Tiki Taane

Tiki Taane
Tiki Taane performing at Soundsplash 2016
Tiki Taane performing at Soundsplash 2016
Background information
Born (1976-12-17) 17 December 1976
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
Genres
Instrument(s)Acoustic guitar looping with FX and samples
Years active1991–present
LabelsDirty Dub
Websitewww.tikidub.com

Tiki Taane (born 17 December 1976) is a New Zealand musician, experimentalist, musical activist, producer, and live engineer. He was a member of leading New Zealand band Salmonella Dub but left after eleven years on 1 January 2007 to pursue a solo career.[3] His debut album, Past, Present, Future, was released on 22 October 2007 in New Zealand and has since gone two times platinum, achieving a number one single, "Always on My Mind", which became the first digital single to reach platinum sales and also held the record by staying in the NZ Top 40 Charts for 55 weeks. Taane is also the exclusive live sound engineer for New Zealand drum and bass act Shapeshifter since their first gig in 1999. Taane has also produced multi platinum albums for bands such as Six60, Shapeshifter, Salmonella Dub and Tiki Taane.

History

In 1996, Taane became the live sound engineer for Christchurch-based dub group Salmonella Dub, who were gaining popularity in New Zealand’s alternative music scene at the time. Prior to this, he had performed in local metal bands such as Cultivation and Braaspadeak, while studying audio engineering in Christchurch.[3]

While touring with Salmonella Dub, Taane wrote the track “For the Love of It” in a hotel room. The band recorded it shortly afterward, and Taane began performing the song during their live shows.[3] Released on the album Killervsion, “For the Love of It” peaked at number twelve on the Official Aotearoa Music Top 40 Singles charts and remained there for fourteen weeks, helping to launch his career as a vocalist.[4] Killervision itself peaked at number seven and spent nineteen weeks on the charts.[5]

As his stage presence grew, Taane began splitting his time between mixing the band's live sets and performing. By the early 2000s, he was regularly appearing onstage and transitioned into a frontman role.[6]

Taane was recognised for his engineering work, winning the Best Live Audio Engineer award at the New Zealand bNet Awards in both 1998 and 1999.[7] Salmonella Dub also received the award for Best Song for “For the Love of It”.[3]

Taane played his final show with Salmonella Dub on New Year’s Eve 2006, concluding an 11-year association with the group.[8] Around this time, the band had just completed a series of shows in Sydney, Australia with Roni Size and Roots Manuva, after which Taane approached bandmate Andrew Penman about taking a break.[9]

He experienced what Stuff described as "fame and fortune as the front man for Salmonella Dub" before stepping away—a decision he later called “the hardest [he's] ever had to make.”

Reflecting on his departure, Taane said, “I felt like it was time to take a break from Salmonella Dub.” He described the period that followed as “very lonely” and “very intense,” but added, “I have so much love and respect for [Salmonella Dub] because if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be where I am now. I wouldn't be here.”[10]

Past, Present, Future

His debut solo record Past, Present, Future was released 22 October 2007 and debuted at #9. The album's first official solo single, "Always on My Mind", was released 28 April 2008. The song has been certified 2× Platinum and made it to #1 in New Zealand, knocking Chris Brown off the top spot after a seven-week reign. The song spent nineteen non-consecutive weeks in the top ten, including two weeks at number one, and a total of 55 weeks in the chart so far which holds the record for being in the charts the longest.[11] "Always on My Mind" has also become the most successful single of all time in New Zealand, landing at number one on the Best of All Time Singles Chart, a chart that has been tracking singles since 1994. The title was previously held by "Bathe in the River" by Hollie Smith.[12]

Past, Present, Future has also been certified Platinum in New Zealand and peaked at number four. The album was certified 2× Platinum after fifty-five weeks, selling over 30,000 copies. It has so far spent over sixty-six weeks in the chart.

Use of music by Pete Bethune

Before taking out his vessel Ady Gil on an anti-whaling "cruise" to the Southern Ocean with an international marine conservation organisation, Pete Bethune noted that he had installed a large set of speakers, and intended to play songs like "Tangaroa" from Tiki Taane to the whalers, describing it as a "growling big sort of a song about the God of the Sea who looks after us."[13]

On 10 April 2011, Taane was arrested on charges of "disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence to start or continue" while performing "Fuck tha Police" by American group N.W.A at a gig in Tauranga.[14] On his web site, Taane posted the message, "Freedom of speech is a human right."[15] Tiki later stated that he "loves police" and was "not angry with them" even though the arrest goes against the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990. Taane said that "the song is about corrupt police who abuse their position of power for their own agendas, and to be arrested for singing it is very ironic."[16]

On 13 April Tiki told Marcus Lush on Radio Live that the lyrics often feature in his performances and his arrest came as a complete surprise, considering there was no trouble or violence within the concert.[17] The arrest created a debate about freedom of speech that became political when Tauranga MP Simon Bridges said "Tiki Taane is a disgrace and I hope he never plays Tauranga again." Senior police stated they supported the arresting officers' actions, and are confident they acted appropriately.[18] But in early September, the charges against Taane were dropped by police, calling the incident a "misunderstanding" after mediation; charges remained against promoter Patricio Alvarez-Riveros from the same incident.[19] Taane later invited the Tauranga Police to perform with him at the 2011 Vodafone NZ Music Awards at Auckland's Vector Arena, where he was nominated for three awards & won, but they declined.[20] Taane was instead given permission by the police to borrow 4 police-issued uniforms to be used in his awards performance in which Taane's friends dressed up to re-enact the controversial arrest.[21]

Music timeline

Year Activity
1997 Features on Salmonella Dub album Calming of the Drunken Monkey
1999 – 2007 Becomes a member of Salmonella Dub
2003 Features on Rhombus's tracks "Clav Dub" and "Onward"
Features on Concord Dawn's track "Don't Tell Me"
2005 Releases Dub Soldier on the Dub Conspiracy compilation
2006 Features on Concord Dawn's track "Never Give Up on Love"
Remixes "Stay" by Blindspott
2007 Releases debut solo album Past, Present, Future
2008 Features on Antiform track "Got To Be You"
Features on Bulletproof track "Dark Times"
2009 Features on State of Mind track "Kinetic"
Releases remix album "Flux"
Remixes "Sing It To Me" by Knights of the Dub Table
2010 Features on Bulletproof track "Soundtrack To Forever"
Releases charity single "Starship Lullaby"
Releases "Summer Time" featuring DUBXL, the first single off the album In The World of Light
2011 Releases "Light Years Away" featuring Crushington

Discography

Albums

Year Title Details Peak chart
positions 		Certifications
NZ
[22]
2007 Past, Present, Future
  • Label: Tikidub Productions
  • Catalogue: TIKI002
  • Released: Oct 2007
 4
  • RMNZ: 2× platinum
2009 Flux
  • Label: Tikidub Productions
  • Catalogue: TIKI006
  • Released: 30 Jul 2009
 11
2011 In the World of Light
  • Label: Tikidub Productions
  • Catalogue: TIKI008
  • Released: 7 Mar 2011
 1
  • RMNZ Gold
2014 With Strings Attached
  • Label: Tikidub Productions
  • Catalogue: TIKI010
  • Released: 31 Jan 2014
 7
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album Certifications
NZ
[22]
2007 "Tangaroa - God of the Sea" — Past, Present, Future
2008 "Always on My Mind" 1
  • RMNZ: 6× Platinum[23]
2010 "Starship Lullaby" 9 Non-album single
"Summer Time" 28 Non-album single
2012 "Over the Rainbow" 12 Non-album single
2013 "Enough Is Enough" (featuring Paw Justice) 21 Non-album single
2018 "Ignite" (with Salmonella Dub) —[A] Non-album single
2019 "Serendipity" —[B] Non-album single
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances

Title Year Other artists Album
"Kei Tōku Ngākau Nei Koe / Always on My Mind"[26] 2019 — Waiata / Anthems

Notes

  1. ^ "Ignite" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 19 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[24]
  2. ^ "Serendipity" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 34 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[25]

References and notes

  1. ^ "About". Tikidub. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Jayson Norris Singer Songwriter: INFO". Jayson Norris. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "Tiki Taane - New Zealand Musicians & Bands". www.muzic.net.nz.
  4. ^ "Salmonella Dub". Official Aotearoa Music Charts. 22 July 2025. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  5. ^ "Salmonella Dub". Official Aotearoa Music Charts. 22 July 2025. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  6. ^ "The Mixtape: Tiki Taane". RNZ. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Tiki Taane". Christchurch City Libraries. 22 July 2025. Archived from the original on 22 April 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  8. ^ Drever, Andrew (8 May 2009). "Soul searching". The Age. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  9. ^ Anderson, Vicki (31 December 2017). "25 years of groovy kiwi summer sounds with Salmonella Dub". Stuff. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  10. ^ Schulz, Chris (31 January 2009). "Dub king goes solo". Stuff. Archived from the original on 22 July 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  11. ^ "charts.nz - Tiki Taane - Always on My Mind". charts.nz.
  12. ^ "charts.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz.
  13. ^ Darby, Andrew (29 June 2009). "Wail for whales: stealth boat to blast Japanese". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  14. ^ "Tiki Taane arrested after chanting 'F*** the police' at gig". 3news.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  15. ^ "In The World of ART..." facebook.com. 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  16. ^ "Tiki Taane: face for freedom of speech?". entertainment.msn.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  17. ^ "Tiki Taane - new poster boy for freedom of speech". RadioLIVE, MediaWorks NZ. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  18. ^ "Anti-police lyrics land Tiki Taane in trouble". tvnz.co.nz. 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  19. ^ "Thank tha police... Tiki charges dropped". nzherald.co.nz. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011. Mr Wright-St Clair said police had approached Mr Taane to seek a mediation which allowed both sides to openly express their views on how the events had unfolded.
  20. ^ "Police turn down spot at awards". nzherald.co.nz. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011. It's understood Taane last week put out an olive branch to the boys in blue. He invited police from Tauranga to join him at the Vodafone NZ Music Awards at Auckland's Vector Arena on Thursday to perform his single Freedom To Sing, a track inspired by his brush with authorities.
  21. ^ "Tiki Taane's new job in the community". 4 November 2011.
  22. ^ a b "TIKI TAANE IN NEW ZEALAND CHARTS". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  23. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Tiki Taane – Always on My Mind". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  24. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  25. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  26. ^ "Waiata / Anthems". iTunes. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
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