By Emily Norman
Three former Wairarapa College students are hoping to hit the big time after scoring $8000 in funding from NZ On Air to create a music video.
The indie music trio, L.A Women, were shooting the video for their latest single “Hurricane Love” at various hot spots in Wairarapa last week, including Ngawi, Masterton’s skate park, town square, and Queen Elizabeth Park.
Band members Jake Schdroski, his cousin Zac Emerson, and Jesse Brown released “Hurricane Love” in May this year.
The single has gained traction since then with more than 300,000 plays on music streaming service Spotify.
Mr Schdroski said he and the guys were excited to have the opportunity to create a video for the track, one which would visually tell the tale of young love.
“It’s just to put a visual to the song,” he said.
“Everyone likes to look at something when they’re listening to music to give them an idea of what’s going on.
“Eventually we can hopefully get it played on TV and stuff, it’d be awesome.”
Along with NZ On Air funding, the band also received a grant from Masterton District Council of $2,200 and $500 from Trust House.
Masterton District Council’s economic development manager Kieran McAnulty said it was great to have the boys film their video in Masterton, as it would showcase the town.
“LA Women, most of whom come from Masterton, have demonstrated that they have huge commercial potential,” he said.
“The fact that their song Hurricane Love has nearly 300,000 plays on Spotify caught the Council’s attention and on that basis, the Councillors considered this worthy of support.”
He said Masterton councillors were keen to support the music video in order to “reflect Masterton’s long history of producing musicians of the highest quality, and also promote Masterton as an ideal location to make productions such as this.”
“In addition, showcasing Masterton’s most iconic locations, to what could be a world-wide audience, is a great opportunity,” he said.
