Honoured musical double a hoot for tight-lipped mates

Old friends Mike Chunn and Wayne Mason each managed to keep the other in the dark on their respective appointments - at least until the top-shelf bottle came down.

And when Chunn, former Split Enz member and Apra (Australasian Performing Right Association) director of New Zealand operations, discovered Mason had also been honoured, he summed it up nicely: "What a hoot!"

Chunn was made an Officer of the Order of Merit and Mason a Member of the Order of Merit.

Mason, the writer of the song Nature, which was last year voted New Zealand's best in the past 75 years, echoed the sentiments.

"It's cool ... I guess these awards are for people ... like me who have been stupid enough to stay on the block long enough and keep hitting my head against a brick wall. You get points for that, I guess."

But Mason, who has been in bands Fourmyula, the Mutton Birds, Rockinghorse and the Warratahs, stopped short of calling himself a role model for younger musicians.

"Awards like this do give people a sense of history, showing that we've all been working away. I've been in the business for about 35 years now, that shows that you can enjoy what you do and keep at it and have a great life."

But he said anyone who aspired to the profession needed, above all, determination.

"All the new bands, they are finding they haven't got much money, but they have done stuff in the back shed and gone on to make great records. That's the sort of energy we're talking about, that makes stuff happen," he said.

Chunn, who was instrumental in establishing the Music Industry Commission, said the appointments led to greater respect for emerging musicians.

"It's a great time to want to write songs and play a guitar and sing. I just think there's so much more respect these days for people who want not only to write songs and perform when they're young, but also as a career option," he said.

"You've got much more buy-in from society. When I was 18 and said I wanted to be a professional musician, there were people who thought I needed my head read.

"Today, so many more people are saying, 'Good on you, hope you do well'. Respect for people in the industry has increased."

He saw himself less as a role model, more of an "advocate" for all New Zealand music and musicians.

Chunn and Mason both found prospects for young musicians exciting. Mason said there was an obvious improvement in musical talent in the past few years.

New Zealand music was becoming a "legitimate form of our culture" that would encourage more young people to enter the industry.

Chunn said all music genres should be celebrated and encouraged.

"I don't think too much about categorising what I'm hearing ... I just love the whole thing of people writing songs and singing them ... It's great."