Whanganui R&B/soul trio release new music video for E Tū Whānau winning song

Jay Rerekura, Charlie Williams and Tyson Tauri form the R&B/soul trio IGYB (I Got Your Back). Photo / Supplied

A Whanganui group who won last year's E Tū Whānau Song Competition have created and released a new music video for their winning song.

Jay Rerekura, Charlie Williams and Tyson Tauri entered the competition to share their messages through waiata and they have come a long way since then.

The Whanganui trio have started their own music page, presenting themselves as R&B/soul group IGYB.

It means 'I Got Your Back' which represents the songs they like to make, songs with meaning that can help others.

Tyson Tauri said the music video took two days to shoot.

"It was difficult because in one of the scenes there's a piano up on a sand dune. We didn't have a four wheel drive or anything so we had to carry it up," Tauri said.

"So it was difficult in the sense of labour, but in terms of shooting the video itself, it was a really easy process."

The video was directed by Rerekura and Caleb Kingi of Lamp Studios, who also shot it, and it was produced by director of Blackout Media Ltd Vicki Makutu.

The song Troubled focuses on men and their troubles, whether they are issues at home or at work and it encourages them to speak up.

Tauri said that is a really important message in Whanganui right now.

"We thought it was time for things like suicide and depression to be talked about," he said.

"Instead of letting it get to that point of no return, we want people talking to those who love them and care for them."

It was also important to the group that they filmed the music video in Whanganui.

"The things we're talking about relate to us directly, or to our peers, so we wanted the video to be filmed in the place where these things are going on," Tauri said.

"Also, we're all Whanganui boys and it gave us an opportunity to showcase the city with some really nice scenery."

IGYB previously made a music video for Troubled to enter the E Tū Whānau Song Competition and they received the fifth highest amount of public votes.

That made them finalists and the song was judged number one by Maaka 'Phat' McGregor, Tawaroa Kawana and Maisey Rika, gaining them a prize of $5000.

The trio entered the competition again in 2019, but did not achieve the same level of success entering their new song When You Go Quiet on the final day of entry.

All three members are fulltime workers who have children, but Tauri said they are working on new songs when they can for two planned albums.

"In September we had a small video launch of Troubled and played our first live gig down at Frank Bar," Tauri said.

"After getting a taste of that we thought it would be nice to have a little band behind us to play more live shows at some point."