Grant Smithies (currently Music Editor for the Sunday Star Times) has played DJ support sets with Salmonella Dub, Che Fu, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Katchafire, Trinity Roots and UK dub legend Mad Professor, among others, and also headlined key Nelson dance events including The Sitting Room and the infamous Free House vinyl singles night, 'Seven Inches Of Pleasure' As a journalist, Grant has written extensively on music, travel and popular culture over the last fifteen years, with his work having appeared in most major magazines and newspapers in New Zealand and in overseas publications such as URB in America, Melbourne Age, Rolling Stone Italy, Big Issue UK etc. As well as his weekly features in Sunday Star Times, Grant appears as a weekly music commentator on Radio Live, and makes sporadic appearances on TV3 and Radio New Zealand National. In 2006 he won “Best Arts Feature”, and in 2007 “Best Reviewer”, at the Qantas Media Awards. In 2007 he also published the book “Soundtrack: 118 Great NZ Albums”.