Recreation

Tiki Taane photoTiki Taane

Tiki Taane is a Christchurch born musician who has achieved fame as a solo artist and in groups such as Salmonella Dub, Concord Dawn and Shapeshifter.

Early life

Tiki Taane was born in Otautahi on 17 December 1976. He was educated at Shirley Boys High and Linwood High School and studied audio engineering at the Ngā Maata Waka training institute. A self taught musician, he was in several bands before joining Dub/Drum n Bass/Reggae/Roots band Salmonella Dub in 1996, originally as an engineer. He was awarded the Best Live Audio Engineer award by NZ B-Net in 1998 and 1999.

He began penning his own songs, some of which the band recorded. The dub-reggae track For the Love Of It shot onto the New Zealand charts and his singing career was launched.

Sound man and singer

He began working as sound man for Shapeshifter in 1999. He toured with both Shapeshifter and Salmonella Dub. In 2003 he began singing with Drum n Bass legends Concord Dawn.

Tiki left Salmonella Dub at the end of 2006, founded Tikidub productions and released his debut album Past Present Future in late 2007. It went platinum twice and the single Always On my Mind was a number one hit. The album combined traditional Māori instrumentation and underlying hip hop and funk. It became one of the biggest hits in New Zealand recording history.

He talked about leaving Salmonella Dub and his album Past, Present Future in an interview with Pulse in 2008.

Tiki became a regular headline act on the festival circuit in New Zealand, performing to huge crowds with gigs that regularly feature kapa haka and Māori instruments.

Recent work

Tiki continues to work as a sound engineer for Shapeshifter, whilst performing and producing new albums. He releases his work through his own company label Dirty Dub.

His latest album is In the World of Light. It includes the song Starship lullaby, which he has donated to Starship Children’s Hospital. He won Best Male Solo Artist, Best Electronica Album and Best Māori Album at the 2011 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards for the album.

His next project was the soundtrack to the film When a city falls, a documentary which describes the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010/11 and their aftermath.

2012 was a year of touring and festivals, including the New Zealand Arts Festival. He also recorded Over the Rainbow for a TV advert with Mighty River Power to raise money for Starship Hospital. In 2013 Tiki is working on a new live album and Shapeshifter’s new album Delta has just been released.

Style

His style is described on his website as broad, traversing from dubstep, traditional style reggae, old school drum and bass and hip-hop, to more contemporary pop/rock sensibilities. He says his favourite live acts are Shapeshifter and Kora.

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