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The lead singer with electronic band SoccerPractise says she wrote songs in te reo Maori as a way to hang on to the language.
The band has signed with UK-based Kartel Music Group, the home of Fatboy Slim, Peaches and Morcheeba, giving it access to a global audience.
Geneva Alexander-Marsters, who has Kahungunu, Cook Islands and French whakapapa, says bridging cultures has always been part of her life.
She says being raised a kōhanga and kura kid, she found life after school was hard as a second language speaker.
"I wasn’t able to speak to many people in the city so this was my only way out so I was doing it out of desperation and frustration and the immediate response we got from using te reo in such an interesting and different way did bring us a lot of attention but because it’s phonetic, it hits the beat really well," she says.
SoccerPractise has just released a new single Kaua E Mate Wheke !, based on the whakatauki 'Do not die like an Octopus, die like a Hammerhead shark'
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