Four amazing wāhine warm up the audience for Peaches!

Theia's unapologetic, boundary-pushing alt-pop has making waves since she first emerged in 2016 with her break-out hit ‘Roam’. Amassing close to 15 million streams on Spotify alone and receiving extensive radio play in New Zealand and Asia, ‘Roam’ earned Theia a loyal fanbase across the globe and paved the way for her self-titled debut EP (2018) and the NOT YOUR PRINCESS EP (2019). In early 2020, Theia upped the ante with the release of her high-energy mixtape 99% ANGEL, which drew praise from the likes of Billboard Magazine. She revealed the mixtape with a headlining slot at Sydney Mardi Gras’ Heaps Gay party just weeks before the COVID pandemic was declared, sending her back to New Zealand for lockdown. With a string of shows and international travel thwarted, Theia took time out and focused on composing songs in te reo Māori. It led to her launching the side project TE KAAHU and its debut album ‘Te Kaahu O Rangi’, which was released to critical acclaim in 2022. The album received a multitude of nominations in the Rolling Stone Awards, the NZ Music Awards (AMAs), the Silver Scrolls, the Waiata Māori Music Awards and the Student Radio Network Awards.

A tearer-upper of dancefloors, Strange Stains is the solo project of Cooki Martin (Ngāpuhi) (they/them). Strange Stains has evolved from a minimal DIY style to include more elaborate footwork, dance, and industrial pop-based music. Correlating electronic experimentation with echoes of industrial post punk, Strange Stains brings this sonic world together on the dancefloor, alongside sweet-nothings lyrics and fabulous outfits. “Their singular approach and excitable energy bring mesmerising and luscious performances of industrial-pop soundscapes that encourage footloose abandon. Inhabiting a nightlife where people lose themselves in Fever Ray and Lydia Lunch, Strange Stains contemplates the nocturnal with one finger raised to the toxic, and welcomes in the joy of unconditional acceptance.” - Jonny Marks (The All Seeing Hand). Strange Stains have toured Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and China, as well as completing an artist residency in Japan, where they also performed live. They are also one of the original members of MESH, a group passionate about creating events for underrepresented DJs in Aotearoa. Strange Stains is currently based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, where they reside and make music and art.

Freya Daly Sadgrove is a Pākehā writer and performer born in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa. She is the engine behind live poetry event Show Ponies, coming to Tāmaki Makaurau in February 2023 with Samesame But Different and Auckland Pride. Her first poetry collection, Head Girl, was published in February 2020 with Te Herenga Waka University Press. She is currently developing a genre-melting performance work, Whole New Woman, which will debut at BATS from 9 to 11 March as part of NZ Fringe 2023. Freya will be performing with Vera Ellen drummer Samuel Austin for this special set! “…mesmerising and spectacular, loud and q  u  i e  t, in possession of the most astonishing vocal mannerisms in New Zealand this side of Kim Hill.” — Steve Braunias, Newsroom

 “This is poetry that tears, that is torn apart, that is so utterly alive it hurts.” — Paula Green, NZ Poetry Shelf 

 “Listening to Freya read is like watching a cartoon horse galloping across the desert by moonlight, and it’s only when you pause and look at each individual frame that you can see the painstaking detail that went into making it look effortless.” — Hera Lindsay Bird, The Pantograph Punch

Estère lends her DJ skills to co-open the night with a special set of selected tunes in honour of the Teaches of Peaches show. Estère doesn’t play music - she creates sonic amalgamations that merge culture, language and legend. She breathes life into narratives that marry the acutely human to the achingly mythic. Her vocals soar and then swoon, beckoning sultrily and opening gates to new interpretations of age-old tales. Estère plays ‘electric blue witch-hop,' as she refers to her dimensions of electronic, folk and R&B. The New Zealand Herald called it “a beautiful mix of everything the music world is lauding and lusting after right now.” Estère began her journey as a bedroom producer with an MPC called Lola. Her first album, Estère, released in 2015 via Paris-based record label Prospect, earned her accolades from prominent media outlets such as Disco Naïveté, Elle Magazine (FR) and Portals. In 2018, Estère’s second album My Design, On Others’ Lives was championed by Radio NZ as “an exceptional record.” Afropunk called it “an immersive experience unlike anything you’ve ever witnessed.” Estère has brought her unique live show - she plays her MPC, guitar, keyboards, drums - to Europe, Africa and Asia, including slots opening for Grace Jones and Erykah Badu. Estère’s onstage talent and energy has earned her invitations to international festivals including Glastonbury (UK), Afropunk Paris (FR), Bushfire Festival (Swaziland) WOMAD (NZ), Aarhus Festuge (Denmark) and Sori Arts Festival (South Korea). She has also headlined sold-out shows in the UK, France and New Zealand. In her push to explore new terrain in song writing and performance, Estère's concept show, ‘Into the Belly of Capricorn,’ was performed for arts festivals throughout Aotearoa in 2020/2021. Through the lens of the show’s protagonist, audiences are invited to explore archetypal themes shaped by the songs from Estère's third album - Archetypes - created with Massive Attack producer Stew Jackson, released on Blue Riot Records.

Estère has been twice nominated for New Zealand Music Awards, including Best Producer (2018) and Critics Choice Award (2015). She is a sought-after mentor for budding producers throughout New Zealand, teaching producing workshops throughout the year. In 2022, Estère featured in the internationally renowned World of WearableArt Awards Show in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, performing her music live as reimagined through the composed WOW soundtrack, while dancing for the choreographed 18-show spectacle.