“Hopefully, this round we get to perform on the big stage.”
Muir said he and the group were extremely honoured to represent the River City at the festival as its only Whanganui artists.
“All the other bands are obviously from all over the place but to be from Whanganui, nah, it’s a great buzz.”
The festival performance was the latest part of a busy year for the group which was nominated for the Waiata Music Awards.
In 2019 they won Best Reggae and Roots Recording at the awards.
Recently they received $10,000 from NZ On Air for recording a new single.
“There was something like 280 applicants, and they only picked like 34, 35, 36,” Muir said.
“And then the announcement of being on the One Love Festival, what a great year thus far.”
The group had been spending a lot of time in the studio working on a new song it will release in the next month, with another single to be released closer to Christmas to build up to the festival.
He said the group’s background with reggae came from some members being brought up around reggae while others grew up with rock music, with members looking to bridge the two genres.
“We’re not the traditional Jamaican reggae style, we sort of modernised it to our own feel.
“We play other genres but it’s still got a reggae twist to it.”
He called it mainstream reggae and said the group were inspired by fellow Kiwi artists such as Six60, L.A.B and Troy Kingi.
People attending One Love could expect a memorable performance from NLC.
“They’re going to experience a powerful, emotional and pumping vibe set.
“We’re gonna be working hard from here on in right through Christmas ... so we can deliver the best, most explosive performance that we can,” he said.
Ōhakune-based artist Brutha Rodz will also perform at One Love.
For the first time, a second stage will be added to the festival to celebrate Kiwi music.
One Love Festival promoter Glenn Meikle said adding a second stage provided an opportunity to include more artists and showcase more up-and-coming local musicians to bigger crowds.
“We love New Zealand music and we know our One Love whānau appreciate homegrown talent. We want to do what we can to cater to both artists and fans,” Meikle said.
After 10 years, he said it was the perfect time for a refresh of the event.
The festival will take place at the Tauranga Domain on January 27-28. Tickets can be purchased from One Love’s website www.onelovefestival.co.nz.
Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.
