vegetable.machine.animal BIO:
vegetable.machine.animal (vma) is an interspecies improvisational trio from Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Led by drummer Kieran Monaghan [he/him] (ex-mr sterile Assembly), vma transforms the electrical signals of living plants and fungi into sound, fusing modular synths and live percussion in performances that are spontaneous, rhythmic, and unpredictable.
This is music as a living system — a real-time collaboration where non-human organisms shape the sonic outcome alongside human performers. No two sets are the same.
A Visiting Scholar at Te Kōkī / New Zealand School of Music, Monaghan brings decades of experience across punk, free jazz, and experimental scenes, with vma performing at festivals, residencies, and venues across Aotearoa and internationally.
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DOWNLOAD FULL CV – Updated Jan 2026DOWNLOAD TECH SHEET – update May 2026
Selections of note from CV:
Discography:
TRIO – CD/Digital – co-released skirted Records & Audio Foundation Records, 2026
Electrical Minzu 35 – CD/Digital, skirted Records, 2026
GUEST – CD/LP/Digital – co-released skirted Records & Audio Foundation Records, 2025
My Daughter the Spider – digital demo, skirted Records, 2023
Acknowledgements:
Recipient of CNZ Creative Fellowship Fund
Visiting Scholar, Te Kōkī/New Zealand School of Music – Victoria University. 2025- ongoing
Artist Residency:
– Ting Shuo Hear Say, Tainan, Taiwan, 8 Weeks, October/November 2025, plus presentation at Graduate Institute of Ethnomusicology, National Tainan National University of the Arts
– Creative New Zealand/NZSM/Toi Pōneke Sonic Artist-in-Residence 2024
– Driving Creek Railway, Coromandel, 4 weeks, November 2023
– Audio Foundation, 30 July – 6 August 2023
Exhibitions [images]:
SOLO
– GUEST, Toi Pōneke Arts Centre, Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington,6 June – 4 July 2025
– No Evidence of the Future, Pyramid Club, Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington, 8 August – September 2024
– Mundane Utopia[press], Audio Foundation, 13 June – 6 July 2024, Mundane Utopia reflection
GROUP
Use Your Words, Te Atamira, Tahuna/Queenstown, 14 December 2024 – 30 March 2025
Tours:
– Australia, June/July 2026
– Taiwan, October/November, with DSLB, 2025
– Guest album Aotearoa tour, June/July 2025, Post-tour reflections
– Jogja Noise Bombing, May 2024
Press:
RADIO :
Radio NZ, What music can we make together with machines, plants and fungi?! 27/7/25
VIDEO :
Awhiworld, Interview, 09/24
About Kieran Monaghan:
Kieran Monaghan (he/him) is a dedicated kit drummer and percussionist of found sounds, based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington. He began his musical journey in the late ’80s, drumming in southern punk rock bands. A move north in the ’90s opened doors to experimental theatre and the free-jazz scene emerging from venues like The Space. While continuing to play assertive, improvisational music, he also sustained a living through day-jobs and, for a while, working bands.
His latest project, vegetable.machine.animal (VMA), explores the intersections of spontaneous performance, electronic music, and science-informed inter-species collaboration. He co-runs skirted Records with partner-in-art-and-life Chrissie Butler. Together, they formed the core of the outsider punk band mr sterile Assembly—named by Nick Bollinger as one of Aotearoa’s ten great rhythm sections.
He has toured extensively, both locally and internationally, and has a discography of solo, band, and collaborative work spanning various styles and genres. A semi-regular DJ on Radioactive.FM, Monaghan is also a Visiting Scholar at NZSM. Happily married, he is the father of three daughters and one mokopuna.
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