The Kingites interviewed (2008)

Following on from the Dam Native interview from 1997, here's some interviews with The Kingites, a group active in the 2000s in AK - their co-leader was Hone Manukau aka H-ONE, formerly of Dam Native. Few sound clips too, check their wicked tune Polynesians Panthers...


Long live the King

By Martyn Pepperell, photo by Chris Hoult. Back2Basics, Apr - Jun 2009

It's fitting that Hone Manukau aka MC H-ONE chose to call his hip hop reggae rock band The Kingites, given his iwi’s connection to the concept of Kingitanga - a figurative yet powerful ideology that was initially birthed to restore kingship and unity to all Maori in the wake of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Also called the Maori King Movement, the idea of Kingitanga continues almost two centuries later as a symbolic monarchy that is today vested in Tainui iwi.

Guided by Tino Rangatira, a philosophy he describes as “self-determination, which [for me] is just [the whole] general get on with life, stay strong, be positive, and all those good things [approach].”

H-ONE had his start in the music game with local hip-hop Pioneers Ruaumoko in the early 90s. Stints with ‘horrified’ hip-hop architects Dam Native and the legendary DLT, with them H-ONE played support for the likes of the Fugees and Public Enemy on their early visits to New Zealand. The singer/rapper/guitarist still cites PE’s Chuck D as a major influence on his lyrical content, style and approach as an MC.

Next, Hone found himself living in various cities overseas, as well as touring Europe with one of Maoridom’s most internationally respected artists, Moana Maniapoto, and her backing group, The Tribe. These experiences led him to understand Aotearoa’s musical point of difference from a global perspective.

“Maori culture is what we’re known for. Like it or not, it's a unique identity to the world,” H-ONE states. “If you go to New York City and say you're Kiwi, Maori, they love you. We don't have war, we don't have guns... I went with Moana, and it was probably ‘just another Maori group’ [in New Zealand]. Over there it's fresh, and they want it to escape from their European doldrums. Dreams of the Pacific Paradise [laughs]! I'm proud of it! Mana, integrity, it's a gift, and we've got special things in this country - and it's home.”

Today H-ONE is one of several co-leaders of The Kingites. He’s seen the act survive multiple line ups since its inception, as well as the odd hiatus. Currently based out of Auckland, today's Kingites are Tony ‘Rahx’ Rako (vocals), MC Ren (vocals), Mike Forbes (bass), Steve Forbes (guitar), Jason Maze (percussion), Junior ‘JR’ Paea (keyboards) and Ben Stockwell (drums). It's a line up that has proven rock solid through regular nationwide tours and festival appearances over the last few years.

Soon after releasing their self-titled debut ep in 2005, The Kingites found themselves in discussions with Dave Allan, the man behind the well-loved local roots reggae compilation series, Conscious Roots.

“[Allan] came to us and said ‘are you guys keen to put a song on Conscious Roots 2?’,” Kingites guitarist Steve Forbes recalls. “Then he paid for us to do a track at York Street [Studios]. So we did a song for Conscious Roots 3, ‘Kingites Sound System’. Then he said to us ‘if we can [continue to] work together, I'll pay for you to do an album’. Out of that... we ended up doing our album through Allan's label, A Moving Production.”

Musically, the first obvious themes that emerge on ‘Kingites Sound System’ are reggae and hip-hop. However, as Forbes explains, a lot more is going on in the mix. “Me and my brother [Mike Forbes], we're real [old school] rockers,” he tells. “We come from metal and rock and all that. Jay, the keyboard player, he comes from jazz and R&B. [We come from] all these different f*****g [musical] schools of thought. We've never actually sat down and said this is what we're going to do. It's always been the case of, f*** that sounds cool, that's a song!”

Lyrically, The Kingites have a political/social bent - unsurprising for a band of Public Enemy aficionados, and especially considering the rich tradition of protest music H-ONE has come out of.

“The overriding theme [in the Kingites’ music] is consciousness... political situations and stuff like that,” he reflects. “It's not exactly love songs, it's the times that we're living in. [Barack] Obama, how conscious is that? You've got a black president! It's a massive turning point in history of the world... so what's hip? Do you know what I'm saying? You can't get more f*****g hip than that bro. That s*** is real, it's happening. This is relevant.”

Crafting the Feathers of Peace

By Andrew Hughes, NZ Musician, December 2008/January 2009 (Vol:14, No:7)

Having come to the attention of the dub/reggae/roots community with the release of a self-titled EP in 2005, and then on the Conscious Roots compilations in recent years, The Kingites are finally releasing their first full length album. Guitarist Stephen Forbes talks to Andrew Hughes about 'Feathers of Peace', where they came from, trying to provoke awareness with their conscious lyrics and defying genre conventions.

 It seems, these days, that when describing the general sound of a band, one must assign their sound to a box, or compare the group to famous historical counterparts. Groups with a diverse sound and range of influences can pose a problem when one endeavours to achieve this basic descriptive task. This is one category The Kingites and their new album 'Feathers Of Peace' fit neatly into.

You can't really label the eight/nine-piece as reggae, rock, hip hop, dub or soul. They derive their sound from each of those genres while creating a musical plethora of experience and good taste.
"We've been loved by that whole reggae scene because of the Conscious Roots compilations that we've been on," Steve explains when we sit down for a chat at K' Rd's Thirsty Dog. "With The Kingites we've never sat down and said, 'This is what we play', we all come from these different backgrounds and if we play something and think it sounds phat then it becomes a track."

Hone 'H1' Manukau created the band in the late 1990s, initially seeing it more as a social activity. As a pick up band, the group featured many musicians coming and going, as Steve elaborates.

"I met Hone in 2001 and just played half a dozen gigs with the band at the time. We bumped into each other about two years later in 2003 at Galatos, and we were watching this band and thinking, 'Why aren't we up there doing this?' So Hone said, 'Well why don't you get the band going again?' So it's really been since 2003 that we've been together."

Since then the band have gone on to release several singles along with an EP in 2005, and toured extensively throughout the country, involving themselves in festivals like Parihaka and Soundsplash among others.

The band members all have stand-out credentials. Vocalist Rahxx has worked with West Auckland-based hip hop label 833 Records. Drummer Daniel Harawira is a member of Unity Pacific while also working with Che Fu and 12 Tribes of Israel. The band's newest member MC Ren (aka The Infinite Rensta) is a solo hip hop artist in his own right.

H1 was also a founding member of Dam Native who played support for acts such as Ice-T, The Fugees and Ben Harper during the '90s. His musical experience and local knowledge is thorough and enlightening. Lyrically Hone handles much of the album's songwriting duties and incorporates strong messages, none resonating more than on Rampant, "… they're dying overseas, from friendly fire and blood money…". He makes references to the Polynesian Panthers, the global food shortage, the influence of the mass media on society and the continued struggle of day-to-day living. His lyrics are thought provoking, piercing and emotive.

David Allen, who runs A Moving Production, (the label to which The Kingites are signed), met the group while compiling tracks for the 'Conscious Roots' series of reggae compilation albums. Allen offered the group the opportunity to record an album at York St. in June 2007, as Steve Forbes remembers.

"The guys at York St, the assistant engineers, Simon Gooding and Ben Mayer were really good to work with. Nic Manders was the engineer, he's really professional, I couldn't top Nic at all, he certainly knows his stuff. He worked on Katchafire's last album, he did Unity Pacific 'Into The Dread' and 3 Houses Down 'Dreadtown'".

"It was all done in a week, and you lose a day setting up equipment… so basically we did it in about four days."

"Most of it was cut live and Hone and the other two vocalists did scratch vocal tracks with SM-58 mics. We cut all the rhythm tracks live, bass, drums, guitars and keys. Then all we went back and overdubbed was the vocals, guitars and keyboards really. I did all my guitar overdubs in 45 minutes; all the leads and everything are all cut live."

'Feathers Of Peace' was mastered at the world-renowned New York studio Masterdisk by Andy Van Dette.

"Dave had done Unity Pacific and 3 Houses Down and their albums had all been mastered at Masterdisk Studios and Dave was looking at the options over here and over there [in New York]. The difference was only a couple of hundred dollars so we got it mastered over there. Masterdisk have done everything from Deep Purple to Brooke Fraser," Steve continues, saying the mastering gave the album a "broader stereo sound" and it is "louder" than many other albums, giving it more definition.

Notify, the group's first single received solid airplay on Kiwi FM and made its way into their weekly Top 10. A video was created with no additional funding that features still photos and footage of the band on tour. Inspired by a video for The Roots, the band sought a cost-effective solution, and found one in mutual friend Gabor Kukucska's computer.

"I showed Gabor the video, so we uploaded 24 to 25 CDs of images onto his hard drive and totally overloaded it and then he set up this montage."

Another area of strength for The Kingites is their live performance, of which we will no doubt see more over this summer. Encompassing experienced musicians playing instruments of historical significance such as a "Gibson Les Paul double-cut running off a Vox AC30 and Marshall JMP50 head", and a Fender Rhodes, fellow musicians can't help but be intrigued. It's hard to deny the diversity the band can offer in a live setting.

"We've got more tack live than we have on the album," says Steve. "Some people come to see us as a reggae band, and we're not. There's all that hip hop on it, there's rock influences, so it's pretty electric. We always goes for a pretty cranking live sound."