Aini ake, ka rere atu a Te Karehana Gardiner-Toi, e rua tekau mā tahi tau te pakeke, ki New York, ki reira timatahia ai ngā mahi mō tana kōpae tuatahi. Hei tā Gardiner-Toi ko āna momo waiata ake, he soul, RnB, he waiata hoki nō ēnei rā.
Mā te reo tioriori nei, e rere atu ai tēnei korokoro tūi ki Brooklyn, New York.
Hei tā Te Karehana, “Mēnā e whākī mai koe ki a au, e rua, e toru tau ki muri, “Ka haere koe ki te Āporo Nui, ki te hopu i tō reo waiata, tō kōpae waiata tuatahi,” kāre au ka paku pono atu ki ōu kōrero. Nō reira, he rawe rawa atu.”
Mai i ngā pūtea tautoko a Creative New Zealand me ngā mahi arataki i raro i ngā parirau o ngā kaiwaiata Māori pēnei i a Tama Waipara, Maisey Rika, Seth Haapu rātou ko Rob Ruha, ka tīmata a Te Karehana i ngā mahi kia tutuki ai tāna kōpae tuatahi, e whitu waiata te roa.
“Aku tuatangata i roto i tēnei mahi nōku te honore nui kia mahi tahi me rātou”, te kī a Gardiner-Toi.
Ka rere atu a Te Karehana ki New York a te Mane, ā, ka mahi ki rō whare hopu reo mō tētāhi wiki. I reira ka tūtataki ai ia ki āna kaiarataki, a Tama Waipara rāua ko Maisey Rika i mua i tā rātou wehenga atu ki Kānata i tēnei marama.
Ko tā Gardiner-Toi, “Ko tōku genre, me kī he Soul. Pūmau rawa au ki tērā genre, te Soul music. Anō hoki te RnB, Old School music me ngā pūoro hōu o ēnei rā hoki.”
He tohu paetahi Contemporary Music tā Gardiner-Toi, ā, i te tau rua mano tekau mā tahi i toa i a ia te wāhanga reo o te whakataetae Kura Tuarua o Aotearoa, arā ko 'Smokefree Pacifica Beats'. Hei tāna, ko te wawata kia whakatere i te kōpae nei hei te mutunga mai o tēnei tau.
“He aha te whāinga matua? He whakapāhō i ōku waiata ki te ao whānui, kia pā atu ki te hunga ahakoa ko wai koe, nō hea koe. Kia pā atu ki ngā tangata katoa”, te kī a Gardiner-Toi.