The official video for Rob Ruha’s (Cilla Ruha) epic, cinematic track 'Kariri' (feat. Tiki Taane) was released on the 30th of June 2016 in conjunction with East Coast IWI Radio Station, Radio Ngāti Porou in the lead up to Te Wiki o te reo Māori.
“Radio Ngāti Porou supported the video project and have contributed significantly to developing my Māori Music ear as a young falla growing up in Wharekahika (Hicks Bay). Since I made the decision to do music as a full time career, Radio Ngāti Porou and in fact all IWI radio stations have been staunch supporters and promoters of my music” says Rob.
Tiki Taane produced the music for the track that was inspired by vivid stories of the Māori nations fight for sovereignty against colonial forces in the 1850’s.
“What an honor to have such a juggernaut of NZ Music working on my waiata. From the day he heard the waiata for the first time, I knew he got it! The very next day he sent a draft recording of his ideas… and the rest is history.” Sounds of war, darkness, loss, anger, resolution and hope are all masterfully captured in Tiki Taane’s musical soundscape and is the perfect binary for the powerful and provocative lyrics carefully crafted by Rob.
Director Shae Sterling delivers yet another amasing music video, capturing the symbolism of the lyric, the gripping nature of the New Zealand civil war narratives and the stunningly moody skies atop a rugged East Coast mountain range. The video is shot at Te Takapau a Māui on Hikurangi: sacred mountain of the Ngāti Porou people. “Hikurangi is the symbol of autonomy, power and indigenous pride for my people. The land wars essentially were a product of trying to hold on to that, hence the move to shoot part of the video there.”
The music video was also supported by Te Runanganui o Ngāti Porou and funded by NZ On Air.
Kariri – the bullet; retells the history of the East Coast Māori resistance that supported Kingitanga, Kotahitanga, the Pai-marire followers and tribes of Tauranga-Moana in the battle of Pukehinahina (Gate Pa) and Te Ranga; Rangiriri in Waikato and Waerenga-a-Hika in Tūranga.
