Aroha Harawira (NZ)
AROHA is a Māori DJ and producer from Aotearoa (New Zealand), now based in Naarm(Melbourne), known for electrifying, genre-blurring club sets rooted in globalunderground sounds. From Glastonbury to Boiler Room, she has built an internationalreputation for high-energy sets that move fluidly across styles and tempos.
Voted New Zealand’s Best Club DJ in 2013, she has shared stages with artists includingGrace Jones, Disclosure, Kaytranada, Ben UFO, Groove Armada and 2ManyDJs. Festivalappearances include Glastonbury, Pitch Music & Arts, Beyond The Valley, Let Them EatCake, WOMADelaide, Rhythm & Vines, Splore, Gaytimes, Electric Avenue and NorthernBass.
Now firmly embedded in Naarm’s club culture, AROHA is a regular at local institutions,including the hallowed cage at Revolver Upstairs. In 2026, she launched HEADROOM atCollingwood Basement, an intimate new club series centred on long-form sets,adventurous selectors and a dancefloor-first ethos.
Equally at home playing sunshine-laced house music to a daytime festival crowd as sheis unleashing underground bass heaters in a packed club, AROHA blends rhythm,identity and storytelling to create powerful dancefloor moments.
AROHA’s career spans broadcasting, music culture and global artist development. Fromher early days as a prime-time host on George FM, Programme Director at the iconic95bFM and music television presenter, she later moved into leadership roles at Seratoand Ableton, helping shape artist and community strategy for music technology on theworld stage.
Recent years have seen AROHA’s profile rise internationally with a Boiler Roomappearance, a 16-date tour with The Jungle Giants, a 19-show run at the WOW (World ofWearable Art) international design spectacle, and London performances at ColourFactory with Lady Shaka and XOYO for Heidi’s Hi-Jacked residency. In 2024, she released These Walls with world-renowned MC TALI, featuring taongapūoro played by Tiki Taane, followed by Let Her Rip (Toitū Te Tiriti), a protest tracksampling MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke’s stand in Parliament. The track went viral,amassing more than one million views in a week and receiving support from BoilerRoom, Radio New Zealand and George FM while charting across Aotearoa’s studentradio network.
In 2025, she performed at Corsica Studios in London and RASA Space in Singapore. Shealso released her Mother Tongue EP, inspired by trailblazing women in music, andremixed First Nations artist GLVES. AROHA began 2026 with a release for Aotearoa label XCOMMUNICATE, followed byher remix of Huia’s te reo Māori song Rangimārie. The remix debuted at number threeon the Official Aotearoa Hot 20 Singles Chart and number five on the Top 10 Te ReoMāori Singles Chart. Further releases are planned for 2026, including collaborationsthat deepen the connection between her production and her ancestry.