When Vince Harder burst on to the local music scene in 2008 as the voice of the soaring chorus in the massive P Money hit, Everything, most assumed he was the Auckland producer's latest protege.
What many didn't realise was that Harder had been discovered long before that.
Growing up in a musical family in West Auckland, Harder looked up to his uncle, Peti Key, a famous musician in his homeland of Samoa.
"He used to sell these tapes - he even had a recording deal here in New Zealand. It was all Samoan music but I grew up listening to him and just looking at the covers of those tapes," he says.
Harder started singing publically when Excel (The School of Performing Arts) visited his school and boosted his confidence. "I saw Polynesians up on stage and I was like, 'Man, that's what I want to do'. I just wanted to try and go after that."
His big break, however, came in the form of some gentle encouragement from Kiwi singer-songwriter Annie Crummer. "I was doing backing vocals for her and I heard about this audition for The Lion King in Australia through her," he explains.
Harder was whisked across the Tasman to play one of the stage show's leading roles, Simba.
When the musical came to an end, Harder was determined to seal his fortunes away from home and entered the first X Factor Australia. He bowed out in an impressive third place.
But it's Auckland where Harder - now 28 and dad to two kids - calls home. And after years of working for others he is finally stepping out on his own with his debut urban-pop album, The Space Between Us, which features fellow Kiwi artists David Dallas and Young Sid.
"I've been waiting for a long time to release my own album and it's finally come. It's cool because it feels like I'm closing this first chapter of my life. I'm just ready to work hard and make something happen for myself. This is what I want to do," he says.
Vince Harder's debut album, The Space Between Us, is out now.
- VIEW
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