"Steppin' Out", Voice, UK
"I was lucky enough to see the Maori band Oceania performing live. Oceania blends Maori culture with modern music and, for the uninitiated, they sound like a cross between Deep Forest and Massive Attack.
With Maori men in nothing but flax skirts and facial tattoos, delivering their haka with customary gusto, the women had much to cheer about. But the beautiful Hinewehi, already a famed Maori poet and singer in New Zealand, was the star attraction, with an enchanting voice.
The song with hit written all over it was Kotahitanga, Maori melodies over house.
Trust me. There wasn't a dry Kiwi eye in the house for the encore as they sang a traditional hymn while Hinewehi cradled her child disabled with cerebral palsy.
Get ready for a Maori invasion of the nicest kind."
Tearaway, NZ
"A smooth blend of traditional Maori waiata and modern beats fuels a musical mix unlike any other… Even if you can't understand the lyrics, a range of feelings emerges through the songs, transcending any language barrier. This is definitely not throwaway pop… If you're wanting something unique and distinctly Kiwi, Oceania is it."
Dominion Post, NZ
"It would be easy to litter the page with clichés in describing how lovely Hinewehi Mohi is, but let's just cut to the chase and say she's one of the nicest people you could come across.
Considering what a full plate she has at the moment, she is gracious and generous with her time.
Not only is it just a few days out from the festival concert in Wellington, Mohi has also been producing and presenting a show for Maori Television on Kapa Haka, and organising the establishment of the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre in Auckland.
The Centre is named after her daughter, Hineraukatauri, and is a project close to her heart.
After a difficult and complicated birth, Hineraukatauri was left with severe cerebral palsy, totally dependant on her caregivers.
To help her through the rough times, the solo mother turned to music, encouraged by Jaz Coleman, who produced her albums Oceania and Oceania II.
In 1999, on a trip to London with her new husband, George Bradfield, she took Hineraukatauri to the internationally renowned Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre and was inspired by the effect it had on her daughter.
It was the catalyst for the couple to set up a similar Centre in New Zealand for children with disabilities to participate with musical therapy….
