Moana and Maori Culture
Long before the European/Pakeha arrived, Aotearoa/New Zealand was the home of the indigenous Maori people. They are the Tangata Whenua (people of the land) of Aotearoa, and their musical culture, of yesterday and today, is an integral part of the New Zealand music scene.
If you are unfamiliar with New Zealand's cultural and historical background, Moana and the Moahunters' new album, Rua (on Tangata Records/BMG) can enlighten you. The follow-up to their first album Tahi, Maori for one, Rua, meaning two, again breaks new ground with its fusion of pop, hip-hop and traditional Maori sounds.
The Moahunters are led by the charismatic Moana Maniapoto-Jackson, who in addition to her music is well known for her stance on Maori issues. Not only a singer, Moana is also a former television personality, trained lawyer and anti-smoking campaigner, and has gained herself a reputation as a superb singer both live and on record, which she certainly adds to with Rua. Here Moana reveals the story behind the album and its creation.
The album could be viewed as a progression from the last and though they are similar, Moana says that there are differences. "It's more focused and it explores a bit more fully some of the ideas we started off on Tahi, but instead of just sounds of haka and things like that we've gone and composed whole pieces."
One of the most exquisite tracks on Rua is Kahu. The track features renowned Nelson-based musician Richard Nunns who Moana described as "one of the foremost exponents in the country on traditional pre-European Maori instruments."
Though the album is mainly produced by Angus McNaughton and Daniel Barnes, the talents of Neil Finn are utilised on Kahu. "He's a very good producer, he's got a good ear for pitch, was very consultative so we had a productive time together. And he liked working with traditional Maori styles, which is what I had and we were trying to fuse them and see how that would go so it seemed to be an excellent result from that."
The track, however, is not the first thing that the Moahunters have had to do with Finn as Crowded House helped raise money a few years ago for the band to travel to New Orleans. Says Moana: "I was telling Neil how we were struggling to get over there and I didn't even really know him actually — I just mentioned it at some awards ceremony and the thing next we read about in the paper was that they were going to do a little fundraiser at Aotea Centre. We went down there and they had the buckets out and they got me up to sing along with them on Chocolate Cake because I told them it was my favourite Crowded House song. We got about $4,000 just in coins passed around that day. It was a good day for them to promote their album and it was a very nice thing for them to do to assist us in fundraising."
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