My musical journey has led me to a very special place where precious handmade instruments such as flutes, lurs (large wooden trumpets) and drums made from native rākau and goat skin can be combined with subtle live electronics to produce a powerful live performance experience. This genre - known as  live sonic art, is highly effective in presenting sensitive themes such as the complex relationship between humans and nature. This project has been 15 years in the making, flowing directly out from my previous work with taonga pūoro (the voices of Aotearoa). The following paragraphs present my story.

 

In 2009, a chance meeting with Jason Phillips (Te Arawa) of Whakarewarewa Village, Rotorua changed my musical journey forever. Over the next ten years he shared his extensive knowledge of making and playing taonga pūoro with me. This led to further akoranga with other ambassadors of taonga pūoro including: Sam Palmer, Tāmihana Kātene and Brian Flintoff who also impacted heavily on my pathway. In 2018 my kaiako encouraged me to take the next step in making a series of taonga (the Muriwai collection) and I became active in promoting appropriate engagement with taonga pūoro at the University of Auckland under the guidance of Dr Te Oti Rākena. In the same year I also embarked on learning Te Reo Māori.

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In 2020 I moved to Mōhua, Golden Bay with my partner Sheridan and daughter Sequoia. The driftwood at the mouth of the Aorere River captured my imagination and I sought permission from Manawhenua Ki Mōhua (MKM), Tasman District Council (TDC) and the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) to salvage the rākau (fallen totora, kahikatea, kanuka, akeake, etc.) for instrument-building purposes. Retaining what I had learned from Taonga Pūoro, I began to explore ancient musical instrument designs from my own culture and heritage (European, Scandinavian) – those that I felt I had an ancestral right to. This resulted in the Ear to the Earth instrument set. It retains many of the principles and techniques I learned through making and playing taonga pūoro, but does not include traditional Māori instruments. It is my strong view that they, even the ones I have made, are part of a knowledge basket that belongs to Māori. To be clear, although this project is heavily influenced by ngā taonga pūoro, it does not make use of them in any way. It does, however, prepare for the possibility of meaningful collaboration in the future.

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º Gallery exhibition coming soon

º Sales available late 2025