In this series, we present our new composers. We are proud to introduce GiGi Crayford
Please tell us about yourself and what you do.
A songwriter and artist from a young age. Raised in a traditionally jazz whānau I grew up taking music lessons on the piano & guitar, later falling in love with the auto-harp and other folk instruments as tools for songwriting and storytelling.
I have a fascination with vintage and retro instruments as well as a respect for hand made goods. This led me to learn how to carve and make Taonga Pūoro weaving my love of traditional song writing with the healing modality of Pūoro, fusing them into my song writing practise and medicinal uses in daily life.
Passionate about the healing properties of music and sound - I worked as a vocalist on the project 'Music & The Mystical Experience' by Michael Sutherland in his 6 hr project for psychedelic therapy now being used therapeutically all across the world.
Please choose 2-3 of your works/albums and tell us about them.
This song is a part of a 6 hour project for psychedelic therapy 'Music & The Mystical Experience' in which the whole project was improvised by around 20 musicians in Massey Universities largest studio. This song opens with nature sounds, a drone and my vocals, singing to IO, our Māori creator. A collaborative process in which everyone was inspiring and being inspired as the song unfolded. A highly meaningful project to work on for its therapeutic intentions as well as the unique aspect of having all the creative freedom to both song write and perform simultaneously.
This song again has its roots in the healing properties of music, this song/poem was improvised with Taonga Pūoro, guitar and vocals after experiencing a mis-carriage. It explores the grief of the experience but the power of blood as a connecting force all the way back through the threads of our ancestors to Papatūānuku.
What are you working on at the moment?
My debut EP 'KA MUA KA MURI’ is to be released under the name of HINE - The project was co-produced, mixed and mastered by Michael Sutherland of Sutherlandsounds who has produced many Wellington/Kapiti Artists.
There are 5 songs, 3 a mixture of Te Reo Māori and English with 2 songs 100% in Te Reo. All birthed through both my experience of reclaiming my Māoritanga in full immersion at Te Wānanga o Raukawa and my journey as a Taonga Pūoro carver and practitioner.
Each song is a mihi to a different atua wāhine, our Māreikura Māori these include Papatūānuku, Hine te Iwa Iwa, Hine Raukatauri, Hine Moana, Murirangawhenua & Hine Takurua.
The first song titled 'KA MUA KA MURI' for Papatūānuku is set to be released with a special show at MĀORILAND in Ōtaki on the 24th of August. The remainder of the songs being released periodically over the next year.
"KŪMEA MAI RĀ TE REO I TE TOTO O TE WHENUA KI TE TOTO O TE TĀNGATA" - karanga from the title track of the EP.
The resulting sound is a folk/jazz fusion weaving my Taonga Pūoro into sonic storytelling and poetry. HINE's intention is to honour our Māreikura Māori. The EP is a legacy to this time we are all in collectively of re-balancing Te Ao Māori and Te Ao Hurihuri as well as an ode to my whānau, past, present and future.
With all the instrumentation being played by myself and my whānau. I come from a very musical family some dub 'The Crayford Jazz Dynasty' which started by my Grandad Terry Crayford, flowing on into Jonathan Crayford then my Dad, Greg and brother Miles as well as myself.
How can people connect with you?