Whanganui band NLC take home best roots reggae album at Waiata Maori Music Awards

NLC also won the award in 2019.

Whanganui band NLC has started the new year with a bang, taking home best roots reggae album at the Waiata Maori Music Awards.

The band’s record On the Fly beat out competition from Israel Starr, Origin Roots Aotearoa and Chad Chambers.

Winners were announced virtually last New Year’s Eve.

Founding member Baz Muir said the band had been going for around a decade but gone were the days of “just jamming out in the shed”.

“It was more of a hobby-type thing to start with, having a bit of fun here and there, but in the last four years things got serious.

“We locked in a crew and it’s been the same right up to now. It was about knuckling down and pushing forward.”

On The Fly is NLC’s seventh album.

“There have been a few obstacles here and there. It would be easy to just say ‘Nah, that’s us’ but we just keep at it,” Muir said.

“Now, accolades are starting to come.”

The band won the award in 2019 for Know Your Roots, with fellow Whanganui act Come On Up claiming it in 2022 for its self-titled EP.

Former Whanganui musician Seth Haapu also got a nod on December 31, winning best Māori male solo artist.

Haapu, nominated for best song, best music video and best songwriter, released his newest record Whai Ora last year.

“Apparently, our category was really tough to judge, just because of the calibre of artists,” Muir said.

“We’re very happy to receive it and it’s a great start to 2024. We’re loving it.”

NLC performed at the One Love festival in Tauranga this weekend, alongside Whanganui’s House of Shem and Ōhakune-based Brutha Rodz.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.