maitreya

On June 4th, '07, maitreya became the first ever Hip Hop artist to raise US $50,000 from Believers on SellaBand.com to record his debut solo album Close To Home. SellaBand.com is a revolutionary music site that links unsigned artists with top-notch recording facilities. Close To Home was produced by maitreya & The Silence (UK) and mastered at Universal Mastering Studios New York by legendary Vlado Meller (Kanye West, Public Enemy, Run DMC...).

maitreya began his career as a founding member of live Hip Hop band, Nilstate, which gained a cult-like following around Christchurch, New Zealand, with a reputation for explosive performances. He moved to Auckland, New Zealand in '96 and joined the crew Dark Tower who took the nation by storm in the summer of '00, touring to sold-out venues throughout the country.

In '03, maitreya took his skills to the Mecca of Hip Hop, New York City, where he secured an internship at Roc-a-Fella Records (Jay-Z). For the next two years, he worked for Roc-a-Fella and immersed himself in New York's Open Mic scene, eventually getting his own show Illegal in and around the Lower East Side.

In '06 maitreya hit SellaBand.com with a fresh repertoire of songs, crowd-sourcing 50K in just 7 months. The result is the stunning debut Close To Home, an album that takes you on a journey into the life and times of a kid from Christchurch, NZ, who never gave up chasing the dream.

Since the album’s European release maitreya has toured and recorded extensively across the globe. He’s currently producing Portuguese band Nearfield’s debut album Time4War.