Emerging Kirikiriroa Hamilton rock band Haast Hunter is made up of James Harper (vocals/guitar), Richard Oranje (drums) and Chris Gudsell (bass).

The band formed 7 years ago when Richard posted an online classified ad looking for band members. James saw the ad and jumped at the chance, starting out as just the guitarist “At the time I was going through some heavy personal issues and music was my main catharsis. The opportunity to join a band could not have come at a better time,” says James. Throughout the years bass players and vocalists would come and go, which is what led James to take up the mantle as frontman/ vocalist whilst still carrying out the guitar and songwriting duties. Staying true to their roots, bass player Chris was found through a classified ad in July 2022. And the rest, as the band says, is history. With an exciting debut album in the works, Haast Hunter are definitely ones to watch!