Waiata Magazine Issue 2, December 2011.

ISSUE 2 DECEMBER 2011

TIKI

Mina Ripia Anna Coddington Tyna Keelan

taane

Onboard the

STARSHIP

Lullaby

SINGING

MAORI

The story of Evaline Skerrett

Celebrating a lifetime in music

Volcanics

Princess

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Album Reviews

WHAT’S HOT IN MAORI MUSIC www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

Young Sid

Keeping it real for the fans

Majic Paora

COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU

www.waiatamaorIawards.co.nz

DECEMBER/HAKIHEA 2011

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Issue 2, DECEMBER/HAKIHEA 2011

Rarangi Upoko Editor: Tama Huata tama.kahurangi@xtra.co.nz Advertising manager: Kylie Stafford kylie@primal.org.nz Editorial: Lawrence Gullery lgullery@ihug.co.nz Design: Lawrence Gullery Photography: Paul Taylor Glenn Taylor Greg Riwai Lawrence Gullery Printing: Format Print Publisher: Takitimu Trust, 706 Albert St, Hastings, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. PO Box 1368, Hastings, New Zealand.

Circulation: Waiata is published biannually, 5000 copies printed each edition. Available direct by subscription and free through selected sites.

For details, email: kylie@primal.org.nz or phone +64 6 873 0041 All contents and design remain property of the Takitimu Trust.

All rights reserved.

Official website: www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz Facebook: @ Waiata Maori Music Awards

www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

2 Nga Mihi

Message from the executive director, Tama Huata.

3 Award winners

This year’s Waiata Maori Music Awards recipients.

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Song birds

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Contents

TIKI taane

The King of Dubs launches his Starship quest to help children.

20 Keeping it real 22 Fashionable

Young Sid rapping on the truth without compromise.

Anna Coddington and Mina Ripa speak about their joint award win.

Miss Aotearoa NZ Angela Cudd and Te Koanga Fashion Show.

6 East Coast fella

Tyna Keelan on his success with Wellington band, The Nok.

7

Kepper of traditions

8

Fresh talent

12

Festival review

14

Photo feature

Kapa haka expert Tihi Puanaki, one of five honoured-nominees.

Young performers Majic Paora and Jeremiah Peipi.

Maori and Pacific performers gather for Takitimu Festival.

24 Album reviews

Reviewers Tania McAuley & Apikara Te Rangi with five of the best albums in Maori music.

26 DVD reviews

Dennis Marsh, John Rowles and Ardijah.

28 Gig guide

Find out where your favourite Maori artists are performing.

Images from this year’s Waiata Maori Music Awards.

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Lifetime education

18

Singing princess

Performers Billy and Mahora Peters on the Maori Volcanics.

Researching the story of Evaline Skerret, Princess Iwa.

Anika Moa was one of the guest perfomers at this year’s National Waiata Maori Music Awards.

DECEMBER/HAKIHEA 2011

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Nuki Waaka, receives the Maori Music Industry Award in 2010.

poroporoaki Nuki Waaka

Ko taku tau kahurangi Ka to te ra, ka ura te ra.

I runga o nga puke pa mai to reo. Te haumaiangi e kawe mai. Te reo aroha e patai ana mai. He aha tau e pirangi nei.

Ko taku tau kahurangi, te komata o te rangi, te taonga Maori te tomairangi atawhai o Io te Mataaho. Ka riro koe kei Paerau ki te huihuinga o te Kahurangi, ka oti atu koutou e. E te tapairu, te mōrehu pakeke, te kaitito, te kaiwaiata, whakaniko i te kupu,o te ao puoro whanui, kua riro rā koe e te ringa kaha o aitua.

He mangopare uruora kei tua o Nukutaurua. E kore a muri e hokia.

No reira, e te rangatira, haere atu ra. Haere ki te okiokinga, haere ki te piringa o to tatou Ariki. Haere atu ra ki a ratou kua wehe atu. Moe mai i roto i te whakapono, te tumanako me te aroha.

Ka tohi atu koe ki te tohi nuku, ki te tohi rangi Kia hoaia koe ki te putikiwhara – mirohia, mirohia, mirohia.

Nuki Waaka, top left, with the Maori Volcanics.

Farewell to one OF OUR ICONS WAIATA MAORI MUSIC MAGAZINE PAYS TRIBUTE TO NUKI WAAKA, A PIONEER OF THE SHOWBAND ERA AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE MAORI VOLCANICS.

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t the time of publishing this magazine, one of the greats of the Maori showband era passed away. Ivor Nuki Tamati Waaka, was born in Whakatane, 1932 and was 79 when he died at his home in Sydney on November 27, 2011. His marae was Poroporo and his iwi was Ngati Pukeko.

Nuki and his brothers, Muri and Robin, along with Johnny Bradfield, formed their first group The Deuces, which was said to have rivalled the Howard Morrison Quartet. While touring Australia, Nuki met his wife to be, Mahora, and later they formed the Polynesian Trio with Nuki’s brother, Gugi, in 1961.

Nuki and Mahora then formed the Maori Volcanics in 1964. And with Nuki on bass and Mahora on lead vocals, over the next decade the Volcanics became one of the most successful showbands. Nuki’s dedication and work to music over many decades was recognised when he was the recipient of a Maori Music Industry Award, at the 2010 National Waiata Maori Music Awards in Hawke’s Bay. Nuki came to accept his award and also appeared as the guest speaker at the Maori Music Celebrity Breakfast. He spoke about the Volcanics’ humble beginnings as a club band in Sydney, to its stardom performing in 53 countries alongside such big names of the time as Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck.

The group launched the careers of musicians such as Prince Tui Teka and Billy T. James, with its unique mixture of cabaret, dance, comedy, instrumentals, singing and of course Maori culture. Nuki also formed the Maori Skyliners, which worked in Surfers Paradise in Australia until 1984. The Volcanics were reformed by Mahora and Billy Peters, and still perform today.

Artists from the showband industry have been a key

learn

part of the success of the National Waiata Maori Music Awards since its inception in 2008. Rim D Paul, from the Quin Tikis, was the recipient of a Maori Music Industry Award in 2008. In 2010 Rim returned to see Nuki receive an Industry Award and the pair performed with Showband Aotearoa at the awards. This year we honoured Mahora Peters, as one of the co-founders of the Volcanics, and she was the recipient of the Lifetime Contribution to Maori Music Award.

Mahora and Billy Peters were the guest speakers at this year’s celebrity breakfast, and like Nuki, had plenty of stories to tell about performing in the old days when the standard pay rate was a crate of beer or a carton of cigarettes. We review their presentation is this issue of Waiata, along with stories from our 2011 award winners, Tiki Taane, Anna Coddington, Mina Ripia and Taina Keelan.Young Sid has a few messages for his fans, Miss Aotearoa NZ Angela Cudd writes about her experience at the Te Koanga Fashion Show and we discover the story of the “Singing Princess” from Bluff.

We must now look forward to bringing through the next generation of stars in Maori music and that is why during New Zealand Music Month next year (May) we will be on the road holding workshops to unearth some of the yet-to-be discovered talent. We want to find and mentor artists capable of making the top-20 music charts, who can show the kind of dedication Nuki Waaka displayed for many years.

Tama Huata, Executive Director.

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DECEMBER/HAKIHEA 2011

Skills & knowledge of maori performing arts which lead to stage, television, tourism, theatre in education teaching, workshops & iwi development.

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Waiata Maori music 2011 Award Winners

Celebrating OUR SUCCESS

Anna Coddington.

The winners have emerged from this year’s Waiata Maori music awards.

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his year’s National Waiata Maori Music Awards produced another multi-award winner and for the first time in its four-year history, two artists have shared the top prize for the best female solo artist.

The 2011 award winners were announced in front of about 800 people at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings in September.

Topping the charts, Tiki Taane was named Best Maori Songwriter, Best Male Solo Artist and was judged to have Best Maori Song Ninakaye, on (Starship Lullaby) at the awards. behalf of brother Tiki missed out on a fourth award, Tiki Taane.

Best Maori Urban Rap/Hip Hop/ RnB Album, that honour went to Tatou Tatou E and was accepted by artist Huia Hamon. Tiki was in the process of producing the new Six60 album in September and so his sister Ninakaye accepted the award on his behalf.

Last year singer songwriter Maisey Rika took home four awards and this year was one of the guest performers, with brother Jay, at the awards ceremony.

Singers Anna Coddington and Mina Ripia walked away joint winners for the Best Maori Female Solo Artist award, the first time in the event’s history that judges were unable to separate two artists to produce a clear winner.

In the new reggae category, House of Shem was given the nod for the Best Maori Urban Roots Album (Island Vibration), ahead of finalists NRG Rising, Katchafire and Box Juice.

Tyna Keelan, Darren Mathiassen and Christopher Yeabsley who together form The Nok, were awarded Best Maori Pop Album.

The Best Maori Traditional Album in Te Reo was awarded to Henare Waitoa (composer) and Kahu Waitoa (artist) for the album Nga Waiata o Henare Waitoa.

Two winners from 2010 repeated their success in 2011. Northland reggae band 1814 again won the Radio Airplay Record of the Year by a Maori Artist in Te Reo Maori award, sponsored by Te Whakaruruhau o nga Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa. The award was accepted by the band’s vocalist, Harmony Tepania. And Stan Walker, also for the second consecutive year, was the recipient of the Radio Airplay Record of the Year Award by a Maori Artist sponsored by NZ on Air. In the nominated award section, which recognises those who have contributed to Maori music over the year, the Iconic Maori Composers Award, the late Sir Kingi Ihaka, which was accepted by his whanau and kapa haka expert, John Tapene, one of Sir Kingi’s students.

There were two Maori Music Industry Awards this year, to entertainer Frankie Stevens and Polyfonk pioneers Ardijah.

The Lifetime Contribution to Maori Music Award went to Mahora Peters, the co-founder of the Maori Volcanics showband and the Keeper of Traditions Award, went to kapa haka and waiata composer Tihi Puanaki.

www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

Frankie Stevens.

Ardijah.

Harmony Tepania, from 1814.

Ruia Aperahama, on behalf of House of Shem.

Maisey Rika, on behalf of Stan Walker.

Mahora Peters.

Tyna Keelan.

Tihi Puanaki.

The Waitoa whanau.

Huia Hamon.

John Tapene, on behalf of the 2011 Pg 03 whanauDECEMBER/HAKIHEA of Sir Kingi Ihaka .

profile

Anna Coddington

Taking pride OF PLACE Award marks milestone in a musical career influenced by maori culture, writes singer & Songwriter ANNA CODDINGTON.

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his year I was delighted and privileged to be a joint recipient of the Best Maori Female Solo Artist award at the Waiata Maori Music Awards, together with Mina Ripia.

It was my first time attending the awards, and though I never know what to expect from awards ceremonies (they can be pretty boring!), I was treated to a really entertaining night with hilarious hosts, excellent performances, and a room full of talent so awesome you could feel it in the air.

I now feel it’s one of Aotearoa’s bestkept secrets and hope to see the event grow every year. It is an important platform where amazing talent that may not be recognized elsewhere has a light shone on it.

As I said on the night, being recognized as a Maori musician means a great deal to me. Though I don’t write waiata in Te Reo (yet!), being Maori is an essential part of who I am and influences everything in my life, including my music.

So I was happy just to be nominated for three awards (Best Maori Pop Album, Best Maori Female Solo and Best Maori Songwriter) and when I saw the actual taonga they were handing out I thought, jeez I really want one of those. They are beautiful! It now takes pride of place in my rehearsal room.

My journey with music started when I was 11. My dad taught me to play drums, a couple of years later I picked

up a guitar, and a couple more after that I started writing songs.

From then on I’ve never stopped. Like many other things in life, music will either grab you or it won’t; it grabbed me with both hands and feels like it will never let go.

I love my job and work at it with a passion I can’t imagine applying to anything else, so lucky for me it seems to be working out! Being my sensible mother’s daughter I have a university education (MA in Linguistics) and a plan B, but I’ll be sticking with plan A for as long as the universe allows me to.

I feel grateful to work full time at what I love. I released my second album “Cat & Bird” in February this year and it has just come out in Australia where I played my first off-shore show in November.

I’ll have been touring New Zealand with Fly My Pretties during October and November, and will be again with my band late January early February 2012.

Being an independent, self-released, self-managed artist is a lot of work so I try to spend any downtime writing and recording new songs in my home studio. I hope to release a new album in the next year or so.

To be honest, it was a friend who encouraged me to enter the Waiata Maori Music Awards this year, it may never have made it off the to-do list otherwise, but I guarantee I won’t be thinking twice about it next time!

Ko Tongariro te maunga, Ko Taupo-nui-a-Tia te moana, Ko Te Arawa te waka, Ko Ngāti Tūwharetoa me Te Arawa ngā iwi, Ko Waihi te marae, Ko Anna Coddington ahau.

From left: Arriving at the Waiata Maori Music Awards with Anika Moa, on the red carpet outside the Hawke’s Bay Opera House at the awards with Anika, Maisey Rika, Majic Paora and Taisha Tari and accepting the award for the Best Female Artist.

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profile Mina Ripia

Deeds of Kupe INSPIRE SINGER FORMER ‘MOA HUNTER’ MINA RIPIA WRITES ABOUT THE AWARD WINNING RHYTHMS WHICH RECOGNISE ALL CULTURES AND LANGUAGES.

I

am of Nga Puhi and Ngati Kahungunu decent. Born and raised in a beautiful little place called Te Kopuru/Dargaville. My marae on my papa’s side is Oturei. My marae on my mama’s side is Te Parupa. I’m a singer, songwriter, director, producer and three years ago became a mama. I have been singing all my life but started my professional career in the music industry when I was 17 years old with Moana and the Moa Hunters.

It has always been my dream to create new and innovative music that sounds like where it originates from and take it to the world. My goals are inspired by Kupe and his accomplishment of discovering new worlds and opportunities.

I have been performing in Te Reo Maori nationally and internationally since 1985. I co-composed music and lyrics for the first bilingual award winning song, Akona Te Reo, from Moana and the Moa Hunters.

I also co-composed music, lyrics and co-produced Kia Mau which was released with Southside of Bombay, receiving the award for Mana Reo and Mana Maori song of the year at the 1996 New Zealand Music and Entertainment Awards. In 2000 our debut album for WAI received the award for Mana Maori album of the year at the New Zealand Tuis.

This year I was the joint winner of the Best Maori Female Solo Artist award at the Waiata Maori Music Awards, with Anna Coddington.

To receive this acknowledgement is a great achievement. It shows recognition for what I do, what I have done and will be doing in the future towards original music sung entirely in To Tatou Reo Rangatira. This achievement is priceless and I’m sincerely thankful.

People who wouldn’t usually listen to music entirely in Te Reo Maori would hopefully now be exposed or have an interest to listen to Maori language music as I’m sharing this honour with Anna who is main Mina Ripia, in Porirua. stream and my group WAI’s music is not.

To live as a fulltime musician performing original music entirely in Maori with respect and integrity is the greatest thing to be doing with our beautiful son Uta Te Whanga and his papa Maaka Phat. Our music is always been rewarding and is a sustainable career for us.

The group WAI was formed in 1999.

Tragic personal events led to the writing and creation of the group and its first album, 100%. It was created purely for the memory of my father. Our second album, ORA, was inspired by the birth of our son Uta Te Whanga.

WAI performs entirely in Te Reo Maori and uses a Maori style of presenting our music, not only in the structure and fusion of music but also in the delivery of our show.

WAI’s sound incorporates patere, ngeri, haka, waiata poi, waiata ringa, pao and waiata tangi style, vocal patterns and harmonies with organic natural beats and rhythms. Te Reo Maori lyrics and poi create the rhythmic skeleton which is then cloaked in electronica. Maori Electronica Roots, strong, soulful, evocative, passionate and totally different.

WAI is a stimulating presentation of Maori language, Maori music, Maori people and Maori culture. We are guided by our ancestors for inspiration, we fuse the inspiration with the contemporary and we try to look www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

Mina Ripia.

forward at the same time. WAI has shown that despite the language of our lyrics, Maori music is universal and can be enjoyed and appreciated by people the world over.

WAI has the ability to communicate honestly from the heart and appreciate and respect all cultures, languages and customs.

I have had the privilege of performing with many bands including, Billy.T.K senior, Hinewehi Mohi, David Grace, Tuahine, IwI, Brothers and Sisters, Brannigan Kaa, Forbidden Realm, Southside of Bombay and many more.

We are currently working on our first tour of Australia and also working on our third album.

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Q&A Tyna Keelan

From the lost CIVILIZATION Tyna keelan is from the east coast but he has found award winning success with his wellington band, the nok.

How did you feel when your name was called out as the winner of the Best Maori Pop Album at the awards in September?

Well it was a surprise actually because the album was only completed a short time before the awards so it hadn’t had time to garner the publics interest but we were very proud.

You had performed at the awards in 2010, what was that experience like for you?

It was really good actually, I performed a hard case song that I kind of make up every time I perform it’s called East Coast Girl. It’s funny because it’s become really popular with Maori but I really only made it up for a laugh.

How did you come up with the name The Nok for your group?

Ok, well the name just came about because it sounds kind of cool and it’s short and easy to remember. It’s also the name of a lost Nigerian civilization which vanished but had been re-discovered now. They were an extremely advanced people who were around about 1000 B.C. The bros in the band are Darren and Chris. I met them just through the Wellington music scene. We all played in a band called The Pleasures which played a Wednesday night residency at a bar in Wellington. We just used to

RADIO KAHUNGUNU

RADIO KAHUNGUNU TE REO IRIRANGI O NGATI KAHUNGUNU TE REO IRIRANGI O NGATI KAHUNGUNU radio IwiIwi radio broadcaster broadcaster Iwi radio ofof the Waiata Maori the Waiata broadcaster of Awards Maori Awards. theMusic Waiata Maori Awards.

Supporting Supporting

Supporting kaiwaiata kaiwaiata kaiwaiata throughout throughout throughout Aotearoa.

Aotearoa Aotearoa.

Listen online,

Listen online to the Listen online, Awards Night awards ceremony, Awards Night8, September September8,14, September 2011.

2012 2011.

Ph: (06) (06) 872 8728943 8943oror0800 0800TAONGA TAONGA Ph: www.radiokahungunu.co.nz www.radiokahungunu.co.nz SKYPE:radio.kahungunu radio.kahungunu SKYPE: Pg 6

DECEMBER/HAKIHEA 2011

Ko Taina Rangi Keelan toku ingoa Ko Hikurangi toku maunga Ko Kaiaua toku moana Ko Waiapu toku awa Ko Horouta toku waka Ko te Tairawhiti toku rohe Ko Ngati Porou toku iwi Ko Te Aitanga a Hauiti toku hapu Ko Puketawai toku marae

Tyna Keelan, accepting the Best Maori Pop Album, at the 2011 Waiata Maori Music Awards.

freestyle-jam every week and thought, hey let’s go do this properly.

Both Darren and Chris are amazing musicians and are integral players in the strong Wellington music scene. They are both sought-after players and jam with a bunch of people, I’m really lucky to get to play with them.

There’s definitely hip-hop, soul, rock and blues in our sound.

What projects are you working on next, do you have any new songs or albums coming up?

Yes we have two EPs ready to drop and are shooting a video for the first single really soon.

Do you have a favourite song you have written and can you tell me why it is special to you?

Maybe Ko Koe. It was really cool working with my dad on that song. It’s about finding solace when everything is falling down around you and the people who will stand by and with you. That song also won the APRA Maioha Silver Scroll Award this year.

You have worked as a mentor with schools through the New Zealand Music Commission, what was the experience like?

I have been mentoring for the NZ Music Commission for nearly a decade now. They ask anything and everything from, have you met anyone famous, to, how can I get my songs played on radio? One piece of advice I give is don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Most people I know in the industry are only too willing to answer questions and lend a hand.

Do you have any favourite artists who influence your work?

I love listening to the work of my peers and friends like MaraTK, Dallas Tamaira, Rio Hemopo, Warren Maxwell and the Kora brothers.

These are the cream of New Taina performing at the 2010 Zealand talent. They are amazing Waiata Maori Music Awards. songwriters, talented but humble.

What do you think sets Maori musicians apart from mainstream musicians in New Zealand?

Well there is no difference really. Other than performing songs in Maori and English we are one in the same. Maori are definitely well represented in the music industry, they are the doing us proud!

You mention Captain Morgan’s restaurant in your song, is it still the place to be in Gisborne? Always, they have the most amazing humongous burgers! But seriously I didn’t even remember bringing up Captain Morgan’s when I was singing East Coast Girl until I watched it back. I was like, woahhhh, what am I on about? That’s what you get when you make it up every time you sing it.

keeper of traditions Tihi Puanaki Tihi Puanaki (speaking at microphone), with her whanau accepting the Keeper of Traditions Award, at the 2011 Waiata Maori Music Awards.

A

Tireless worker for WAIATA MAORI

woman who is a stickler for detail when it comes to kaupapa and tikanga of waiata and kapa haka wants to see more songs written in Te Reo Maori released on to the New Zealand music charts.

Tihi Puanaki, Ngati Hine, has been a leader in kapa haka and waiata Maori for more than four decades and her work in these industries has earned her the Keeper of Traditions Award at this year’s National Waiata Maori Music Awards.

The nominated award is for a person who is or has been dedicated to teaching Maori culture in music. There are four nominated sections each year, recognising the contribution people have made to waiata Maori.

The others, who were announced

a teacher who turns her students into the leaders of tomorrow is honoured.

in the first issue of Waiata in June, 2011, included the late Sir Kingi Ihaka, the winner of the Iconic Maori Composer Award; Ardijah and Frankie Stevens, winners of Maori Music Industry Awards and Mahora Peters, winner of the Lifetime Contribution to Maori Music Award. At the awards this year, Tihi indicated she was keen to encourage more Maori artists to work in Te Reo Maori, and to see those songs come through as nominations for the National Waiata Maori Music Awards in the coming years.

Tihi works as a teacher in Otautahi, she established the first kura kaupapa Maori in Te Waipounamu, Te Kura Whakapumau I Te Reo Tuturu, in 1986 and the first immersion/bi-lingual initiative in a

secondary school in 1990.

Many of the graduates are now in high-powered positions in kaupapa Maori around the motu, including whare wananga teachers, lecturers, pouaka whakaata, presenters, producers, researchers as well as principals. Much of her work in education has been around kapa haka and waiata where she has been a teacher, instructor, performer, composer, choreographer and organiser. She has taught her own kapa haka group Te Kotahitanga for 40 years, initially with her husband and now with her son and whanau.

The roopu is considered to be the premiere South Island kapa haka group, it has been a winner at regional and national competitions for many years.

Tihi has many times represented kapa haka at international forums as a performer, writer, advocate and speaker. Many of her secondary students now run their own groups, in their own schools. She has also been involved in kapa haka development at a regional level with her work in the Waitaha Cultural Council. Tihi has also worked as an advocate for Maori music and with her son Te Huaki, who is a vocalist and reo Maori recording artist, has been involved in the Maori music scene for many years. She has composed and written songs with Te Huaki and is a member of Toi Maori Puatatangi Music Committee.

In 2003 she was awarded a QSM for her work in Maori education and in 2010 was awarded recognition by Ngaitahu for her work in revitalising reo and kaupapa Maori, especially in the areas of kapa haka in Te Waipounamu.

ADVERTISEMENT The Tamaki Makaurau Matariki Festival Trust was established in 2010 with the purpose to help grow Auckland’s Matariki Festival, currently produced by Auckland Council, as a world class Indigenous festival.

2011 has been a rewarding year for the trust where relationships with local government have evolved, our presence with local communities and the creative sector has been built upon and partnerships with industry have been strengthened.

The learning to date has been worthwhile and at times satisfying as we play our part in the national resurgence of this Maori celebration, a time of remembrance and acknowledgement, particularly of the people we love and the land we live on.

While Auckland had a successful 2011 festival and plans are well on their way for 2012, there is still a way to go to connect all people of Aotearoa in the spirit of the Maori New Year.

Particularly as we watch other non-indigenous festivals gain traction from our treaty partners due

www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

to the emphasis on multi-culturalism, rather than biculturalism.

It is encouraging to know there are Maori and other indigenous organisations who are leading the way in indigenous festival development that enable us to benchmark against and determine cultural best practice in relation to performance metrics; the organisation’s activities and performance against customers requirements, value and fiscal output.

As a public event the Auckland Matariki Festival is a strong kaupapa that presents a platform for traditional and contemporary events that engage communities and promote and preserve not only our culture and heritage, but also our creative arts across all disciplines.

In 2009 Te Ra o Matariki/Matariki Day bill, was brought to parliament and the bill was lost, however the intent of the bill was to evolve our national identity to one where we can stand together and celebrate culture (tikanga Maori) in all its form.

Matariki is not just a day event but a month-long traditional and contemporary Maori festival that is celebrated by all Polynesian cultures in a global and all encompassing way. It is a time of manaakitanga (nurturing), whakawhanaungatanga (inclusiveness) and whare wananga (learning), key principles that build a strong foundation for the trust’s long term future.

The Tamaki Makaurau Matariki Festival Trust (MFT) foundation trustees are Moana Taamariki-Pohe (Ngati Whatua), Qiane Corfield-Matata (Tainui), George Te Aroha Kahi (Urban Maori regional), Hinurewa te Hau (Chair) and recently appointed in November Piripi Meanry (Industry).

The Trust is currently working through the roles and responsibilities with Auckland Council’s Maori Arts/Culture staff. It is expected by 2014 aspects of the Matariki festival will be managed by the trust.

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fresh talent Majic Paora

Photo supplied by Hawke’s Bay Today.

Photo supplied by Hawke’s Bay Today.

Left, Majic Paora, performing for the camera during her music video shoot and right, performing at the Waiata Maori Music Awards in September.

Majic moment in music A young kaipara singer is using her experience at the waiata maori music awards as the inspiration behind her first music video.

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touch of Maori Majic is about to be released onto the New Zealand and international music scene. Her name is Majic Paora. She’s a 15-year-old singer from Kaipara who delivered one of the most polished performances at the 2011 National Waiata Maori Awards in Hastings in September.

She was just 13 and a vocalist with the band Te Pamu, which was the runner up in the Smokefree Pacific Beats competition in 2009 where she also won the best female vocalist Mana Wahine Award.

Majic doesn’t want to be the next Justin Bieber, although she acknowledges his achievements, but rather she wants her music

and career to achieve some longevity.

“I am looking for legendary music that will be passed on to generations, like Bob Marley’s music has been,’ ’ Majic says. ‘‘I’m not looking at a short-term career although it’s not really about my career, it’s about the music.’ ’ Majic’s taken another step towards that journey with the release of her EP and its first single, Brand New Day, in December 2011.

The song was inspired by Majic’s experience at the Waiata Maori Music Awards this year as her father and manager Ropata explains. ‘‘We were sitting across the road from the opera house in the

Majic (right) singing in the final number of the Waiata Maori Music Awards with the awards ambassador Taisha Tari (left) and Maisey Rika.

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‘I’m not looking at a shortterm career although it’s not really about my career, it’s about the music’ sun waiting around, waiting for rehearsals and that’s where the song stemmed from. ‘‘So we thought we would shoot the video for the song back at the opera house and use the venue to release the first single of Majic’s new EP.’ ’ Majic was taken under the wing of former Waiata Maori Music Award winners Taisha Tari and Maisey Rika at the awards show. ‘‘It was an honour to be with the people I got to perform with, I appreciate Maisey and Taisha helping me prepare for the performance, it was a really good experience.

“I like the opera house plaza, which is the outdoor venue, it’s not too flashy and it’s nice there when the sun is out.”

Music fans arrived in numbers to be part of the plaza audience when Majic recorded her music video there for Brand New Day in

October.

Next year she’ll release her first album called Coming to a Town Near You, which reflects a mixture of roots/hip-hop and reggae styles.

“Roots is about our background, where we came from and it’s mixed altogether with hip hop and reggae,” Majic says.

“I look up to Lauren Hill, she’s got that kind of twist to her music hat I like and then there’s Faith Hill and Bob Marley, I like a mixture of the types of music those singers produce.”

The album is very much a whanau effort and its title, Coming to a Town Near You, taken from the long road trips down to Otaki, where Majic and brother Robbie study at Te Wananga o Raukawa.

“So on our road trips, we were driving along and the ideas stemmed from there, putting them down on voice recorder and then going home, sitting

fresh talent Jeremiah Peipi

OPENING ACT OPENS NEW DOORS

down, Robbie playing the guitar and Majic the lyrics,” Ropata says.

“And then in recent times, we’ve been to visit cousin Jayden Bartlett [Hastings] and his brother Mac who work in the hip-hop scene, to help with some samples and beats for the album.

“We’ve also done some recordings up on our marae at Orakei and been over to Taranaki to see another friend who’s a musician, he plays the clarinet, to include on one of the tracks.”

Upper Hutt Posse have also had a hand in providing some rhymes for one of the tracks and Majic is due to tour with the group next year.

In March the father and daughter ream will fly to Kingston, Jamaica, to work with Tuff Gong Studios, which was formed by reggae group The Wailers in 1970.

“We have a couple of songs we want to re-version and one of them is No Woman No Cry but we are still waiting for Rita Marley [widow of Bob Marley] to agree for us to do that re-version,” Ropata said.

“We want to master the album in Kingston and record it there and that will be its international release for the album.”

They will also work with producer and songwriter Jack Knight from the US, who has worked with such www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

artists as P Diddy and Faith Evans.

Jack wants to be part of the album production and has also advised Majic on the strategy behind the release of the album.

“Part of our aim with this new album is to take it to places off the track, like your Murupara, your Hapua and others on the road,” Ropata says.

“We want to give the album out to people on CDs or USB drives so families can copy the music and get it out there.”

The album will also be available online and in music shops.

“The thing is with Majic and Robbie, they are still only 15 and 16 so we can’t do the tavern stuff, as the big groups would do because they’re too young,” Ropata says.

“So that’s why we want to focus on the rural towns, the marae, places where we can set up and perform.

We’ll just promote it on Facebook the day before to get the whanau along.”

Jeremiah Peipi, from Whanganui, made his debut performance at the Waiata Maori Music Awards this year, performing guitar in the opening number with violinist Elena and Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre.

The 17-year-old plays drums, bass and guitar and is a member of the successful rock/reggae band Dub CC which won the regional Smokefree RockQuest competition in 2010 and 2011. He was asked to appear at the awards following his outstanding performance at the Ratana Paa 2011 Talent Quest.

What was it like performing at this year’s Waiata Maori Music Awards?

The awards was an awesome experience. To play in the opening act was pretty cool. It was pretty hard though because I couldn’t hear myself playing for a little but once the amp was sorted it was amazing. I saw from the sound checks that to get everything to go right is a hard job. Because when you see a show on TV it looks easy, but in reality, it is hard work.

Did you have a chance to learn from the other artists?

I got to hang out with some of the artists at the after party, which was cool. Then I went back to the hotel and some of them were hanging out in one of the rooms.

They told me to get my guitar and we had a jam, wow, that was cool. They are real people and I had a blast. I met Maisey Rika and she is a cool person.

What plans do you have to further your career?

I would like to pursue a music career because, that is my passion. Music to me is everything. I love playing and get a buzz from music whether it be the drums or guitar. Music helps me to relax and I can get lost in my music. I practice at home everyday and to improve, I know I will have to keep practicing . Music is my life.

If invited back again to the awards, what type of music would you like to play?

I would love to play my own style of music. More like Jo Satriani kind of stuff. I play and put in my own kind of feel to songs and make them my own. To me that is the ultimate. I do a lot of jamming with my little brother, Daniel, and we compose our own songs.

To play one of my own would be cool.

Jeremiah Peipi performing at the 2011 Waiata Maori Music Awards.

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cover story Tiki Taane

In The World of light He’s a multiple music Award winner whose solo career continues to reach new heights. Lawrence Gullery talks to Tiki Taane about his rugby world cup connection, advice to young musicians and why the starship hospital is now home to one of his three 2011 National Waiata Maori Music Awards.

Photo: Greg Riwai.

‘It was a beautiful song, and I’m not one to write lullabies, but I thought I could gift it to Starship to generate some funds for it or interest in its work’

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T

iki Taane never leaves home without his putatara. It has travelled the world with him and he has played it at many concerts, gigs, parties and award ceremonies.

“It’s still in its shell form, hasn’t had a mouthpiece added it’s just straight up as you see it, I’ve just hacked off one end and sandpapered it down, it’s a beautiful thing,” Tiki says.

“I also have a koauau that I carry around with me, it mainly comes out at tangi, it’s got an amazing sound, very haunting.”

The treasured putatara appears in a video Tiki was in the throws of editing when Waiata interviewed him in October.

“It’s the biggest video I’ve ever done. I’ve shot it in Christchurch at Rehua Marae, Be Club in Auckland, Clubculture in Queenstown.

“We’ve also recorded a massive helicopter shot where I get flown up to the Remarkables then the helicopter does swooping shots of me walking up the ridge in the snow. “ “Once I get to the top of the maunga I blow my putatara for the atua and my tipuna.”

The video was shot for the song, My Lion (RWC remix) which Tiki wrote with friend Optimus Gryme and features the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra.

The track was played to over 4 billion people when it was used in the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony in Auckland in September.

“That opportunity came about through an amazing composer, Victoria Kelly, who’s

Above: Ninakaye went up to the stage at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings to collect three Waiata Maori Music Awards for her brother Tiki.

responsible for the orchestral part of the remix we did for the Rugby World Cup,” Tiki says.

“That was a massive project and I didn’t realise that it was going to be viewed by over 4 billion people, that was great exposure.”

Securing legal rights to the track was also a major triumph.

“After weeks and weeks of emails and negotiations between my lawyer and Rugby World Cup lawyers, I walked away with 100 per cent ownership to that tune, there’s no way I was going to sell that to anyone.”

My Lion features on the album In The World Of Light released earlier in 2011 which Tiki is re-releasing with three bonus tracks by the end of this year.

The album includes the single Starship Lullaby, which won Best Maori Song at the 2011 National Waiata Maori Music Awards in September.

Tiki wrote the song for his son Charlie, when Charlie was three months old.

“About a year later I thought of the idea of a partnership with the Starship Hospital in Auckland. It was a beautiful song, and I’m not one to write lullabies, but I thought I could gift it to Starship to generate some funds for it or interest in its work.

“I went along to meet the people at Starship and said what do you think and we came up with the game plan to make it available as a download with all the proceeds to go to Starship.

“The big push now is on publishing rights, to secure a deal with a company that Starship aligns with, so that company can use as a backing track for their advertisements.

“The proceeds from the licensing rights can go to Starship and I hope it can generate thousands of dollars for them over the years.”

Tiki says he was excited the song was a finalist at the Waiata Maori Music Awards and then went on to win the award, which he has since donated to Starship.

“I signed it for the nurses and the kids. The kids love seeing it in the ward, it looks awesome in the window when the sun shines through the red Perspex.

“I hope it can provide the kids and people there with a little bit of inspiration.”

Tiki picked up three gongs at this year’s Waiata Maori Awards, the others included Best Maori Songwriter and Best Male Solo Artist. He then went on to claim three more at the New Zealand Music Awards in October.

He was working on producing the Six60 album www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

in September and was unable to attend the Waiata Maori Music Awards ceremony in Hastings, instead his managing director and sister Ninakaye accepted the awards on his behalf.

“She said the awards was awesome and she’d never laughed so hard. There were awesome vibes and told me that I have to get my arse down there next time.

“Looking back it is a real buzz to have won all of the different awards, it doesn’t really sink in at first because you’re busy making music all the time, that’s my art and that’s what I’m about.

“The Waiata Maori Music Awards are special to me, for being a Maori artist trying to experiment with Maori language and Maori culture and express myself through music.

“At the end of the day it is those awards which tug at my heart strings because it means my own people are giving me a pat on the back for songs that are progressive.”

Tiki and his whanau are from Otautahi but whakapapa to Ngati Maniapoto and Tainui waka.

While he is not a fluent speaker of Te Reo Maori, through guidance from his big sister Ninakaye, they have successfully incorporated Maori language into waiata, including the award winning Starship Lullaby.

“We took that a step further when Ninakaye

said bro, if you are going to do it in Te Reo Maori, you have to do it in Maniapoto dialect.

So that was an experience as well.”

Tiki says he decided to embrace and combine tikanga Maori with his music shortly after starting his solo career.

“I used to be scared of it but then I delved into it to see what I could pull out and realised how big the kaupapa Maori world was and how powerful it can be.

“Ninakaye is my guide when it comes to kaupapa Maori and it is something that I don’t go into unless I have really ticked all the boxes.”

Tiki believes there is an international market for Maori music with performers such as Moana Maniapoto already reaching star status in Europe, for example.

“The Europeans are mad for Maori culture, and for Maori performance and things like the moko. They just think it is exotic and I think there are just some mad opportunities for Maori artists to be seen overseas.

“Someone like Maisey Rika, she’s amazing and would kick arse over there.”

The former front man for Salmonella Dub is still heavily involved in producing and working, on top of writing songs and singing towards his solo career.

“Luckily I can do all three and I can spend time on each so I never get sick of doing one thing.

Nothing beats being on stage though, when you hit that moment with the audience, it’s a magical moment and nothing beats that, I will always be a performer.”

Tiki was in the process of making an acoustic album this year as a follow to the In The World Of Light album but with commitments to the Rugby World Cup project and production duties it has been shelved until next year.

“I am starting to get more into the production role now and I’ve done three albums that have been in the top 10 New Zealand music charts this year.

“I want to keep chipping away at my career and get my studio to the point where I can start getting some new acts, helping young artists develop their careers, that’s is my 10 year plan.”

The photo was snapped at the Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland, where Tiki donated his Waiata Maori Music Award for Best Maori Song (Starship Lullaby).

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AWARD ENTRIES CLOSE FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2012

Tavai’ura Dance Group from Tahiti.

Musical Island Boys.

Patea Maori Club.

Red Thunder, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre.

OPEN SECTION: Best Māori Traditional Album (Te Reo Māori) Best Māori Urban RAP/Hip Hop/RnB Album Best Māori Urban Roots Album Best Māori Pop Album Best Māori Male or Female Solo Artist Best Māori Song Best Māori Songwriter Radio Airplay Record of the Year by a Māori Artist in Te Reo Māori Radio Airplay Record of the Year by a Māori Artist

Download entry forms from the website below or call + 64 6 873 0041 for more information.

Dancers from the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Academy, Colorado, perform at the Takitimu Festival, at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings, September 2011.

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Review

Takitimu Festival

Brother Love & the Vaimutu Allstars.

International mix MARKS FESTIVAL An array of performers from around New Zealand, the pacific, the US and Canada arrived for a festival connecting the families of the waka takitimu.

Ria Hall.

www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

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lans are in the pipeline for the third international Takitimu Festival to be held in New Zealand in 2014, featuring artists, musicians and performers from around the Pacific nations. It follows the successful 2011 Takitimu Festival which was held at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings in September.

It was the second time the festival was held, the first was also in Hastings in 2008.

The festival’s executive director Tama Huata says he’s already started planning for the third offering in the Takitimu series, which he hopes will again be held in Hastings in three years’ time.

The festival brings together all those iwi and Pacific countries affiliated to the waka Takitimu.

The next instalment will build on the economic ties founded through the festival’s inaugural Takitimu Indigenous Peoples Business Conference held this year.

Heads of state from each Takitimu iwi and Pacific nation came together to discuss business opportunities with the chief executives and general managers of companies from around New Zealand.

It’s hoped those joint venture opportunities will encourage a stronger economic Takitimu region when people prepare for the third festival in 2014.

“Over the next three years Takitimu will need to build capacity in all areas of arts and culture, social, education and economic development,” Tama says.

“The edge for Takitimu would need to be through economic development and through strong genealogical ties.”

The business conference was held over three days, exploring presentations from business looking for capital funding and others looking to invest in new ventures.

The festival entertainment was held over four days, over six stages at the opera house.

International performers included the singer Fiji, Red Thunder Native Dance Theatre from Calgary, Canada and Tavai’ura Dance Group from Tahiti and the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Academy from Colorado, US The Tavai’ura Dance Group was a hit inside and outside of the venue as it made five appearances over four venues in just one day at the festival.

Its 40 dancers and percussion performers made its debut at the first Pacific evening concert

in the opera house theatre, the next morning performed at the opera house plaza, then made an impromptu performance under the Hastings Clock Tower as people gathered in the city for Rugby World Cup celebrations.

The troupe was then shuffled into the Hastings Blossom Parade in the afternoon and later in the day was invited to meet with the French Ambassador in Napier, who was in town to meet the France rugby team ahead of its game against Canada.

The Pacific evening concerts proved to be popular with festival visitors with the Laughing Samoans mixing in a slice of comedy into the festival. Rangatahi made up a large section of those watching the evening concerts and performers such as Fiji, J Williams, the Vaimutu Allstars, J Williams and Fiji proved a big hit with the younger audience.

The legendary Patea Maori Club performed their number one hit, Poi E, which also proved a big draw card for rangatahi who danced at the front of the stage to the well-known waiata.

There were strong performances from Elena Violin Virtuoso, Musical Island Boys and multiple National Waiata Maori Music Award winner Maisey Rika.

MCs Te Hamua Nikora, William Winitana and Pio Terei kept the audience entertained during the three Pacific evening concerts.

The three dance party concerts, held in the opera house assembly room, later in the evenings, provide more room for people to kanikani on the floor in front of acts such as NRG Rising, 1814 and Oceania Storm.

International acts Red Thunder, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Academy and Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre from Hawke’s Bay combined for the closing performance of the five-day festival.

Cleo Parker Robinson, an African-American dance company, performed its signature Raindance production and also gave a preview of its new choreographic work called Dreamcatchers, The Untold Stories of the Americas.

Cleo Parker troupe combined with Kahurangi for a performance the two had choreographed over the duration of the festival bringing together Maori and African-American cultures.

The two joined Red Thunder on stage for the final number of the festival. The show finished with a farewell and recognition for the Pacific nations and iwi who had attended the festival to celebrate their links with the ancestral waka Takitimu.

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Young Sid.

Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre.

Majic Paora.

Tasty Brown.

Jay Rika and Maisey Rika.

Jeremiah Peipi.

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Anika Moa. Betty-Anne Monga, Ardijah.

Moana Maniapoto.

Maori Volcanics.

Waiata Maori Music Awards 2011

Horomona Horo.

Waimihi Hotere, Nga Tae.

Violin Virtuoso, Elena.

An exciting mix of new and well-known Maori music talent combined for this year’s awards show at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings, in September. The set redesign, completed for last year’s show, was refreshed this year to give the audience a bright new look inside the opera house theatre, which for the second consecutive year was at capacity with 900 guests. The closing number of the show, below, featured six artists and a choir which deliver the first public performance of the song, Release Your Light, due for release on to the music charts in 2012.

Taisha Tari and Frankie Stevens.

www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

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Feature Billy & Mahora Peters 2

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Lifetime education in Maori music

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Two of the lasting names from the maori showband era, billy and mahora peters, reminisce on lessons learnt in the early days of their musical careers in New Zealand & overseas.

illy Peters HOPES the memories of his big break in the music industry still provides plenty of food for thought for young entertainers working on their careers.

Billy was a young man playing in a three-piece band during the 1960s when the group was approached to open a secondary school in the Waikato.

“We thought, this is big. Naturally we all thought we were totally brilliant. We played with all the confidence in the world and the next morning went back expecting to get paid.

“The guy running the show said to us, you see those water melons down there, well take these sugar Pg 16

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bags and you boys go down there and take as many as you can fit into your bags.

“That was our pay. We went down into the paddock and found we could only fit two watermelons per bag.”

Billy is one of the original members of the famous Maori Volcanics Showband which toured the world during the 1960s and 1970s. He and partner Mahora, the cofounder of the Volcanics, were the guest speakers at the National Waiata Maori Music Awards celebrity breakfast in September.

The couple live in Queensland now where they still perform with the Volcanics and enjoy mentoring young musicians, sharing their experiences and stories.

“Before the Volcanics, the band I

was with used to play at a club in Auckland, the Quins played there, it was quite a famous place,” Billy says.

“We used to get paid a weeks worth of toasted sandwiches and a bottle of coke each night. Our next big gig came when we played the Soundshell at Orewa and so we thought, this was going to be huge.

“Our pay was two crates of coke and a couple of cartons of cigarettes. And if you didn’t use them up you wouldn’t get paid your next instalment. So it wasn’t unusual to see guys standing there with three or four cigarettes in their hands trying to smoke them all.

“The smoke back stage in those days was unbelievable, we created so much heat you could have kept the national power grid going.”

Billy was 22 when he realised he’d need an alternative career to prepare for a possible downturn in the entertainment industry in the future.

“I remember doing a few movies with Don Selwyn but then you’d have a quiet period of about six months when there was nothing happening so I thought that wasn’t a good long-term option.

“I decided to go into electronics and managed to study for a degree in that area.

“Back in the early days in the music industry you could get work seven days a week, you could live off music, but it’s not like that any more and I think young people who want to work in music also have to get themselves ready and prepared for other career options.”

FIVE OF THE BEST MAORI SHOWBANDS

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1: Billy and Mahora Peters, at the Waiata Maori Music Awards celebrity breakfast, held at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings in September; 2: Mahora and Billy performed a waiata with other well known showband singers, Rim D Paul (Quin Tikis), Monty Cowan (Kawana Showband) and Marsh Cook (Quin Tikis) at the celebrity breakfast; 3: A Maori Volcanics line up of Selwyn Rawiri, Monty Cowan (back) Marsh Cook, Joe Haami, Billy Peters and Kristian Paul (drums), perform at the 2011 Waiata Maori Music Awards; 4: Mahora Peters accepts her Lifetime Contribution to Maori Music Award and 5: Billy and Mahora, at the celebrity breakfast.

The Volcanics was formed by Nuki Waaka and Mahora in Sydney in the 1960s and joining the band gave Billy the type of education he would not have been able to achieve from a book or inside a classroom.

The Volcanics toured Australia, the Pacific, parts of the US, Europe and the UK. It had allowed the band to meet “many different races of people”.

“Even when we went to Canada, we made a point of going to see the Indian tribes there, to see how they lived, what they ate and how they dealt with life.

“It’s something that we would not have been able to learn anywhere else and although we are not rich (in terms of money) we are rich in the many people we have met from all over the world. www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

‘We used to get paid a weeks worth of toasted sandwiches and a bottle of coke each night’

MAORI HI FIVE: Considered to be the first Maori showband, pioneered the unique mix of cabaret style music, comedy, skits and Maori culture with choreographed dance. The first Maori showband to appear on New Zealand television and the only New Zealand band to have supported The Beatles.

MAORI HI QUINS: Modelled on the Maori Hi Five, became ambassadors of Maori music around the world. They travelled under strict conditions which included fines for not smiling on stage and being seen too often with the same woman.

QUIN TIKIS: Became the best known showband of the 1960s, popular in New Zealand, Australia and Asia. Performed in movies.

MAORI PREMIERS: Enjoyed success in the Sydney club circuit where they were based (never toured) and performed for several years. The group was formed by Australian hotel owner Des Cussins.

MAORI VOLCANICS: Formed in Sydney in 1964 and became the most successful and enduring of the Maori showbands.

The line-up has changed over the years but the Maori Volcanics are still performing today in Australia and New Zealand, now led by Billy and Mahora Peters who are based in Queensland.

Information gathered from Te Papa Museum’s online exhibition on Maori Showbands, launched in 2004. It was the museum’s first online exhibition.

“We set a high standard for Maori people wherever we went and I hope that those of you looking to go into a music career that you remember to carry the name of our people well, that you respect it, you let other people respect it, you know who you are and you leave people with the best impression possible.”

Mahora, who was at the event to accept the Lifetime Contribution to Maori Music Award in recognition of her work in the industry, also paid tribute to the late Billy T James who was a member of the Maori Volcanics in the 1970s before heading into television.

“I remember seeing his play in a hotel in Tokoroa and Billy and I could see there was a special talent here and that’s when we asked him to join us.

“We went back overseas and that’s where we believe he did his training, when he saw all of these great entertainers … he was like a big sponge, he took everything in and he used it later on when he came home.”

Mahora has also been busy discovering alternative careers over the past decade and had turned her hand to writing and film producing.

In 2007 her book called, Showband!

Mahora and the Maori Volcanics, was released and she’s now working on a movie version of the same title.

“Everyone in this room has a story and you should write about it because it’s your legacy, it’s something you can leave behind for your mokos.”

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FEATURE

Waiata Tupuna

Discovering Princess Iwa A christchurch singer plans to turn a Radio documentary she made of the musical career of her tupuna into a film to further revive the incredible story of Evaline Skerrett, who made her name singing on the other side of the world.

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n the early 1900s a young Maori woman from Bluff embarked on an international stage career singing waiata and promoting Maori art, culture and music to the rest of the world. Her name was Evaline Skerrett.

She was born in 1890 on Stewart Island and was known to her family as Eva, or Iwa, which eventually led to her stage name, “Princess Iwa”.

She performed in theatres from London to Glasgow as well as in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s and her social circle included the likes of Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba, actor Mary Pickford and actorcomposer Charlie Chaplin.

‘I think this is really a story that people want to hear and will be inspired by’ Her signature waiata was Hine E Hine, a song synonymous with most New Zealanders through its version as “the good night Kiwi song” and other versions performed by Dame Kiri Te Kaniwa.

Evaline’s story has been revived by her great-niece Angela Skerrett, who produced an audio documentary tracing the singer’s career, from humble beginnings working with bands in Bluff, to performing in Australia and Europe.

Angela, a professional singer from Christchurch, was the narrator on the CD which also featured her daughter, Miri, actor Sam Neil and Invercargill mayor

NEWS CLIPS FROM IWA'S SCRAPBOOK Otago Witness newspaper, Nov 10, 1909: Mr Orchard, of Sydney, the musical Judge at the Dunedin competitions, told the committee that he considered the society had discovered a

Tim Shadbolt to name a few.

There was also a choir formed to sing Hine E Hine on the CD which Angela called “Whakamaharatanga O Iwa” which means Fondest Memories of Iwa. It was the message Evaline wrote with her autograph on a sheet of music Angela found at Wellington’s Alexander Turnbull Library when she began researching her famous great-aunt.

“I have been asked to come and talk to high school students here in Christchurch about Iwa and the CD I made so I will probably design a programme on Iwa that I can promote and roll out to a few schools.

“And I think that having her story told in Waiata Maori Music Magazine can only add to the energy and interest that is building and hopefully attract some more positive attention.”

With the CD launched and stories of Evaline in newspapers generating interest, Angela is now keen to work towards her next goal of turning the story into a movie.

“I think this is really a story that people want to hear and will be inspired by. Now I’ve got to go out there and have the conversation with people and get things moving in terms of funding around the project.

“I’m looking for someone to partner with to make this happen. There are a number of directions I could go with this, I could book a stage and turn the story into a show, I could hold an exhibition at a gallery with all of the photos and news stories I have of Iwa. “The big picture is the movie but I am prepared to work towards all of these other goals along the way.”

Angela has already one person in mind to play “an adult Princess Iwa”, someone she saw performing with all-diva group the Lady Killers a few years ago and who is also the Waiata Maori Music ambassador, singer Taisha Tari from Auckland.

“I’ve been in touch with Taisha by email but we haven’t managed to catch up and have a formal chat about the project,” Angela says.

contralto with a future in Miss Eva Skerrett, of the Bluff.

Bluff Girls Success, Miss Skerrett in England, The Maori Troupe: The Maori troupe which headed

by Maggie Papakura, are in England to take part in the Empire Festival at the Coronation Celebrations, include Miss Iwa Skerrett of the Bluff, who has the honour of being the “star”

Picture: Evaline Skerrett, during her rise to fame in Europe.

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contralto of the troupe. The Argus newspaper, Melbourne, Nov 2, 1910: The Maori Village that has been established at the Exhibition grounds has caught the popular fancy, and is attracting large attendances. Last night the audience was most appreciative, especially to the singing of “Iwa” who sang Alfred Hill’s Waiata Poi. NZ Herald News, June 14, 1911:

Evaline Skerrett was know as Princess Iwa when she performed overseas in Europe.

Maoris in London Festival Of Empire “Iwa Kereti” the young contralto singer, dark eyed Maori maiden her intonation of English is quite perfect but when she lapses into the beautiful liquid broad toned native tongue one can understand why she prefers to sing a ballad in her own language. The British Australasian, Oct 27, 1911: Iwa the popular

From Bluff to the World’s stage Evaline Skerrett was 18 when she was discovered in a national talent-quest competition in the South Island. It was 1909 and Evaline was placed second but upon a private recital for judges, she was announced as the next “New Zealand Contralto”.

Makereti Papakura, also known as “Guide Maggie”, from Te Arawa, Rotorua, at the time was putting together a concert party to travel to Australia and then the UK. The 40-member troupe included dancers, carvers and singers from Te Arawa who were leaders in their craft.

Makereti travelled to Bluff to ask Evaline’s parents for permission to take the young woman on tour, she was to be the group’s lead signer. They agreed and so the group embarked on its first tour in Melbourne where Evaline performed in front of about 6000 people.

Public and media feedback of the time read promising for Evaline and offers started to come in from some high profile managers who wanted to recruit her in Australia.

Evaline’s father went to Sydney to make negotiations for her future and after considering the options, decided his daughter was be better off going to England to discover “the old country”.

So she carried on with the tour party where in London they were to be part of the Festival of Cultures prior to the ceremony of marking the coronation of King George V in 1911.

The Maori section of the festival was among the most popular, it had been set up to replicate Pa, complete with carvers working on taonga, the performers dressed in traditional costume.

Financially however, the tour was not a success and the troupe was reduced to a party of 12 people including Evaline.

Her success led on to a solo career where she went on to perform at the

contralto of the Maori troupe now in this country has been offered a very good engagement at one of the leading London music halls and will very probably accept it and remain behind when the rest of the troupe leave early in November. The Bluff Press and Stewart Island Gazette, 1911:

Miss Iwa Skerrett the well-known Bluff Contralto singer who has made such a hit in London with the Maori troupe has accepted a short engagement at the Palace Theatre, London at a salary of 20 guineas per week and is creating a deep impression. Yarmouth Independent, July 5, 1913: Britannia Pier, the chief event of the afternoon and evening

Crystal Palace Theatre for three weeks.

Media attention led to more exciting opportunities as reviewers tried their best to describe Evaline’s unique voice, which had a range of 2 octaves.

Over the next two decades, Evaline performed in concerts, recitals, opera and pantomime in some of the most famous venues from London to Glasgow and in Paris. She sung in English and Maori and her priority was to promote Maori culture, she designed and made some of the backdrops to her shows and the costumes she wore.

She would make poi, sometimes on stage as part of her performance, to show the audience how the taonga was made and how it was used with waiata.

Evaline performed as a guest at the Paris Exhibition, she sang before royalty at functions, represented New Zealand at an Anzac ceremony and entertained troops in World War I training camps.

She married Samuel Thornton who was the principal tenor with the Royal Carl Rosa Opera Company which Evaline was the lead singer for.

Evaline moved on to teach piano during the tougher World War periods. News of her work in England faded as time went on, prompting calls from relatives for her achievement to be recognised.

She died in 1947 at the age of 56 and her body remains in England. Evaline had two sons, one married and moved to Perth, Australia where he and his wife were killed in a car crash. Their two daughters attended a family reunion a few years ago called “A tribute to Iwa – celebrating her life”.

Evaline kept a detailed scrapbook of her sheet music, song selection and news clippings of her reviews. It is used by historians as reference material on Maori music of the period. Excerpts from the scrap book are below.

converts was the appearance of the World-renowned Maori contralto Iwa who positively electrified her audiences with her wonderful voice. Perhaps her best effort was at the evening concert when she gave Nearer my God to Thee to Careys setting with a full band accompaniment.

Iwa’s rendition of Stephen Adams popular song Thora was

also enthusiastically encored.

News in brief: Princess Helene Victoria will present the prizes at an athletic sports meeting organized by the Y.M.C.A, for aircraft workers, to be held at Stamford Bridge at 3pm. Princess Iwa (Maori) from New Zealand, will open the proceedings by singing the National Anthem and Land of Hope and Glory.

Picture: Evaline Skerrett, age 17.

www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

DECEMBER/HAKIHEA 2011

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Profile

Young Sid

Keeping it real FOR THE FANS a young maori musician, who’s becoming a mentor for pupils around new zealand, wants to be on the world stage telling his story without compromise.

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hen it comes to hiphop and rap music,Young Sid is 100 per cent sure New Zealanders have it over the Americans in the “being true” to the lyrics department. “I’ve been in studios in the US and heard people talk about how much money they have, how many people they shoot, what kind of chains they have and cars they drive.

“But in reality they’ve got none of that, so they’re making stuff up, it’s a fantasy.

“But New Zealanders, we like to talk about what we are going through and what’s real. We sometimes grab a character and talk about their life but that’s still real, and that’s the difference, we are real people.”

The two-time Waiata Maori Music Award winner was one in a cast of Maori music stars who delivered the debut live performance of the song, Release the Light, at this year’s awards ceremony at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings in September.

The song will be released on to the New Zealand music charts in early 2012.

Sid along with artists Maisey Rika, Jay Rika, Taisha Tari and Ruia Aperahama were the force behind creating, writing and recording a demo version of the song at Radio Kahungunu in Hastings in May. The fabulous five also ran a music workshop for students and then helped launch the inaugural issue of Waiata magazine.Young Sid says he’s not “good at public speaking” but found himself opening up to the students at the music workshop, talking about being automatically linked to gang activity and the death of his mum.

“I grew up in Otara and like in a gang environment. There’s a gang called the Killer Beez, they are friends and family and they asked me to feature in a song they did with their label.

“I thought of course, if it’s going to help them do something else which is positive. We did the song, we did the video clip and then a couple of the members got caught in a police operation.”

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Right: Young Sid with some young fans at the Maori Music Expo, held as part of the Waiata Maori Music Awards in Hawke’s Bay in September.

was on the verge of being “black listed” by venues and concert organisers.

“Every city I went to there was a lot of police.

There were articles in the paper saying this guy Young Sid is going to come down with like a bus load of Killer Beez gang members and try to recruit. It was really stupid, I laughed about it … and then I wrote a song about it on my album, What Doesn’t Kill Me. A line from that song was: ‘now I’m the one to blame for the kids throwing up their colours, do your research, I’m the only one not wearing colours’.

“I had to be persistent on my view of the whole thing and really work hard to show people that I

‘A lot of people just thought, yep you’re a gang member, I don’t want anything to do with you’

wasn’t the person I was made out to be.

“A lot of people just thought, yep you’re a gang member, I don’t want anything to do with you.”

But Young Sid kept moving and found success with hip-hop group, Smash Proof. The group’s song, Brother, spent 11 weeks at number one in New Zealand.

“Once that song was a hit some of those people who were critical of me came up and said, ‘man, I now know you’re not like that and I apologise’.

That’s amazing to me because it’s like they’ve seen the light.”

The chance to enjoy the success of Smash Proof slipped after news his mum who had been “the rock of our family” had terminal cancer.

“She was a special lady, a strong leader, it was unfortunate she passed away. Back then I was going through so much, the media and police scrutiny and my older brother was in jail, it all happened at the same time.

“So I had the biggest low and the biggest high in one year. But I just had to keep going and keep working, I didn’t want to stop and think about it, I didn’t lose control. Now I am really proud of Smash Proof and can enjoy the success.”

It’s obvious that Sid draws on the experiences in his life as raw material he refines and writes into songs.

He’s written about his mum, his Maori and Cook Island whakapapa, his brush with the law, and

RELEASE YOUR LIGHT AIMS FOR CHART RELEASE

Above: Young Sid performing the new waiata, Release Your Light, with a host of other Maori artists, at the Waiata Maori Music Awards, Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings in September.

www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

other big issues impacting on community such as child abuse.

“I like writing a bunch of stories that people can relate to. I think I read people well, I read kids, business people, rich people, people that come from poor homes and incorporate them all into my songs so everyone can listen and hopefully say, that’s a great song.”

Sid’s in big demand and is on the verge of breaking into the international market but he says it’s the children which are his biggest critics.

“A lot of people ask me to open their marae, or students ask me to please come to their school to perform, that’s the most common request I get in my Facebook inbox.

“I’ve even got students coming up to me asking to do their school projects on me, that’s crazy, I don’t know any other rap artists that gets kids doing that but I guess they want to see someone who has come from nothing and has been successful. It has a good impact on me but also adds pressure because I have to keep making music that people are going to like.”

Earlier this year Sid had been working in New York where he now has a manager who looks after well known rapper Akon and “a bunch of other up and coming artists”.

“Yeah I want to be on the world stage but telling the truth without compromise, I want to be there immediately spreading the word, I hope I get the chance.”

A song which is the work of five Maori artists will be released onto the New Zealand music charts soon following its debut public performance at this year’s Waiata Maori Music Awards in Hawke’s Bay. Release Your Light is the name of the waiata and project by singers and songwriters Maisey Rika, Jay Rika, Taisha Tari, Young Sid and Ruia Aperahama.

All five are former winners at the Maori music awards and were given the challenge of writing, recording and performing a song together by the awards executive director Tama Huata.

The task was to produce a song which could be launched at this year’s Maori music awards and next year released into the national music charts.

The five artists ran a music workshop for Hastings pupils in May where they also attended the launch of the Waiata magazine.

It was at this time they also began work on the new song, pencilling the initial lyrics and laying down the first demo track at Radio Kahungunu in Heretaunga.

“I gave them a theme to write to, it’s about unity, about strength, to move as one and to encourage achievement through the (Maori) language,” Tama says.

“The idea of the song was to inspire the rangatahi of today to be the leaders of tomorrow, to always aim for the pinnacle of success, and I’m happy with what they’ve (the artists) come back with.”

Maisey Rika, who took home four Maori music awards in 2010, took a lead role in writing the song.

Waiata Maori Music Awards ambassador Taisha, was instrumental in the development and production of the project.

Jay was the critical force behind the guitar rhythms while Sid integrated the hip-hop flavour into the number and Aperahama was the authority on the Te Reo Maori content.

The demo was further produced and re-recorded in Auckland, with the help of a few other well-known voices.

“We had 30-plus singers and musicians who have all added to the recording in Auckland. They’ve recorded an English version and a Maori version, we released the English version at the awards as we’re aiming for that mainstream audience,” Mr Huata says.

Some of those singers appeared at the Maori music awards show this year to help deliver the first public performance of Release Your Light.

It included Ngatapa Black, Pieter T and Majic Paora who helped close the 2011 show in front of a capacity crowd of about 900 people at the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings.

Pieter T, Ngatapa Black and Ruia Aperahama were among the Maori music stars performing Release Your Light at this year’s Waiata Maori Music Awards.

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Te koanga

Fashion Show 2011

Fashion HONOURS MISS AOTEAROA ANGELA CUDD WRITES ABOUT HER LEADERSHIP ROLE AT THIS YEAR’S TE KOANGA FASHION SHOW, HELD AS PART OF THE WAIATA MAORI MUSIC AWARDS.

I

n my role as Miss Aotearoa NZ I try to be involved in Te Ao Maori wherever I can. One of my pageant platforms is the positive promotion of Maori and Pacific Island people.

And so it was a special honour to be involved in a leadership role at this year’s Te Koanga Fashion Show.

It’s kaupapa Maori approach is certainly one of the reason why I wanted to be involved this year for the first time.

It was also an honour to be available to offer my experience and advice to the other models because for many of them it was

their first time in a fashion show.

I didn’t get to see the 2010 show so I came into this year’s event with an open mind. And at the conclusion of this year’s show it was clear its strength is the high calibre of people who have been selected to work on the project.

Duane and Tutevera WichmanEvans and their team from Oyster Entertainment in Auckland and MC William Winitana from Hawke’s Bay are perfect examples of this.

I hate to rate others unless they ask for it and are prepared for my honest opinion. Some of the models did ask for advice on how to walk but I left that up to Duane.

Designers’ garments, above from left: Kui Tomoana, Lena Kuru, Marlene Greaves, Ana Hau, Tutina Pasene, Raewyn Tumaki and Tribal Fibres.

In saying that I would love to have some sort of involvement in a mentoring role in the future.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that people are the key to a good event: The organisers, designers, models, back-stage workers, MC and audience. I felt so much love and those are exactly the environments I try and place myself in. Bring on Te Koanga 2012!

Duanne and Tutevera are close relatives of my friend Joyana Meyer who is Miss South Pacific 2010, so I felt an instant connection with them.

I appreciated seeing a successful Maori/Pacific Island couple really making moves in the industry with a history of experience behind them. Seeing what they are doing is a reaffirmation for me that big things can be done with vision and support.

My favourite garment at Te Koanga was the dress I wore for designer Christina Rhodes, who is also a fashion and design tutor from the Hawke’s Bay Eastern Institute of Technology. It was an amazing long-

Behind the scenes with EIT Hawke’s Bay Certificate in Hairdressing students (left) and The Bodyshop makeup artists.

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Below left: Miss Aotearoa NZ Angela Cudd models a garment by designer Christina Rhodes from Hawke’s Bay, at the 2011 Te Koanga Fashion Show.

sleeved silk red and black cocktail dress (right) that made me feel the perfect balance of sexy and sweet.

In terms of the collections, I enjoyed Lena Kuru’s cocktail dress line: The dresses were sophisticated and could easily be streamlined into mainstream fashion.

Tutina Pasene’s line was also a stand out for me. I especially loved her korowai and the overall infusion of Asian culture with Maori culture evident in her line. It took the show from small town to high fashion.

The Bodyshop was the official make-up artists for Te Koanga Fashion Show and the National Waiata Maori Music Awards.

They flew some of their best make-up artists in from Auckland who were fresh from working at the New Zealand Fashion Week to work with the company’s Napier team. I was beyond confident the models make-up would look incredible, and I was right. We also had the students from the EIT Hawke’s Bay Certificate in Hairdressing course work at the show.

For my partner, Jodi Allen, who was one of the models at Te Koanga, this was his first runway experience. He’s used to lots of attention, he plays for the Hawke’s Bay Magpies rugby team so modelling really fits him well. Now, he’s caught the modelling bug and wants to do more. I know I’m biased but he was definitely the best piece of East Coast handsome there. Without a doubt I want to part of next year’s show. Not only did Te Koanga 2011 offer me an amazing experience www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

but I also felt I made a positive contribution that only touches the surface of what I have to offer. I’d love to contribute in a mentoring or organisational capacity, which are my strong points. I currently organise the annual REC Fashion Show in conjunction with Miss Hawke’s Bay and Miss Teen Hawke’s Bay so I’m experienced and enjoy working in those fields.

I’ve also been appointed the Pageant Director for Miss Aotearoa NZ 2012, so I would love to incorporate the contestants into the Te Koanga Fashion Show 2012.

I would love to break some barriers in the modelling industry but not because I want to be a professional model more because I like being different and making statements.

For example, I’d love to see a short model walk at New Zealand Fashion Week. Plus-size models broke into the event this year so why not someone pint sized?

It doesn’t have to be me but I’d love to have some involvement. I’ve studied at university for a long time so I definitely want to give that a rest for a year and spend some time gaining life experiences.

I think it’s the most under rated commodity of the 21st century. In the end, I know my destination but I don’t have all the details worked out and I like it that way.

The only thing set in stone is that I will direct the Miss Aotearoa NZ 2012 pageant and compete in Miss World NZ 2012. I have many options and goals. I have faith that the chips will fall as they are meant to. For now I’m eager to pause for a moment and enjoy where I am.

RENEWED FOCUS FOR 2012 TE KOANGA FASHION SHOW The Te Koanga Fashion Show, is set to return as part of the National Waiata Maori Music Awards in Hawke’s Bay next year. Duanne and Tutevera Wichman-Evans from Auckland co-ordinated this year’s show for the first time. Duane says using Maori art, artists, musicians and performers will be the key to set Te Koanga apart from other shows on the national fashion calendar.

“The thing with fashion is that it tends to be a female industry so by adding other parts to enhance the evening it can bring in another audience,” Duane says.

National fashion designers Ana Hau and Raewyn Tumaki from Auckland and Tutina Pasene from Otaki showed at Te Koanga for the first time in 2011 and are keen to return in 2012.

The Hawke’s Bay designers at this year’s show included Kui Tomoana, Maakarita Paku, Christina Rhodes, Marlene Greaves, Lena Kuru and nine students from EIT Hawke’s Bay Certificate in Fashion Apparel programme.

Duane says he’s keen to develop a model talent search programme to help with next year’s show.

“I’d look at taking it to the shopping malls or city centres to audition for models. It would need to have a sponsor and could be part of the promotion of the show, a behind the scenes project, from Duane Wichman-Evans (left) at no model experience and to a Te Koanga Fashion Show rehearsal. show outcome.”

Duane says he was happy with the crop of models who worked at the 2011 show, who had begun their training trampling the floors of the Tamatea Rugby Club rooms in Hastings, via the guidance of Hastings woman Heather Te Au, who modelled at the 2010 show.

“Heather had done some great work with them already which was much needed. A lot of the models didn’t fit the costumes because they were too long for them. Most designers design for the taller model.”

A custom-made sound track was developed for this year’s show and in 2012 there could be more live performances, featuring Maori music and more work on developing a unique stage set design. The Body Shop was the official supplier of makeup for Te Koanga 2011 while EIT Hawke’s Bay’s hairdressing faculty provided the hair design for models at the show.

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Album reviews

Tania McAuley and Apikara Te Rangi review five of the best albums released during the 3rd quarter of 2011.

3rd quarter releases

1814, Covers Album This is the kind of album you’d put on, sit back and relax in the sun to. If sweet harmonies, saxophone and reggae are your thing, these 11 tracks should do you just fine.

It’s good stuff, just don’t expect anything to blow your mind, although you might get a couple of surprises in what they’ve come up with.

The most interesting choice is country legend Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire, and it sounds pretty good, although the lyrics at the end get a bit wonky.

Their version of Finlay Quaye’s Your Love Gets Sweeter and Burning Spear’s Marcus Garvey are also spot on, with the sort of beats you’d have trouble not grooving to.

And their jazzed up version of Bill Wither’s Ain’t No Sunshine is one of the best covers of it I’ve heard for a long time, not too sad, not

too upbeat, but somewhere in the middle – capturing the essence of it really well. As is almost to be expected, there’s two UB40 songs here too, King and Bring Me Your Cup, sounding not too far removed from the originals. 1814 are doing great things for reggae and it’s pretty cool that last month (October) they had two albums – this one and their debut – in the New Zealand music charts at the same time. Now I’ve heard the songs they like, their inspiration, I’d like to hear more of their own work again.

6/10, by Tania McAuley.

Six60, Six60 The first time I heard Rise Up on the radio I thought wow, what is that song, whose is it and where can I get it? So to say I’m pretty pleased to have Six60 in my hands now would be an understatement, and I’m far from disappointed with the rest. If you too can’t wait to hear it again, you can skip right to the end to get your fill, but it’s well worth sitting through the other 15 tracks

to get there. Six60 sound pretty different to much of what I’ve heard lately, a mash up of roots, hip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass, dub and reggae. Coproduced by Tiki Taane, this debut album with its mix of fast, hard, bass heavy, melodic and acoustic tracks should be, and looks like it’s on its way to being a hit.

Singer-guitarist Matiu Walters has been blessed with a sweet voice, and fits in well whether he’s accompanying one of the softer songs, a dark, moody moment, or singing over the top of some massive drum ‘n’ bass sound.

It’s hard to pick out standouts, from the slowburning In The Clear, the epic Lost and booming drums, synth and wailing guitar of Run For It, and the melody of opening track Only To Be. And Take It From Here is a great prelude to last track with its smooth vocals, guitar and dub. I can’t wait to hear more.

9/10, by Tania McAuley.

Live concerts TOP DVD SELLERS

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IVE RECORDED performances by Maori artists John Rowles, Dennis Marsh and polyfonk band Ardijah have produced three of the top five New Zealand music DVD sellers, contributing to a 1200 per cent increase in sales in the market for the third quarter of 2011.

DVD titles, John Rowles in Concert, Dennis Marsh Live in Concert and Ardijah’s Timeless: Live At The Civic have been snapped up

by New Zealand buyers during the July to September 2011 period.

Joining those three in the top five DVD sellers, Nature’s Best, a release of 60 music videos by Kiwis including Bic Runga, OMC, Herbs and Supergroove to name a few.

And the That’s Country DVD rounds out the list with a compilation of 22 performances marking nearly three decades of New Zealand’s muchloved television show.

The results were released by the New Zealand Music Industry Commission which marks the performance and health of the music industry each quarter.

The John Rowles In Convert DVD was recorded by TVNZ in 2005 for a television Pg 24

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special and continues to be a big seller at concerts for people wanting a souvenir of the show. John Rowles says he is surprised at how well the DVD has sold.

“People clearly still value quality visual footage rather than YouTube whereas music has been taken over by MP3 downloads.

“DVD shot right is expensive to produce however, if the public still value it, then its worth doing,” John says.

Sales Figures Total sales of DVDs by New Zealand artists attributed to 4.19 per cent of the total number of sales in the DVD market. It compared to 2.29 per cent for the second quarter and just over 1 per cent for the same quarter in 2010.

There were 2860 DVDs by New Zealand artists sold, compared to 1449 in the second quarter and just 220 for the same quarter last year. There was 21.8 per cent growth across the DVDs market as a whole.

Maori artists also appear in the sales of digital singles of the third quarter where the top five are Don’t Forget Your Roots by Six60, Loud by Stand Walker, Dub Me Crazy by Bulletproof, Like Water by Ladi 6 and Love Love Love by

Upper Hutt Posse, Declaration of Resistance Declaration of Resistance, featuring 13 new tracks from one of Aotearoa’s longest enduring bands, shows Upper Hutt Posse haven’t so much mellowed from being “angry” young men as turned into angry middle-aged men.

Opening track Know was a bit of a surprise, showing a softer side but not sparing the words. The music behind the messages, for the most part, shows they’re just as good as ever at mixing up rap and reggae.

Know and Inspiration are standout tracks for me, along with We A Warrior, a reggae laden song about “warriors for truth”.

But it gets repetitive.

Songs like Can’t Let It Be and Revolutionary are just too much of the same old thing, while Government Departure is OTT. Singing about what’s happened in the past is fine, but freeing political prisoners?

new zealand music buyers vote with their wallets to show popularity of moving live concerts onto DVDs

Avalanche City. The total number of sales of digital singles by New Zealand artists was 154,205, just above the 151,804 recorded in the second quarter and more than the 146,627 for the same quarter in 2010.

The album, Waiata: Maori Showbands, Balladeers and Pop Stars was among the top five compilations by New Zealand artists for the third quarter of 2011.

Others included The Great NZ Song Book: Dennis Marsh.

Souvenir Ed, The Great NZ Song Book Vol.1 and Vol.2, and Rucks, Tries and Choruses.

Total sales of compilations by New Zealand artists for the third quarter was 8330, up on the second quarter number of 4761 but a drop in the 11,540 albums sold in the third quarter of 2010.

Stan Walker’s Loud and Six60’s Don’t Forget

Tatou tatou e 2 Waiata magazine has FIVE copies of the Tatou tatou e 2 album to give away, to the first five people who can tell us why they deserve a copy of this fantastic CD. Email your answers and details to waiatamaori_media@vodafone.co.nz

Who are they talking about? I was expecting them to finish with a bang, but the last track, Maintain, was a bit of a fizzer, just too oldfashioned sounding.

In a way, it’s a good thing that they haven’t changed much as there’s still too many local musicians putting on accents so they don’t even sound like they’re from here, singing about things that don’t relate to here.

There’s no mistaking where UHP are from. On the other hand, it would be good to hear them try something new, because if they did, they’d deservedly earn themselves more fans.

5/10, by Tania McAuley.

Ria Hall, Ria Hall EP She has won the respect of Aotearoa’s elite roots, reggae and soul music communities, and that pretty much sums up the feel of her self-titled EP. Ria Hall has incorporated her many influences into this album – Maori performing arts, te reo Maori, modern musical palettes, whanau, and her own life

history. When I listened to her first song He Tangi Apakura – It’s alright, her voice sounded similar to Lauryn Hill, and I say Lauryn Hill, as her voice and talent is quite unique to any other Maori artist. You just can’t compare her. While the song is similar to a lament it is quite jazzy and funky to listen to.

Throughout all of her songs she shares her strong feelings for papatuanuku (mother earth) and her connections to it, and how it affects our lives today. She compares herself to the rivers and sea and how she is proud to be from Aotearoa, which is portrayed beautifully with her vocals.

The album is bi-lingual, which is great for fluent and non speakers of the Maori language, as the messages in her songs a relatively clear, but definitely positive in its influence.

The songs are all different in their genres from a funky ‘80s sound, to a strong kapa haka influence and on

to an upbeat reggae sound with a bit of soul.

Born in Tauranga, Ria has spent time in Auckland and Australia, before settling in Wellington.

She captured audiences with her tremendous performance at the opening ceremony of Rugby World Cup 2011, and that continues to show throughout this album.

8/10 by Apikara Te Rangi.

Tatou tatou e, Volume 2 If you loved Tatou tatou e, Volume 1 then you will enjoy Volume 2. Tatou tatou e is a collective of kaiwaiata from Aotearoa, this time it is infused with the flavours of reggae, world vibes, urban beats and R&B, featuring some electronic elements.

Tatou Tatou E 2 sees the return of vocalists Huia Hamon, Jermaine Leef and 2XL, and brings the influential sounds of Hani Totorewa (Katchafire), Ruia Aperahama, WVVLC and Porina McLeod to the project. If you love a range of genres then this album will feed

Your Roots were among the top five most played songs by New Zealand artists on radio airplay.

www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

that hunger. From start to finish you get a range of sounds. From Amanda Ashton and Poutama Paki’s oriental sounding love song, to Ruia Aperhama’s familiar reggae waiata, to the up beat electronic sounds of 2XL. I loved Huia Hamon’s (right) song Manawa which refers to the love of home and our tipuna that has some amazing vocals.

Then there is a collaboration song Tatou tatou e tu! which has rap infused.

The album finishes with Jgeek and the geeks and their electronic vocals, which is a catchy song singing about the well-known Maori proverbs, he aha te mea nui o te ao, he tangata, he tangata, and Tama tu, tama ora, tama noho, tama mate.

The album is totally in te reo Maori, made through the guidance of Ruia Aperahama, and can be enjoyed by everyone playing in the background this summer!

9/10 by Apikara Te Rangi.

‘It shows part of the legacy left behind

by Maori being able to record’

Waiata: Maori Showbands, Balladeers and Pop Stars Maori Showband great Rim D Paul, from Maketu, says the album, Waiata, Maori Showbands, Balladeers and Pop Stars, marks an era when Maori first began recording music during the early 1960s.

The 50-song album is among the top five compilations sold in the third quarter of 2011 and Rim’s song Poi Poi Twist, recorded with the Quin Tikis, features on the first of the two CD set on the album.

Rim was raised in Rotorua and when he left school he joined his father’s band, Tai Paul and his Pohutu Boys. Rim was spotted at a talent quest in Wellington and was recruited into the second Maori Hi Five Company showband, the Maori Hi Quins, as their bass guitarist.

The group left for Australia and Rim became their lead singer in 1962. A year later he left and joined the Quin Tikis, a showband he performed with for three years before he embarked on a solo career.

His voice is among a number of well-known singers and performers on the Waiata album, including Howard Morrison, John Rowles, Eddie Low and the Maori Volcanics, as well as Frankie Stevens, Mark Williams, Billy T James and Prince Tui Teka to name a few.

“It starts off with Johnny Cooper and his song Rock around the clock, which was the start of

FIVE album s to give away!

the rock and roll era,” Rim says.

“It goes right through from the 1963-64 period and then on to the second disc where you are getting more into the 1970s and ‘80s period.

“I enjoyed it because it is actually an example of the evolution of Maori recording artists over a 30-year period. It shows part of the legacy left behind by Maori being able to record.”

Rim says he thought the album also showed the improvement in the quality of recordings made from decade to decade.

“I actually thought some of the recordings on disc 2 were well done compared with the early ones, but that’s because as each new recording era came in the studios got better, better equipment and better musicians.

“There are some really nice arrangements on disc 2, a bit more classy,” he says.

Rim thought the album managed to carry on where the book, Blue Smoke: The Lost Dawn

of New Zealand Popular Music 1918-1964, had ended. Rim thought there is scope for a volume 2 version of the album in the near future but he hopes producers will do a better job of providing all of those involved in the showband industry some recognition.

“I hope another album is brought out but one that we can all have a bit of a korero about and input into,” Rim says.

“Unfortunately I think about 80 per cent of those artists on disc 1 of this album have passed on. Some of us are still performing and are available to speak to, have a look on Facebook.”

Rim’s achievements were recognised in 2008 when he was presented with a Music Industry Award at the inaugural Waiata Maori Music Awards. In 2010 he returned to the awards in Hawke’s Bay to perform with Showband Aotearoa which performed a number dedicated to the late Sir Howard Morrison.

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DVD Review

Dennis Marsh, Live In Concert

True country MUSIC LEGEND

I

s Dennis March the Maori Elvis of country music in New Zealand?

Going by the opening number of his top selling DVD, Dennis Marsh Live In Concert, you would tend to think so.

He struts out on stage in his studded suit complete with tassels to perform Hunk of Burning Love with his 10-piece band.

But his performance moves on from the Elvis-style opening and into songs such as Maku, which he sings in Maori, and other numbers which obviously have a deeper connection, such as a rendition of Stop The World he performs to raise awareness of youth suicide.

Later on there are numbers dedicated to the audience and his family, he throws in a bit of comedy and there are instrumentals by various band members.

In total there are 17 songs captured on the DVD which has rated among the top five sellers by a New Zealand artist in figures collected by the New Zealand Music Commission for the third quarter of 2011.

Dennis was humbled to be in the top five alongside live concert DVDs by Ardijah, John Rowles who have “be around forever, much longer than me”. Others in the top five include compilation album, Nature’s Best, and another by That’s Country.

DENNIS MARSH EXPECTS HIS LIVE CONCERT DVD TO GO PLATNIUM BY THE END OF THE YEAR, IT’S ALREADY IN THE TOP FIVE SELLERS FOR THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2011.

Dennis has made about five other DVDs “just to sell at my shows” but his latest offering released earlier this year, has been produced for commercial release and he expects it to go platinum by the end of 2011.

It will add to the nine gold CD albums and one platinum CD already to his name.

“I think making a good DVD depends on the money you can put into it. You have to have the right cameras, the right lighting and the right people to produce it to make it successful,” Dennis says.

“It’s unfortunately one of those things where you need time and money, and not a lot of us in the

industry have got a lot of money, although we would all like to make a DVD.” Costs aside, Dennis believes producing music DVDs is “going to be the way of the future” to reach customers. He believes the sound and visual quality of DVDs means one day the medium will become more popular than CDs. “My distributor was over in

DVD Review

John Rowles in Concert

The ‘Kawerau Kid’ RETURNS ON SCREEN

I

n 2005 before John Rowles tried his hand at Dancing With The Stars, and before his hair turned grey, he recorded a live performance now transformed and released into one of the top five selling DVDs by a Kiwi artist in New Zealand for the third quarter of 2011.

The live show was recorded in front of a capacity audience at the Michael Fowler Centre in the capital for a television special for TVNZ, produced and directed by Robert Hagen who has also worked on the National Waiata Maori Music Awards in Hawke’s Bay for the past three years.

John was 17 when he left New Zealand to embark on a singing Pg 26

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career in Australia, he was 21 when he topped the charts in the UK, US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

At the age of 22 he was the youngest performer to headline a major Las Vegas show room, the Flamingo Hotel.

Those experiences and more from his 20 albums, are captured in the DVD entitled, John Rowles in Concert. Time has not diminished the quality of this unique voice and he opens this particular concert welcoming his guests with Aotearoa (My Home my NZ) followed by his signature hit, Tania.

From singing to dancing, John shows some fancy ball room dancing footwork while performing, I Could have danced

all night, before switching again to an acoustic number, playing guitar while singing Butterfly Kisses.

John shows he’s still popular with the ladies when the red roses offered during, Hush Not a Word to Mary, are gladly accepted by female fans in the audience rushing up to the stage to accept the gift.

The concert is backed by the NGC Wellington Sinfonia with musical director Alan Slater and includes a cameo performance by Nick Hohepa and the Music Island Boys during the song, Land of a 1000 dances. Waiata Maori Music Awards ambassador Taisha Tari provides backing vocals along with DeborahLeigh Ashton and Urshula Boon for the concert. Taisha also sings with John in the number, The Prayer.

A medley is dedicated to The Rat Pack with impersonations of the characters from the infamous group which John hung out with during his time in Las Vegas, a city

John Rowles.

where he particularly enjoyed performing.

Cheryl Moana Marie, a popular tune named after John’s sister, is also one enjoyed on many marae around the country (albeit under a slightly different title). It rounds out the final trio of songs in the 65-minute DVD. Known as the “Kawerau Kid,” John’s Now is the Hour final tour was a sell out across 17 concerts in 2001, and so it’s no surprise fans are buying this DVD to take a slice of Kiwi music history home.

by Lawrence Gullery.

‘I believe Maori can elect to do anything they put their hearts to’ Australia and they asked if I had a DVD, so I think DVDs are coming into their own and it does pay off at the end of the day,” Dennis says.

There’s more to good quality production needed to sell a music DVD, people must like the genre.

“I put out the album, Maori Songbook, earlier and that’s probably created a bit of interest in the DVD as well,” Dennis says.

“The songbook is the first time I’ve put out a Maori album as a

collective and it’s taken off. There’s not just Maori buying it either, tauiwi are getting into it.”

Dennis says he’d like to do more DVDs in the future, and maybe the opportunity will come up when he tours at the guest artists with That’s Country in March and April, 2012.

He also has plans for an “island style” album next year, after realising the number of Pacific people who came out to watch Rugby World Cup matches.

“Making music is a hard road.

You work hard and hopefully get something that’s good at the end of it,” Dennis says “You asked me if making DVDs is something Maori could excel in, I believe Maori can elect to do anything they put their hearts to. Maori have lots of talent but sometimes don’t know how to express it, you have to bring it out and make people aware of your talents.” Dennis reckons he has about another five years left of performing before he’d like to hang up his signature cowboy hat.

Dennis Marsh.

He jokes about having a monopoly on the Maori country music industry, but there is much more to his repertoire, which you can see at live concerts and now on his DVD. “Country singer is what I’ve been labelled as but I can sing Maori, yodel, stand up comedy like Billy T James. It’s just that people want country music, so I have to keep

making it,” Dennis says.

“I’ve been working the market at street level, been there for 23 years, and it goes to show if you have talent, you need to show it.”

Dennis was named Country Music Legend of 2011 at the National Country Music Awards.

By Lawrence Gullery.

DVD Review

Ardijah, Live at the Civic Theatre

Timeless tour COMES OF AGE

A

rdijah’s Ryan “Captain Fonk” Monga and BettyAnne Monga successfully compiled 20 years of hits into a two-hour live show at the Civic Theatre in Auckland in 2006. That show, part of the Timeless Tour, has been produced into a 2-hour music DVD which was among the top five selling DVDs by a New Zealand artist for the third quarter of 2011.

The DVD, Ardijah, Live at the Civic Theatre, is one Kiwi music lovers should have in their collections, especially if they are fans of the band which pioneered the unique polyfonk sound in the late 1980s, blending soul, fonk, reggae and Polynesian rhythms.

Ardijah began as a four-piece band with Ryan the original bass player and Betty-Anne on vocals.

And so that’s how the live show www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

starts, with four musicians (also Tony T Nogotautama on guitar, Mark Stevens on keyboards) on stage dressed in 1980s attire, launching into a selection from Ardijah’s debut album, Take A Chance (1988).

A quick wardrobe change and the band moves out of the 1980s.

Rico Tali joins in playing saxophone during the number Gimme Time, released for the Once Were Warriors soundtrack (1994). And then Ryan and BettyAnne’s son, Kaitapu, makes his entrance during, Love So Right, from the album Time (1999). Ryan switches over to drums to make way for Kaitapu on bass while BettyAnne picks up the ukulele for Oh Baby also from the Time

Betty-Anne Monga and son Kaitapu performing at the 2011 National Waiata Maori Music Awards in Hawke’s Bay.

album. In total there are 20 songs from the show captured on the DVD, including the well-played Time Makes A Wine, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, as well as the popular Polynesian Girl.

While the power of Betty-Anne’s voice inspired impromptu dancing in the isles of the seated theatre (hopefully to DVD viewers at home too), there were quiet moments to enjoy, such as the number Do To You, featuring the acoustic pairing of Rico and Tony T on guitars together.

Their number 1 rendition of Silly Little Love Songs, again bears the unmistakable combination of BettyAnne’s vocals and the unique sound of the ukulele.

The band also puts its unique touch to Prince Tui Teka’s song, E Ipo, infused with reggae beats, with

by Tony T on vocals and Rico on ukulele.

It was Ardijah’s first appearance at the Civic Theatre and Ryan was instrumental in the transformation of the show onto a professionally produced DVD, which features lots of backstage footage as well as a separate package with documentary-style interviews.

“You can get a really flash muso who maybe hard to work with and to me I think it’s all about getting on with each other as well as cutting the gig,” Ryan says in an interview. “Most of us in the band, we are just ear-players, we picked up an instrument and learned how to play these things. You can see the passion in what comes out in the instrument when those people pick up that instrument and play.”

by Lawrence Gullery.

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Gig guide

Festivals & Concerts

Ryhthm and Vines Waiohika Estate Vineyard, Gisborne. December 29, 2011 to January 1, 2012.

Rhythm and Vines Music Festival is now in its 9th year, Featuring over 100 acts. http://rhythmandvines.co.nz Prana New Year Festival 2012 Prana Eco Retreat, Opoutere, Coromandel. December 30, 2012.

Prana New Year Festival 2012 includes NZ & international creatives; art projects, light shows, dance, music, performances, meditations, more then 100 workshops, speakers, healers, market stallholders. Among the performers is Matiu “The Hook” Te Huki who is known for his

amazing vocal skills and power, he’ll be joined by the “My Golden Soul” crew with haka, poi, drummers, backing vocalists and amazing dancers. http://www.prana.co.nz Northern Lights Festival Pakiri Beach, Leigh, Auckland, from December 30, 2011 to January 2, 2012.

Tiki Taane and P-Money head the Northern Lights, New Zealand’s newest music festival/ camping ground.

Northern Lights bookends the High Life New Year’s Eve Experience. http://www.northernlightsfestival. co.nz One Drop Ascension Wine Estate, Matakana, Auckland, January 2, 2012.

One Drop reunites the original marauders of Aotearoa roots music Fat Freddy’s Drop, TrinityRoots and Cornerstone Roots. The recently re-formed TrinityRoots will feature new drummer/vocalist Jean Pompey.

Six60 Summer Tour with Mt Eden Starts at Opononi Hotel, Hokianga, January 2, 2012.

Six60 and Mt Eden represent two of the most substantial movements to emerge

within the New Zealand music scene. www.six60.co.nz Ladi6 Summer Review Hitchin’ a ride tour with Kora Waihi Beach Hotel, Waihi Beach.

Bay of Plenty, January 2, Brewers Bar, Mt Maunganui January 3, 2012.

Ladi6 is looking forward to hitchin’ a ride with some of her favourite NZ bands. The Black Seeds will be playing alongside Ladi6 at her Mangawhai show. Rounding out Ladi’s local summer dates will be two shows with the mighty Kora.

Ladi6 will also perform at the fastbecoming legendary Coro Gold Festival, alongside Shapeshifter, Fat Freddy’s Drop, TrinityRoots, Kora.

Tasty Brown Mangawhai Tavern, Mangawhai, Whangarei, January 5 to January 6, 2012.

The houseband of the National Waiata Maori Music Awards performs in Whangarei. www.mangawhaitavern.co.nz Reggae On The Rock Waihapa, Kaeo, Bay of Islands, January 7, 2012.

Reggae on the Rock, in the hills surrounding the beautiful Whangaroa Harbour featuring the

Te Koanga Fashion Show An evening of Maori Fashion & Maori Music

Te Koanga: Celebrating New Beginnings & New Spring Season.

Presented by Waiata Maori Music Awards

Featuring unique collections from Maori fashion designers. For more info: reception@takitimu.ac.nz Pg 28

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country’s top reggae bands. The line up includes: Katchafire, House of Shem, 1814, Three Houses Down, Cornerstone Roots, Sons of Zion.

Ebb ‘n’ Flo House of Live NZ Tour with Special Guests Newton, Auckland, starts January 19, 2012.

Ebb ‘n’ Flo are captivating audiences with their unique blend of Roots, Rock, Reggae, Hip-Hop and Funk.

With four members of New Zealand heritage and four laid back Aussie ‘East Coasters’ . www.ebbnflo.com.au Raggamuffin Music Festival 2012 Rotorua International Stadium, January 28, 2012.

This year features two stages and over 12 hours of music and summer vibes. A line-up of Kiwi and international artists. http:// www.raggamuffin.co.nz Ngati Kahungunu regional kapa haka.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park, Hastings, February 6, 2012.

The 13th annual competition organised by Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Inc, featuring Te Rerenga Kotuku, Parearau, Ngati Ranginui, Nga Manu Ata Korihi and Terehia. There is a National Touch Tournament, Kahungunu Netball Championships and National Krump Dance Competition. There’s a world-class covered 2500 seat grandstand providing all day weather protection and 60 toilets for comfort and convenience.

Contact: (06) 211 0161.

Hawke’s Bay Opera House, Hastings, September 13, 2012.

Party in the Park Summer Series December 2011, January 2012.

Puhoi Valley Cafe and Cheese Store, Puhoi, Auckland.

Billy TK Jnr Band will host the show which includes some of the best blues bands in New Zealand.

Each artist performing has been selected to perform at the Fiji 2012 International Jazz and Blues Festival next May. www.puhoivalley.co.nz www. facebook.com/puhoivalley

2012 AOTEAROA

M A O R I M U S I C AWA R D S

SEPTEMBER 14, 2012, 7PM Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings PLUS

Te Koanga Fashion Show & Maori Music Expo on September 13 TICKETS (06) 873 0041 awards.wma@xtra.co.nz

www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz www.waiatamaoriawards.co.nz

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NZ ON AIR LOVES

T I K I

T A A N E A N D

S T A N

W A L K E R

WINNERS OF THE NZ ON AIR RADIO AIRPLAY AWARD AT THE WAIATA MAORI AWARDS IN 2009, 2010 AND 2011

TUMEKE KORUA!

N Z

M U S I C

O N

N Z

R A D I O

W W W . K I W I H I T S . C O . N Z

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