Arjuna Oakes - Musician

Well damn! 🤯 Massive thank you to @bilalmusic for having us support last night at @villageunderground for @londonjazzfest , we had a blast!! Thank you so much to everyone who came early to see us, was our biggest gig in London to date and was so special to have such a full house for our set! ❤️ Was so inspiring to see the master Bilal in action, and an insane surprise to get to witness @common too 🔥 I'm gonna be buzzing all week after this one x

I’m so incredibly stoked to announce that my debut album ‘While I’m Distracted’ is out in the world! 🎉 I poured so much of myself into these 16 tracks, and I feel so lucky to have gone on this journey with the most incredible human beings. It’s been almost two years since we finished this record, but I honestly feel more connected to the music now than I ever have. It’s an authentic expression of who I am and how I feel about the world. I'm so pleased I now get to share it with you 😊 Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to the record and supported me throughout the journey. This album features so many incredible NZ musicians, a lot of whom have awesome projects that you should go support! Thank you to @nzonairmusic who’s funding allowed me to be ambitious with creating the album. Also a massive thank you to my team, my community, my friends and Whanau, whose support made this project possible. It’s finally out, my heart is full ❤️ Enjoy the album! Much love, Arjuna x Full album credits Produced and written by Arjuna Oakes Mixed and co-produced by @serebiimusic Mastered by @almachrome Drum tracking and string quartet recording at @surgerystudios engineered by Lee Prebble and James Goldsmith Pianos recorded at Broome studios courtesy of @tombroome Paintings by @swillis Photography by @suchita , styled by Jieying Cai Album Design by @jonnydrops Musicians Arjuna Oakes - Vocals, piano/keyboards, synths, string arrangements, percussion and production @harryshools - Bass @sam.notman - Drums @jensephjonkins - Guitar @serebiimusic - Guitar and backing vocals @andresmithmusic - Acoustic Guitar @therealjamesmacewan - Trumpet @louisawmusic - Saxophone @nathan.haines - Flute @leahjanemusic - Clarinet Kate King - French Horn @zanehawkins_ - Percussion Sarah Willis - Backing Vocals @kajjasmnhm - Backing Vocals @hilarywilary1 - Violin @emmyloulola - Violin @violavdz - Viola Charley Davenport - Cello Released on @albertsfavourites A&R by @adamscrimshire Funded by @nzonairmusic NZ PR by @brown_pippa UK PR by Benjamin Smith Special thanks to @garyfortune29 for all his hard work getting the album released.

Before It's All Over live session out now! We filmed this in Feb 2023 in the garden of my flat at the time in Wellington. It was a really special day, we had a little party 🎉 We filmed more songs that I'll share with you once the album is out (not long now). You can watch the full video on my youtube channel 😊 Video Credits Produced by Arjuna Oakes Filmed/edited by @benstewartphotography (@studiohalfgray ) Audio recording by @marc_freeman_nz Mixed and mastered by @serebiimusic Arjuna Oakes - Keyboard/Vocals @jensephjonkins - Guitar/vocals @harryshools - Bass @sam.notman - Drums @hilarywilary1 - Violin @emmyloulola - Violin Ella Dowsett-Farmer - Viola Charley Davenport - Cello Special thanks to @nzonairmusic for the funding, and to my flatmates and neighbours for letting us film in the garden 🌿 Come see us play live! 🎶 Manchester 24th May at @bandonthewall and London 31st May at @lowerthirdsoho promoted by @earthcruises While I'm Distracted out May 9th on @albertsfavourites #newmusic #musician #band #jamming #garden #bass #jazz #hiphop #londonmusic #newzealand

Deep End, the first single I ever released turns 7 years old today 🧓 This is the song that kicked it all off. Releasing your first single into the world is always a scary and clumsy experience, I'm thankful for the confidence it gave me. I wrote this song in high-school. Listening back to it now it's funny to think about teenage Arjuna, and how much my sound has morphed and grown since then. Im grateful for the journey I've been on over the last 7 years, thanks for coming along with me x The cover photo was taken at my favourite beach KareKare, and we used another photo from that shoot for my 2nd single Lost (2nd slide). Enjoy baby faced Arju 👶 Song credits: Engineered and mixed by @its_paddyhill @kshorely on Drums 🥁 @zanehawkins_ on Bass 🎸 @loxmynness on Sax 🎷

It's been a year since While I'm Distracted came out ❤️ Big love to everyone who's listened and enjoyed this album! This project spanned years of my life, and marked my move from NZ to the UK. It was brought to life by so many incredible musicians, artists, filmmakers and friends, I feel incredibly proud to have worked with so many awesome humans. You can see some of their faces in this video of the making of the album, full video on my YouTube channel. Excited to share some new projects with you soon x Full album credits Produced and written by Arjuna Oakes Mixed and co-produced by @serebiimusic Mastered by @almachrome Drum tracking and string quartet recording at @surgerystudios engineered by Lee Prebble and James Goldsmith Pianos recorded at Broome studios courtesy of @tombroome Paintings by @swillis Photography by @suchita , styled by Jieying Cai Album Design by @jonnydrops Musicians Arjuna Oakes - Vocals, piano/keyboards, synths, string arrangements, percussion and production @harryshools - Bass @sam.notman - Drums @jensephjonkins - Guitar @serebiimusic - Guitar and backing vocals @andresmithmusic - Acoustic Guitar @therealjamesmacewan - Trumpet @louisawmusic - Saxophone @nathan.haines - Flute @leahjanemusic - Clarinet Kate King - French Horn @zanehawkins_ - Percussion Sarah Willis - Backing Vocals @kajjasmnhm - Backing Vocals @hilarywilary1 - Violin @emmyloulola - Violin @violavdz - Viola Charley Davenport - Cello Released on @albertsfavourites A&R by @adamscrimshire Funded by @nzonairmusic NZ PR by @brown_pippa UK PR by Benjamin Smith Special thanks to @garyfortune29 for all his hard work getting the album released.

Wanna hear some new music? 🎶 Been trying out some new songs at the last couple shows, gonna play some more at our next gig at Dalston Curve Garden for @woodburnermusic 😁 Tickets in bio, see you there! 📹 @framesbyfrances

Oh @bricklanejazzfestival you were a wonderful crowd ❤️ Always really appreciate rooms like this where you can feel everyone listening and the love everyone has for music, thanks for sharing this experience with us x We're doing it all again at @dalstongarden for @woodburnermusic on July 7th, see you there! 📹 @framesbyfrances

@bricklanejazzfestival was special ❤️ Thank you to everyone who came down to our first ever UK festival gig, seriously made my heart full to see such a packed room for our set (and a line out on the street! 🤯) Lots of love! See you on the 7th of July at @dalstongarden for @woodburnermusic 🎶 Photos by @framesbyfrances 📸

@sam.notman ladies and gentlemen 👏 Got tickets to our next headline show at Dalston Curve Garden for @woodburnermusic in July? Gonna be a good one! We've also got @bricklanejazzfestival on 26th April, see you there x Filmed by @framesbyfrances

Really excited to play at @dalstongarden this summer supported by the brilliant @rachelhkharp 🔥 Tickets on sale now, see you there! Will be joined by @sam.notman 🥁 and @harryshools 🎸

Really excited for @bricklanejazzfestival at @93feeteast in just over a month 🕺 Killer band for this one! @audreypowne 🎺 @_adetiba 🎷 @harryshools 🎸 @sam.notman 🥁 See you there x

Thanks @_raelleeee for coming on the show yesterday for a chat! 📻 I played a bunch of tunes I'm obsessed with, you can listen on the @sohoradio mixcloud