Website www.kora.co.nz | Years active 1991–present | |
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Albums Kora, Mesto Pada, Light Years, Kora! Kora! Kora! The Cabaret Voltaire Versions, Out of the Box, EP Volume Members Laughton Kora, Francis Kora Record labels Remote Control Records, Shiva Records, Lampshade Media, Border Music, Kora Ltd, Pepinio Records Similar Fly My Pretties, Keo, Olga Jackowska, Tiki Taane, TrinityRoots Profiles | ||
Kora is a New Zealand five-piece music group, which consists of four brothers from the Kora family. The band, which originally began in Whakatane, New Zealand fuses elements of reggae, rock, dub, roots, funk, and more recently space funk and dub step elements.
Contents
Early years: 1991–2002
Kora brothers Laughton, Francis, Stuart and Brad began playing together in the early 1990s in a band called ’Aunty Beatrice’, which won the 1991 Rockquest competition and the Battle Of The Bands three years in a row, earning a release on Tangata Records. Dan McGruer, the only non-related member of Kora, studied commercial music at Whitireia Community Polytechnic and joined up with Laughton when they performed together in Queenstown band Soul Charge.
In early 2002, core members Laughton and Dan recorded a four-song demo while living in Queenstown. Later that year the demo caught the attention of Wellington-based record label Recordings Aot(ear)oa who, in December, released the song "Barely Can See" on their LOOP Select 004 compilation album. In 2002, Kora was formed.
First recordings: 2004–2007
Kora’s debut EP entitled Volume was released in late 2004 and achieved platinum status in March 2007 with over 10,000 copies sold. Featuring the singles "Politician" and "Burning", the EP was independently produced and released by the band, recorded at The Surgey by Lee Prebble and mastered by Chris Faiumu of Fat Freddy's Drop. Kora’s self-titled debut album was released in October 2007. It was recorded in New Zealand and mastered in London by Kevin Metcalfe at The Soundmasters International. It has sold in excess of 35,000 copies todate.
Members
Studio albums
EPs
Songs
SkankensteinKora · 2007
Drop Dead KillerLight Years · 2012
Pop Your BubbleKora · 2007