TROY KINGI & IRAIA WHAKAMOE from THE NUDGE: He Ōrite
An interview by Bridget Herlihy.
In 2020 Te Māngai Pāho announced a round of funding to support the development and performance of Te Reo Māori waiata and music concepts. One of the tracks that emerged from that initiative and was grated funding is an upbeat, psycheledic waiata composed by Troy Kingi and Iraia Whakamoe, ‘He Ōrite’. Meaning ‘The Same’, ‘He Ōrite’ possesses a poignant and timely message: that we are all equal.
The brainchild of Whakamoe, the drummer and percussionist for Wellington-based psychedelic band The Nudge, ‘He Ōrite’ was conceived during last year’s nationwide lockdown. Somewhat ironically, with much of the country stuck at home, Whakamoe and Kingi were able to collaborate – albeit at a distance – and record and share demos for the track. Through the wonders of modern technology, the duo sent the recordings to fellow Nudge members James Coyle (bass) and Ryan Prebble (guitar) to add their parts. Finally, with production courtesy of Mu (aka DJ Fitchie) of Fat Freddy’s Drop fame, ‘He Ōrite’ was fully realised.
The opportunity for this collaboration to take place and come to fruition was all a matter of timing. Whakamoe has performed and recorded with Kingi for a number of years, including the two sharing the stage in the early 2020 line-up of Fly My Pretties. Yet this is the first time Kingi, Whakamoe and The Nudge have collaborated on a track. Why not earlier, you may ask. Whakamoe explains “There was already lots going on in Troy’s world, and there was some other stuff going on, but we just hadn’t thought about it much”. Kingi, who is renowned for being one of the hardest working musicians in Aotearoa agrees, commenting that “We just never really thought about it, and then the opportunity arose through Te Māngai Pāho who were giving out funding for artists to record a track in Te Reo. And so Iraia approached me during lockdown last year and we just did it. If we had thought about it ages ago we would have probably just done it”.
As well as navigating the stressors and new realities that come with a pandemic, 2020 also saw the death of George Floyd, and the Black Lives Matter movement becoming a worldwide phenomenon; events which in turn inspired He Ōrite. Kingi elaborates that when he was writing the lyrics for the track that “it was really topical at the time, and we saw the same kinds of issues happening here [in Aotearoa]. So this was us posing the question of ‘why cant we just be on a level playing field and not have to have an oppressor?’, and all of those questions. And also with the song being this upbeat tune, it is also a celebration of us just being humans in this big cosmos and how small we are. We should just appreciate things and not take things too seriously, because we are so small in the whole scheme of things”.
While Kingi and The Nudge don’t currently have any plans to record anything more in the near future, it is far from impossible. “We have definitely talked about it, says Whakamoe. “I think in all honesty it would be crazy not to, and its just a matter of fitting in around each other’s lives. That will happen when it does, and at the right time; kinda like how this did. Keep it kind of natural, and something will happen for sure”. It seems that Kingi and The Nudge have indeed found their groove by following a natural process and doing things when the time is right.
In the meantime, however, The Nudge have commenced working on their third album, and already have five tracks in the bag, with a view to releasing the album in 2022. Whakamoe coyly mentions that the band is working with someone that “they are really excited to be working with”, although he is reluctant to offer up any clues as to whom this may be. However, unlike Kingi, Whakamoe has not set a definitive deadline. “Troy is really good at working under pressure, and giving himself goals to set and achieve, it doesn’t really matter about the natural time; it will just get done. But I do think that The Nudge have a very different, warped sense of time and it is quite mellow and organic. It is about having the right people in the room”. Having earned a widespread reputation for being one of Aotearoa’s best live acts, fans will undoubtedly be champing at the bit to hear the new material and see them play live again.
As for Kingi, he has now reached the halfway point in his 10 10 10 series (10 albums in 10 genres in 10 years) with the recent release of album number five ‘Black Sea Golden Ladder’. Not only is he poised to head out on a nationwide tour in support of the album with the superb, enigmatic Delaney Davidson, but he has also entered the studio to commence recording album number six, which begs the question ‘does Troy Kingi ever sleep?’. “Not much” he laughs. “I’m about to go into the studio to start recording my (sixth) album… so there have been some very long nights”. I find that when I get to my calendar I am filling it up constantly, so that is why you are being bombarded with a lot of Troy Kingi stuff. And it just happened that this was the only free week that I had, that is why we had to book the studio. It might sound crazy, but it was the only spare time I had”. Whakamoe muses “He’s the hardest working man in the room”.
The Nudge & Troy Kingi’s track “He Ōrite” is available on all your favourite streaming services, with the accompanying music video available to view above.
Troy Kingi is also hitting the road alongside Delaney Davidson to celebrate the release of ‘Black Sea Golden Ladder’. Tickets to most shows are still available from troykingi.com, but get in quick as they’re tracking towards a sell out!
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