TE VAKA PROFILED, AT AUDIOCULTURE (2017): Pasifika to the world

 |   |  1 min read

TE VAKA PROFILED, AT AUDIOCULTURE (2017): Pasifika to the world

The acclaim for Opetaia Foa’i of Te Vaka for his music on the soundtrack to the animated Disney film Moana – which topped the Billboard soundtrack and children’s charts, and went to No.2 on the main US charts – is a story many decades in the telling.

For those who haven’t followed Te Vaka, it may seem like an overnight success, but they’ve long been a twist on the famous ad slogan: They are “world famous … except in New Zealand”.

Until the success of the Moana music, which went to No.1 on the New Zealand charts, Foa’i and Te Vaka have rarely been part of New Zealand’s musical landscape. Certainly they have lived in Australia for quite a while but in New Zealand – where they have been critically acclaimed but rarely performed as they spent so much time touring overseas – their music was barely acknowledged in their early years.

“Maybe it was too familiar in this area,” said Opetaia in 2002. “People would go, ‘Huh, what do you want to do that for?’ That was the attitude here.”

But Moana has changed all that.

“I think this [film] will awaken some sort of sense of pride in people,” he told the New Zealand Heraldlate last year at the film’s launch. “And hopefully they will go, ‘Oh, I need to go back and reconnect and put my feet on the land and discover, find out about my roots.’ ”

And those roots reach across many Pacific cultures, entwined by language, custom and heritage from Hawaii to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Opetaia Foa’i – chosen by Disney after they heard the band’s many albums – seems an almost obvious pick as the one to bring authentic Pacific beats, harmonies and language to the blockbuster project.

The story of the pan-Pacific sound of Te Vaka began . . . 

To read the full article on Te Vaka's remarkable journey go here to audioculture.co.nz.

Audioculture is the self-described Noisy Library of New Zealand Music and is an ever-expanding archive of stories, scenes, artists, clips and music. Elsewhere is proud to have some small association with it. Check it out here.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Absolute Elsewhere articles index

THE PRETTY THINGS INTERVIEW (2012): Dick Taylor on life in the wild lane

THE PRETTY THINGS INTERVIEW (2012): Dick Taylor on life in the wild lane

Dick Taylor of the Pretty Things says he can clearly remember when they cut a wide and notorious swathe of mayhem, drunkenness and shock-horror headlines through New Zealand in late 1965. At the... > Read more

THE WIDE BRIDGE NEVER THE TIGHTROPE (2023): The plague of risk-averse pop

THE WIDE BRIDGE NEVER THE TIGHTROPE (2023): The plague of risk-averse pop

A week or so ago over lunch, a couple of us were talking about the state of local music. “There's just a lack of risk,” he said with obvious exasperation. And that's something... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Big Daddy Wilson: Thumb a Ride (Ruf)

Big Daddy Wilson: Thumb a Ride (Ruf)

This big bluesman with a sometimes gentle and soulful voice has appeared at Elsewhere previously with his fine Love is the Key which featured Eric Bibb, a singer he is close in spirit to.... > Read more

THE TAHI ALBUM, INDUCTED (2019): Number one, the first, and first of many

THE TAHI ALBUM, INDUCTED (2019): Number one, the first, and first of many

At the 10thannual Taite Music Prize awards held on April 16, I was invited to induct the Tahi album by Moana and the Moahunters into the category of the Independent Music New Zealand Classic Record... > Read more