Tiki Taane
Tiki Taane performing at Soundsplash 2016
Tiki Taane performing at Soundsplash 2016
Background information
Born (1976-12-17) 17 December 1976
Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand
Genres
Instrument(s)Acoustic guitar looping with FX and samples
Years active1991–present
LabelsDirty Dub
Websitewww.tikidub.com

Tiki Taane (born 17 December 1976) is a New Zealand musician, experimentalist, musical activist, producer, and live engineer. He was a member of leading New Zealand band Salmonella Dub but left after eleven years on 1 January 2007 to pursue a solo career.[1] His debut album, Past, Present, Future, was released on 22 October 2007 in New Zealand and has since gone two times platinum, achieving a number one single, "Always on My Mind", which became the first digital single to reach platinum sales and also held the record by staying in the NZ Top 40 Charts for 55 weeks. Taane is also the exclusive live sound engineer for New Zealand drum and bass act Shapeshifter since their first gig in 1999. Taane has also produced multi platinum albums for bands such as Six60, Shapeshifter, Salmonella Dub and Tiki Taane.

History

Taane was born on 17 December 1976.[2] In 1996, he was asked to become live soundman to Christchurch band Salmonella Dub, who were near becoming one of New Zealand's most popular acts. Through this role, he began to earn himself a reputation for his ability to bring a powerful live sound to using a variety of equipment at a diverse set of venues.

During this time, he stopped playing regularly with metal bands he had previously been associated with, Cultivation and Braaspadeak. While on tour with Salmonella Dub, Taane had composed a dub-reggae track in his hotel room. Once he shared it with the group, they recorded it straight away. Taane and his whānau and friends set to work making a music video featuring Taane on tour at The Gathering that year. This track, "For the Love of It", shot into the New Zealand charts and became a summertime anthem. He became faced with not only being soundman for the band, but also that he was expected to perform his hit song at Salmonella Dub's live performances.

In both 1998 and 1999, Taane won the Best Live Audio Engineer award at the NZ bNet awards and though in popular demand, it was clear that his success lay with his friends Salmonella Dub. Also winning an award for Best Song for 'For the Love of It', Taane's confidence grew in his song-writing abilities and so he went on to create more hits. By 2000, Taane was beginning to spend the majority of the Dub gigs mixing the first part of the set, then jumping on stage to perform. Salmonella Dub went on to tour extensively, mainly Australia, UK and Europe, cutting their way through festivals and sell out shows while setting up a touring circuit which would be later used by other up and coming New Zealand acts.

Taane played his final gig with Salmonella Dub on New Year's Eve 2006.

Describing his decision to leave Salmonella Dub, Taane said, "I felt like it was time to take a break from Salmonella Dub." He described his time since leaving Salmonella Dub as "very lonely" and "very intense".[3] Describing the band in an interview after the release of his album, Taane said, "I have so much love and respect for (Salmonella Dub) because if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be where I am now. I wouldn't be here."[3]

Past, Present, Future

His debut solo record Past, Present, Future was released 22 October 2007 and debuted at #9. The album's first official solo single, "Always on My Mind", was released 28 April 2008. The song has been certified 2× Platinum and made it to #1 in New Zealand, knocking Chris Brown off the top spot after a seven-week reign. The song spent nineteen non-consecutive weeks in the top ten, including two weeks at number one, and a total of 55 weeks in the chart so far which holds the record for being in the charts the longest.[4] "Always on My Mind" has also become the most successful single of all time in New Zealand, landing at number one on the Best of All Time Singles Chart, a chart that has been tracking singles since 1994. The title was previously held by "Bathe in the River" by Hollie Smith.[5]

Past, Present, Future has also been certified Platinum in New Zealand and peaked at number four. The album was certified 2× Platinum after fifty-five weeks, selling over 30,000 copies. It has so far spent over sixty-six weeks in the chart.

Use of music by Pete Bethune

Before taking out his vessel Ady Gil on an anti-whaling "cruise" to the Southern Ocean with an international marine conservation organisation, Pete Bethune noted that he had installed a large set of speakers, and intended to play songs like "Tangaroa" from Tiki Taane to the whalers, describing it as a "growling big sort of a song about the God of the Sea who looks after us."[6]

On 10 April 2011, Taane was arrested on charges of "disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence to start or continue" while performing "Fuck tha Police" by American group N.W.A at a gig in Tauranga.[7] On his web site, Taane posted the message, "Freedom of speech is a human right."[8] Tiki later stated that he "loves police" and was "not angry with them" even though the arrest goes against the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990. Taane said that "the song is about corrupt Police who abuse their position of power for their own agendas, and to be arrested for singing it is very ironic."[9]

On 13 April Tiki told Marcus Lush on Radio Live that the lyrics often feature in his performances and his arrest came as a complete surprise, considering there was no trouble or violence within the concert.[10] The arrest created a debate about freedom of speech that became political when Tauranga MP Simon Bridges said "Tiki Taane is a disgrace and I hope he never plays Tauranga again." Senior police stated they supported the arresting officers' actions, and are confident they acted appropriately.[11] But in early September, the charges against Taane were dropped by police, calling the incident a "misunderstanding" after mediation; charges remained against promoter Patricio Alvarez-Riveros from the same incident.[12] Taane later invited the Tauranga Police to perform with him at the 2011 Vodafone NZ Music Awards at Auckland's Vector Arena, where he was nominated for three awards & won, but they declined.[13] Taane was instead given permission by the police to borrow 4 police-issued uniforms to be used in his awards performance in which Taane's friends dressed up to re-enact the controversial arrest.[14]

Music timeline

Year Activity
1997 Features on Salmonella Dub album Calming of the Drunken Monkey
1999 – 2007 Becomes a member of Salmonella Dub
2003 Features on Rhombus's tracks "Clav Dub" and "Onward"
Features on Concord Dawn's track "Don't Tell Me"
2005 Releases Dub Soldier on the Dub Conspiracy compilation
2006 Features on Concord Dawn's track "Never Give Up on Love"
Remixes "Stay" by Blindspott
2007 Releases debut solo album Past, Present, Future
2008 Features on Antiform track "Got To Be You"
Features on Bulletproof track "Dark Times"
2009 Features on State of Mind track "Kinetic"
Releases remix album "Flux"
Remixes "Sing It To Me" by Knights of the Dub Table
2010 Features on Bulletproof track "Soundtrack To Forever"
Releases charity single "Starship Lullaby"
Releases "Summer Time" featuring DUBXL, the first single off the album In The World of Light
2011 Releases "Light Years Away" featuring Crushington

Discography

Albums

Year Title Details Peak chart
positions		 Certifications
NZ
[15]
2007 Past, Present, Future
  • Label: Tikidub Productions
  • Catalogue: TIKI002
  • Released: Oct 2007
 4
  • RMNZ: 2× platinum
2009 Flux
  • Label: Tikidub Productions
  • Catalogue: TIKI006
  • Released: 30 Jul 2009
 11
2011 In the World of Light
  • Label: Tikidub Productions
  • Catalogue: TIKI008
  • Released: 7 Mar 2011
 1
  • RMNZ Gold
2014 With Strings Attached
  • Label: Tikidub Productions
  • Catalogue: TIKI010
  • Released: 31 Jan 2014
 7
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album Certifications
NZ
[15]
2007 "Tangaroa - God of the Sea" — Past, Present, Future
2008 "Always on My Mind" 1
  • RMNZ: 6× Platinum[16]
2010 "Starship Lullaby" 9 Non-album single
"Summer Time" 28 Non-album single
2012 "Over the Rainbow" 12 Non-album single
2013 "Enough Is Enough" (featuring Paw Justice) 21 Non-album single
2018 "Ignite" (with Salmonella Dub) —[upper-alpha 1] Non-album single
2019 "Serendipity" —[upper-alpha 2] Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances

Title Year Other artists Album
"Kei Tōku Ngākau Nei Koe / Always on My Mind"[19] 2019 — Waiata / Anthems

Notes

  1. ↑ "Ignite" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 19 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[17]
  2. ↑ "Serendipity" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 34 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[18]

References and notes

  1. ↑ "Tiki Taane - New Zealand Musicians & Bands". www.muzic.net.nz.
  2. ↑ "Tiki Taane Bio" (Press release). Parihaka International Peace Festival. 30 December 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Dub king Tiki Taane goes solo". Stuff.co.nz. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "charts.nz - Tiki Taane - Always on My Mind". charts.nz.
  5. ↑ "charts.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz.
  6. ↑ Darby, Andrew (29 June 2009). "Wail for whales: stealth boat to blast Japanese". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  7. ↑ "Tiki Taane arrested after chanting 'F*** the police' at gig". 3news.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  8. ↑ "In The World of ART..." facebook.com. 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Tiki Taane: face for freedom of speech?". entertainment.msn.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "Tiki Taane - new poster boy for freedom of speech". RadioLIVE, MediaWorks NZ. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  11. ↑ "Anti-police lyrics land Tiki Taane in trouble". tvnz.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  12. ↑ "Thank tha police... Tiki charges dropped". nzherald.co.nz. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011. Mr Wright-St Clair said police had approached Mr Taane to seek a mediation which allowed both sides to openly express their views on how the events had unfolded.
  13. ↑ "Police turn down spot at awards". nzherald.co.nz. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011. It's understood Taane last week put out an olive branch to the boys in blue. He invited police from Tauranga to join him at the Vodafone NZ Music Awards at Auckland's Vector Arena on Thursday to perform his single Freedom To Sing, a track inspired by his brush with authorities.
  14. ↑ "Tiki Taane's new job in the community". 4 November 2011.
  15. 1 2 "TIKI TAANE IN NEW ZEALAND CHARTS". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Tiki Taane – Always on My Mind". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  17. ↑ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  18. ↑ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  19. ↑ "Waiata / Anthems". iTunes. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
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