If you weren’t already cancelling all your plans for March, Banished Music and Strange News have just gone and added a whole lot more musical mashed potato to your plate with the extraordinary full line-up for Strange Universe: Autumn edition revealed at last!

That’s right, this phenomenal series of shows in your favourite venues across Tāmaki Makaurau just added 200% more phenom! We’ve gone and added three whole new shows into the mix for your troubles!

One of the UK’s most sought after acts, and an NTS Radio regular, Nabihah Iqbal is coming on back to our shores to throw down a late night DJ set to remember at Neck of the Woods! Opening up the night will be the formidable Tāmaki Makaurau-based Iraqi artist and producer Mariam (Hafleh, Sonic Hapori), spinning for all your Maqams and Mawaals, dancehall, dub, and Raï needs!
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Making her Aotearoa debut, it’s the soulfully sublime Los Angeles folk artist Annahstasia, praised by The Guardian for her “superbly written, remarkably moving songs, delivered by a singer who knows exactly how to use her vocals to cut the listener deep”. Joining Annahstasia at Pitt Street Methodist Church is local alternative folk favourite Na’amah Cheiban, whose songs resonate with frank vulnerability and aching sincerity. 

Finally, we are unbelievably honoured to announce the long-awaited return of American folk hero Jolie Holland, back at last to perform at Pitt Street Methodist Church as a very special intimate duo. Jolie’s connection with Aotearoa runs deep, recording a recent collaboration with Theia, and a long-standing friendship and collaboration with our old friend Steve Abel. Speak of the devil, we’ve managed to lure Steve away from the Beehive for one night only, set to perform his first solo show in longer than we care to imagine.

But wait… that’s not all!

Norwegian duo of the moment Smerz have invited the one-and-only Erny Belle to join the bill at Double Whammy for one of her only shows of the season! Smerz are absolutely dominating the world circuit at the moment, and this new addition makes the show truly unmissable.
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Flying Nun favourite The Bats are celebrating their 2025 already-classic album Corner Coming Up, inviting the wonderful HalfSisteR to open for them at the iconic Hollywood Avondale! HalfSisteR are newly minted, and feature members of Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, Superette, Drorgan, and more!
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Set to join American psych lord Ty Segall and his scorching band on his grand return are none other than Japan’s most dangerous band, Guitar Wolf! The Powerstation is set to have its foundations put to the test once and for all with this rock’n’roll collision for the ages!
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Anatolian psych-folk sensation Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek will transform Double Whammy into something truly magical, now with added sorcery thanks to an all-star live incarnation of Noa Records mainstays WAIWHAI.!
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Eternally excellent Swedish noise makers Les Big Byrd will be joined by the fiercest trio in the land right now, Sulfate! Reunited, reinvented, and fully reinvigorated, you won’t experience a deeper head trip than a Sulfate show any time soon, and we’re stoked to have them on the bill.
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“Woah, turns out we’re even more crazy than we were when we thought we were crazy before!”
- Reuben Bonner, CEO of Banished Music

Yes, it’s time to ramp things up and really get the party started with this wild line-up of good times. March will never be the same again… And you better believe we are planning Strange Universe WINTER Edition already…

‍SMERZ & ERNY BELLE (DUO) - WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH - DOUBLE WHAMMY
This genre-bending duo from Norway have been causing a beautiful stir this year, with the likes of Pitchfork going ape over the “retrofuturist warehouse pop” of Smerz’s 2025 album Big city life. While the pairing of Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt is impossible to pin down to a single sound, Boomkat labelled them “a sort of genius missing link between Astrid Sonne, Cibo Matto and Luscious Jackson”, and The Quietus placed them “in the zone where club music, art-school minimalism, and emotional confession overlap”.  Smerz have invited the one-and-only Erny Belle to join the bill at Double Whammy for one of her only shows of the season!

THE BATS CELEBRATE CORNER COMING UP & HALFSISTER- SATURDAY 7 MARCH - HOLLYWOOD AVONDALE
The local legends of our line-up, The Bats scarcely need any introduction, but just in case you’ve been living under a rock. For over forty years this reliably delightful Flying Nun quartet have been responsible for soothing us, getting us dancing, and creating some of the most note perfect South Island sound you’re ever likely to hear. With their eleventh album Corner Coming Up just released to audience acclaim, there’s no finer time to catch this perfect pop band for their first Tāmaki Makaurau headline show in yonks. They invited the wonderful HalfSisteR to open for them at the iconic Hollywood Avondale! HalfSisteR are newly minted, and feature members of Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, Superette, Drorgan, and more!

NABIHAH IQBAL (DJ SET) & MARIAM - SATURDAY 7 MARCH - NECK OF THE WOODS
One of the UK’s most sought after live acts, Nabihah Iqbal is one of the longest-running hosts on London’s revered NTS Radio, and has DJed at everywhere from underground clubs to festivals around the world. Nabihah was last here in early 2024 celebrating the release of her critically adored album DREAMER, with 95bFM’s review noting the show was “a collective precious memory hard to forget”. This time, she’s set to blow our minds with her world renowned DJ sets, alongside local talent Mariam. Formerly known as DJ HALALAMAMA, Mariam is an Iraqi artist, producer, and community organiser. The leader of the Hafleh collective, Mariam’s club nights and mixes are legendary. Mariam is set to deliver a set packed with sublime Maqams and Mawaals, Raï, Dancehall, and Dub.

TY SEGALL & GUITAR WOLF - TUESDAY 10 MARCH - POWERSTATION
We couldn’t be more hyped to finally announce the return of guitar hero Ty Segall and his band, hot on the heels of his demonically radical new record Possession. Packed with an arsenal of his usual tricks - insane riffs, big noise, non-stop rawk - the album also incorporates shades of the 1960s, and what Mojo referred to as a “strutting glam-baroque”. Bringing with him his riders of the apocalypse Emmett Kelly, Mikal Cronin, Evan Burrows and Benjamin Boye, Ty is all set to shake the foundations of the mighty Powerstation with one all-powerful show. Set to join the American psych lord Ty Segall and his scorching band on his grand return are none other than Japan’s most dangerous band, Guitar Wolf! The Powerstation is set to have its foundations put to the test once and for all with this rock’n’roll collision for the ages!

ANNAHSTASIA & NA’AMAH CHEIBAN - WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH - PITT ST METHODIST CHURCH
Making her Aotearoa debut, the soulfully sublime Los Angeles folk artist Annahstasia is a fast-rising star, known for her soulful, poetic, and deeply intimate songcraft. Her gorgeous recent album Tether was praised by The Guardian for its “superbly written, remarkably moving songs, delivered by a singer who knows exactly how to use her vocals to cut the listener deep”. Joining Annahstasia is local alternative folk favourite Na’amah Cheiban. Inspired by the likes of Adrienne Lenker, Joni Mitchell, Tiny Ruins and Maddison Cunningham, Na’amah’s original music is characterised by a tender and elastic voice, quietly intricate guitar parts, and gently contemplative and emotional lyrics. Her songs navigate her experiences as a young woman with raw and frank vulnerability and an aching sincerity.

JOLIE HOLLAND & STEVE ABEL - FRIDAY 13 MARCH - PITT ST METHODIST CHURCH
We all know good things take time, and when American folk hero Jolie Holland released her most recent solo album Haunted Mountain in 2023 after a six year hiatus, No Depression celebrated by calling it “unmistakably triumphant”. It's been far too long since we had Jolie on our stages, but in the interim Jolie’s connection with Aotearoa has still been running deep, recording a recent collaboration with Theia, and enjoying a long-standing friendship and collaboration with our old friend Steve Abel. Steve is perhaps best known as an MP with the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, but his catalogue of heart-breaking and soul-soothing albums exist as testament to his extraordinary gift for songwriting. Steve’s most recent musical outing was a rare one-song appearance with the 35-piece ensemble The Exploding Rainbow Orchestra. Now, he’s been lured out for one night only to perform his exquisite songs for us alongside his old friend.

‍DERYA YILDIRIM & GRUP ŞİMŞEK & WAIWHAI.- SUNDAY 15 MARCH - DOUBLE WHAMMY
‍One of the latest signings to Big Crown Records (Lee Fields, Surprise Chef), Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek are making their way down for one very special Aotearoa show only. German-Turkish singer and bağlama player Derya Yildirim leads a quartet of international players to create a sublime blend of Anatolian folk with psychedelia, pop, soul, and funk thrown in the mix. The band’s latest album Yarin Yoksa was produced by Leon “El Michels Affair” Michels, and had The Guardian swooning over their “fuzzy, hypnotic beats, soulful saz-funk and emotive balladry”. If you’re not already a fan of this truly unique sensation, you soon will be. Now with added sorcery thanks to an all-star live incarnation of Noa Records mainstays WAIWHAI. as support.

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LES BIG BYRD & SULFATE - TUESDAY 24 MARCH - DOUBLE WHAMMY
Rounding out the month is the cosmically charged sonic Swedish force that is Les Big Byrd. Launched into cult stardom in their early years when Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe championed their sound, the band have gone on to become a revered entity in the world of psychedelic rock. Local critic Graham Reid recently sat them alongside the likes of Spiritualized, Can, and Tangerine Dream, while one blogger evoked quite an image, inviting the listener to imagine “the Pixies playing in a subway station on LSD opening for Enigma”. They will be joined in support by the fiercest trio in the land right now, Sulfate! Reunited, reinvented, and fully reinvigorated, you won’t experience a deeper head trip than a Sulfate show any time soon, and we’re stoked to have them on the bill.
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