spinofflive
Troy Kingi
Troy Kingi

Pop CultureMay 25, 2024

‘There’s no better song to drink coffee to’: Troy Kingi’s perfect weekend playlist

Troy Kingi
Troy Kingi

In a new weekly interview series, we ask a different local artist to curate their dream weekend soundtrack. First up: Troy Kingi. 

Troy Kingi is a man on a well-documented mission to make 10 albums, in 10 genres, over 10 years. But finding himself creatively blocked while making his eighth album, he decided to pack his bags and go on a creative pilgrimage to Joshua Tree. In the first episode of Troy Kingi’s Desert Hikoi, he explains why he’s making the trip. “I’m just hoping it’s going to spark something in me, some vibes, some creativity.” 

The trail leads him everywhere from a cave in the Mamápukaiv mountains, to a run-in with a cactus in the Mojave Desert, to a sit-down with his childhood idol Serj Tankan from System of a Down (he is making a rock album, after all). With all four episodes now available to binge this weekend on TVNZ+, we asked Troy Kingi to curate his perfect weekend playlist for us. 

Stan Getz – ‘The Girl from Ipanema’

I’m not a huge coffee guy but we just got a new machine, so I’ve been going hard and for sure there’s no better song to drink coffee to while the world slowly wakes up than ‘The Girl from Ipanema’.

Kendrick Lamar – ‘Not Like Us’

I don’t know how badly this is gonna age, but me and my girls have been thrashing this one all week on the way to trainings and Saturday sport. Good one to get geed up to, and also, we were entrenched in the Drake/Kendrick beef – what a time to be alive huh?

Khruangbin – ’August 10’

Khruangbin has ultimately been the soundtrack to my life for a wee while, beautiful music for afternoon chilling. This song in particular inspired my song ‘Happy Colour’ off of my last album.

The Stylistics – ‘Hurry Up This Way Again’

Cooking dinner for the family has been my favourite pastime since moving into our new house. I listen to The Stylistics on shuffle every single night and this song always jumps out, what a banger.

Yussef Dayes – ‘Portrait of Tracy (Live from Malibu)’

Yussef Dayes has been on high rotation all year. This song sits nicely in the background during Saturday night dinner but if you care to actually listen it’s dope as hell.

Andre 3000 – ‘I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time’

I thought I was the king of long-winded titles but Andre 3K definitely takes the cake with this one. I’m a big Andre fan so I’m gonna lap up any tunes he throws our way – even if he’s being a buzzy flautist. Great way to see a Sunday sunrise.

Bill Withers – ‘Use Me’

I’ve just finished a run of shows with the Bill Withers Social Club, and this song pretty much has the best drum beat of all time, it makes you wanna dance-walk through the bush.

Deniece Williams – ‘Free’

I first heard this song on the Wu-Tang: An American Saga series. It’s been a staple in my playlists ever since and is perfect for the Sunday house clean. Just looking at my song choices, they’re pretty chill vibes, I suppose the older I get the less abrasive I wanna be to my one good ear.

Bob Marley – ‘Coming In From the Cold’

Uprising is on high rotation in our household. My daughter said they had a game of Jeopardy in her class the other day and played this very song, the teacher said if they could also name the album they would get double points – she’s the only one who knew. It’s like I’ve been training her whole life for this moment.

Ruby Turner – Women Hold up Half the Sky (the whole album)

This is my most prized possession in my record collection, a second hand bargain from Real Groovy and a banger from start to finish. It’s an album that reminds me of trips to my grandma’s in Whangārei in the late 80s.

Watch Troy Kingi’s Desert Hikoi here on TVNZ+

Keep going!
Sara Wiseman’s life in TV (Image: Tina Tiller)
Sara Wiseman’s life in TV (Image: Tina Tiller)

Pop CultureMay 25, 2024

‘I was absolutely devastated’: Sara Wiseman on the moment she nearly quit acting

Guest writer
Sara Wiseman’s life in TV (Image: Tina Tiller)
Sara Wiseman’s life in TV (Image: Tina Tiller)

The star of High Country talks Tinkerbell, her love for Hawkeye Pierce and why a 98-year-old environmentalist is the most stylish man on television. 

Sara Wiseman has been a fixture on New Zealand television screens for nearly three decades. First appearing in Hercules and Xena Warrior Princess during the mid 90s, her breakthrough role came in 2001 as the formidable Dr Nicky Somerville in popular medical drama Mercy Peak. She went on to feature in iconic New Zealand shows like Outrageous Fortune, The Mighty Johnsons and Shortland Street, before a move across the Tasman saw her land a lead role as Carolyn Bligh in much-loved Australian 1950s drama A Place to Call Home. 

Wiseman’s latest television role takes her deeper into the Australian countryside. High Country is a murder-mystery that follows the investigation of five missing people who disappear into the bush. Wiseman jumped at the chance to be involved with the show, because not only was the crime drama made by the team behind Wentworth (a show Wiseman fiercely admires), but it was an opportunity to work in the stunning Victorian mountains. “It’s one of the most beautiful parts of the country, with almost a New Zealand, Scandinavian vibe,” Wiseman says.  

We spoke to Wiseman about her favourite TV memories, including an early obsession with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and why she thinks Sir David Attenborough is the most stylish man on television.

Sara Wiseman in a scene from High Country (Photo: Supplied)

My earliest TV memory is… The Wonderful World of Disney. I’m pretty sure it was on every Sunday evening, because I think we sat down and had pancakes with it. I remember seeing Tinkerbell go around the castle, and wondering what Wonderful World of Disney story I would see this week.

The TV show I used to rush home from school to watch was… Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Back in primary school days, I’m pretty sure that was on at four o’clock. I was obsessed with that cartoon. I don’t know why. 

The TV ad I can’t stop thinking about is… The New Zealand Post ads about calling your Mum or going home and families reuniting, those ones kind of linger. I’m a sucker, I will cry. They pull the heartstrings. 

My favourite TV moment is… A scene in episode six of High Country. We shot this wonderful sequence inside where a bunch of us light up and have a bit of a boogie. It was just the most fun two and a half hours of cutting loose to great music and pretending that you’re wasted, and it was beautifully shot with some wonderful people. I only think about twenty seconds of it ends up on screen, but I left on such a natural high from boogying down for two and a half hours. I was like, “this is the dream job”. 

What I wish people knew about being an actor on TV is… There’s a lot of sacrifices that come with this gig, and it’s very fickle. It’s very soul destroying at times with the amount of rejection. Imagine going for a job interview every week and getting told “nah”, and not why. There’s a strong, thick soul to a lot of actors.

My favourite TV character is… Hawkeye Pierce. Mash still stands up. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Friends, but there’s some episodes where you’re like “ooh no, that doesn’t hold any more”. But Mash? My gosh. Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce can do no wrong. 

The most stylish person on TV is… I’m not really one that follows style, but style to me is passion and integrity, so I’ll say Sir David Attenborough. There’s no-one more styley than him and his ninety-plus years of dedication to conservation on this planet. I think he’s the styliest mo-fo ever.

The TV show I watched and really wished I was involved with is… Wentworth. I auditioned for it and didn’t get a recall. I was absolutely devastated. I was about to quit acting, it was that devastating. The day that I found out that I hadn’t got a recall, I was cast in A Place to Call Home. So that stopped the quitting, but I just loved that show with all these really complex, powerful women. 

My most watched TV show of all time is… Friends. Anytime, anywhere around the world, there’s probably a channel playing it and so it’s something that you can just sit there and watch. It’s very easy to just go “oh, Ross”. 

The TV show I’ll never watch, no matter how many people tell me to is… I can only speak to a film, and that would be Jaws. Never going to watch it. I know too many people that did and now have such a fear of going in deep water. I know it’s not a TV show, but I’ll usually give most TV shows a go. 

My controversial TV opinion is… I struggle with gratuitous violence and the dumbing down of really explicit violence, so that we’re desensitised to it. I mean, if you’re fed it 24/7, how can it not change your view of how you deal with people in real life? 

The last thing I watched on television was… Friends Like Her. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I mean, I’m a fangirl of my mate Morgs [Morgana O’Reilly] forever and ever and ever, and Jared [Rawiri]. But I just love seeing Kaikōura on screen, it was beautifully shot and all the characters are fantastic. Sarah Kate Lynch has done such a great job of a really interesting, complex, different storyline. I’m amped if they get a season two.

High Country screens on Three from Monday 27 May at 8pm and streams on ThreeNow. 

Pop Culture