Palmerston North band celebrate more than 200,000 listens on Spotify

Palmerston North band Ripple Effect are a fusion of Kiwi reggae that includes hints of rock, R&B and even technical jazz. Band founder Sage Tucker is second from left. Photo / Cat Scabs

It can take just one song for a career to really take off – and Palmerston North band Ripple Effect are seeing that for themselves.

Their single "Sway", which was released last year, has just ticked over more than 200,000 listens on Spotify.

A fusion of Kiwi reggae that includes hints of rock, R&B and even technical jazz, Ripple Effect were formed by Sage Tucker in 2016, when he was studying UCOL's New Zealand Diploma in Creativity (Music).

"I actually started the band for a project," Tucker says. "By the end of the year I was keen to keep it going."

As with all bands there have been a few lineup changes, but of the six musicians involved – Sage Tucker (rhythm guitar and vocals), Christian Perry (lead guitar), Hana Tamatea (vocals, percussion), Jayden Thompson (bass), Phil Brooks (percussion) and Leon Tama (drums) - all but one have studied through UCOL's programme.

"We got a lot of opportunities from it, our lecturers and other graduates connected us with pretty much everyone in the local music scene," Tucker says. "When you're first starting out it's a lot about who you know."

While "Sway" was only released last year, it was written during Tucker's studies. The band credits their big jump in play to Island Time – a reggae, roots and dub playlist that came across the track and decided to add it to their Spotify list.

"They've got around 50,000 followers and we fit their vibe – that's introduced us to so many listeners, it's been amazing."

Their success hasn't been limited to just one song, though.

"Despite Covid, last year was a really big year for us," Tucker says. "There were some gigs we couldn't do so we spent that downtime writing, getting more material and really keeping our skills up."

Ripple Effect have a new single, "Keep the Peace", coming out this week, lots of gigs lined up and are releasing full EP in a month's time.

It's not a bad effort for someone who never thought music would be their career.

"Back in 2014, I was working full time in building and tiling and it came to a point where I had to look at my life and see what parts of it I really enjoyed," Tucker says.

"I realised that singing was what was getting me through the day, so I quit my job and decided to give it a go. It was the best decision I ever made."

Tucker says he still has a lot of contact with his lecturers – Nigel Patterson, who plays for the Black Seeds, often joins the band as their studio keyboardist for recordings.

Tucker has also been back to campus a few times to talk to students about Ripple Effect's writing process.

"For anyone looking at music professionally, the big piece of advice I've got to share is it's all about persistence. It's realising that it's really 50-50 – half the time it's really busy, and then you'll have periods with loads of downtime. For us, we've been doing this for five years now. It's just about not giving up."