Yes we are still here. I know the band has not been on tour since things got crazy. It was hard enough touring a big band around the world when things were normal, it got considerably harder after September 11th and since March 2020 it became impossible for a while. Even now you can arrive at the airport to find the flight is canceled or the band could rehearse for weeks to find that the show is canceled. There is just too much uncertainty to tour a large band at the moment so we will wait for things to become doable again.
In the meantime we have not stopped creating. Te Vaka Beats Vol.3 came out on the 28th November. Matatia and Opetaia have written some great new beats. There has been much innovating in the recording process for the drums which have been painstakingly recorded at the highest level for log and skin drums.
Also, Opetaia has completed six meditation tracks for the HAAA app.The individual tracks, (20 mins each) contain elements and sounds that are unique to the culture of each Island - Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Cook Islands, New Zealand Maori and Hawai'i. The idea for the App was presented to Opetaia as a way to help with the growing statistics for suicide amongst Pacific youth. He felt strongly that this was something he needed to support. The concept is that someone in need of help could be connected to their culture through music,sound and language. The response has been so positive that Rob-Kipa Williams, the founder of HAAA has released the tracks on streaming services for everyone to enjoy as people from all over the world have been responding to the cultural connection.listen here
Very recently, Sulata, Neil, Manase and Malcolm flew over to join Opetaia, Matatia and Olivia in the studio to record for the upcoming Te Vaka album. There is nothing like having the original members of the team together. So much love, laughter and creation. It has been seven years since the release of the last Te Vaka album "Amataga". I can tell you the magic is still there - watch this space!
Reply
Te Vaka headquarters is buzzing with music - there is a new Te Vaka album being created as I write. It is set for release in the first half of this year and we are excited to share it with everyone. As you might expect due to the COVID situation, there are no tours planned for this year, but that does not mean you won't hear from us in more ways than one.
As well as the album, work is intensifying on the making of the Te Vaka documentary. This project was started several years ago but there is still a great deal more work to be done. When Te Vaka started - more than 26 years ago, there was no Youtube, Facebook, iphones or any such recording devices but we travelled with a broadcast quality video camera and every show, event or behind the scenes adventure was captured in hopes that one day we could share our story with the world. In addition to that many interviews have already been done with key people involved in the Te Vaka story and with just a few more to go we almost have everything. There is no release date yet, but we are hopeful it won't be too far away.
This year will be what each and every one of us make it, let's have a great year.
Reply
We have all been back in Australia and New Zealand respectively for a couple of days now but no-one has landed yet, our heads are still floating in the magic of what we have just experienced. Having all the great Te Vaka singers from 1994 through to 2016 all singing together on the Moana soundtrack was an historical moment for many reasons. Not only had they all never sung together before but to have Pacific voices singing in a Pacific language on a Disney movie has never been done before. The impact was huge! The Disney music team were moved by the voices, the pride and the authenticity of what the singers brought to the movie. They were stunned by Opetaia's ability to create vocal lines and chants for the movie on the spot and the bands ability to immediately sing and record them. At times it felt deeply spiritual and many tears were shed not only from the band but the people in the control room. When John Lasseter (head of Disney and Pixar), came into the studio to hear what was happening, Te Vaka broke into a "Fatele" (Tokelauan dance) and song for John and he was in tears too. I cannot acurately describe what we have all just experienced - it is too much like a fairytale for anyone to believe it. I think the only way to get an idea of what I am talking about is to see the movie. Release dates for Moana are 23rd of November (thanksgiving day) in the US and Boxing day in the South Pacific. We can't wait! But in the meantime there is lots of work to do to prepare for the US Premiere performances.
Reply
News of the MOANA movie is spreading far and wide with the first teaser now doing it's rounds. This one focuses is on Maui but is very cool with Te Vaka log drums and announcing Opetaia as one of the writers - not something ususally seen on movie trailers so a nice little bonus. All the paperwork is in progress for the rush visas and all the best Te Vaka singers past and present are getting ready to fly to LA to give "Moana" their very best at the Warner Bros recording sessions. Of course Olivia will be there and Sulata, Vai, Melodee. Plus the boys - Opetaia, Matatia, Douglas, Talaga and other voices heard on Te Vaka albums that havent toured with the band but help us to capture the magic of the South Pacific. We are all very excited!!!
https://youtu.be/C6PbWhWGUrY
Reply
We've had a pretty good start to the year - 5 nominations for the Amataga album so far and it's only April. It's always a bit hard when you release an album and then immediately go on tour as many of the important aspects of a release, like getting the review copies sent out, can get a bit neglected. Luckily we didnt miss the deadline for the ISC (International songwriting competition) and "Tele ve ko koe " is a finalist in the World Music Category. There are a number of songwriting competitions out there but this seems to be one of the better ones with a pretty impressive lineup of judges and some nice prizes for the winners. Amataga really is a world music album so it would be very exciting to win this category - winners will be announced out at the end of the month.
The other 4 nominations were in the Pacific Music Awards and one of these is the New Zealand Music Awards "Best Pacific Music" Album. This is a very nice surprise and good to know that after all these years there is still appreciation for Te Vaka music. The results of the PMA will be announced at an event in Auckland on the 9th of June which we will definitely attend if not in the US working on "Moana".
The other great news was an awesome review of Amataga in Froots Magazine, which I have to say is not easy for a band from the South Pacific to achieve. Froots is a long standing, well respected, UK based, Folk and World Music magazine with a preference for African and Celtic groups. It was extremely heart-warming to say the least and although it has come out 6 months after the album release, it confirms what I believe this album has achieved. Here is a link to the review Froots review - See more at: www.tevaka.com
Reply
The new album is happening! Of course Opetaia has to fit the writing in around the music that Disney wants for “Moana” but I think that good old saying “ If you want a job done, ask a busy man” is definitely relevant here. So we were both already busy then, out of the blue came the trip to New Zealand for Pasifika! Writing Pacific-orientated albums demands a connection with the culture, so what better way to do that than to go to the annual Pasifika Festival held in Auckland every March. Te Vaka first started performing at Pasifika back in 1996 and in those days it was a massive event with heaps of culture, complete with a ceremonial stage and a contemporary stage. Unfortunately, Pasifika has diminished over the last few years due to, amongst other things, the stallholders being charged way too much to sell their beautiful labour-intensive homemade arts and crafts plus the isolating of the different Islands into villages which all have their own stages. Even so it is still a great place to soak up South Pacific culture and there was lots of it.
Olivia came with us so Opetaia, Olivia and Neil did a small acoustic performance on the Tokelau stage. Nana and Papa were there and many other family members that it was so nice to see. So many generations enjoying and expressing their culture. We watched our Te Vaka dancer, Edwin’s two young sons performing the Tokelau ‘fatele’ - so good to see the culture being handed down to the young ones and the Tuvalu stage was on fire this year. I managed to get around most of the villages and checked out the beautiful basketry, arts and crafts tapa cloths etc. and picked up a few bits and pieces for new costumes.
Reply
Te Vaka's first album in 4 years is 1 week away. This is album no. 8 . An album with a distinct point of distance. Available from the 25th of September at www.tevaka.com
Reply
The headlines are all over the internet now, but we have had to keep this exciting news a secret since the middle of 2013 - more than 2 years!!
The trips to the US started in December 2013 when Opetaia first went to the Disney Animation Studios in Burbank to sign the contract, his task - to write songs for "Moana", a magical, musical, animated feature film set in the South Pacific 2000 years ago. As you can appreciate anything set in the South Pacific is close to Opetaia's heart and come the beginning of 2014 he had started writing for the movie and could think about almost nothing else.
Although Opetaia met his first award-winning music partner, Mark Mancina, (Lion King, Tarzan, Cars and many more!) on his first Disney trip, he didnt meet lyricist and Broadway sensation, Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights and Hamilton) until the memorable Disney team trip to New Zealand to experience Auckland's Pasifika festival in March 2014. Lin hoped off a flight from New York and straight onto the Cook Island stage at Pasifika where he won an improvised dance-off, Island style. Lin is of Puerto Rican descent, but a man of endless enthusiasm, talent and surprising freestyle island dance skills which went down extremely well at Pasifika.
Back then we were all still signed to secrecy so the whole Disney team including legendary Disney Directors John Musker and Ron Clements, (The Great Mouse Detective, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog) spent 2 days cruising anonymously through the Pasifika festival experiencing all things Pacific.
The week before Opetaia had flown with the Disney team to Western Samoa so everyone involved in the movie could get really intouch with the people and the culture. The visual arts people were there too, photographing, sketching, taking in every detail of the environment - water, trees, foliage and more for later use in the movie. It was not the teams first trip to the South Pacific either and when John Lasseter (Head of Disney animation and Pixar) announced at the Disney D23 Expo that they had been changed by the South Pacific experience it was true.
Well it has been a long journey but we can finally talk about it. It was hard to wait for Disney's D23 Expo for the songwriters to finally be announced but when Te Vaka performed "We know the way" (a song written by Opetaia for the movie) and the crowd errupted with a standing ovation it was definitely worth the wait. The D23 is Disney's biggest live event and it only happens every 2 years. There are so many surprises lined up for the 8,000 Disney fans that attend and no-one knows beforehand who is going to be there. In and around the Greenroom backstage we were bumping into everyone from Johny Depp to Ellen Degeneres. As you can see by the picture at the top Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) was a favourite of the band. He is in 'Moana" as the demigod "Maui" which is so perfect.
As you can imagine we are all very excited about this movie - it is going to be amazing! Release date is November 23rd 2016 only one more year to wait.
Here is a snippet of Te Vaka live at the D23 - https://youtu.be/kBEBpQDSwQE
There is so much to tell but for now but I must stop here as there is an album to get finished before the upcoming tour. Details and information in the next newsletter coming soon!!!
Reply
Lots of work is going on behind the scene - updates and info coming soon.
Reply
Nearly finished part one of archiving and preserving the history of Te Vaka. You will see many new videos of the band in concert and magic moments behind the scenes on the official channel. The Te Vaka channel everything is being uploaded to is https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialTevaka it is a bit confusing as there is another Te Vaka Channel with quite a few videos on it also and it has been going a lot longer than this one. However, it was started in a wild moment of not understanding how Youtube worked and that I would never be able to change the address so we had to start a new one that was set up correctly.
Reply
Te Vaka / Blog
Doing what we do
Yes we are still here. I know the band has not been on tour since things got crazy. It was hard enough touring a big band around the world when things were normal, it got considerably harder after September 11th and since March 2020 it became impossible for a while. Even now you can arrive at the airport to find the flight is canceled or the band could rehearse for weeks to find that the show is canceled. There is just too much uncertainty to tour a large band at the moment so we will wait for things to become doable again.
In the meantime we have not stopped creating. Te Vaka Beats Vol.3 came out on the 28th November. Matatia and Opetaia have written some great new beats. There has been much innovating in the recording process for the drums which have been painstakingly recorded at the highest level for log and skin drums.
Also, Opetaia has completed six meditation tracks for the HAAA app.The individual tracks, (20 mins each) contain elements and sounds that are unique to the culture of each Island - Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Cook Islands, New Zealand Maori and Hawai'i. The idea for the App was presented to Opetaia as a way to help with the growing statistics for suicide amongst Pacific youth. He felt strongly that this was something he needed to support. The concept is that someone in need of help could be connected to their culture through music,sound and language. The response has been so positive that Rob-Kipa Williams, the founder of HAAA has released the tracks on streaming services for everyone to enjoy as people from all over the world have been responding to the cultural connection.listen here
Very recently, Sulata, Neil, Manase and Malcolm flew over to join Opetaia, Matatia and Olivia in the studio to record for the upcoming Te Vaka album. There is nothing like having the original members of the team together. So much love, laughter and creation. It has been seven years since the release of the last Te Vaka album "Amataga". I can tell you the magic is still there - watch this space!
Reply
2021 IS HERE
Te Vaka headquarters is buzzing with music - there is a new Te Vaka album being created as I write. It is set for release in the first half of this year and we are excited to share it with everyone. As you might expect due to the COVID situation, there are no tours planned for this year, but that does not mean you won't hear from us in more ways than one.
As well as the album, work is intensifying on the making of the Te Vaka documentary. This project was started several years ago but there is still a great deal more work to be done. When Te Vaka started - more than 26 years ago, there was no Youtube, Facebook, iphones or any such recording devices but we travelled with a broadcast quality video camera and every show, event or behind the scenes adventure was captured in hopes that one day we could share our story with the world. In addition to that many interviews have already been done with key people involved in the Te Vaka story and with just a few more to go we almost have everything. There is no release date yet, but we are hopeful it won't be too far away.
This year will be what each and every one of us make it, let's have a great year.
Reply
Recording at Warner Brothers for Moana
We have all been back in Australia and New Zealand respectively for a couple of days now but no-one has landed yet, our heads are still floating in the magic of what we have just experienced. Having all the great Te Vaka singers from 1994 through to 2016 all singing together on the Moana soundtrack was an historical moment for many reasons. Not only had they all never sung together before but to have Pacific voices singing in a Pacific language on a Disney movie has never been done before. The impact was huge! The Disney music team were moved by the voices, the pride and the authenticity of what the singers brought to the movie. They were stunned by Opetaia's ability to create vocal lines and chants for the movie on the spot and the bands ability to immediately sing and record them. At times it felt deeply spiritual and many tears were shed not only from the band but the people in the control room. When John Lasseter (head of Disney and Pixar), came into the studio to hear what was happening, Te Vaka broke into a "Fatele" (Tokelauan dance) and song for John and he was in tears too. I cannot acurately describe what we have all just experienced - it is too much like a fairytale for anyone to believe it. I think the only way to get an idea of what I am talking about is to see the movie. Release dates for Moana are 23rd of November (thanksgiving day) in the US and Boxing day in the South Pacific. We can't wait! But in the meantime there is lots of work to do to prepare for the US Premiere performances.
Reply
FIRST MOANA TRAILER OUT!!!
News of the MOANA movie is spreading far and wide with the first teaser now doing it's rounds. This one focuses is on Maui but is very cool with Te Vaka log drums and announcing Opetaia as one of the writers - not something ususally seen on movie trailers so a nice little bonus. All the paperwork is in progress for the rush visas and all the best Te Vaka singers past and present are getting ready to fly to LA to give "Moana" their very best at the Warner Bros recording sessions. Of course Olivia will be there and Sulata, Vai, Melodee. Plus the boys - Opetaia, Matatia, Douglas, Talaga and other voices heard on Te Vaka albums that havent toured with the band but help us to capture the magic of the South Pacific. We are all very excited!!! https://youtu.be/C6PbWhWGUrY
Reply
AMATAGA - 5 Nominations so far!!
We've had a pretty good start to the year - 5 nominations for the Amataga album so far and it's only April. It's always a bit hard when you release an album and then immediately go on tour as many of the important aspects of a release, like getting the review copies sent out, can get a bit neglected. Luckily we didnt miss the deadline for the ISC (International songwriting competition) and "Tele ve ko koe " is a finalist in the World Music Category. There are a number of songwriting competitions out there but this seems to be one of the better ones with a pretty impressive lineup of judges and some nice prizes for the winners. Amataga really is a world music album so it would be very exciting to win this category - winners will be announced out at the end of the month.
The other 4 nominations were in the Pacific Music Awards and one of these is the New Zealand Music Awards "Best Pacific Music" Album. This is a very nice surprise and good to know that after all these years there is still appreciation for Te Vaka music. The results of the PMA will be announced at an event in Auckland on the 9th of June which we will definitely attend if not in the US working on "Moana".
The other great news was an awesome review of Amataga in Froots Magazine, which I have to say is not easy for a band from the South Pacific to achieve. Froots is a long standing, well respected, UK based, Folk and World Music magazine with a preference for African and Celtic groups. It was extremely heart-warming to say the least and although it has come out 6 months after the album release, it confirms what I believe this album has achieved. Here is a link to the review Froots review - See more at: www.tevaka.com
Reply
Trip to Pasifika
The new album is happening! Of course Opetaia has to fit the writing in around the music that Disney wants for “Moana” but I think that good old saying “ If you want a job done, ask a busy man” is definitely relevant here. So we were both already busy then, out of the blue came the trip to New Zealand for Pasifika! Writing Pacific-orientated albums demands a connection with the culture, so what better way to do that than to go to the annual Pasifika Festival held in Auckland every March. Te Vaka first started performing at Pasifika back in 1996 and in those days it was a massive event with heaps of culture, complete with a ceremonial stage and a contemporary stage. Unfortunately, Pasifika has diminished over the last few years due to, amongst other things, the stallholders being charged way too much to sell their beautiful labour-intensive homemade arts and crafts plus the isolating of the different Islands into villages which all have their own stages. Even so it is still a great place to soak up South Pacific culture and there was lots of it. Olivia came with us so Opetaia, Olivia and Neil did a small acoustic performance on the Tokelau stage. Nana and Papa were there and many other family members that it was so nice to see. So many generations enjoying and expressing their culture. We watched our Te Vaka dancer, Edwin’s two young sons performing the Tokelau ‘fatele’ - so good to see the culture being handed down to the young ones and the Tuvalu stage was on fire this year. I managed to get around most of the villages and checked out the beautiful basketry, arts and crafts tapa cloths etc. and picked up a few bits and pieces for new costumes.
Reply
TE VAKA HAS A NEW ALBUM - AMATAGA
Te Vaka's first album in 4 years is 1 week away. This is album no. 8 . An album with a distinct point of distance. Available from the 25th of September at www.tevaka.com
Reply
Te Vaka joins next big Disney Movie - MOANA
The headlines are all over the internet now, but we have had to keep this exciting news a secret since the middle of 2013 - more than 2 years!! The trips to the US started in December 2013 when Opetaia first went to the Disney Animation Studios in Burbank to sign the contract, his task - to write songs for "Moana", a magical, musical, animated feature film set in the South Pacific 2000 years ago. As you can appreciate anything set in the South Pacific is close to Opetaia's heart and come the beginning of 2014 he had started writing for the movie and could think about almost nothing else. Although Opetaia met his first award-winning music partner, Mark Mancina, (Lion King, Tarzan, Cars and many more!) on his first Disney trip, he didnt meet lyricist and Broadway sensation, Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights and Hamilton) until the memorable Disney team trip to New Zealand to experience Auckland's Pasifika festival in March 2014. Lin hoped off a flight from New York and straight onto the Cook Island stage at Pasifika where he won an improvised dance-off, Island style. Lin is of Puerto Rican descent, but a man of endless enthusiasm, talent and surprising freestyle island dance skills which went down extremely well at Pasifika. Back then we were all still signed to secrecy so the whole Disney team including legendary Disney Directors John Musker and Ron Clements, (The Great Mouse Detective, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog) spent 2 days cruising anonymously through the Pasifika festival experiencing all things Pacific. The week before Opetaia had flown with the Disney team to Western Samoa so everyone involved in the movie could get really intouch with the people and the culture. The visual arts people were there too, photographing, sketching, taking in every detail of the environment - water, trees, foliage and more for later use in the movie. It was not the teams first trip to the South Pacific either and when John Lasseter (Head of Disney animation and Pixar) announced at the Disney D23 Expo that they had been changed by the South Pacific experience it was true. Well it has been a long journey but we can finally talk about it. It was hard to wait for Disney's D23 Expo for the songwriters to finally be announced but when Te Vaka performed "We know the way" (a song written by Opetaia for the movie) and the crowd errupted with a standing ovation it was definitely worth the wait. The D23 is Disney's biggest live event and it only happens every 2 years. There are so many surprises lined up for the 8,000 Disney fans that attend and no-one knows beforehand who is going to be there. In and around the Greenroom backstage we were bumping into everyone from Johny Depp to Ellen Degeneres. As you can see by the picture at the top Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) was a favourite of the band. He is in 'Moana" as the demigod "Maui" which is so perfect. As you can imagine we are all very excited about this movie - it is going to be amazing! Release date is November 23rd 2016 only one more year to wait. Here is a snippet of Te Vaka live at the D23 - https://youtu.be/kBEBpQDSwQE There is so much to tell but for now but I must stop here as there is an album to get finished before the upcoming tour. Details and information in the next newsletter coming soon!!!
Reply
Opetaia's Te Vaka coming in 2015
Lots of work is going on behind the scene - updates and info coming soon.
Reply
The Official Youtube channel
Nearly finished part one of archiving and preserving the history of Te Vaka. You will see many new videos of the band in concert and magic moments behind the scenes on the official channel. The Te Vaka channel everything is being uploaded to is https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialTevaka it is a bit confusing as there is another Te Vaka Channel with quite a few videos on it also and it has been going a lot longer than this one. However, it was started in a wild moment of not understanding how Youtube worked and that I would never be able to change the address so we had to start a new one that was set up correctly.
Reply