UCOL are proud to celebrate the musical achievements of Manawatū band Kokoa Nashi.
Comprising of UCOL alumni including Levi Lewis (vocals), Christian Perry (guitar), Alex Debenham (guitar), Jimi Afeaki (keyboard), Ronald Jones (bass guitar) and Daniel Ashcroft (drums), Kokoa Nashi have been crowned winners of this year’s Battle of the Bands.
Being the first band from Palmerston North to take out the competition, on the 30th anniversary of the event, Perry says the win is an epic feat and has given them the confidence boost they needed.
“We were super surprised and so stoked when our name was called out. There were so many amazing bands vying for the top spot, so we weren’t expecting it. We initially participated with a mind set to have fun and gain experience, rather than expecting to win.”
“Gaining the top spot has really hit home that we’re on the right track with the songs we’re creating, and people love our music just as much as we do.”
Ashcroft says as well as giving the judges and audience the best musical performance they could, the band wanted to present themselves as a complete package at the competition, which paid dividends on the day.
“Our mission was to showcase ourselves as a professional package as soon as we hit the stage. As well as practicing our 20-minute medley leading up to the comp, we focused on having a slick, quick set up to show the judges and audience we’re serious about what we do and giving people the best performance and experience we can. This definitely helped to show how much effort we had put into being a part of the competition.”
Since finishing their studies in 2015 and 2016, Perry says the band has continued to receive support towards their professional development from UCOL.
“If it wasn’t for UCOL we wouldn’t be where we are today. UCOL has played a critical role in the existence and sustainability of Kokoa Nashi.”
“UCOL fosters a lifelong community, and our past music lecturers Kane Parsons and Graham Johnston are still incredible mentors and continue to support us on our journey."
Perry says thanks to the support of the team at The Stomach too, the band was able to fully prepare for their performance in the lead up to Battle of the Bands.
“We’re so grateful to have such an awesome facility to practice and record at. The team at The Stomach fully supported our journey too and continue to do so as we work towards recording our debut album.”
He says Manawatū dons an impressive creative community, so winning the competition has given the NZ music scene a taste of the talent our region produces.
“Although there’s often a misconception outside of Palmy that there’s not much going on here, Manawatū has so many amazing musicians and artists who are incredibly supportive of each other. Winning the comp is a testament to the amount of work, dedication and passion for creating awesome music our band has, and the incredible local support we have received to help with our development.”
Originating from a duo band formed by Perry and Jimi during their Music Diploma studies at UCOL in 2015, Perry says the band was originally centred on acoustic, technical fingerstyle math rock; however, they knew they wanted to bring in more musical elements to expand their creativity and sound.
“When we collaborated with Ron and Alex, we ended up being a band of four guitarists, and although we had fun, we knew realistically we needed to mix things up to achieve the sound we were wanting. Since we learnt keyboard at UCOL, Jimi made the decision to switch to keys and we evolved progressively from then, with emphasis on balancing complex technical guitar work.”
Debenham says, “We had to accept that music isn’t just about the guitar. Although we stayed true to our guitar roots, this revelation only enhanced our strengths as a band”.
Perry says, “When Levi joined us in 2016, he brought in a whole other dimension of structure and cohesiveness, reining in our complex guitar mixes and balancing and simplifying our ideas. With his vocal elements we made the shift towards blending a vast array of genres”.
With Perry’s, Jones’, Debenham’s and Jimi’s love of guitar, progressive instrumental bands, video games and anime, Lewis’ interest in hip hop and rock music influence from his dad while growing up, and Ashcroft’s passion for contrasting music genres of heavy metal, opera and classical music, Ashcroft says Kokoa Nashi have ended up combining all of their musical interests into their songs.
“We don’t have just one genre, instead our music is a fusion of progressive math rock, metal, hip hop, jazz, and soundtrack-like compositions.”
“Our songs emphasise emotional complexity, visual storytelling, and dynamic shifts. They tell relatable stories about personal and social themes, particularly exploring raw, relatable topics like fatherhood, sacrifice, and emotional complexity without sounding cliché or overly negative.”
Jones explains the band’s songs as being “grand, imposing, and sometimes edgy”.
Ashcroft says a number of key values the band stick to have helped with their success and continued development.
“Collaboration and open communication have been vital to our success. We all encourage sharing of ideas, despite fear of judgment. We try to be honest in our communication to harness collaborative creativity effectively.”
“I believe authenticity and passion have also been key to our achievements and how we’ve evolved. If we continuously try to impress and challenge each other, we will keep improving collectively.”
For other local bands wanting to achieve their musical dreams, Jones says “just do it!”.
“Pursue music actively and persist, even through band conflicts. View challenges as growth. Stay authentic, avoid comparisons, and focus on individuality,” he says.
Winning Battle of the Bands has granted Kokoa Nashi a host of prizes including a music tour in Tokyo next year where they will play a show a night for a week, recording a single at The Lab Recording Studio in Auckland, a single mixed in Australia by world renowned UK producer, Steve James, musical equipment from Audio Technica and Jansen Sound, and a music video produced by South Island Media, which will receive airplay on Juice TV. The band is also planning a national tour to coincide with their album release.