Bio

Riqi Harawira (Te Aupouri, Ngapuhi) has shared stages with some of the world’s biggest acts, Guns n Roses and Pearl Jam to name a few. The former lead guitarist and co-songwriter for popular 90’s grunge band Dead Flowers. He has collaborated with numerous Kiwi artists across his career such as Kings, Stellar*, DLT, Che Fu and Dam Native. Riqi Harawira is a Maori fusion artist and a guitar virtuoso who is passionate about telling stories about Aotearoa through his original music.

Riqi is a lover of guitar and passionate about playing it. A multi-instrumentalist, Riqi frequently melds te reo Maori and English with rock and grunge music, dabbling with covers of Jimi Hendrix, Tama Renata, Joe Satriani and performing the NZ national anthem and the Last Post with the healing voice of his guitar he calls Mareikura (named after a Ngati Kahungunu princess).

Immersed in music from a young age, his father, Rangi Hadfield (Rangi Harawira) was an international Maori entertainer who performed in over 65 countries and who taught Riqi the guitar.

Riqi’s other passion is working with Tane in the non-violence department kaupapa at Te Tai Whenua O Heretaunga. Working alongside Tane referred by the courts and Dept of Corrections to elicit their own motivation to change, and supporting that change to reduce repeat offending, enhance whanau welfare and increase responsibility.

In 2016 Riqi Harawira released his first solo album, Sound of the Long White Cloud
spawning the singles Greenstone & Gold, Oxygen, Te Aroha and Goddess, which was gifted to the ‘men against sexual violence’ campaign of that year. This album also featured an indigenised version of Gutter Black, Produced by Kings featuring Dave McCartney the original writer from Hello Sailor.

Riqi’s second album, Mauri brought forward tracks like Wairua Tuturu and Kia ora. His last single Ruapekapeka is a powerful Guitaiaha (Guitar -Taiaha) driven rock anthem with tribal chorus chants that hook you in immediately. A reminder of the famous northern battle between the colonials under Governor-General Grey and the combined forces of Kawiti and Hone Heke.

In June 2022, Riqi released a track about Dame Whina Cooper, titled Whina - Walk of Freedom

Links

• Artist Website
• Facebook Page
• Twitter Page
• Youtube Page
• Instagram Page
• Bandcamp Page
• SoundCloud Page
• Spotify Page
• Apple Music Page