A couple of weeks ago a mutual friend introduced me to Oko Ebombo, by way of the French musician's exceedingly soulful track, 'Naked Life'. The result of several years of recording, arranging and re-recording, 'Naked Life' is performed by Oko's latest musical venture, 19, a band whose name references the Parisian district he holds dear through family ties.

Jack Smylie

Photographer - Théodoros Gennitsakis

It's hard to pigeon-hole Maison Nue - something its founders would probably be quite happy about. The multiplatform makeup of Maison Nue encompasses graphic design, music, fashion and art and has hit the ground running this year with a number of projects and products on the go. We caught up with the collective recently to see what they're all about.

Karl Hab: Tell us about Maison Nue.

Karl Hab

Photographer - Maison Nue portrait by Boris Camaca

For those who aren't aware, New Zealand has a flourishing independent music scene, with Auckland in particular punching well above its weight in terms of the number and calibre of acts who are writing and producing music that competes with the best from so called 'cultural capitals' around the world. One band primed for great things in 2013 are Auckland-based 3-piece, Popstrangers, a trio made up of singer/guitarist Joel Flyger, bassist Adam Page and drummer Dave Larson.

Jack Smylie

Photographer - Frances Carter / Lilly Ansible

‘I hate brown sauce’, Adio Marchant comments as we sit down at a greasy spoon in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. He picks up the Heinz bottle enthusiastically. ‘Ketchup works on everything.’ Casually dressed in a black tee and baseball jacket, the former member of Kid British orders himself a black coffee and a full English breakfast. ‘That’s why I wanted to come here’ he says. I notice he’s without his signature old-school specs. He explains how he lost them a couple days in the rain while putting up his hood.

Carol Huston

Photographer - Greg Walsh

Marika Hackman shares with us her moody, folk-infused sounds for the track ‘Cannibal’ ahead of her mini-album That Iron Taste, releasing at the end of February. Charlie Andrew of Alt-J, the 2012 Mercury Prize winners, produced the Dirty Hit album. Marika and Charlie are collaborating on a full-length album projected for later this year. ‘Listening to Laura Veirs made me start taking songwriting much more seriously’, the photogenic artist says of her inspirations. ‘More recently, bands like Warpaint have led me to a more grungy sound’.

Carol Huston