Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Awakening The Warrior Within Thanks To FILIVA'A & OLIVER From SHEPHERD'S REIGN
Transcript
- 0:02So you're gold. Go on, you're going the Guaco. You're flaving the
- 0:11value. My name is given done the singer for the Drain. My name
- 0:37is Oliver and I'm in the I'm in the band then I played guitar in
- 0:41the band Year the Fortunly One. Thanks for joining us a Saturday, all
- 0:49right. I think it's only fair to warn you off the top two mate,
- 0:51Like I've got a few of your song names and the album names written
- 0:54down here for questions and more. Pronunciation is going to be absolutely shit house,
- 0:58So just get smile and I'm talking about okay, worries, she havn't
- 1:06try. We release a new album, Alamei on August and twenty five.
- 1:10Howdaw you feel about it? Excited? Very excited. It's probably one of
- 1:17the biggest steps we've taken of a spend. You know, we've had an
- 1:21album before, but the second one was more of a more of a deeper
- 1:26meaning than the first one. The first one you just wrote songs and then
- 1:30just check them all together and released him. With this one, we actually
- 1:33had a nice thought about every every single song and tried to tie him all
- 1:38into one sort of one topic subject, you know, which is Alam,
- 1:42which is awake in English, which who we're saying, this is just await
- 1:49bend, help us a lo new journey we're about to take, or every
- 1:53single one of us Indivi Julian the bend. Before that, you've got a
- 1:57single fear which has just come out. So tell us a bit about that
- 2:01song. Yeah, nothing more, you can tell us nothing more? Yeah,
- 2:07nothing so nothing more was coming out of this Friday and the songs about
- 2:14nothing newer, the goddess of more, the Goddess of war and so and
- 2:17we sort of wanted to briefly speak about her story, sing about her story,
- 2:24just to represent the females and our families, you know, shout out
- 2:29to all the strong powerful woman and our families and our cultures who in BacT
- 2:35In didn't really get that sort of praise from from the male side. But
- 2:39well now you've got the chance and help a bit to do it in and
- 2:44the and the most agreesive genre in the world. Why not sometimes with a
- 2:53striking video clippers roll man, So can you tell us a bit about that,
- 2:55like what you're going for and where the idea came from. Yeah,
- 3:02yeah, we're quite proud of the video that we've they were they were created
- 3:07for the song and the videos made with our video producer that produced Lemno,
- 3:15and so we've worked them previously and we've made some. Yeah, well we've
- 3:22made some. Proud of the work done with Measure friends. We always try
- 3:29to be to find ways to really show that meaning and like the powerful nature
- 3:37and the culture and our videos, but as we don't have huge video budget,
- 3:42so just trying to find ways of doing it. And so Dave had
- 3:46the school concept, I'm having a blacked out studio and just showing nothing more
- 3:52by showing her and powerful ways, but without doing too much. So it
- 3:57just made her, making her look really powerful gistures and trying to incorporate elements
- 4:03from a story with just in symbolic ways, I guess. So one of
- 4:11her stories is based around these four weapons that she has, and so we
- 4:15incorporated these four weapons into the video. So each weapon gets shown and then
- 4:20she's shown wielding those four different weapons. They all have their own meanings,
- 4:26and yeah, we're trying to portray it, like really give that look of
- 4:31her as a powerful goddess, and we think that we we did a descob
- 4:39of it, and then we did a normal just plain hid from You've also
- 4:50released singles Lamanu and Aiga, So are those three a good sonic representation of
- 4:56what do you expect from the album? Yes? Yes, those three as
- 5:01well as All My Son So All My Soater came out after it was not
- 5:06that one's not going to be in the album, but those well, these
- 5:13four that they were releasing a year album is pretty much made of those types
- 5:18of of songs about our history and just our culture. But then to be
- 5:26honest, these are there's a real nice and mix in there too, and
- 5:28there's a couple of ballads. There's also you know finally we've just released,
- 5:34which had a lyric video, and then that one was a bit more of
- 5:40a poppy type of feel and the song to do with love. So quite
- 5:46quite a few different topics that were talking about in this album, but sort
- 5:50of all looked into the one awakened Alam. Yeah. Would you would have
- 5:56to put the acts down when you were doing the love song, mate,
- 5:58You don't go real in an AXT when you're saying our loved the album a
- 6:10bit dead form it like can you can tell us a bit more what you're
- 6:12going for musically with it? Like what you sort of set out to achieve.
- 6:15It was really a we because we made the songs together. It was
- 6:20really one of us would come up with an idea and then we all come
- 6:25in there try and make it into a bigger idea and then eventually into a
- 6:29full song. And I think every single song was made by you know,
- 6:32different members of the band with different emotions running through their head at the time,
- 6:38going through different stages of their life. So it's really a mixture.
- 6:42There wasn't really one sort of main musical idea we have to show the world.
- 6:47But I guess one of the most powerful things is we just tried to
- 6:53do it as heavy as we can, just to show shipp the drain style
- 6:58like this, there's a particular way that we write that the world will hear
- 7:02something here a riff and they're like, that's shop a dream, That shop
- 7:05a dream. I know that. I know that from the tone to the
- 7:11to the arrangement of our riff and ideas, and we're trying to, you
- 7:15know, nail down on what that is. We still haven't got it,
- 7:18but damn getting close. The album opened through the traditional sum Own song that
- 7:26is tam and peaceful compared to the rest of the album. So what was
- 7:29the thought process behind opening with that, Like most fans like to come out
- 7:31aggressive and grabbed you by the by the curlies, but it's a nice,
- 7:34beautiful way to start. Yeah you can, you've got that one. Maybe
- 7:41the intro how links and will yeah yeah. So so the whole reason behind
- 7:47that is obviously because in the video clip of the song is used in the
- 7:54beginning, I thought it a sure version's traditional song song, so it's more
- 8:01of a introduction, but just a our cultural side, I guess. And
- 8:09then the song is actually one of my favorite songs sung to me by my
- 8:11mom when I was younger, and all of this is a song about people
- 8:16who have ventured off from their families, trying to look for treasures in the
- 8:20world, and you know, all the all the temptations in the world,
- 8:24but it's really a song for them to come back and their family is the
- 8:28only place where you can find happiness, and that's what that song is all
- 8:31about. So we thought then in the beginning, makes a full of length
- 8:35of it rather than the short version we have on einger clip, and then
- 8:39do the exact same thing on the clipp and get into a from the from
- 8:45their piece, right, that makes it even more awesome like it was.
- 8:48It was an awesome way to start anyway, but now I've knowing that story,
- 8:50it's like respect. So that's really cool. Good way to link into
- 8:58shine like our roots we were coming from. So yeah, yeah we do.
- 9:03And also something Yeah, we haven't heard any other middle album that kind
- 9:09of starts off something like that. Oh, there were a couple of examples,
- 9:13but yeah, the volume up and I was just expecting to smashed between
- 9:18the eyes and then yeah, yeah, yeah, it's kind of like a
- 9:24set up. Calm me down on the wrong album. Do I have the
- 9:35right album? The album cover feature of the bride folded Polynesian warrior mid battle
- 9:43cry holding traditional weaponry. It's a graphically awesome image, guys, But how
- 9:48does it try in with the themes on the album? Great question. We
- 9:54haven't there yet. Yeah, it's pretty cool. The interviews now that people
- 9:58have heard the album, it's seen the cover, who've been talking about it
- 10:01mysteriously, really really blew me away. Thank you, Thank you, Chris.
- 10:13I used just briefly, and that image ties with the title on my
- 10:18trend to English is a week and so images about in fact, it's the
- 10:26same chief. It's a limb and you know, because he's like our Shipperd's
- 10:31reign chief, feel his brother, and it's it's him. He's blindfolded,
- 10:37so it's the image is kind of shown portraying him awakening from a dark substance.
- 10:45So it's like him awakening from that, emerging from it, and I
- 10:50guess about to break free from his blindfold. That's how kind of interpret it
- 10:58to me. I don't care if you had a bride fold on, or
- 11:01I'd run the other ways. Yeah, I guess I think all of us
- 11:07got it on point that that's pretty much it. So that's my that's my
- 11:13brother in law, and we've used him as our chief for since Limon and
- 11:18we're just going to keep using him. And he's pretty much mascot. He
- 11:24loves us, he loves killing of us, and he doesn't mind them showing
- 11:26himself on cameras and yeah, and photos, because like your music blends your
- 11:35Polynesian culture and heritage with a metal landscape. Guys, but how hard is
- 11:39it to actually get the balance right when creating music. I suppose you've got
- 11:41to you've got to be loyal and respectful to your culture and adding those metal
- 11:46elements into it, Like, is there is there a line that you can
- 11:48cross or do you have to be careful? M hmm. Well, it's
- 11:56not really tricky because the thing that we've got for then other Sarman artists is
- 12:01a lot of them love to sing about the beautiful side of our culture.
- 12:07So we're coming through the other way. We're coming through telling stories abouts darker
- 12:13moments in our history, and I guess singing about darker things in our history.
- 12:20It's easy to bring over to the middle side because the middle of the
- 12:26best genre to write those like you can write anything that's sort of dark in
- 12:35the past, right about a becoming huge. So it's not bad, it's
- 12:41not bad, it's not kind of sweary and things that's weird with the cultures
- 12:46is our cultures be respectful and and we've been helped hie for whow now you
- 12:52know, scared to see us out there real bad language things like that.
- 12:58Then that's yeah, to murder for us, I guess it'll be the only
- 13:03term we crossed the line sort of thing. Yeah, But we've talked about
- 13:07some pretty intense subjects, you know, death or pretty much yea death is
- 13:13the intense subject that we could think of, and we've sung about it,
- 13:18and we've done it in a way where we can do it respectfully and not
- 13:22cross that line well with the lyrics. Yeah, music's okay. I think
- 13:28the music is okay. Give you there's a bit of hurricane like pollination.
- 13:35People are very culturally proud people, but being a Shepherd's train, like,
- 13:39I'm guessing you would have explored your culture and your history a lot more than
- 13:43if you weren't singing about all time. So like, what's what's being in
- 13:46this band actually taught you about your culture and your history? What's something about
- 13:50it? That's a good questions? Yeah, just thought you because you'd you'd
- 13:54be living it every day instead of just you know, like thinking about it
- 13:56every now and then. But doesn't. Yeah, I guess what we're doing
- 14:11now it's making us I guess me personally, but dig into our culture and
- 14:16our stories more than what we would have if we didn't write songs and more
- 14:22of it. So just doing that because it's everyone's culture as part of you
- 14:26are given by doing nothing, like say some more than whatever. Your culture
- 14:31is your culture, but you don't always look into it unless you kind of
- 14:35do it on unless you live it every day and your lifestyle or if you
- 14:41Yeah, you can easily in the modern world, like if you live in
- 14:43New Zealand Australia, just go about your life without looking into it. But
- 14:48with us, yea working on our music like that. Yeah, just you're
- 14:52looking into our researching our stories more and talking to our elders and family members
- 14:56about it. You just find out find out interesting stuff. And another thing
- 15:05we're talking about, it's like when we started doing music and the salmon language
- 15:09and then people started recognizing us for that, it was kind of from then
- 15:13on we kind of felt a responsibility to portray our culture in our music.
- 15:22Yeah, and like because we're probably the only middle band singing in salmon,
- 15:30like there's a kind of slight pressure to do that properly and not not if
- 15:37it up. That's true. That's true because because me and Olliver we grew
- 15:43up differently, and I grew up from a typical island family, so I'm
- 15:48I'm close with my salmon language. I was brought up talking speaking salmon and
- 15:52understanding salmon, so it's always been there. But I think the cool thing
- 15:58about what Chip Rains done is it I now know, jeez, try I'm
- 16:04all has been like my culture has been there whole time I was born right
- 16:08and growing up. But it's really interesting. Until we started singing something Indian,
- 16:15I spent researching our new stories and new material that we sing about,
- 16:21the backages that I was talking about, and it's just been really cool seeing
- 16:26some new stories pop up and knowing what people used to do back in the
- 16:30day, and you know, just yeah, a little things like that.
- 16:33It's just it's just funny and it's cool. And I'm very proud, Like
- 16:36you said, we're very proud of people, and I'm proud as to be
- 16:38Salmon. And I'll share the world that I'm Salmon, and that's that's the
- 16:44goal for me and Oliver. What someone's in the respect boys respect and Shepard's
- 16:49Rain also announced the new Yelling tours, started in Auckland on September two and
- 16:52traveling through this is where I'm going to get the names wrong, Asaki one,
- 16:56Galley Onega Newey, finishing in New Plymouth on October before they go,
- 17:03how'd I go with them? Brighter good good, pretty good, Tucky and
- 17:14New Plymouth bang on. I think the other one was yeah, yeah,
- 17:21so back to the question, like what kid thank you well right now now?
- 17:30Kind of lead the songs from the album who knows a couple of oldys
- 17:37and I'll just everything you hear from the album, uh, the sung and
- 17:44performed as it is our bands. One of the band's one of the bands
- 17:48that try and keep everything as it is in the recordings as tight as we
- 17:53cancer. Let people hear a songs, they're like yes, and then when
- 17:57it comes to one of their favorite part and they're already going to play,
- 18:00yes, they play. That's at that type of buzz. I know many
- 18:04bands that have songs and they play and it's like totally different from the recording
- 18:08and he's like, oh, they didn't play my favorite port. But yeah,
- 18:12let me try and have make sure that we have everything in there,
- 18:15which is why I have that key ton there as well, trying to keep
- 18:18all of these little elements played live. Yeah, and you were last in
- 18:26Australia with Devil Skin a couple of years ago, so you've got the pants
- 18:29to come back for a headline into mate, like the people want to,
- 18:30the people are calling, Yes, could could do, but we can't can't
- 18:38reveal you. That's that's the plan. All right, well I'm not gonna
- 18:42argue with you a bit more when we announced. Yeah, Chris, thanks
- 18:51very much for your time. I've first been made absolute talk with you.
- 18:53The album Ala May is out August the twenty fifth. Then, like I
- 18:57said before, it's an absolutely cracker from an album. I'm not just talking
- 19:00shit. Here's a really good guy. So congratulations and hopefully we see you
- 19:03out here in the neat Pure show. Thanks all, Thanks a lot,
- 19:07Chris, thanks for your time. Tal On, so I don't get cold
- 19:15going. You're gold in the guacom your favor. The fath the one z
- 19:22we are let one lose some on f f the some one fi warn they
- 20:00walk so they say see my noie as old who so name and they made
- 20:06a hot talk for oh my see water talk yess I talk for my so,
- 20:11sorry said blame the name a no. We gonna a second little mother
- 20:15starm mother farm mother sarm my, oh my summer so here my lord?
- 20:30Oh I ain't my lord, so I sim playing my face step Then when
- 20:53the sims then when the sun one of them on the side, one to
- 21:07you want to little brother, I have to my little y'all ain't a little
- 21:11long top boy. Ain't y'all want to little but I want talking the way
- 21:17ol Famma prett. Slime on the farther, blame on the s my si,
- 21:30it's all here, my lot, to my side. I have a
- 21:47right. Never lie you are it was my mom. So I os al
- 23:10si, I am fright