Marama Rice - aka Moone - releases single Rockstar Mum

Singer-songwriter Moone, aka Marama Rice, is releasing a new song, Rockstar Mum.

Marama Rice is a mum.

Now, at 50, she is about to become a Rockstar Mum.

Later this month Marama - under her performing name Moone - releases her second single.

Rockstar Mum follows the single DLB, which hit the digital music world in 2018.

''DLB was really about helping my friend who needed support - this [Rockstar Mum] is next level,'' says Moone.

''It's empowering women to do the things they really want to do.''

It's a case of art reflecting life.

With her two children now grown and fled the nest, she says her time is now.

''When you are a mum, it's all about everyone else, then all of a sudden the kids are leaving and it's like, 'I have time for me and time to do what I really want to do, but who am I'?''

So, she says, Rockstar Mum is ''a self-discovery-type thing''.

''I love my children, and everything I've done, I've done it because I wanted to. You want your kids to be better than you and you want to set them up, so you pour everything you have into your kids''.

Moone says everything she is doing now is hard work, takes effort and focus and had she been doing it while they were growing, she wouldn't have been able to give them that kind of attention.

She describes the new song as ''super-hooky and super-fun''.

While success in terms of downloads, airplay and chart position is a goal, it isn't the only one.

''For me, it's about the audience, always. If I can get to one person, I've done my job.''

The song is a women's anthem.

''I don't know a woman who wouldn't be into this, it's everything you feel and more.

Marama Rice, aka Moone, in the studio during the recording of Rockstar Mum.

''Of course, I want it to chart. When you create something like this, you want it to do really well, naturally, but my big thing is my audience. If I take them to a place, if I give them an experience, if it makes them feel really, really good, that's where the real cream for me lies.''

She talks about the high she gets from that and the way she likes people to feel good around her.

''That's my whole kaupapa, that's who I am. You're going to die one day - do all the things that make you feel good.''

It's why she is moving in what many might consider a young person's world - and she's loving it.

''It's the thought of leaving something really cool, like a legacy, and people saying 'God, was she 50?' Because people don't expect this. I'm not the norm in the business - I'm the wrong side of 45 never mind 25, and I'm going totally against the grain.''

She says she has had a lot of great feedback for what she is doing, but doesn't mind that she has had one online troll.

''I absolutely loved it because I thought 'I've made it I've had my first troll','' she says with a laugh.
Rockstar Mum is in the can and Moone has enough songs to put out an album later in the year.

She worked with producer Scott Seabright and musicians Jarni Blair (guitar), Ben Malone (bass) and Adam Tobeck (drums), all with a backdrop of Covid restrictions.

''These guys are really seasoned players and Scott and I produced it together at Parachute Studios.

''We'll be going back into the studio in May and we are hoping the album will be finished by the end of June.

''Everything is laid out and demoed but there has been difficulty getting into the studio and all the regulations around that.''

There were times when Moone couldn't travel to Auckland.

''We were doing a lot of stuff through Facebook and Messenger.''

Moone's iwi is Tapuika and her hapu is Ngāti Marukukere and after leaving Australia in 2008 she returned to her tangata whenua in rural Te Puke.

Moone on stage at Tarnished Frocks and Divas.

While she has had 20 years in the music business and owned a recording studio in Sydney up until 2007, Moone has had to learn a lot from scratch.

''It's different putting myself out there because I've usually been the person behind the scenes looking after artists and making sure they are all prepared and ready - this is next level.

''It's really hard for me to talk about myself and it's taken a little bit for me to get used to. I'm more interested in other people, what they are doing, what they're into.''

''In 2007, things were really different. I had a break, I was still writing my songs and doing that sort of thing, but I really had to learn the industry again - because the digital age is different to CDs and hard copy - it's so fast moving, you've got to actually try and keep up.''

Rockstar Mum is released on April 29 and will be available on streaming platforms. Moone can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.

''I've been signed to DRM, a worldwide distributor. They heard it and they got back to me straight away and said 'okay we are keen to do this, to push it through'.''

A tour is planned once the album is released.