Reiki Ruawai joins us in the studio ahead of his highly anticipated All I Need release show at The Yard tomorrow night (Friday 26th). He's here to discuss his latest single and share insights into his creative process, successes, and what's on the horizon.
Reiki has been hard at work on new songs for an EP and shared that he's nearing completion, sitting at around ‘80-90% done’. He plans to unveil these tracks as singles in the upcoming months. Currently, his recent release, All I Need, is making waves, climbing to the impressive position of no.9 on the Hot 20 NZ singles chart.
“There's a new style of writing and music that I've done for this song which made me realise some other things about writing music - and not following the same pattern,” explained Reiki. “Knowing that there are different patterns out there to go with and not holding expectations as well.”
While acknowledging old-school formulas for success, Reiki underscores the significance of social media presence and crafting infectious hooks for those platforms. However, he also voices frustration with the industry's fixation on social media metrics, advocating for a more comprehensive approach to music promotion.
“You can push your music out pretty far with the hooks and all that and it definitely gets further out. But that's quite soul sucking.”
Drawing from personal experiences, Reiki attributes much of his strength and insight to his parents, who have served as a guiding force in navigating the intricacies of the music industry.
“It's definitely big, especially with the type of writing and the reggae - that always sneaks in somehow. But they’ve influenced me heaps, whether it be writing, playing or just in general,” says Reiki.
Switching gears to his creative process, Reiki delves into his collaboration with producer Joel Jones. He credits Jones for his knack of enhancing his original ideas with unexpected elements.
“With the producers I've been working with, they've been really good at taking my ideas and bringing them to life. And in the ways that I want it, so it doesn't veer off from what my original ideas were.
For his latest single, Reiki aimed for a different sound from his initial vision, seeking help from his producer, Joel, to achieve it.
“He kind of turned it into this, almost Kanye West-type beat with some Māori influences of like, Pūtātara in it with some conch shells,” says Reiki.
While Reiki hasn’t quite made the transition to full time musician yet, he’s grateful that his day - job at a burger bar is pretty lenient of his musician lifestyle, especially while he tours for his shows. Having planned to embark on an overseas trip this year he has delayed his departure to release his new music which he expects to come out over the next few months.
Looking forward to his show, Reiki says he has a full-piece band accompanying him - made up of some jazz musician friends but reveals that he’s on the hunt for an artist to fill in after his support act pulled out at the last minute.
“Yeah he just pulled out, which I'm kind of gutted about and a little bit stressed about as well,” he laughs.
If you’re a musician eager to open for his show for a half-hour slot or so, be sure to reach out to Reiki on Instagram. Meanwhile, don't forget to check out his new single before his performance kicks off at 7:30 pm at The Yard, this Friday, April 26th.