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Musician Moana Maniapoto (Ngati Tuwharetoa/Te Arawa) tells us a bit about herself, the Maori FutureMakers project and organising the upcoming Muriwai Waitangi Day Festival.

"I hope to make a difference by pushing the theme every day is Waitangi Day through music, korero and the arts."

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?

9-11am and 9-11pm

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?

Seeing a song idea grow from a one-line idea into a full blown number that ends up onstage in front of thousands.

How does your environment affect your work?

Quiet and being alone is good.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?

Big picture, then details that turn the big picture into a reality.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Surrounding yourself with people who have complementary skills and a positive attitude.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?

Hard one! I really loved a project called Maori FutureMakers because I brought great teams together and the outcome was so positive and inspirational for all of us who were involved. I met some incredible people. Also, setting our own music festival in Muriwai was fantastic in terms of empowering ourselves. So much fun, we’re doing it again on Feb 6.

Who or what has inspired you recently?

I love what I do and who I do it with. I love connecting with an audience whether it be onstage singing directly to them or writing a song that might resonate with someone. I’m inspired by my friends around me, strong women with attitude and vision – as well as my children, particularly my 5-year-old. I’m lucky that my kind of music leads me to meet inspirational people from fascinating parts of the world. I’m stimulated by stories, encounters, songs, films, events and conversations. They absolutely inform my work and my life. And I have a fantastic manager with Sol – he definitely is key to keeping me going.

Tell us a bit about your background.

I come from a long line of singers, way better than me. I’m continually trying to improve my songwriting and singing abilities. I spent time as a self-taught graphic artist, writer, actor and a documentary maker, thanks to my partner Toby. And I have two children – a 23-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter.

Tell us a bit about your recent and upcoming projects.

I’m a full-time musician who dabbles in other stuff because it’s fun or inspirational and sometimes I get paid too. Right now I’m organizing the Muriwai Waitangi Day Festival for the second time, leading a big team of volunteers. My sister Trina and I have played at hundreds of festivals around the world, so thought we’d have a shot at setting up our own. I hope to make a difference by pushing the theme Every Day is Waitangi Day through music, korero, the arts. I also led another team on a two-year project developing a website called MaoriFutureMakers.com – HUGELY inspirational to me. I now know what a mechatronic engineer and neurobiologist does.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?

An investigative journalist or full time documentary maker! But secretly, it would’ve been amazing to be something really useful - like a doctor.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?

My backyard at Muriwai Beach, Auckland. And our marae – Waitetoko.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?

With great earphones and quite loud – because you can always hear something new.

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?

A flag

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?

No ones going to die if you miss a deadline.

What’s great about today?

My 5-year-old daughter's innocent face and intoxicating laugh.

What’s your big idea for 2014?

Write a song for an international collaboration and call it Water People. Ask my co-writer Scotty to compose a rousing haka that can be performed halfway through, then follow that up with marching drums, bring in blistering bagpipes over the top and layer with sweet vocal harmonies singing ‘Calling…’

I did just that in the first week of this month. It works. Oh man, does it work.

www.moananz.com