DARTZ (stylised in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) is a

post- ''Post-'' (stylized in all caps) is the third solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Jeff Rosenstock, released on January 1, 2018, without any promotional lead-up. The album was released on Polyvinyl Record Co. in the United States and ...

pub rock band from

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, formed in 2019. Known for their songs about

New Zealand culture The culture of New Zealand is a synthesis of Indigenous peoples, indigenous Māori culture, Māori, colonial British culture, British, and other cultural influences. The country's earliest inhabitants brought with them customs and language fr ...

and

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, the band is composed of vocalist Daniel Vernon, guitarist Christan Pianta, bassist Clark Mathews, and drummer Hakopa Kuka-Larsen. Their 2024 album "Dangerous Day To Be A Cold One''"'' reached #1 on the Official NZ Album Charts and was nominated for the 2025

Taite Music Prize The Taite Music Prize is an annual New Zealand music award event. A prize of the same name (sometimes called the Taite Music Main) is one of five to be awarded. It recognises the best New Zealand album from the previous year. The prize is named ...

History

The band was formed in early 2019 when friends Daniel Vernon and Christian Pianta, who had recently moved to Wellington, submitted the fictional band name "DARTZ" as a joke application to open for Australian punk band

The Chats The Chats are an Australian punk rock band that formed in 2016 in the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. They describe their sound as "shed rock". The current band lineup is composed of guitarist Josh Hardy, drummer Matt Boggis, and bassist and vocali ...

. When DARTZ were unexpectedly confirmed as the Wellington support act, Vernon and Pianta recruited Clark Mathews and Hakopa Kuka-Larsen to complete the lineup. With two weeks to prepare, the group quickly wrote a set of original material, and after a positive reception they made the decision to continue performing. DARTZ released their debut single "40 Riddiford Street" later in 2019, followed by a string of independently distributed tracks and consistent touring around New Zealand. In 2021, the band received national recognition when their song "Bathsalts" was nominated for the APRA Silver Scroll award. In 2022, DARTZ signed to

Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringi ...

and released their debut album "The Band From Wellington, New Zealand", which included songs written for their initial performance. The album received a positive reception for its blend of punk energy and local storytelling, and was supported by touring across New Zealand and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The band followed up in 2024 with their second album "Dangerous Day To Be A Cold One", which debuted at number one in the official New Zealand Album Charts and remained number one across multiple non-consecutive weeks. The record was praised by Rolling Stone Australia for its "great wit, honest storytelling, and effortless ensemble work," and was a finalist for the 2025 Taite Music Prize. In the same year, DARTZ won Best Rock Artist and Best Music Video Content at the annual

Aotearoa Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

Band members

* Daniel Vernon -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

(2019–present) * Clark Mathews -

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(2019–present) * Hakopa Kuka-Larsen -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(2019–present) * Christan Pianta -

guitars The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(2019–present)

Discography

DARTZ have released two

extended plays An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive ...

and two

studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

Extended plays

Albums

References

{{Reflist Musical groups established in 2019 New Zealand musical quartets