From recovery to readiness: Shivers share their bold new single
Thursday, 30 April 2026
Shivers is a Wellington trio blending soul, R&B, roots reggae, dub, electronic and pop. Formed in 2020 by multi‑instrumentalist Adrian Win (Ngāti Hāua, Ngāruahine, Te Ātiawa), vocalist Timmy Porter, and DJ/producer Josh Parata (Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Rarawa), the group is driven by kotahitanga, community and vulnerability.
They’ve earned national chart success with singles including Right of Way, Look at ’Em Now and their first reo Māori waiata Tahuti.
Ahead of the release of their new single ‘Ready’ on May 1 for NZ Music Month - produced by Tiki Taane and Lee Prebble - The Post chatted with Timmy about the song and the group.
What makes the Wellington music community unique?
Some of our biggest influences have come out of Pōneke and we feel incredibly lucky to have been there in the times when the likes of our big influences such as Fat Freddy's Drop, TrinityRoots and The Blackseeds were paving the way, becoming the iconic Kiwi artists that they are. In particular Fat Freddy's, who have been our biggest influences musically both nationally and internationally. We also feel there's currently a real shift back within the Welly scene and a refreshing want and need for music getting back to its roots. We are building a cool little community around us, a bit like there was back in the days, where those bands mentioned above were carving the Welly sound path.
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What sparked the song Ready for you personally?
Ready is incredibly close to the heart for me. It’s a heavy, deep, emotional, reflective and empowering song.
A few years ago when I suffered a traumatic brain injury, I was broken mentally. I was a completely different person and I thought, along with friends and whānau, that I might never be the same person I once was. Including being a musician, which I feel is my purpose and identity. Through a very long road of recovery and support from friends, whānau, surrounding musicians, and the Shivers crew I eventually recovered enough where I felt I was able to start doing some form of music again and getting back into the world. I'm very community minded and I'd gone from complete isolation and hiding, to being able to push myself out there again. I accepted that I may never be 100% myself but I had to accept that and try my best with moving forward, whatever that would be.
“I wanna be ready, I gotta be steady cause if not now then” expresses that and the lyrics “I used to hide from the neighbours, now back doing them favours, gotta take one day at a time” was something I wrote that the people close to me would know exactly what I meant. From the community minded and actively involved person I lost, to then being able to be that person again.
What feels new about this next phase for Shivers?
Now this song has evolved into a sense of readiness for us as a band, with growth, maturity and a stronger sense of self belief, which we have found within ourselves and been affirmed by people we look up to in the industry e.g. Tiki, NZ music charts, main stream radio play, funding grants from NZ On Air. We are incredibly excited and motivated to do the mahi and get the treats, which we most definitely are. We are enjoying the journey more than thinking about the outcome, which in turn is making us move forward a lot better as a band.
What was it like working with Tiki Taane and Lee Prebble?
Absolutely incredible and a real pinch ourselves moment that we feel absolutely blessed by. It has been the pinnacle of our musical journeys both as individuals and as a band. They are the dub goats! We set ourselves a big goal to make that happen and to achieve it we feel very proud. We have learnt so much through the process of working with them and will take our learnings and connections made forever.
What can we expect from the upcoming EP?
Some more different flavours, music, messages of meaning, infectious hooks and some real vibes that we feel epitomises our “sound and direction moving forward”. We are super excited to get these out and try and make our own mark in the kiwi music scene.