BACK IN THE HOOD: Hoani Kake has returned to Rotorua to focus on developing his own music and record his first album.
BACK IN THE HOOD: Hoani Kake has returned to Rotorua to focus on developing his own music and record his first album.
It's been his passion and life for as long as he can remember, now Hoani Kake has come home to turn his passion into a business.
Kake, better known as Hazaduz, has performed worldwide and toured with Che Fu as his right-hand man but decided this year that he'd spentenough of his life performing other people's music and it was time to focus on his own.
Now he's received funding to record his first album and next year will team up with Maori Television for a series following his return to Rotorua called Hazaduz Back in the Hood.
The series is expected to be filmed from March and will follow him through the recording process, as well as take a "bit of a holistic" view on his return to Rotorua.
Kake said returning to Rotorua from Australia was the push he needed to focus on his own music as a business. "I've been a full-time musician for the last 15 years. This is something I've always wanted to do, but I wasn't confident in my own music."
Kake said while working as a musician for someone else was a good way to learn the ropes, taking part in the Rotorua X Incubate programme had helped push him out of his comfort zone and think of himself as an entrepreneur. "I think things were on their way anyway, but the programme helps me stay focused and remember this is a business, too. I've been making a conscious decision to do it more like a full-time job rather than a hobby."
Kake said being surrounded by experienced businesspeople and mentors was one of the most beneficial parts of the programme.
He said the programme exposed him to a range of people from different industries whom he might not otherwise have been able to call on for advice.
