Aotearoa, as pictured in Tu Tangata magazine, June 1987. Ngahiwi Apanui is on the far right.
Aotearoa will never be as popular as a band as Herbs have become. That is if Aotearoa keep their kaupapa, positive music for young Māori, and if radio stations and television keep to theirs by not playing the music.
That’s the attraction with this Māori band, Aotearoa, their large following amongst Māori youth may be partly due to the “underground” nature of the message and elitism involved in the protest. But the larger part is the musical ability and dogged determination of the only founder member left, Ngahiwi Apanui.
Two years or so on he admits to being only now able to relax and not overdo things, either in organising the band or worrying about how the message is being received. “It was sheer exhaustion at times but now I’m able to appreciate the support of bandmembers, just a word of thanks means heaps.”
Aotearoa got started on the basis of having to record two songs, ‘Maranga’ and ‘Haruru ana’. Apanui says they wanted to get the message out to young Māori people that it was okay to be Māori. He felt that although Māori music was heard through the singing of Prince Tui Teka and the Pātea Māori Club, young Māori preferred overseas reggae and funk music. Aotearoa’s aim was to use the reggae and funk beats and take out the overseas messages and put in positive Māori ones.
He sees now that they had a very narrow view that later widened into a much more embracing perspective. Like they discovered that singing about Māori pride also encompassed not knowing Māori language or tikanga, and living with that. He says they felt that it was a compromise because the Māori language was the major cultural component. “That’s what made it Māori, all the instruments and music influences were Western.”
So Aotearoa decided to put their songs into a traditional context. Apanui explains it. “When you look at Māori waiata, you see that they’ve either been composed to commemorate a certain event or express a feeling about certain things. We took these kaupapa and sang about them in English and people said, ‘Wow this is new’. The only difference is that we were saying the message in English.”
‘Whakarongo’, ‘He waiata powhiri’ and ‘Māoritanga’ are all examples of this traditional waiata-a-rangi, says Apanui. Only ‘He waiata powhiri’ has been recognised by record reviewers as being in the traditional mode, he says, which probably speaks volumes about the lack of musical understanding. “Many people not culturally competent have put down our music.”
Aotearoa was originally Joe Williams, Maru Goddard née Tibbie, Mark Te One, Karlite Rangihau. Then came a steady succession of singers and musicians, Dina Fuli and her sister Lucy, John Wriggly, Tai Fuimaono and Ngapera Hoerara, Charles Royal, and Karl Smith.
Now, Aotearoa boasts Keri Noda on keyboards, Kevin Hodges on sax and guitar, with Mark McGregor on drums and percussion, and James Ruwhiu on bass. Apanui says James and Mark make a stunning rhythm section.
With the strong emphasis on giving out the message of Māori staunchness, Apanui is adamant that the band's message stays political because choosing to be Māori is a political act.
“ ‘Māoritanga’ is about a person’s right to be politically aware and motivated in order to push Māori take forward.”
Apanui believes Māori and Pākehā people who may be shocked by what they see as separatist songs should be aware that there is no turning back for Māori people. “The days of Howard Morrison joke songs like ‘Mori the Hori’ when Māori people shied away from identifying as Māori are gone.”
“One of the criticisms that some Pākehā people have leveled at Māori people and Māori musicians in particular is saying, ‘There they go again, copying the Blacks from overseas!”
He says when Pākehā people copy the “new wave” style or “funk” or something like that, it seems perfectly alright because it’s their own thing. But it’s not, because they’re a Pacific people, where they live is part of the Pacific and the influences are different.
Apanui explains the Māori identification with reggae, funk and soul, as a positive replacement for a negative Māori image. “Our Māori youth see the videos and hear the music and go for the spark and pride that’s evident in being Black.
He’s not in favour of Māori youth living out a surrogate Black identity but would prefer to build up a Māori identity.
Aotearoa, 1987. At the back: Jon Wrigley, bass. In front, L-R: Kerry Noda, keyboards; Maaka McGregor, drums; Ngahiwi Apanui, guitar, vocals; Mike Morais, manager; Karl Smith, vocals; Ngapera Hoerara, vocals. Absent: Kevin Hotu, guitar. - Tu Tangata, June 1987
“Aotearoa use reggae and soul styles of music to get this message across.” Apanui sees it as transitional music that doesn’t further alienate Māori youth by preaching from a great height, as he says many Māori leaders do.
“Our first album had one very traditional song,‘Tihei Mauriora’, that spoke of Rangi and Papa. Our next album had three in similar vein, I would say the elements of tuturu Māori are slowly being put it there and people may not even notice them until they find Aotearoa in two years time has a completely different sound, one very much based on traditional structures.”
He says Aotearoa aim to turn the overseas reggae sound until it stands firmly on Māori ground.
With two singles and two albums released, and album release in England timed for July or August, the band have moved fast. They’ve won a cultural fellowship exchange on a Commonwealth Youth Project Award, with travel to Canada as the sweetener.
As well, Black American woman Makeda Dread of Prophet World Beat is interested in the band gaining airplay through a 100,000 watt FM station in San Diego. As Apanui says, those are plenty of watts to get Aotearoa’s message heard on.
From what started as a band with five bi-lingual highly motivated Māori people, Aotearoa are by Apanui’s own words, now a band with varying degrees of cultural awareness. But you get the impression that Apanui is learning to loosen up and let the message do the work.
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This article first appeared in Tu Tangata, June 1987, as “Aotearoa, young gifted and brown”, and is republished with permission of Te Puni Kōkiri.
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Read more: Aotearoa – He Waiata Mo Te Iwi
Read more: A E I O U – Milestones in Māori Music, by Ngahiwi Apanui