WTF ACTS COMPLETE PROFESSIONAL MENTORING AHEAD OF LIVE SHOW

Monday, July 3, marked the completion of the Whāingaroa Talent Factory contestants' professional mentoring sessions with musicians Joel Newport, Kaea Ruawai and Conor McCabe, as they gear up for their highly anticipated live performance on Saturday, July 8th!

Showcasing a captivating blend of cover songs and original compositions, these eight talented performers are ready to leave audiences in awe at the annual youth music showcase. Prepare to be dazzled by this year's extraordinary talent line up:

Zen Lally writes his own music and will be performing live for the first time at WTF23. Zen originally started making music for films he was producing for YouTube when he realised he actually liked making music more than film making. Influenced by popular artists like Charlie Puth and JVKE, Zen recently uploaded his own song I’m not OK to YouTube. He’ll be performing it solo over his own backing track, along with one other original composition.

Luna and Stella are a new pairing for WTF23. They played together as part of a group at WTF22 and have sung together since they were little but this will be their first public performance as a duo. They’ll be playing covers by Lana del Ray and SZA and an original called Aliens which they wrote together for a school project.

Luna Petzold de la Cruz. Luna performed at the first two Whāingaroa Talent Factories and we’re lucky to get her for a third time in a row as she’s flying off to Spain with her family the day after WTF23. She says WTF has been an incredible experience where she learned a lot about performing and is much more confident about playing her music because of it. Luna is inspired by chill pop and singer songwriter music.

Bella Alexander. Bella says she literally started singing when she was in the car on long family trips. With brother Josh, a veteran of WTF22, she’s been building up her skills and confidence to perform solo at this year’s Whāingaroa Talent Factory. She has performed at Earthbeat and sometimes sings with her brother’s other band Salty Jam. Bella will perform one original track and another by Adele. Sharp Circle. Django Bassett was one of the original acts for WTF2020 and is back again with new music for WTF23. Django has been writing music since he was 7 years old and says he is pretty much always writing new pieces. He’s chosen to showcase his most recent track Falling Further and has recruited Hendrix and Waiariki from Abstract Fish Lungs to help bring the song to life.

Abstract Fish Lungs. Josh Alexander on guitar and vocals, Waiariki Tepania on guitar, Hendrix Knox on bass and Lily Lye on Drums. With one change in personnel since they performed at WTF22 they have completed their first recording Misery which has been playing on Raglan Community Radio. They also recently made the top 2 at the Waikato Regional Rockquest final and are in with a chance to go to the National finals in September. They are working on a new song for the finals and if we’re lucky we’ll get to hear it at WTF23 along with a third composition.