IVY - ōtepoti/dunedin
Jesse Hanan (vocals, rhythm guitar)
James Axton (lead guitar)
Connor Cooper (bass)
Ocean Wilson (drums)
Louis Stevenson (violin)
IVY are a Dunedin/Otepoti based alt-rock band, forming at high school in 2020. Since then the band have been steadily growing through gritty and moving live shows and notably the release of their debut album ‘Hush’ in September 2025. IVY are immediately recognisable by Hanan’s distinct vocal style paired with atmospheric instrumentation. They have quickly risen to become a key pillar in the New Zealand music scene, receiving critical acclaim across the country for ‘Hush’, as well as for their live performance including multiple features in Rolling Stone Magazine. Their recent support tour of Australian band ‘Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, was an overwhelming success, with IVY now setting their sights to Australia to team up with Teen Jesus once more.
PRESS
Treat yourself to the rock opera odyssey that is IVY’s new single ‘Heartless’
Happy Mag
Radio New Zealand
From the depths of the deep south Ian showcases four acts that the rest of New Zealand may not yet have heard but which they surely should.
Radio New Zealand
Kathryn meets NZ band IVY, as they join her from the flat they share in North Dunedin.
Alternative/progressive rock band Ivy recently won the Radio One FM Bring The Noise 2023 competition, fending off other competitors with their high level of musicianship.
Otago Daily Times
Together, IVY and the Dunedin Youth Orchestra were sonically and visually thrilling, the dynamism between musical elements being pivotal to the performance.
Sounds & Visions by Dr Alison Blair, Otago University
Radio One 91fm
by Jack Knowles
IVY are the real deal… Locked in would be underselling it. Every member entirely in service of the song, a collective triumph.
Toi Oho X NZ Music Month
2025
by June Ward
The emotional depth of IVY’s music was amplified by Maddy Parkins-Craig and Anthony Ritchie’s orchestration and the orchestra brought an additional magnitude and complexity of sound to IVY’s music that was almost overwhelming.
Composers Maddy Parkins-Craig and Prof Anthony Ritchie had arranged IVY originals for performance by the band together with a 24-member symphony orchestra and the result was a unique blend, conducted by Peter Adams.
Otago Daily Times
by Elizabeth Bouman