Seth Haapu says a solo album is in the works. Photo / Supplied
Seth Haapu says a solo album is in the works. Photo / Supplied
It may have taken a while, but the wait was worth it for musician and producer Seth Haapu.
Haapu, who was born and bred in Whanganui, took home the Maioha Award at last week's 2021 APRA Silver Scroll event for Waitī Waitā, a collaboration with Maisey Rika.
The ceremony waspostponed three times because of Covid-19, before eventually taking place online.
The Maioha Award celebrates the art of contemporary Māori songwriting and honours creators who are telling stories in the language of te ao Māori.
Haapu said he had worked with Rika a lot in the past and they had a synergy when it came to writing that was deeply embedded in sharing the same values.
"This award is particularly special because it celebrates the writing of music and the process in which it's selected is by the wider writing and music community.
"It's really nice to know we have their support and that they valued the waiata."
'Waitī Waitā' is about celebrating and protecting Aotearoa's waterways.
"When you grow up next to the Whanganui River and to the beach, you learn to have a respect for the environment and those spaces," Haapu said.
"Drawing from that upbringing, and being a descendant of the local iwi Te Atihaunui a Pāpārangi, is just really intrinsic to who we are down there.
"It made me reflect on the saying, 'Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au - I am the river, and the river is me'. A lot of those fundamental and foundational values that I learned there are still with me today."
Whanganui musician Anthony Tonnon was a finalist for the Silver Scroll award in 2021, but that prize went to Troy Kingi for 'All Your Ships Have Sailed'.
As well as working with some up-and-coming artists this year, Haapu is finishing up a full-length album of his own.
He plans on releasing it in summer.
Seth Haapu at work in his studio "among the trees". Photo / Supplied
Co-producer on the project is Kody Nielson (Silicon, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Mint Chicks, Opossom), who has been on Haapu's wishlist for a while.
"I've always valued his creativity and musicianship. Kody is brilliant and I've been meaning to work with him for around a decade.
"It's good to have different minds come together and have different ideas merge.
"Having different world views and perspectives is always cool too. You can find something unique that you may not have found yourself."
Haapu said the album focused on hauora (wellbeing), which aligned with his other big project - completing a doctorate in clinical psychology.
"My studies have been incredible. I'm learning more about being human. I'm able to see links in music too, and the expression of humanity in music.
"If I think about it from a te ao Māori perspective, the oratory tradition through waiata and karakia has been so embedded in who we are.
"I don't think I'll ever stop. It's continuing a legacy, really."
The new album wouldn't be too dissimilar to his previous work, but with more of an R&B flavour, Haapu said.
It is being made "among the trees" in his Waitakere studio.
Prior to his success at the Silver Scrolls, Haapu received four nominations at the 2020 Waiata Māori Music Awards.
He didn't mind walking away empty handed from that ceremony.
"I had won a couple in years prior, so it was nice to see my mates get them. We've all come through the industry together.
"Maisey, Troy [Kingi, winner of the 2021 Silver Scroll] and I toured together overseas, so when one of us wins we all win."
As for his home town, Haapu said he and his family were in Whanganui for the 50-year celebrations of the Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation held at the War Memorial Hall in July.
"Again, it was lovely to be reconnected with my roots and to the values that everyone holds down there."
Waitī Waitā can be found on Maisey Rika's album Ngā Mata o te Ariki Tāwhirimātea.
