Te Vaka, named one of World Music's best bands, have staged their last show in New Zealand . The band's thoughtful leader and songwriter, Opetaia Foa'i, is off to Australia . He tells Michael Field why.
Polynesia 's capital is losing its crown jewels. Te Vaka, a dynamic, 14-strong band, whose contemporary music has been the soundtrack of the South Pacific, are moving from Auckland to Sydney.
``We have to try something different,'' says Te Vaka leader and songwriter Opetaia Foa'i.
``I think it is an artistic decision and we need the new challenge. We are settling in a bit much now.''
A blend of Tokelau , Tuvalu , Samoa and New Zealand , the band played their last concert in Auckland on Easter Sunday to a gathering of the New Zealand Tokelauan community.
Te Vaka's international fame, particularly in Europe, has easily exceeded their success in New Zealand . In Hawaii , Samoa and Fiji , huge crowds come to hear them and in Australia recently they found themselves overwhelmed with work offers.
Foa'i, a quiet musician with a gentle laugh, has taken Pacific music, once trapped between traditional chants and a syrupy mix of Polynesian country-and-western, into new realms.
A decade ago, his partner, Julie, sent a tape of Te Vaka's music to Peter Gabriel's Real World studios in England . Gabriel, a promoter of the World Music scene, demanded more.
The couple assembled musicians - all family members, including their four children, and two pakeha - and produced their first album of original contemporary Polynesian music.
It was titled Te Vaka - the canoe - and topped music charts from California to Switzerland , receiving rave reviews.
Foa'i, 50, says: ``I enjoy the issues, trying to get the messages across . . . The issues need to be highlighted. It's hard to get Pacific people off their butts to do something. The little bit I can do to stir things up is good.
``I just don't see any sense in just writing a song that doesn't say anything. I am very concerned about what has happened in the Pacific. Most of the people cannot say anything, but I can say something, in the language of the South Pacific.''
In one song, he was critical of Japanese fishing aid in Tuvalu , upsetting the government there. ``I get hate mail . . . It tells me that it's going somewhere.''
In February, Tokelau, north of Samoa, narrowly voted to remain a New Zealand colony. Foa'i says he was disappointed, not least because he was writing a national anthem. He thinks the country gets too much money from New Zealand - ``It's like being on the dole.''
The people don't grow crops any more and rubbish is going into the lagoon, he says.
One of Foa'i's song tells of how Tokelauans were taken by South American slave traders between 1850 and 1872, reducing the population to 80 people, mainly old men and women, and young children. Taga Sina expresses the sadness and desperation felt by those left behind.
His songs also tackle environmental concerns, particularly global warming and its affect on sea levels - Tuvalu may well be submerged by rising seas in the future.
Foa'i questions the very basics of Pacific music in New Zealand . ``It should be called 'music played by Pacific people','' he says. ``I always said you need to listen to the music with your eyes closed. 'Pacific music' could be played by anyone, white, brown, but the way it's defined at the moment is not my idea. As long as the singer is Pacific Islander, brown, it's called Pacific music . . .
``You listen to any music done by Polynesians, close your eyes and see what you picture. Try picturing a Polynesian up there and I guarantee you wouldn't. Probably picture a Black American or South American.''
Pacific music is about tradition, he says, and that has to shine through its modern sound. ``And at least have the language; that is most important, have the language. I find myself in the minority. In that way, if a European is able to speak the language and comes along and makes music, it should also be called Pacific music.''
With a travelling party of 14, getting Te Vaka around the world has been expensive; a single concert in Samoa last year cost $300,000. Promoters pay those costs and Julie Foa'i believes this has been a disincentive for staging more concerts in Australia .
Last month they were in Brisbane and Melbourne for Commonwealth Games events. ``While we were there we were offered lots of gigs,'' Foa'i says.
``In Australia there are more opportunities, and hopefully we can expand our market to places to the United States .''
The move will result in Opetaia heading into more of a solo career. ``You've got to keep having new adventures.''