Music
ITS ALREADY TOMORROW
One lockdown project I worked on in 2020 was It’s Already Tomorrow where I
contributed to Grayson Gilmour’s and Name UL’s pieces (playing taonga
puoro) and collaborated with James Euringer on Revenge of the Long White
Cloud (the link is James talking about the song). This came out on green vinyl
which I was pretty excited about! You can listen and buy the album here.
According to James: The Revenge of the Long White Cloud is a sci-fi
dystopian story about an ancient indigenous Polynesian supercomputer
becoming sentient and deciding to punish mankind for all its evils by
destroying the world. Looking around at the current state of affairs in the world
today I definitely feel any advanced A.I. would want to either control us to stop
us from our own evils, or destroy us to start over again anew. Any highly
logical machine or biomechanical organism seeing the complete illogical state
of the world would definitely try and re-program the earth from scratch, and at
this point that might be a good thing.
Grayson’s piece is Feather / Folded which also features Hayden Chisholm
This is what Grayson says about it: “Musing on Mother Nature's monumental
indifference towards mankind, despite the havoc we wreak on the planet. My
studio looks out over the hills of Te Kopahou reserve, and I find a great
sense of peace in witnessing this indifference while I work; Mother Nature
may very well reclaim these hills — perhaps sooner than we're willing to
acknowledge”
Name UL’s piece is Lake Opal which also features Arjuna Oakes, and Sofia
Labropoulou. This is what Name UL says about the track: “When the world
went into lockdown and I realised I was locked New Zealand after spending
the last couple of years in the UK/EU, I started to write music in a way that
captured the feeling of needing to be free.”
Te Taki o Te Ua
One of Ariana‘s recent collaborations is with fellow Arts Laureate, choreographer and video artist Louise Potiki Bryant, and co-composer Paddy Free. Te Taki o te Ua / The Sound of Rain is a video installation weaving dance, waiata, taoka puoro, animation and video in a work addressing the impacts of climate change in the tribal area of Kāi Tahu, Te Waipounamu.
It is made up of three moving image works; Waikohu / Mist, Pakapaka / Drought and Awha / Storm.
Waikohu / Mist is an expression of the water cycle in balance and honours the emergence of freshwater as a consequence of the separation of Rakinui and Papatūānuku.
Pakapaka / Drought addresses the projected increased frequency and intensity of drought in some takiwā.
Āwhā / Storm tackles the projected increase in intensity and frequency of storms and flooding as a consequence of climate change.
Te Taki o te Ua / The Sound of Rain video installation and live performance was made with the support of Creative New Zealand and Track Zero – Arts Inspiring Climate Action. It premiered at the Wānaka Festival of Colour in April 2021, was shown at the Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi Exhibition Centre in Whakatāne, and also the 2021 Imaginative Film + Media Festival in Toronto.
Tararua
Bird Like Men (Oro Records NZ) Release date 23 July 2021
I recently started a record label with my bandmates from my latest group Tararua which we have called Oro Records, after the concept of sound and vibration in te reo Māori. We decided that we had the combined skills to release our own music and we are keen to support other artists in the future.
We started creating the music at a jam session in December 2019. Most of us had worked together in different combinations over the past few years, so we thought it would be worth trying something together. We were really pleased at how fast and easy the music flowed, and were successful in getting Creative New Zealand funding to create a body of work over the past year. This music was recorded at the Surgery Studio by Lee Prebble in 2020.
Message from our Bandcamp site:
Oro Records is proud to present art music ensemble ‘Tararua’ and the release of their first album ‘Bird Like Men’ which brings together their southern influences with sound worlds from both te ao Māori and te ao Pākehā.
‘Tararua’ (meaning ‘two peaks’), connects whakapapa, from mountains in both North and South Islands, this contemporary New Zealand art music weaves the voices of Aoraki, the tūrakawaewae of Ruby Solly and Ariana Tikao, winding through Te Waipounamu-raised, Wellington based artist Al Fraser, and merging into Phil Boniface’s birthplace and connection with the Tararua ranges.
Their evocative music combines taonga pūoro, waiata, karakia and pūrākau (story) with a strong southern Māori influence, with the western instrumental elements of the cello and doublebass. The ensemble is made up of four established artists Al Fraser, Ariana Tikao, Ruby Solly and Phil Boniface; who are each leaders in their various fields.
The album draws upon a range of musical stylings including, jazz, folk, and traditional musics from the whakapapa of different band members. With kōrero in the form of lyrics and poetry from both Solly and Tikao, as well as from whānau manuscripts of Tikao, such as in their second single ‘Tūtūmaiao’. “I started singing the reo Māori lyrics, some of which came from an excerpt of an ancient waiata partially quoted in the book Tikao Talks, by my pōua Teone Taare Tikao. He talked about Tūtūmaiao being the name of an ancient battle in “one the Hawaikis””, said Tikao. Other lyrics woven into the klezmer-inspired groove are by Ruby Solly. “My lyrics are a tribute to kōrero from Kāi Tahu Whānui about how our people are like the tītī birds, migrating and travelling around the world, but always coming back to our spiritual homeland of Te Waipounamu,” said Solly. There is also a thematic connection to the southern Māori rock art of bird people at the Maerewhenua site in Otago, adding a deeper layer still to the music.
Nau Mai e kā Hua
Ariana Tikao and Al FRASER
Rattle Records describes this album as “An evocative sonic journey through the pristine waters of Te Wai Pounamu, Nau Mai e Kā Hua, is the first duo album by Ariana Tikao and Al Fraser, two leading players of ngā taonga puoro. The album features improvisations and spoken word, with waiata and the expressive voices of ngā taonga puoro interwoven like the strands of braided rivers”.
Al Fraser and I have been playing music together since 2008 when we first met and played a concert together in the Wellington Town Hall for a Pao Pao Pao gig. When I moved from Christchurch to Wellington in 2011 we met up again and have been playing music together in various settings ever since. This is our first duo album which was recorded at Al’s home studio as well as at Lee Prebble’s Surgery Studio in Wellington.
Review in Songlines UK ****:
Two of New Zealand’s most innovative contemporary musicians, singer-composer Ariana Tikao and multi-instrumentalist and producer Al Fraser have worked together on previous projects since 2008, but this is their first record as a duo. Both grew up in Te Waipounamu (New Zealand’s South Island), and are now Wellington-based.
Of Kāi Tahu descent, the main southern iwi (tribe), Tikao has been a prominent Māori performer for many years, with three fine solo albums and several collaborative projects to her credit. In addition to her vocals, she and Fraser are both recognised as leading proponents of ngā taonga puoro – that intriguing collection of traditional Māori instruments that have experienced a strong revival in recent years thanks to three academic researcher-players and instrument makers – Richard Nunns, Brian Flintoff and the late Hirini Melbourne – all mentors of Tikao and Fraser. Courtesy of archival recordings, Melbourne even makes a posthumous appearance on ‘Amokura’. Tikao’s vocals here, occasionally half-whispered, elsewhere beautifully bold, are immaculate throughout, with the translated Māori waiata (song) lyrics referencing blessings, grief, war cries, supernatural beings (patupaiarehe) and the environment. The duo’s wide variety of nature-oriented taonga puoro sounds, whether skilfully blown or percussive, provide evocative context and organic perspective.
Hinewai
Ariana Tikao and Karl Steven
My whānau comes from Horomaka/Banks Peninsula and so when the opportunity was offered to me to contribute to the soundtrack for the documentary ‘Fools and Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest’ about Hinewai, a nature reserve near Akaroa, I was absolutely keen. I recorded my taonga puoro and vocals at the music studio at Massey University in Wellington, and sent the tracks to Coromandel-based musician and producer Karl Steven. We were really pleased with the outcome of this collaboration of soothing, ambient tracks, and thought it would be awesome to share it more widely. So we offered the album as a fundraiser for Hinewai, and all the proceeds from album sales go directly to the Hinewai Reserve. For more information and to watch the movie go to happenfilms.com/fools-and-dreamers
Online review by Toyoyo:
As an urban kid, I can only envy the people who are one with nature, living by and growing alongside the great outdoors. The short film that this soundtrack was made for inspired me to do something, anything – to support the worthwhile cause of nature conservancy. That’s one reason I support and love this album.
The main reason, though, is that the music – lilting, inspiring, and uplifting – transforms and transports me to the forests that lie so far away from where I have made my home. Favorite track: Te Tipu, Te Rea.
Kōtuku
New Waiata Celebrates Indigenous Solidarity for Matariki
Wellington-based musician and writer Ariana Tikao (Kāi Tahu) is releasing her waiata ‘Kōtuku’ and music video for Matariki. The song was playing on the radio in a dream that the arts laureate Tikao had during the first lockdown in 2020. When Tikao awoke, she remembered the first few lines and jotted them down. It was produced by her friends Brooke Singer and Ben Lemi of French For Rabbits who also perform on the track.
‘Kōtuku’ is fully in te reo Māori, and the previously released bilingual version ‘Fly You Home’ is a mix of English and te reo. The recordings and music videos were funded by the Waiata Takitahi initiative jointly funded by NZ on Air and Te Māngai Pāhō. Tikao sees the waiata as a musical bridge to connect to her friend, the internationally renowned Lakota/Kiowa Apache storyteller Dovie Thomason.
“I started writing it during our first lockdown, and felt we were in a relatively privileged position here in Aotearoa. Dovie said in a comment on social media that she was ‘lying prone’ with a back problem at the time, and this ended up being a metaphor in the waiata to do with the vulnerability of indigenous peoples worldwide” said Tikao.
The video director and animator, Jacob Perkins was living in Melbourne at the time the song was written but has recently returned to Wellington. He teamed up with local artist Emma Kitson (Kāi Tahu) who created the visual landscapes and artworks. The video features migrating birds, and landscapes of Aotearoa as well as Thomason’s high desert homelands in the Southwest of the States. The kōtuku, or white heron is a bird that features in Māori traditions as being very prized, and often an important manuhiri is spoken of as a “kōtuku rereka tahi” a bird of a single flight, as they are not often seen. This whakataukī and imagery is prominent in the video.
The waiata is being released by Oro Records, Tikao’s label that she started last year with fellow musicians Alistair Fraser and Ruby Solly. They started up the record company to support the release of their band Tararua’s album Bird Like Men, and have since released several other albums and videos.
“The waiata was written as a koha to Dovie, but I’m excited to be able to share it now with te ao whānui,” said Tikao.
Fly You Home
I am releasing my waiata ‘Fly You Home’ which explores friendship across distance and indigenous solidarity for NZ Music Month. The song was playing on the radio in a dream that I had during the first lockdown in 2020. When I awoke, I remembered the first few lines and jotted them down. It was produced by my friends Brooke Singer and Ben Lemi (of French For Rabbits) who also perform on the track.
‘Fly You Home’, is written in a mix of English and te reo Māori, was funded by the Waiata Takitahi initiative jointly funded by NZ on Air and Te Māngai Pāhō. I see the waiata as a musical bridge to connect to her friend, the internationally renowned Lakota/Kiowa Apache storyteller Dovie Thomason.
I started writing it during our first lockdown, and felt we were in a relatively privileged position here in Aotearoa. I was really concerned for other indigenous communities around the world. Dovie said in a comment on Facebook that she was ‘lying prone’ with a back problem at the time and that really spoke to me about the vulnerability of indigenous peoples worldwide, particularly at that time before Covid vaccines were available.
The video director and animator, Jacob Perkins was living in Melbourne at the time the song was written but has recently returned to Wellington. He teamed up with local artist Emma Kitson who created the visual landscapes and artworks. The video features migrating birds, and landscapes of Aotearoa as well as Thomason’s high desert homelands in the Southwest of the States. The kōtuku, or white heron is a bird that features in Māori traditions as being very prized, and often an important manuhiri is spoken of as a “kōtuku rereka tahi” a bird of a single flight, as they are not often seen. This whakataukī and imagery is prominent in the video.
The waiata is being released by Oro Records, my label that I started last year with fellow musicians Alistair Fraser and Ruby Solly. We started up the record company to support the release of their band Tararua’s album Bird Like Men, and have since released several other albums and videos.
‘Fly You Home’ lyrics, vocals and taoka puoro by Ariana Tikao
Translation and te reo support by Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Kāi Tahu)
Co-produced and recorded and mixed by Brooke Singer and Ben Lemi
Backing vocals, keys, guitar by Brooke Singer
Bass, drums, keys by Ben Lemi
Mastered by Mike Gibson, Munki Music
Video and animations and cover composition by Jacob Perkins, RDYSTDY
Illustrations by Emma Riha Kitson (Kāi Tahu)
Graphic design by Hannah Howes
Promotion and label support by Oro Records NZ
Project management by Horomaka Productions
Release date 26 May 2022.
Funded by NZ on Air and Te Māngai Pāho, ‘Waiata Takitahi’ initiative.
FROM DUST TO LIGHT
The title of this album has a few different meanings. Primarily, it was inspired by the devastating earthquake in my home town of Christchurch (Ōtautahi), New Zealand. The quake of 22 February 2011 shook our foundations in a physical sense wreaking havoc over the city, causing buildings to fall, killing 185 people. Dust rose above the city that day from crumbling buildings. As you can imagine, it not only affected us physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Once, you believed that the earth beneath you was solid and dependable, but when it is shaking you off your feet, it mucks with your sense of reality.
Many people lost loved ones, homes, jobs, businesses and other places of significance. From the wreckage though, people are picking themselves up, forging ahead into new growth and opportunities. Some songs on this album are a response to what we experienced in Christchurch, some are an offer of hope and light. Another interpretation of the title is to do with the revival of knowledge coming from dusty pages and into something new as they receive new breath and expression. (Ariana Tikao)
Songlines UK review:
Four years on from her last ethereal album Tuia, New Zealand singer Ariana Tikao’s latest batch of Original songs is no less impressive – and with its equal mix of both English and Te Reo Maori lyrics, it’s perhaps even more accessible to a wider audience than its predecessor.
With half of Tikao’s repertoire rooted in the Western folk tradition (she also performs with Celtic-Maori quintet Emeralds & Greenstone), her acoustic dulcimer-based tunes ‘Something to Give’ and ‘Let There be Light’ are almost reminiscent of early Joni Mitchell. The latter song is an ode to her 2011 earthquake-stricken hometown of Christchurch/Otautahi, which is still recovering from widespread damage, and serves as the album’s main inspiration. She recently relocated to the capital city of Wellington and ‘Espresso’ documents Ariana’s own caffeine addiction, while other lyrics reference indigenous tui and titi birds and her heartfelt grief following a friend’s suicide. But Tikao’s Maori heritage is never far from the surface. Traditional taonga puoro instruments are discreetly employed on the haunting song-of-the-morning track ‘Te Haeata, while ‘Te Heke’ addresses whakapapa – the cultural concept of tribal genealogy and personal family lineage. Her use of the Kai Tahu dialect specifically identifies her as originally being from Aotearoa’s South Island (Te Waipounamu).
From Dust to Light demonstrates that the continuing strength of Maori culture in The Land of Long White Cloud is not only measured in its warrior imagery or ferocious haka chants, but also in the gentle inner power that artists like Ariana Tikao radiate.
TUIA
My second solo album, a collaboration with Dunedin electronic producer, Leyton is an album that was a bit of a departure from my first album Whaea. It was still fairly diverse stylistically, but it generally has slower tempos, and a lot of vocal layering. The title track Tuia won an international award for its music video produced by the amazing videographer and fellow Kāi Tahu artist Louise Potiki Bryant. I was going to call the album Tuia: Lullabies and Laments, as many of the songs fit into those categories. I very much enjoyed the process of writing the songs, which were primarily written in the studio. I would start with a basic chant, and then keep adding in layers. Leyton often encouraged me to sing really slowly and up close to the microphone, at times, merely whispering. So it ended up being a very intimate album, which celebrates birth, acknowledges the death of loved ones, and also touches upon everyday life, including a field recording of me doing the dishes and my tamariki getting ready for school, in the song Stitched.
“…a magical and at times mystical trip… like being bundled up in a big feather cloak and transported to another world”. Scott Kara, Weekend Herald.
“Tikao’s cultural heritage permeates this fine album with the true spirit of Aotearoa” Seth Jordon, Songlines UK.
WHAEA
This album was dedicated to motherhood. I started writing it at the time when I was having babies, and wanted to acknowledge the importance of women and the role of motherhood. The song Whaea was partly a mihi to my stunning cousin Kelly Tikao, and a mihi to her becoming a mother. I was trying something different musically, and so was a step away from the folk sound of my earlier music with the band Pounamu. It included a full band on many of the songs, and also some electronic beats. I was fortunate to get funding to film a music video for the track Ka Huri te Wā, which was written at an immersion Māori language hui in 1995, and so we filmed the video (produced by Fish Eye Films) at the very location of the original hui, the beautiful Takahanga Marae, in Kaikoura. That song is about the revival of te reo Māori, the Māori language, the language of our ancestors. This album is all in te reo Māori, and was sponsored by Te Māngai Pāho, the Māori Language Commission. I love to sing in te reo Māori and see it as my wairua (spirit) language. Kia kaha ki te kōrero Māori, ki te waiata hoki i roto i te reo Māori!
“New Zealand singer Ariana Tikao’s debut album shows great diversity. I can’t get enough of “Hoa Rakatira” and its reggae beat. Beautiful chorus”. Jean-Noel Potin.