Spreading Te Reo across the world
Alien Weaponry have been making waves around the world’s metal scene, singing in te reo Māori. The trio have just wrapped up a successful North American tour, where they supported Kerry King of Slayer fame and they’re now back on the road in Aotearoa, heading to Tāhuna this month.
The band have forged their own path since their early days in Waipū, a small town in Northland, combining English and te reo vocals in their music. They were founded by brothers Henry Te Reiwhati de Jong and Lewis Raharuhi de Jong – and a more recent addition to the band is Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds, who goes by Tū.
For those who aren’t familiar with Alien Weaponry, Tū suggests you visualise a Haka and put heavy metal music behind it.
“We are a heavy metal band that incorporate te reo Māori into our music and Te Ao Māori on a bigger scale,” Tū says. “Not just the language and not just Haka, but both in lyrical content and in the messages that we’re trying to spread with our music.”
Popular here and abroad, they’ve been able to bring te reo and Te Ao around the world, and it’s been really well received. One thing they’re proud of is proving naysayers wrong – those who describe the language and culture as something that only matters here.
“We go and play shows all over the world and people love it – people are singing in Māori and they’re from America, or they’re from Spain, or they’re from Germany – wherever they’re from, they’re loving it and absorbing it. Then they’re going home and they’re learning more about it in any facet, and that’s awesome for us, that’s why we keep doing it.”
Fans are always encouraged to sing along, and it’s a unique experience for the boys to hear people singing back with different accents. Americans have a slightly harder time pronouncing the te reo parts, while the Spanish have similar pronunciations with their rolling ‘r’, so they sound great. Tū say it doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as you’re trying.
“We were amazed on this latest tour – at the very start we released the newest single of the upcoming album and we’re already seeing people over here singing it in the front row when we’re playing it. Not only is that crazy because the song only just came out, but that’s crazy because we’re in a country where they don’t speak Māori. It’s really awesome to see people just trying and loving it.”
In addition to the US tour, they’ve been busy preparing for the release of their new album, Te Rā, which comes out on 28 March, and have recently released a documentary on the formation of the band. Some singles were released in February and the next one will be ‘Taniwha’, which features Randy Blythe from Lamb of God, on 26 March. The reception so far has been positive. They’ve taken a slightly different direction for the album, trying some new things too, including recording in the States.
“What we realised was that by being in an environment that isn’t home, away from everything that reminds you of home, was that it’s a really great environment to just focus.”
It’s been a wee while since the band have toured locally, about five years, and they’re excited to be back. It’s overall a more relaxed environment and there’s not as much pressure overall. It’ll be their first time playing in Queenstown and they’re very much so looking forward to seeing the sights and seeing the diverse audience here.
“We always say that we do it, not to get affirmation from the external source, but it’s to remind people back home who feel weighed down by all that constant negativity that is being spilled out in either public or Facebook, that New Zealand isn’t the only place in the world – there’s a huge world out there and there are plenty of people out there who love and support our people and our language. Hopefully we inspire people not to be too let down by this small minority of negativity,” Tū says.
Alien Weaponry will perform at AJ Hackett Kawarau Bungy Centre on Sunday, 23 March. You can listen to their latest releases, and grab tickets at alienweaponry.com
