Interview: Geneva AM Shares Debut Album 'Pikipiki' + Video For 'Tīpuna Rākau'

Winner of the SRN Award for Te Tohu Puoro o te reo Māori (Favourite Song featuring Te Reo Māori) with her 2023 debut single 'IHO', Geneva AM (Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Aitutaki, Palmerston) today completes the journey to her debut album Pikipiki. Embracing a diversity of sounds and styles with a decidedly electronic bent, the bilingual long player features a dazzling array of local special guests. You can grab a copy at good record stores and / or order via the Holiday Records website.

Launched with intergalactic Māori visuals for new lead single 'Tīpuna Rākau' directed by Louis Olsen, Geneva AM generously spared time during a busy week to answer our questions about her solo debut. She's performing at the Urgent Fundraiser For Global Movement To Gaza this Sunday at Tāmaki Makaurau's St Kevins Arcade, this event has sold out but you can donate by purchasing a virtual ticket via the link below...

Urgent Fundraiser For Global Movement To Gaza
Performances by Rana Hamida & the Habibi Orchestra and Geneva AM
Shared dinner from Pici and Gemmayze Street
Sunday 17th August - St Kevins Arcade, Auckland
This event is sold out, but you can still donate by purchasing a virtual ticket HERE via UTR

Chris Cudby: Congratulations on your stunning debut record! You've been releasing solo singles as Geneva AM since 2023's award-winning 'IHO', what initially sparked the idea of a solo project?

Geneva AM: Thank you! I had a moment of reflection over the past five or six years where I wanted to document the highs and the lows as a way of acknowledging personal growth. Overall, I want to acknowledge the past while moving toward the future. Ka mua, ka muri.

Pikipiki embraces a variety of musical styles, with an emphasis on uplifting electronic dance grooves. What is the kaupapa of your new album?

I wanted to produce something uplifting because I am truly affected by the world’s suffering. It’s like what I learned in 5th form NCEA Chemistry: Negatively charged electrons are neutralised by positively charge protons. Pikipiki is about counteracting negative energies / or electrons and producing a frequency similar to a proton, it’s a transmitter to bring people together and inspire us all to never give up hope. Love will always prevail, light shines brighter in the darkness — that kind of sentiment.

It's a solo record, but there's a whole bunch of special guests on Pikipiki yeah?

I had such a great time gathering all of these incredible musicians for this album. It happened over time and each song accompanied by these talented people breathed so much life into the album. First of all I should acknowledge Ben Lawson who is the audio engineer — he mixed and mastered everything. He took every idea I had and rolled with it. Thank you!!

There are three waiata that highlight different genres on the album.

'Pikipiki' is inspired by Gospel and Kapa Haka. I drew inspiration from Patea Māori Club and church music. The title track features a super group of vocalists, Mara TK, Samara Alofa, Hawkins and Rewi McLay from the band Kiko. Tyson Campbell played pūoro in the beginning and Mara played the guitar in the outro.

'Toitū Te Tiriti' is a classical arrangement with Kapa Haka vocals. In high school, I was given the opportunity to be a soloist and that time will always stay with me in my music. The waiata features a string septet helmed by Eric Scholes who made the arrangement based on my electronic one. So have Eric Scholes on Double Bass, Joseph Harrop and Peau Halapua on violin, Ben Harrison and Crystal Lin on viola, alongside Begonia Chan and Martin Roberts on the cello.

Growing up I loved rock music and saw the emergence of subcultures like Emo in the 2010s. 'Pokarekare Ana' features a rock band which came together on the day, TAUTORU which is a constellation in the sky used by our ancestors for star navigation. The dream team: Ruby Walsh on guitar made the arrangement, Lani Purkis on bass and Fiona Campbell on drums. It was such a fun day!

There's layers of meaning in your beautiful new video 'Tīpuna Rākau' — pun intended! Why did you choose to style yourself after Princess Leia?

First of all, I love Star Wars. I grew up on it and I wanted to make a pop culture reference that encapsulates the idea of what being a mana wahine is and also showcasing Māori ethos and actors on the international stage.

Princess Leia was such an inspiration to me growing up. When Carrie Fisher passed away I put my hair up in two little buns, watched Star Wars and cried. As a little girl, I never really enjoyed story lines akin to the plight of the Disney Princess or the "damsel in distress". Princess Leia always carried herself with mana and could shoot a laser gun if needed.

I can see a lot of similarities with the storyline of Star Wars and things that are part of Te Ao Māori. You have a Luke Skywalker who is a rebel against The Empire, we have light saber taiaha and ‘The Force’ — which can be aligned with Māori belief systems. We think about the stars and our connection to each other. All of the time. We also believe that the dead support us in spirit. There is more but I’ll leave it at that.

Star Wars has also included the likes of Temuera Morrison and Keisha Castle-Hughes which was one of the first depictions for me of intergalactic Māori on the international stage. I just wanted to bring that energy to the video, to make it feel like it’s part of the universe y’know?

I love the Pikipiki zine that was available at your recent listening events. Why did you choose to make a zine with all these explainer boxes and did you design it yourself?

Yeah I made it myself! I used to work at Artspace Aotearoa and made ephemera for their exhibitions between 2018 and 2021. I adapted the zine design to be the lyric sheet of the album as well. I also made copies to be handed out at the Auckland Museum when we opened for LEAO and Che Fu.

It’s inspired by an exhibition I saw at the Auckland Museum about a newspaper called Mana, which was instrumental as a source of valuable information for Pasifika and Māori during the renaissance period of the '70s and '80s in Aotearoa. I wanted to reference the legacy of this publication and how it shaped the ripples of political activism that transpired which led to the development of Puna Reo and Kura Kaupapa amongst other things like environmentalism, land settlements and human rights.

I love the treatment of the layout, it feels human and direct. I guess the overall message I wanted to convey was that the words that I sing in this album are newsworthy and connected to the legacy of publications and media outlets that speak the truth like Mana newspaper.

Why did you choose to record 'Pokarekare Ana' in the style of an emo-punk anthem?

'Pokarekare Ana' is over one hundred years old. It was collectively written by soldiers of the First World War and is believed to have ‘emanated from the north’, which means that people spread the song in an oral format, where it travels by teaching it to other people. That in itself shows how powerful this song is, even when it first came into fruition.

Admittedly, I made the cover because I needed to fill out my live set — people kept asking me to play and I only had three songs at the time. When I decided to make this cover I immediately knew the direction would be Emo. The original style sounds quite cheerful but the lyrics are brutal. Unrequited love is very Emo.

It’s about a man who is writing a letter to his love and sending back his wedding ring. The lyrics could be interpreted as a metaphor for a lot of things. During the war era, it was difficult to express the grief of the immense loss and sacrifice everyone went through. This love story speaks to the loss of innocence, death and never being the same again. A lot of people went to war and never came back, the ones who did were broken and the people left behind tried their best to pick up all of the pieces.

There is such a significant ripple of destruction that war has had on our country, and it is still felt today.

Do you have a personal favourite track on Pikipiki?

I don’t have a favourite kid, no. They all have different personalities and that’s why I love them. 'Pikipiki' is the oldest and so they have to take responsibility for everyone else.

What do you think about the idea of Hiko — would you consider Pikipiki to be part of this Hiko musical movement?

Yeah! Shout outs to Lady Shaka the Hiko Goddess. She penned the term and I am so grateful for it. I’m not just Hiko though, I’m kind of a bit of everything?

You're performing as part this Sunday's Urgent Fundraiser For Global Movement To Gaza, this is a dinner and musical fundraiser event? Who / what is it supporting and how can people help?

We are fundraising for a boat to take part in the Global Samud Flotilla, which is a global effort to get as many boats to break through the blockade and end the forced starvation of the people in Gaza. People are dying as we live in comfort and they don’t have to be. This is an opportunity to gather, break bread and make a stand.

What is happening is a genocide and it is not the only one. As a mother I will never stay silent.

The tickets have sold out but you can still donate here: https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/tour/30161/Urgent-Fundraiser-For-Global-Movement-To-Gaza.utr

What's on the horizon for Geneva AM, now your new record is out?

I’m going to Japan next month until November and then after that I’ll be playing at The Others Way! I am also looking at booking some festivals for summer but I can’t say yet. Buy my vinyl record!

'Pikipiki' is out today on major streaming platforms, you can order the vinyl LP edition HERE.