Anika Moa
Encyclopedia
Anika Rose Moa is a New Zealand pop
recording artist. In 2001 she signed to Atlantic Records
in the United States
and released her debut album, Thinking Room
, the album reached the top of the New Zealand Singles Chart and was a commercial success.
Moa was raised in Christchurch
, New Zealand. While attending highschool, Moa entered the 'Smokefree Rockquest
'.
, New Zealand
. She is of Ngāpuhi
and Te Aupōuri
descent.
She received a record deal with Warner Music in New Zealand and Atlantic Records
in New York. The record company had commercialised plans for her – which conflicted with her down-to-earth personality. Overall Moa did not enjoy her time in the United States
and returned to base herself in New Zealand in 2002.
She released her second album on 1 August 2005. She has collaborated with many artists including New Zealand's SJD
and Bic Runga
. She has also joined the band Dimmer
, in a backup and touring capacity. She appears on the Greenpeace
single "Anchor Me
", which commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the bombing of the
Rainbow Warrior
. She also DJs under the pseudonym DJ Unika.
. The album was self produced for the first time. In 2009 The New Zealand Herald
mentioned Moa as one of the "Top 10 Kiwi music successes of the past 10 years".
Moa came out as openly
lesbian
in 2007, and entered into a civil union
with Australian burlesque dancer Azaria Universe (Angela Fyfe) in February 2010. Moa said it was love on first sight; "I met Azaria and fell in love instantly and that was it, I knew I was going to be with her for the rest of my life". The couple tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant using anonymous sperm donation. In February 2011 Fyfe was pregnant with twins, due August 2011, with the donor father believed to be Moa's brother. The twin boys are nicknamed were "Stabber" and "Dabber" in Woman's Day magazine 16 May 2011.
Universe was a major inspiration for her fourth album, Love in Motion
. The album peaked at number four on the New Zealand Albums Chart.
To support her fourth album Love in Motion, Anika is embarking on a nationwide tour of New Zealand with special guest Mel Parsons, beginning 21 October 2010 and finishing 4 December.
|-
|2005
|"Stolen Hill"
|rowspan="3"|APRA Silver Scroll
|
|-
|2008
|"Dreams in My Head
"
|
|-
|2010
|"Running Through the Fire (Storm)
"
|
New Zealand Music Awards
|-
|rowspan="5"|2002
|rowspan="3"|Thinking Room
|Album of the Year
|
|-
|Top Female vocalist
|
|-
|International Achievement
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|"Youthful"
|Single of the Year
|
|-
|Songwriter of the Year
|
|-
|2006
|Stolen Hill
|Best Female Solo Artist
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|2008
|rowspan="2"|In Swings the Tide
|Nokia Album of the Year
|
|-
|Mazda Best Female Solo Artist
|
|-
|rowspan="3"|2010
|rowspan="3"|Love in Motion
|Vodafone Album of the Year
|
|-
|Mazda Best Female Solo Artist
|
|-
|Best Pop Album
|
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
recording artist. In 2001 she signed to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and released her debut album, Thinking Room
Thinking Room
-Personnel:* Richard Bates – art direction and design* Des Bradbery – additional programming * Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion* Knox Chandler – electric guitar, mandolin, bass...
, the album reached the top of the New Zealand Singles Chart and was a commercial success.
Moa was raised in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, New Zealand. While attending highschool, Moa entered the 'Smokefree Rockquest
Rockquest
Smokefreerockquest is an annual music competition for intermediate and high school bands throughout New Zealand.The first Rockquest was held in 1988, and was organised by Christchurch radio station C93FM as a local event...
'.
Early life
Anika Moa was born on 21 May 1980 in AucklandAuckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. She is of Ngāpuhi
Ngapuhi
Ngāpuhi is a Māori iwi located in the Northland region of New Zealand, and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands and Whāngārei.Ngāpuhi has the largest affiliation of any New Zealand iwi, with 122,214 people registered , and formed from 150 hapu, with 55 marae.-Foundations:The founding...
and Te Aupōuri
Te Aupouri
Te Aupōuri is the northernmost Māori iwi , located north of Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand, a region known as the Aupouri Peninsula.-The ancestral legend:...
descent.
She received a record deal with Warner Music in New Zealand and Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
in New York. The record company had commercialised plans for her – which conflicted with her down-to-earth personality. Overall Moa did not enjoy her time in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and returned to base herself in New Zealand in 2002.
She released her second album on 1 August 2005. She has collaborated with many artists including New Zealand's SJD
SJD (musician)
SJD, or Sean James Donnelly, is a musician from Auckland, New Zealand. His music is a mix of electronica, pop-rock, and soul. The name SJD also refers to Donnelly's touring band when not performing solo....
and Bic Runga
Bic Runga
Briolette Kah Bic Runga MNZM is a New Zealand pop recording artist whose first solo album, Drive, debuted at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ charts. She has since become one of the highest-selling New Zealand artists in recent history...
. She has also joined the band Dimmer
Dimmer (band)
Dimmer is a musical group from New Zealand. The driving force behind the band is Shayne Carter, a prominent New Zealand musician and member of such bands as Straitjacket Fits and Double Happys. The band have released four full length albums, "I Believe You Are A Star" , "You've Got To Hear The...
, in a backup and touring capacity. She appears on the Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
single "Anchor Me
Anchor Me (Greenpeace song)
"Anchor Me" is a song by the New Zealand band The Mutton Birds from their 1993 album, Salty. In 2005, an all-star line-up of New Zealand artists collaborated to re-record the song, under the name Greenpeace, as a charity-fundraising single to mark the twentieth anniversary of the bombing of...
", which commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the bombing of the
Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique, was an operation by the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence services, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure , carried out on July 10, 1985...
Rainbow Warrior
Rainbow Warrior (1978)
The Rainbow Warrior was a former UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food trawler later purchased by the environmental organisation Greenpeace...
. She also DJs under the pseudonym DJ Unika.
2007 – present: In Swings the Tide, civil union and Love in Motion
In October 2007, she released her third studio album, In Swings The TideIn Swings the Tide
In Swings the Tide is the third studio album by New Zealand Pop recording artist Anika Moa. It was released on 8 October 2007 by EMI Records...
. The album was self produced for the first time. In 2009 The New Zealand Herald
The New Zealand Herald
- External links :* * *...
mentioned Moa as one of the "Top 10 Kiwi music successes of the past 10 years".
Moa came out as openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
in 2007, and entered into a civil union
Civil union
A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...
with Australian burlesque dancer Azaria Universe (Angela Fyfe) in February 2010. Moa said it was love on first sight; "I met Azaria and fell in love instantly and that was it, I knew I was going to be with her for the rest of my life". The couple tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant using anonymous sperm donation. In February 2011 Fyfe was pregnant with twins, due August 2011, with the donor father believed to be Moa's brother. The twin boys are nicknamed were "Stabber" and "Dabber" in Woman's Day magazine 16 May 2011.
Universe was a major inspiration for her fourth album, Love in Motion
Love in Motion (Anika Moa album)
Love in Motion is the fourth studio album by New Zealand Pop recording artist Anika Moa. It was released by EMI Records internationally on 12 March 2010.The album debuted and peaked at number four on the New Zealand Albums Chart....
. The album peaked at number four on the New Zealand Albums Chart.
To support her fourth album Love in Motion, Anika is embarking on a nationwide tour of New Zealand with special guest Mel Parsons, beginning 21 October 2010 and finishing 4 December.
Awards and nominations
APRA AwardsAPRA Awards
The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....
|-
|2005
|"Stolen Hill"
|rowspan="3"|APRA Silver Scroll
|
|-
|2008
|"Dreams in My Head
Dreams in My Head
"Dreams In My Head" is the lead single from In Swings the Tide, New Zealand singer-songwriter Anika Moa's third studio album. It was released on 8 October 2007....
"
|
|-
|2010
|"Running Through the Fire (Storm)
Running Through the Fire (Storm)
"Running Through the Fire " is a single from by Anika Moa, a singer-songwriter from New Zealand. It is the lead single from Moa's fourth studio album, Love in Motion.-Background, composition and release:...
"
|
New Zealand Music Awards
New Zealand Music Awards
The New Zealand Music Awards show, is a major annual New Zealand music event where musical acts and singers are awarded each year. It has occurred every year since 1965 to outstanding New Zealand musicians and groups....
|-
|rowspan="5"|2002
|rowspan="3"|Thinking Room
Thinking Room
-Personnel:* Richard Bates – art direction and design* Des Bradbery – additional programming * Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion* Knox Chandler – electric guitar, mandolin, bass...
|Album of the Year
|
|-
|Top Female vocalist
|
|-
|International Achievement
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|"Youthful"
|Single of the Year
|
|-
|Songwriter of the Year
|
|-
|2006
|Stolen Hill
Stolen Hill
Stolen Hill is the second studio album by New Zealand recording artist Anika Moa, it was released on 1 August 2005 by Warner Music NZ. The album was certified gold and has sold over 7,500 copies.-Background:...
|Best Female Solo Artist
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|2008
|rowspan="2"|In Swings the Tide
In Swings the Tide
In Swings the Tide is the third studio album by New Zealand Pop recording artist Anika Moa. It was released on 8 October 2007 by EMI Records...
|Nokia Album of the Year
|
|-
|Mazda Best Female Solo Artist
|
|-
|rowspan="3"|2010
2010 New Zealand Music Awards
The 2010 New Zealand Music Awards was the 45th holding of the annual ceremony featuring awards for musical artists based in or originating from New Zealand. Finalists for the three technical awards were announced on 16 August 2010 with winners announced on 1 September, the date on which finalists...
|rowspan="3"|Love in Motion
Love in Motion (Anika Moa album)
Love in Motion is the fourth studio album by New Zealand Pop recording artist Anika Moa. It was released by EMI Records internationally on 12 March 2010.The album debuted and peaked at number four on the New Zealand Albums Chart....
|Vodafone Album of the Year
|
|-
|Mazda Best Female Solo Artist
|
|-
|Best Pop Album
|
Discography
Studio albums- Thinking RoomThinking Room-Personnel:* Richard Bates – art direction and design* Des Bradbery – additional programming * Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion* Knox Chandler – electric guitar, mandolin, bass...
(2001) - Stolen HillStolen HillStolen Hill is the second studio album by New Zealand recording artist Anika Moa, it was released on 1 August 2005 by Warner Music NZ. The album was certified gold and has sold over 7,500 copies.-Background:...
(2005) - In Swings The TideIn Swings the TideIn Swings the Tide is the third studio album by New Zealand Pop recording artist Anika Moa. It was released on 8 October 2007 by EMI Records...
(2007) - Love In MotionLove in Motion (Anika Moa album)Love in Motion is the fourth studio album by New Zealand Pop recording artist Anika Moa. It was released by EMI Records internationally on 12 March 2010.The album debuted and peaked at number four on the New Zealand Albums Chart....
(2010)