The Tui Ora whānau are abuzz following the news that Whānau Ora Kaiarahi Joel Paki and his band ‘Come On Up’ won Te Tohu Kōpaeroa Autaia (Best Māori Urban Roots Reggae Album) award at the 17th National Waiata Māori Music Awards last Friday (18 October).
It’s a huge achievement for the band of brothers, particularly as it’s the second time they’ve taken home the coveted award. They won it once before in 2021, the year the band formed. Since then, they’ve released three albums, and they’re just getting started.
Joel Paki, Whānau Ora Kaiarahi at Tui Ora with the award for Te Tohu Kōpaeroa Autaia (Best Māori Urban Roots Reggae Album).
All from the same whānau, the members are Joel Paki (lead vocals), Mikey Takao (bass), James Paki (lead guitar), Gerry Waiwiri (drummer), Marcel Martin (lead saxophone), and Mihingarangi Martin (lead vocals).
Their name, Come On Up, is taken from a song written by their late father. His influence is woven through the group, as they all came together to form the band in his honour after he passed.
Joel recounts “We came together to fulfil our Dad’s legacy, and create our own legacy as well.”
“Before we got together, one brother was in another band, and a couple of brothers were over in another, but when Dad passed away, we all came back together and gave it a shot,”
“To start off our journey we re-released one of Dad’s songs, one he wrote in the 80’s, we did a video clip for it and enjoyed it that much that we wanted to carry on.”
Just three years later, the group has already shared many collective successes as they continue to pave the way in the Roots Reggae genre. They are following on from pioneers such as The Herbs, Mana, Southside of Bombay – bands that Joel credits for inspiring him and many others in the music scene.
These groups helped inspire Joel’s music journey, as he remembers his Dad playing their music around the house as he grew up.
He feels fortunate to have been brought up in a whānau where music was always around. His earliest memory of music was when he was around five or six years old, attending church choir with his nana in Ratana, his hometown.
“Back where I’m from, Ratana, as a youngster you either joined the brass band or the choir… I joined the choir, and eventually I did switch over to brass, but my passion was always to sing,” he says.
Music has always been in the blood of the family, with the mass of musical talent between the whānau evident when listening to their songs and hearing the vocals, saxophone, drums, lead guitar, bass and keyboard all come together.
The award for Te Tohu Kōpaeroa Autaia (Best Māori Urban Roots Reggae Album) at the 17th National Waiata Māori Music Awards.
The highlight of being in the band for Joel isn’t just the two awards they’ve won, but the way they are so whānau orientated and come together to work towards success.
“A lot of our management is run by our wives, which means we don’t have to worry about all the finances and emails so we can focus on the music and being creative. Music life is 80% management and 20% music, without our girls and management team, we wouldn’t be where we are,” says Joel.
The juggle is real for Joel and his brothers, trying to find that balance between family, work and music. Working as Whānau Ora Kaiarahi at Tui Ora keeps Joel busy during his weekdays, but he still manages to fit music into his mahi by sharing his musical talents with Tui Ora kaimahi at weekly kapa haka and waiata practices, and at Tui Ora run programmes like Te Ihu Waka.
“A big thing about being in a band is having that balance between family life and work as well. Whānau and work is the priority, not the other way around, we still have bills to pay and things to do as Mums and Dads… Maybe one day though music will be more of a priority, just not now.”
Looking forward, there’s a lot coming up for Come On Up. New singles are about to be released, and their nationwide tour will start in January 2025. It’s kicking off at the Festival of Lights in New Plymouth, then touring around the country for Friday and Saturday night shows.
“We’ll be doing a circuit, back at the bars that supported us and showed us the love in that first year when we were just starting out. It’s good to support those bars now that the industry is a bit tough for them and a lot are closing down.”
If you’d like to show Come On Up some love or if you’re interested in finding out more about where to see them live, give their socials a like and follow. For listening right now, check them out on Spotify or You Tube – they’re certainly a band to keep an eye, and ear on, with a bright future continuing to come on up!