26 Oct 2009 // An interview by Shade
Thanks to Rio for answering these questions:

What is the best gig you have ever performed at, and why?

Native Noise 2009, huge crowd, huge stage, beautiful stage with a beautiful vibe, people of all different cultures celebrating Waitangi Day together.

What is your favourite NZ venue?

Hard to say really, I'd have to say the all of the Far North venues have been awesome with packed out venues. We really love playing the small beach town venues rather then the big cities. Places like Raglan, Coroglen, Opononi, Tokomaru Bay etc.

What NZ musicians or bands would you like to see more of, and why?

I'd love to see more of New Zealand Music as a whole. Its really hard to compete with American pop artists etc in the music industry in terms of airplay and video play on music stations. So seeing and hearing any New Zealand music no matter what the genre is a step in the right direction and helps pave the way for other emerging New Zealand artists to have their Music exposed to the public.

What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?

As a band I don’t think we've really had an embarrassing tour/gig moment, but on a personal note, we were playing new years with Katchafire in Raglan to a sell out crowd. I decided to wear jandals as it was summer, but just as I stepped on stage the thong in my jandle snapped so I had to play the gig in bare feet. Not a good look for the lead singer hahaha.

How did you come up with the band name Sons of Zion?

Originally the band was made up of all males and the lead guitarist was a mate named Fasa which is where the "Sons" part came from, we were all brought up in Christian family's and attended church from a young age, we wanted something that was both relevant to our Christian roots (Mt Zion in the bible) and also relevant to our style of music (reggae) which is where we got "of Zion". Although we are not in church now we felt it was important to remain true to our roots and give thanks for the way we were raised and the opportunitys we had to develop our music through church.

How do you describe your music?

Infectious Roots Reggae laced with soul, funk and heavily distorted guitar riffs. Something in there for everyone and every musical taste.

What can we expect to see from Sons of Zion over the next year?

We're just gonna get on the road and promote our album hard over the next year with a full on summer of gigs/festivals etc then into our NZ tour February 2010. We're gonna venture off for a few shows in Australia and possibly the islands mid 2010 then probably another NZ tour towards the end of 2010 to re-endorse the album then get ready for the summer circuit. I think by then it will be time for another album.

What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?

I don’t think we're quite in a position to be giving out advice on how to “make it” in the music industry. However if there’s something I've learnt along the way it's that the road to cracking the music scene is tough. Some people will like you and some won't, just stay true to what you do and really believe in your music and the message you want to get across. Nobody will believe in your music if you don’t. I don’t want to sound cliché but you really can do anything you put your mind to. GO HARD. Chur.

Sons of Zion have well and truly earned their place in the upper echelons of New Zealand music. From their humble Kiwi beginnings, to playing shows across the globe and dominating charts, Sons of Zion have amassed an impressive 48.5 million streams on Spotify, more than 15 million views on YouTube and 100,000-plus followers on social media.

For members Rio, Sam, Joel, Matt, Ross, and Caleb, it’s a track record that has established them as one the southern hemisphere’s most-loved and well-respected bands. In autumn 2018 the band made their mark with latest single Drift Away. Drift Away has been the #1 most played song on New Zealand radio for 3 weeks running, achieving the #1 NZTop20 NZ Single and almost 3 million streams and over 130,000 video views.

The track is featured on their brand new album Vantage Point, alongside a slew of their other hits including Now and Is That Enough (Ft. Aaradhna) – both #1 NZ & Urban Airplay Singles. Vantage Point hit #3 on the iTunes Album Chart, as well as entering the Billboard’s Reggae Chart at #9. Sons of Zion made their mark in 2009 with their self-titled debut album, following it up in 2013 with their full-length studio album Universal Love, which included the smash singles Be My Lady, Good Love and Tell Her - the latter two songs achieving #1 Urban and #1 NZ Airplay respectively. The hits continued to flow with Stuck on Stupid, Fill Me Up, I’m Ready and Hungover, winning over new and old fans alike.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Sons Of Zion

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