MAORI electronic band WAI travelled the world for eight years on their first album.
The band, Mina Ripia and her husband/producer Maaka McGregor, mixes organic Maori sounds with electronic definition.
“For 10 years I have been singing the first album,” Ripia says, “But because the world is so big, yet so small, we could continue travelling with it. That’s strange because most bands record their second album soon after the first.”
Ten years after the pair released their debut album, WAI 100%, they are to launch their long-awaited second album ORA at Te Papa this week.
Ripia says the worldwide popularity of Maori and indigenous music has enabled them to tour and refine their style as far away as the Riddu Riddu International Indigenous People Festival in Norway.
Ripia says her songs are an interpretation of what Maori would have sung before kapa haka emerged and are a form of story telling. The songs don’t return to a chorus, because that would break the flow of the story.
WAI fuses these traditional rhythms and melodies with contemporary beats and technology, and the distinct sound of a single poi.
“It’s unique and what comes out is my style and interpretation of the ancients’ music. There are no taonga puoro, no wind instruments, it’s anchored on drum and bass and the MPC, the little box you use for groove,” she says.
ORA features top Maori artists such as Rio Hemopo and Little Bushman’s Warren Maxwell.
Formerly a mainstay with Moana and the Moahunters, Ripia uses milestones in her life as inspiration for her work.
The first CD was inspired by the passing of her father, and this one by the couple’s son, Uta Te Whanga, who was named after Ripia’s great-great-great-grandfather. His name signifies the spring where the ancients came from.
“It’s a way for the language to survive, and being bi-lingual is good for my son’s fettuccini,” laughs Ripia.
ORA album launch, 7.30-8pm, Te Papa Marae, May 13.