The new album is progressing faster than expected, new sounds coming out of the studio constantly - very exciting. There is no time to rest as while Opetaia is in the studio until 4.00am most mornings the rest of us are preparing for a very busy year. Our US agent does not appear to have taken a break either already on the job confirming more dates for 2011. We are very much looking forward to returning to the USA and Canada as we had so much fun last year.
Reply
Happy New Year to all our friends, fans and families. This is going to be a great year, full of hard work but also many rewards. Opetaia has already started work on the 7th album and the band is preparing for a full year of touring. Very best wishes to you all have a happy and properous 2011!
Te Vaka management
Reply
Te Vaka nabs four final spots http://pacificmusicawards.org.nz
Wednesday 21st April 2010
The finalists for the 2010 S³ Pacific Music Awards have been announced with Pacific legends Te Vaka named in four categories.
Te Vaka is a finalist for its sixth album "Haoloto" in the Radio 531 PI Best Pacific Group and the S³ Best Pacific Music Album categories. "Haoloto" has also earned Te Vaka a finalist position in the Recognition and Promotion of Pacific Language category, new this year.
Te Vaka’s fourth finalist spot is in the APRA Best Pacific Song category for the single "Te Mavaega". Te Vaka’s combination of musicians and dancers from Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Cook Islands and New Zealand presents a rich, luscious mix of Polynesia’s ancient culture to the modern world.
The band will fly to New Zealand for a performance at the Awards night on the 29th of May before embarking on a 6 week tour of North America.
Reply
This news is a little different to the usual Te Vaka news, but it is so exciting that I thought I would share it with you. For many years now the Te Vaka team, to keep fit for touring and to keep the weight down from all that eating that we do on tour, have been doing Martial Arts (Chidokan Karate).
Manase Foai (AKA Nase), the drummer/master log drummer for Te Vaka, has also been training as a K1 fighter. It has been a goal of his for some time to enter the ring. So, in only two days time, his dream will come true as he will represent Australia on the 13th of March at Curtain Stadium, Perth in a Muay Thai fighting event against - Indy, from Estonia. We are all flying to Perth to support him.
Olivia Foa’i has been asked to sing the Australian National Anthem before John Wayne Parr (5x World Champion) goes to battle for the World title against the current title holder - Dmitry Valent, from Belarus. The promoters of the fight have a very positive message and the motto for the event - “IF YOU WANT TO BE A HERO – TAKE IT TO THE RING ! NOT ON THE STREET ! ”. To help drive this message home to everyone, they asked Olivia - who is an incredible songwriter -to compose the theme song for the event. She has written and will perform her song before the main event starts, then Manase will fight. We are all so excited!
Pure Adrenaline Promotions proudly present Australia’s legend John Wayne Parr vs the Worlds top ranked Dmitry Valent from Belarus challenging the World Kickboxing Network World Title in a Full Muay Thai Rules bout. Fight night includes a huge undercard featuring Australia’s best athletes fighting for the WA and National Title bouts.
Domination 4 – Fighting for the Kids ! $10,000 donnation will be made to Princess Margaret Hospital from the proceeds of this event.
With the motto of the show “IF YOU WANT TO BE A HERO – TAKE IT TO THE RING ! NOT ON THE STREET ! ” Pure Adrenaline Promotions & WKN Australia helps the Government to get violence off the street.
BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT TICKETEK.COM.AU OR PURCHASE ON DOORS THE DAY OF THE FIGHT NIGHT, UNLESS SOLD OUT PRIOR.
SPECIAL GUESTS : WKN WORLD PRESIDENT MR. STEPHANE CABRERA, GRAND MASTER MR. TINO CEBERANO, MR. ARSLAN MAGOMEDOV
Main Event :
WKN WORLD THAIBOXING CHAMPIONSHIP ( FMTR ) . 72,600 kg . 5×3 mn
John WAYNE PARR ( AUSTRALIA ) vs Dmitry VALENT ( BELARUS )
Indy (Everlast Fight Team/Estonia) vs Nase Foai – 90kg 3 x 2min (FMTR)
For full details of who will fight who http://everlastfightteam.com/?page_id=1409
Best wishes
Te Vaka Management
www.tevaka.com
www.facebook.com/te.vaka
www.twitter.com/tevaka
www.myspace.com/tevaka
Reply
After what seems an impossibly long time - the 6th Te Vaka album, Haoloto, is finally finished!!
the CDs are being manufactured right now and will be available from the Te Vaka website on the 4th of December; just in time for Christmas!
There are 15 brand new tracks (no remixes or rehashes) with the classic Te Vaka sound, as well as exciting new sounds and feels – you have to hear it!! The new album also has a beautiful 16 page booklet with lyrics and translations.
When you order your copy, please fill in the “comments” section of the order form with the name you would like the autograph to be addressed to. Make sure you are one of the first to own this awesome new CD. It would also be fantastic to get your feedback on it. So please feel free to write a review that we can post on the website.
The other exciting news is that Te Vaka has signed with a USA agent, so will be touring the USA and Canada over the next 2 years starting July to August 2010. So all of you who have contacted us over these many years asking when Te Vaka will be in the USA, will hopefully get a chance to finally see the band live!
Best wishes
Te Vaka Management
Reply
Every month Te Vaka management give away a CD and send it to you no matter where you are in the world. All you have to do is visit www.tevaka.com fill out the "contact us form" and join our mailing list! It is that easy. The winner for August is Meghan Steele from the USA.
Reply
Dear Friends,....
Things have been very busy since we got back from Europe. The new album is well under way and if everything goes according to plan it should be available in September. We had the best time in the Netherlands. We meet some very warm and amazing people and got to experience Mollucan and Indonesian music and dance – very cool. Many thanks to Ray from Malam Pop, Silvia and family and Ancy and Mingus Souhuwat who really looked after us during our stay.
The weather was beautiful in Holland and we had a day off after the show to enjoy it. While myself, Olivia and Tremayne took the opportunity to go for a bike ride, Vasa and Neil hit the gym and Ray took Liana and the boys to a famous boxing gym for the day. We have some keen kickboxers in the band – Manase, Matatia, Talaga and Edwin to be precise, and spending the day at the boxing gym where Badr Hari trains was a highlight for the boys. Pics of the trip will be up soon …
Reply
Dear Friends,
This is the last newsletter for the year. As Christmas approaches we are looking back on what has been an amazing year for Te Vaka. Starting with a tour to Hong Kong and Taiwan at the beginning of the year followed by tours to Tonga, China, Hawaii and New Caledonia. Plus winning – “Best Pacific Group”and “Best Pacific Album” in the Pacific/New Zealand music industry awards and “Best live performance” and 1st place in the “International category” of the Australian songwriters awards. The experiences in 2008 have been rich and rewarding for us all. We have shared cultures, made many new friends and hopefully, in our own way, helped to make the world a better place.
PLANS FOR 2009
A new album – scheduled for release in May 2009
A performance in Australia’s most prestigious venue – the Sydney Opera House. (Te Vaka could possibly be the first Polynesian group to perform at the Sydney Opera House)
Confirmed date 13th April 2009 tickets are on sale now!
http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/tinariwenandtevaka.aspx
A tour of Europe and the UK. (Dates to be confirmed early next year so watch the website).
THE WEBSITE
We have finally updated the pictures on the www.tevaka.com website! For those of you who don’t have access to the social networking sites like myspace, you can now click on “The Pics” and see what Te Vaka has been up to. I must say we have got some awesome new pics so please check them out.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
It is not too late to make your Christmas orders and receive them before Christmas! Exchange rates with the major currencies such as USA dollars and Euros have changed markedly so we have been able to drop the cost of both CDs and postage so please go to our secure online shops - for your convenience we now have two: www.tevaka.com and www.tevaka.org , read the testimonials – our service is second to none, and make your order before Christmas! If you prefer to buy from itunes or CDbaby that is okay too. All 5 Te Vaka CDs are now available to download from itunes. At CDbaby you can buy the real albums or the downloads and the good thing is that they do pay us.
3 VERY GOOD REASONS TO BUY TE VAKA CDS FROM THE TE VAKA WEBSITE
1/ This music will bring joy and fun into your life.
2/ You will receive a beautifully packaged product with quality images, complete with lyrics and translations.
3/ If you buy Te Vaka CDs or DVDs from the website you are directly helping the band to be able to continue writing, recording and performing Te Vaka music.
We would love to hear from you so please let us know if there is anything you would like to see on the website.
Reply
2008 has been an incredible year so far for Te Vaka with two top awards already under their belt and now, 'Tamahana', written by Opetaia Foai and Malcolm Smith has won the ' International' category in the 28th Australian Songwriting Association Awards. The Australian Songwriting Contest is highly respected and extremely prestigious and is the longest running songwriting competition in Australia. The National Awards Night held in Sydney on the 28th of August was a memorable event. The winners of the 12 songwriting categories performed their winning songs to a sold out venue of top music industry personnel and Australian celebrities. Te Vaka's performance of 'Tamahana' won the group the PPCA 'Best live Performance of the night' Award presented by Mondo Rock Bass player Paul Christie.
Reply
This year the Pacific Music Awards are also offering the public the chance to vote for the ' Peoples Choice Award'. Voting is now open so please go on line now and vote for Te Vaka. Your support is much appreciated.
The link is - http://www.pacificmusicawards.org.nz/poll.htm
Reply
Te Vaka / Blog
The Year has started fast!
The new album is progressing faster than expected, new sounds coming out of the studio constantly - very exciting. There is no time to rest as while Opetaia is in the studio until 4.00am most mornings the rest of us are preparing for a very busy year. Our US agent does not appear to have taken a break either already on the job confirming more dates for 2011. We are very much looking forward to returning to the USA and Canada as we had so much fun last year.
Reply
Best wishes for 2011
Happy New Year to all our friends, fans and families. This is going to be a great year, full of hard work but also many rewards. Opetaia has already started work on the 7th album and the band is preparing for a full year of touring. Very best wishes to you all have a happy and properous 2011!
Te Vaka management
Reply
TE VAKA PRESS RELEASE!!!
Te Vaka nabs four final spots http://pacificmusicawards.org.nz
Wednesday 21st April 2010 The finalists for the 2010 S³ Pacific Music Awards have been announced with Pacific legends Te Vaka named in four categories.
Te Vaka is a finalist for its sixth album "Haoloto" in the Radio 531 PI Best Pacific Group and the S³ Best Pacific Music Album categories. "Haoloto" has also earned Te Vaka a finalist position in the Recognition and Promotion of Pacific Language category, new this year.
Te Vaka’s fourth finalist spot is in the APRA Best Pacific Song category for the single "Te Mavaega". Te Vaka’s combination of musicians and dancers from Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Cook Islands and New Zealand presents a rich, luscious mix of Polynesia’s ancient culture to the modern world.
The band will fly to New Zealand for a performance at the Awards night on the 29th of May before embarking on a 6 week tour of North America.
Reply
DOMINATION 4
This news is a little different to the usual Te Vaka news, but it is so exciting that I thought I would share it with you. For many years now the Te Vaka team, to keep fit for touring and to keep the weight down from all that eating that we do on tour, have been doing Martial Arts (Chidokan Karate). Manase Foai (AKA Nase), the drummer/master log drummer for Te Vaka, has also been training as a K1 fighter. It has been a goal of his for some time to enter the ring. So, in only two days time, his dream will come true as he will represent Australia on the 13th of March at Curtain Stadium, Perth in a Muay Thai fighting event against - Indy, from Estonia. We are all flying to Perth to support him.
Olivia Foa’i has been asked to sing the Australian National Anthem before John Wayne Parr (5x World Champion) goes to battle for the World title against the current title holder - Dmitry Valent, from Belarus. The promoters of the fight have a very positive message and the motto for the event - “IF YOU WANT TO BE A HERO – TAKE IT TO THE RING ! NOT ON THE STREET ! ”. To help drive this message home to everyone, they asked Olivia - who is an incredible songwriter -to compose the theme song for the event. She has written and will perform her song before the main event starts, then Manase will fight. We are all so excited!
Pure Adrenaline Promotions proudly present Australia’s legend John Wayne Parr vs the Worlds top ranked Dmitry Valent from Belarus challenging the World Kickboxing Network World Title in a Full Muay Thai Rules bout. Fight night includes a huge undercard featuring Australia’s best athletes fighting for the WA and National Title bouts. Domination 4 – Fighting for the Kids ! $10,000 donnation will be made to Princess Margaret Hospital from the proceeds of this event. With the motto of the show “IF YOU WANT TO BE A HERO – TAKE IT TO THE RING ! NOT ON THE STREET ! ” Pure Adrenaline Promotions & WKN Australia helps the Government to get violence off the street. BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT TICKETEK.COM.AU OR PURCHASE ON DOORS THE DAY OF THE FIGHT NIGHT, UNLESS SOLD OUT PRIOR. SPECIAL GUESTS : WKN WORLD PRESIDENT MR. STEPHANE CABRERA, GRAND MASTER MR. TINO CEBERANO, MR. ARSLAN MAGOMEDOV Main Event : WKN WORLD THAIBOXING CHAMPIONSHIP ( FMTR ) . 72,600 kg . 5×3 mn John WAYNE PARR ( AUSTRALIA ) vs Dmitry VALENT ( BELARUS ) Indy (Everlast Fight Team/Estonia) vs Nase Foai – 90kg 3 x 2min (FMTR)
For full details of who will fight who http://everlastfightteam.com/?page_id=1409
Best wishes
Te Vaka Management www.tevaka.com www.facebook.com/te.vaka www.twitter.com/tevaka www.myspace.com/tevaka
Reply
TE VAKA - HAOLOTO
After what seems an impossibly long time - the 6th Te Vaka album, Haoloto, is finally finished!! the CDs are being manufactured right now and will be available from the Te Vaka website on the 4th of December; just in time for Christmas!
There are 15 brand new tracks (no remixes or rehashes) with the classic Te Vaka sound, as well as exciting new sounds and feels – you have to hear it!! The new album also has a beautiful 16 page booklet with lyrics and translations.
When you order your copy, please fill in the “comments” section of the order form with the name you would like the autograph to be addressed to. Make sure you are one of the first to own this awesome new CD. It would also be fantastic to get your feedback on it. So please feel free to write a review that we can post on the website.
The other exciting news is that Te Vaka has signed with a USA agent, so will be touring the USA and Canada over the next 2 years starting July to August 2010. So all of you who have contacted us over these many years asking when Te Vaka will be in the USA, will hopefully get a chance to finally see the band live!
Best wishes
Te Vaka Management
Reply
Win a Te Vaka CD of your choice!
Every month Te Vaka management give away a CD and send it to you no matter where you are in the world. All you have to do is visit www.tevaka.com fill out the "contact us form" and join our mailing list! It is that easy. The winner for August is Meghan Steele from the USA.
Reply
Te Vaka in the Netherlands
Dear Friends,....
Things have been very busy since we got back from Europe. The new album is well under way and if everything goes according to plan it should be available in September. We had the best time in the Netherlands. We meet some very warm and amazing people and got to experience Mollucan and Indonesian music and dance – very cool. Many thanks to Ray from Malam Pop, Silvia and family and Ancy and Mingus Souhuwat who really looked after us during our stay.
The weather was beautiful in Holland and we had a day off after the show to enjoy it. While myself, Olivia and Tremayne took the opportunity to go for a bike ride, Vasa and Neil hit the gym and Ray took Liana and the boys to a famous boxing gym for the day. We have some keen kickboxers in the band – Manase, Matatia, Talaga and Edwin to be precise, and spending the day at the boxing gym where Badr Hari trains was a highlight for the boys. Pics of the trip will be up soon …
Reply
Te Vaka plans and news
Dear Friends,
This is the last newsletter for the year. As Christmas approaches we are looking back on what has been an amazing year for Te Vaka. Starting with a tour to Hong Kong and Taiwan at the beginning of the year followed by tours to Tonga, China, Hawaii and New Caledonia. Plus winning – “Best Pacific Group”and “Best Pacific Album” in the Pacific/New Zealand music industry awards and “Best live performance” and 1st place in the “International category” of the Australian songwriters awards. The experiences in 2008 have been rich and rewarding for us all. We have shared cultures, made many new friends and hopefully, in our own way, helped to make the world a better place.
PLANS FOR 2009 A new album – scheduled for release in May 2009
A performance in Australia’s most prestigious venue – the Sydney Opera House. (Te Vaka could possibly be the first Polynesian group to perform at the Sydney Opera House) Confirmed date 13th April 2009 tickets are on sale now! http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/tinariwenandtevaka.aspx
A tour of Europe and the UK. (Dates to be confirmed early next year so watch the website).
THE WEBSITE We have finally updated the pictures on the www.tevaka.com website! For those of you who don’t have access to the social networking sites like myspace, you can now click on “The Pics” and see what Te Vaka has been up to. I must say we have got some awesome new pics so please check them out.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING It is not too late to make your Christmas orders and receive them before Christmas! Exchange rates with the major currencies such as USA dollars and Euros have changed markedly so we have been able to drop the cost of both CDs and postage so please go to our secure online shops - for your convenience we now have two: www.tevaka.com and www.tevaka.org , read the testimonials – our service is second to none, and make your order before Christmas! If you prefer to buy from itunes or CDbaby that is okay too. All 5 Te Vaka CDs are now available to download from itunes. At CDbaby you can buy the real albums or the downloads and the good thing is that they do pay us.
3 VERY GOOD REASONS TO BUY TE VAKA CDS FROM THE TE VAKA WEBSITE 1/ This music will bring joy and fun into your life. 2/ You will receive a beautifully packaged product with quality images, complete with lyrics and translations. 3/ If you buy Te Vaka CDs or DVDs from the website you are directly helping the band to be able to continue writing, recording and performing Te Vaka music. We would love to hear from you so please let us know if there is anything you would like to see on the website.
Reply
TE VAKA WINS AGAIN!!!
2008 has been an incredible year so far for Te Vaka with two top awards already under their belt and now, 'Tamahana', written by Opetaia Foai and Malcolm Smith has won the ' International' category in the 28th Australian Songwriting Association Awards. The Australian Songwriting Contest is highly respected and extremely prestigious and is the longest running songwriting competition in Australia. The National Awards Night held in Sydney on the 28th of August was a memorable event. The winners of the 12 songwriting categories performed their winning songs to a sold out venue of top music industry personnel and Australian celebrities. Te Vaka's performance of 'Tamahana' won the group the PPCA 'Best live Performance of the night' Award presented by Mondo Rock Bass player Paul Christie.
Reply
DON'T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO VOTE FOR TE VAKA!!!
This year the Pacific Music Awards are also offering the public the chance to vote for the ' Peoples Choice Award'. Voting is now open so please go on line now and vote for Te Vaka. Your support is much appreciated.
The link is - http://www.pacificmusicawards.org.nz/poll.htm
Reply