Bio

Matthew Faiumu Salapu AKA Anonymouz is a multi-talented accomplished musician, who has been widely involved in the NZ music industry for many years.

He received formal training through private Royal Schools of Music tuition from the age of seven through to a grade 7 in classical Piano and theory in 1998, along the way competing in, and placing well in various classical competitions across Auckland. As well as a top academic student at Auckland Grammar School, he won the ‘composition’ section of its’ prestigious ‘Ministers Plate’ music competition in 1998. The same year, he played bass for school heavy metal band Late Harvest, who went on to win the Auckland regional finals of the Smokefree Rockquest, gaining high praise from judge Shona Laing.

Second placings at the ‘Manukau Youth Centre’ and ‘Mai FM’ talent quests in which he entered as a producer/rapper preceded his appointment in 1999 at the Otara Music & Arts Centre as a piano tutor, a position he held for the next 5 years. During this time he also tutored in music theory, music composition, DJ basics and Hip-Hop music. The Centre also appointed him as Musical Director for their showcase at the Nelson Arts Festival in 2001.

The year 2000 saw him programming and producing for various projects from hip hop group Chapter, to scoring and composing theatre soundtracks and backing tracks for Nathan Homestead Performing Arts.

2001 and subsequent years saw regular performances with different groups at various Auckland events, including the Fresh Fest, Pasifika and Coke SouthSide gigs. During this time, he also played piano for many corporate, official Manukau City Council functions.

He was keyboardist for Otara group Cydel and the Groovehouse from 2002 – 2004, as well as an unaccredited session musician/producer on Ermehn's 2005 Path of Blood album.

Actively involving himself in voluntary and community work, particularly in the Otara community, he has organized and facilitated many South Auckland shows and events, including NZ Music Month celebrations and NZ Music Industry Commission seminars.

He is also a founding member of the Pacific Music Awards Committee, who staged the inaugural ‘Pacific Music Awards’ ceremony at Pasifika 2005.

A strong advocate for the youth, he has taught, and continues to regularly tutor music and hiphop workshops at many Auckland schools, Rehab and Youth Centres.

Music in churches and its spiritual significance has always been very close to his heart and is an integral part of his career. At the age of 14, he was appointed as one of the choirmasters and pianists for the Mangere Samoan Methodist Church in 1995, a position he would serve in through to 2007. He was also one of the choirmasters from 2004 – 2006 for the combined Auckland Samoan Methodist Junior Youth Choir (Lalago Faatasi).

He is widely renowned amongst Samoan religious music circles for breaking strict musical, cultural and religious traditions in these roles, stamping strong hiphop and rnb overtones on everything he worked on. He guided his Mangere Methodist Junior Youth group “A’mene” on to win the ‘Bring it Down: Hip Hop 4 God’ interdenominational church dance competition in 2005, and also placing runner up the following year in their defence of that title.

He was commissioned by the Pasifika festival in 2007 to create the opening and closing acts for the opening night ceremony to mark the 15th anniversary of the festival. This saw him collaborate with singer Julie Taale and his A'mene youth group on a contemporary rendition of the Fijian Classic 'Isa Lei' which was a highlight of the night.

An unexpected highlight with the youth group was when their independently recorded triple disc album 'In Your Name We Pray', which he produced and wrote for, was nominated as one of the three finalists for the Tui award for best Pacific album at the 2007 Pacific Music Awards.

The Awards show the following year saw him pick up the Phillip Fuemana award for 2008 Most Promising Artist.

Since forming his own music production company ‘Anonymouz Workz Ltd’ in 2005 with his partner Noma Sio, he has produced for various clients, such as the debut album for RnB group For Da Grind 4DG (consisting of ex }Element-X and Te Vaka members), as well as established Hip-Hop artist Ermehn whole next album (which features the likes of Chong Nee, PNC, Dei Hamo, Temple Jones, Mr Sicc, Young Sid and Gangsta Ridd of Boo-Yaa Tribe). He also collaborated with DJ CXL on the track Crazy Love for J Williams' debut album.

2008 saw many performances across Auckland, including Waitangi day celebrations in Manukau, the Urban Streetwear section for Style Pasifika at the Vector Arena and the Pacific Arts Awards at Manukau's TelstraClear.

These were followed by performances in 2009 at the TelstraClear Arena for the Pick it Up Youth Concerts 1 & 2, as well as Mt Smart Stadium halftime entertainment for the Samoa - NZ league Samoa’s Tsunami fundraiser to name a few.

He is the Hip-Hop facilitator for the successful 'Remix the Orchestra' projects of both 2008 and 2009, a collaboration between the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the Otara Music & Arts Centre, in which he facilitates professional classical players from the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra collaborating with local youth making hip hop beats to create exciting new music.

He has twice been a guest creative speaker at ‘Pecha Kucha’’ creative nights in Auckland, one resulting in an invitation from Tautai Pacific Contemporary Arts Trust to be a creative tutor at their Palmerston North Fresh Horizons course this year.