Mid-winter reflection
Trinity Roots’ frontman Warren Maxwell chats about Matariki, a time to learn from the past year, and plan for the one ahead.
What better time than Matariki – the Maori New Year – to take stock? Here we are, just past the middle of winter and starting that slow climb uphill towards the warmth of spring.
The days are getting longer, and here in Nelson, over eager daffodils can already be seen sprouting around town. I wander through the little orchard behind my house, and all over the bare branches, fat buds are getting ready to pop.
I look back downhill at the happy little nest that is our old villa and give thanks that we scraped together a deposit 16 years ago. And I say to myself, thank God I live in the provinces!
‘‘Me, too, man!’’ says Trinity Roots’ singer Warren Maxwell, who just got off a plane from Perth after a short Australian tour.
‘‘We hear all this endless talk about the Auckland housing market, as if that’s the only place anyone could possibly want to live. All these people get milliondollar mortgages, work several jobs, commute heaps, and barely see their kids, just to make it happen, and they’re deep in debt, all their lives.’’
Maxwell’s band-mate of nearly two decades, Rio Hemopo, has also quit the city for a better life in the sticks. I bumped into him recently, and he told me his family had sold their little house in Wellington, bought a bigger one overlooking the lake in Rotorua, and still had change left over.
‘‘Exactly, bro. Rio loves it there, and I love this place, just outside Featherston. It’s just an hour away from Wellington, and me and Ange and our two kids live here on a couple of acres with an orchard, and chooks and some sheep running around on it.’’
And while Aucklanders are struggling to buy their first houses, Maxwell has two of the buggers. ‘‘Property’s so cheap here, we bought a place with more than one house on it and my mum lives in the other one. We got three generations here, so it’s win-win all the way. Mum’s not so lonely, our kids love spending time with her, and with grandma here, we can go out on the turps in Masterton. Actually, nah- forget that. We can go to the theatre, is what I meant to say.’’
Trinity Roots headlines a free Matariki party called Te Korakora (Matarikifestival.org.nz ) in Auckland’s Federal St this Friday, July 15. It’s the culmination of a festival that’s been going on for a month, with music galore, a fashion show, Maori art, and kai.
‘‘Yeah, man, and I can’t wait. Matariki feels more substantial now, rather than token. In the past, the council might put on a little afternoon gig, which felt like someone just ticking a box to get some funding. But it seems like now Maori and Pasifika culture is being given a little more weight.’’
Maxwell senses a ‘‘changing of the guard’’, with a more inclusive and open-minded new generation coming through who are far less likely to be prejudiced against all things Maori.
‘‘Really, when I think about any sort of traditional Maori celebration, I compare it to all old cultures. It might be Celtic or Italian or French, but all these strands make up this place, and their cultural traditions should be recognised and celebrated.’’
In Maori culture, the pre-dawn rising of the Pleiades/Seven Sisters star cluster at Matariki was a time to look back over the past year, to strengthen familial bonds, and prepare for the year ahead.
‘‘Matariki feels like something every culture in Aotearoa can embrace: a new year starting, when you think about what’s really important to you. As well as my Maori side, I’m part pakeha, and I imagine my Scottish ancestors would have done much the same thing as Maori did at Matariki. They would have gathered together in the middle of winter, celebrated the past year, told a few yarns about the most significant things that had happened, and discussed the planting and so on for the year ahead.
‘‘Whatever your ethnic background, the middle of winter is a great time to have those conversations.’’
Maxwell’s own year has been busy, as always. He tours, writes songs, records, looks after the kids, the sheep, the chooks.
He lectures a university music degree course in Wellington, and was part of a recent cultural exchange to China, where Trinity Roots was invited to play at the People’s Liberated Army Arts Academy in Beijing.
‘‘It’s been interesting times. Our last album (2015’s Citizen) has led to a lot more young people coming out to our gigs, which is lucky, because all our 90s fan are now old f***ers like yourself, with kids and mortgages, and they’re too soft to come out these days. By the time it gets to 9pm, they want to have a cup of tea, and their Hush Puppies are starting to look pretty awse.’’
For the Auckland Matariki gig, Maxwell promises Trinity Roots will be ‘‘in full-on wall-ofsound dynamic mode, like something you might see at Glastonbury Festival at 2am’’. It will probably be their last gig until we all feel the warm smile of summer.
‘‘Yeah, man. After this show, we plan to put this Matariki ethos into action. We’ll have a bit of a debrief on the past year, then plan how we move forward from here. I imagine it’ll be the same way we always do: left foot, right foot, but always searching for the best path.’’