Page 41 - Islands Business October 2022

Arts Arts

could then share on platforms that other DJs worldwide could company, my song ‘Candy’ came around and then ‘Fading’ and
use in their remixes. ‘Coming Home’,” says Kalounisiga. “I got a few awards for
“That brings our work onto a global platform, and also at that EP. I toured quite extensively throughout Australia and
the same time, opens up more opportunities down the road New Zealand. I’ve had quite a colourful journey as an artist.”
for further collaborations.” He acknowledges that it can be difficult to make a living
Kalounisiga says that anyone can access the track—including from music.
producers, DJs and music schools. “Especially when you first start off, it’s hard to get that rec-
“We are also looking at distributing them in music schools ognition,” says Kalounisiga. “But over the years, I’ve managed
here in Australia so that they can learn more about Pacific to hammer away and chisel away, and become one of those
Island music, influences and some of the unique cultural established ones.”
sounds,” says Kalounisiga. The recordings were all done in Kalounisiga says that his most successful project is ongoing,
Fiji. and that is his children.
“I did my tracks, and I got a female vocalist, Siteri Tuimanu “We have four boys,” says Kalounisiga. “My partner’s name
to come and do her parts. I also got another artist called Kuki is Ellana, and she runs Knox Entertainment, so we can say that
Nalawa, from Inside Out, to do his parts. We composed our she is my boss!”
own tracks. Christopher Mallam, aka DJ Krystonite, also con-
tributed, as did Zen Waqavonovono. There was a collection of Tribal sounds
sounds created by the four of us. We then sent it to SLUMBER- “For the past few years, I’ve actually been doing American
JACK who cleaned it up and mixed and mastered it ready for reality TV music,” says Kalounisiga. “I’ve been nurturing that
use. He is the one who has been working on distribution.” side of me for the past five or six years, embracing the rich-
Kalounisiga says that Deeper Sounds, Deeper Connections ness of Fiji’s tribal cultural music. I’ve always been in love
wasn’t a money-earning exercise. with that over the years. Black Rose did amazing with that.
“We were given a grant that paid for studio time and for For the past five or six years, I’ve been able to step away
the services of the singers that we had to bring in to perform from the so-called popular culture music and pursue this side
our compositions,” says Kalounisiga. “But in terms of the mu- of creativity that I’ve always wanted to be in. So, there’s
sic itself that we created, we are totally giving that for free. been some success for me on that side of the fence.
It’s about trying to get out there. You have to give first before “I’ve been doing some music for an American company
you think about getting. We are hoping that this project will called Venacore music. They do all the soundtracks for Ameri-
help us with collaborations down the road. can TV series such as The Apprentice, Amazing Race, Survivor,
“After Fiji’s pilot project, ICDP was going to do this Deeper CSI, Big Brother etc.. You name it and they’re in it. So, I’ve
Sounds, Deeper Connections project with PNG, Solomon been doing work for them for the past five years, adding that
Islands, Tonga, Samoa and the other Pacific Island countries,” tribal flavour into the TV soundtracks. That’s why I was so
says Kalounisiga. “Unfortunately, the funding to ICDP was shut keen to get into Deeper Sounds, Deeper Connections because
down by the Australian government. Hopefully, somewhere I’m loving that tribal theme.”
down the line, they will be able to put that grant out again Kalounisiga recently moved to Australia and is building a
and we can work with our Melanesian, Polynesian and Micro- recording studio there.
nesian brothers and sisters.” “I want to amalgamate Pacific tribal music and Aboriginal
tribal music and see what comes out of that. There is a lot of
Knox’s music journey earthiness in the Aboriginal tribal sounds so I think it would go
“I grew up in a musical family,” says Kalounisiga. “Dad was down really well, fused with our Pacific tribal sounds. Once
a great influence… and later on, I was influenced by other my studio is built, I will be doing more collaborations, espe-
people who played a huge hand in me deciding to take the cially with SLUMBERJACK.”
music further. From there, I went to work in hotels. After Kalounisiga also wants to assist other new artists and musi-
playing for other bands, just being in the background, I finally cians whose talent means they deserve a spot on the main
got enough courage to strike it out and I was lucky enough to stage.
meet people who had faith in me and my abilities and my tal-
ent. They assisted me in getting established and from there, I editor@islandsbusiness.com
kept moving up.”
Kalounisiga has enjoyed success throughout the region. To hear the Deeper Sounds, Deeper Connections samples:
“The first one was ‘Jah Love’, which was my first single, and https://samples.landr.com/labels/deeper-sounds-deeper-
then ‘Sa Rui Dede’. My song ‘Superman’ also went ballistic for connections
a while.”
“When I signed up with an Australian artist management

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