to playing around with their music.

Ultimately she says she wants the music industry to use her channels as a resource to source new talent and produce new acts.

"I also want to tour some of the acts up and down the country. No, I will make that happen."

It is the sort of determination that has seen her teach herself lots of advanced computer and video editing skills, along with business planning and of course knowledge of the music scene.

She has 201 videos featured on her You Tube channel and is excited when some take off in popularity. "Seeing videos go viral is a crazy thing and so good for the artists. We have so much talent here in New Zealand, I'm glad I can help let the rest of the world see that too."

"Over the past few years, we have watched these young talents grow, upskill and move forward in their journeys. We are beyond proud of them for the things that they have accomplished and the confidence that they have gained while being apart of the 'Aotearoa's most talented' movement.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We hope that this platform will grow even bigger, that people from the industry will see the fire that we see in these rangatahi and open doors of opportunity for them. We have an awesome audience that love seeing new talents rise up and share their souls with the world."

Hinera's channel on facebook and You Tube can be found by searching for Aotearoa's Most Talented.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Man dies in Ōtorohanga floodwaters, more wild weather on the way

14 Feb 01:02 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Inside Whanganui Prison: Assaults on Corrections staff increase

13 Feb 05:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Historic building to close 77-year chapter

13 Feb 04:03 PM

Sponsored

Cyber crime in 2025: Increased specialisation, increased collaboration, increased risk

09 Feb 09:12 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Man dies in Ōtorohanga floodwaters, more wild weather on the way
Whanganui Chronicle

Man dies in Ōtorohanga floodwaters, more wild weather on the way

Orange heavy rain warnings are in force for Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke's Bay.

14 Feb 01:02 AM
Inside Whanganui Prison: Assaults on Corrections staff increase
Whanganui Chronicle

Inside Whanganui Prison: Assaults on Corrections staff increase

13 Feb 05:00 PM
Historic building to close 77-year chapter
Whanganui Chronicle

Historic building to close 77-year chapter

13 Feb 04:03 PM


Cyber crime in 2025: Increased specialisation, increased collaboration, increased risk
Sponsored

Cyber crime in 2025: Increased specialisation, increased collaboration, increased risk

09 Feb 09:12 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • NZME Digital Performance Marketing
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2026 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP