March 23, 2023
Origin Roots bring life to te reo
Rotorua band O.R.A or Origin Roots Aotearoa wants to bring people together through waiata Maori.
Lead singer Eugene Temara says that’s the premise of their new EP, He Reo Ora, which was released last Friday.
The next day they played out the songs on the Aotearoa Stage at the Pasifika Festival.
“By the second or third time we started singing, ko au ko koe. I could see non-Maori singing it back so I personally think we have done a job there with that waiata and ko nga korero ora tai ohanga ki te marae, I am you, you are me, we need to work together, like the saying goes, ka pai ki muri, ka pai ki noa, ka pai nga mea katoa,” Temara says.