Throughout the years, our Samoan community in New Zealand have been regular followers of the band Ardijah, and the relationship has been more of a personal one, like a whanau connection. So when Peter Fatialofa first asked us to play in Samoa (2006), we jumped at the chance to finally experience their Homeland. When we got to Samoa we didn’t realize that Ardijah’s “Moonlighting” had been number one on the Island and the response and treatment of the band was awesome. Our favorite accommodation was the ‘Sinalei Resort’ and after a few more visits to Samoa, Ardijah were feeling quite at home and becoming regulars themselves. When the Tsunami hit ’smack bang’ on the Sinalei side of the Island, it also hit a hole in our hearts and we had to do something for our whanau in Samoa.

In Oct 2009, Ardijah were asked to play at the Tsunami relief concerts held at the ‘Vector Arena’ so naturally that was high on the list. It was a good chance to help raise money for Samoa and it would be the first time Ardijah play the ‘Vector’. The average playing time for some of the artists was about 10 to 20 minutes per group so we thought, yeah ’sweet as’ that’ll do us. But when we saw on the events run-sheet that Ardijah was assigned 5 minutes to play, we thought, well 1st of all, that’s not even enough time to say hello. We took it as an insult to the bands history in the N.Z. music industry so we gave up our 5 minutes and declined from performing. Instead we performed out south at the ‘Telstarclear Events Centre’  alongside local acts and bands like  ’3 Houses Down’ and Artist ‘Fiji’ (from L.A. U.S.A.) which was a lot closer to the community. By the looks on the peoples faces, that gig “went off”. I called Peter Fats to let him know what happened. He said he was waiting for Ardijah to play at the Vector and was disappointed once he realized that the band wasn’t on the bill. Personally we felt that gig was more about the corpirates showing off their artists than about the Tsunami.

Ardijah will be in Rarotonga near the end of November 2009 to play the closing party at this years ‘Vaka Eiva’. When the paddling is done and dusted, all that tension of focusing on strategy needs to be released somehow. Well, that’s when the wild partying starts. What a way to let all those frustrations go. Whether the paddlers will be celebrating their wins or drowning their sorrows and just being happy with participating, the Ardijah players feat. the unique voice of the lovely Betty-Anne will be doing the PolyFonk thang, bringing it home for all involved. This will be one of those, ‘not to be missed’ rages where the atmosphere of the Island will do weird and wonderful things to your insides. So, to all those paddlers and spectators, “May Da Fonk Be wid U”.

Well, just as I thought, This gig went off!! Just as it was described above. What an awesome way to end the competition. People from Tahiti, Hawai’i, Aotearoa and everywhere else, celebrating the PolyFonk music styles with Ardijah.

Ardijah performed at the Manukau Festival of Arts with special guest Whirimako Black, Che Fu & Ruia Aperahama. Fonk & soul fused evening, this is PolyFonk at it’s best. Jammin’ their hit songs see the pro’s at work and “Let da rhythms move your bottay”……………We had a blast with this gig. What I saw was all ages young and old. A real community buzz. We ain’t with the main stream music industry but we’re out there with the people keeping it real, celebrating ‘no hype’ music, just pure ’str8 from the heart’ feel good sounz! See you next gig.

ARDIJAH jammed’ the ‘PolyFonk’ at the Republic bar on the 14Th August in Manukau City…….Well that gig went off. It didn’t take long to be ’sold-out’ so we played to a full house. The start of the night came to a halt after the ‘Manukau Fire Dept’ arrived and tried to evacuate the venue. Apparently the smoke machine for the light show triggered off the in-house fire alarm. They figured out it was a false alarm and let the show fire up. So after a shakey start, Ardijah “brought the house down”. It was pumping so much you could hear it across Manukau City. Well, that’s when the sound control turned up to give the band a warning about the “sub woofers” being too “phat”. Luckily it was the end of the night when they showed up. So.. we came…. we made beautiful music….then added this gig to the long list of ‘gigs to remember’. Thanx for the compliments to all those who were there. Awesome night!

The Band Ardijah had the privilege of opening up for Billy Ocean in Rotorua Aotearoa back in June 2009. Billy got to  hear the Ardijah soundcheck and was quite impressed. (That’s how we scored the photo) It was an awesome night of music. Ardijah played with the acoustic set-up and got the people up dancing from the first song. By the time Billy Ocean got on, the audience was warmed up and ready to go. Billy’s show was packed with classic hits from quite a few era’s spanning from the 60’s to the 1980’s. Back in the 80’s Ardijah would cover some of Billy’s songs when the band was doing it’s apprenticeship learning about music, audiences and the human interaction thing. There was heaps of reminiscing all round the venue that night. Billy Ocean is planning to return and play the big cities with a bit more notice this time.

We’ve been flat out again but this time, on the beach in Tahiti. Betty-Anne is full on into ‘oe vaka’ (waka ama, va’a, Vaka etc) and we spent a week in Tahiti hooking up with our Maohi (Maori) whanau visiting and paddling. It’s their winter there now which is close to our Aotearoa summer. Man it was awesome dodging the deep freeze for 7 days. We even got abit of surfing in as well. We got a bit of a browning too from the nice hot sun. But of course, back to our reality, which is the Aotearoa winter. It was nice while it lasted. The good thing about being back home is, the music. We’ll be working on some new sounds for our 5th album so, looking forward to that. Time frame? maybe the end of 2009 or early 2010 depending on how freely the inspiration flows so, we will keep you posted. Kia Manuia.

This is a big shout-out going to Brian and the crew out there at ‘Music Mania’ music store in Manukau City. For years now they have been supporting Ardijah with the right hook-ups. The service is cool and if the gear ain’t in there, then they get it in quick smart with a good price. When you need the gear, the last thing you want is to wait for ages for something that cost too much. This ain’t no ’kiss butt’ spin, this is just how it is with these guys. Thanx Team.

I wished we could stay there longer to get into the local fishing. Long drive but worth it. Secluded, it was like a private party for the locals and anyone else keen enough to make the journey. An awesome night opened by the Northland Band ‘1814′.

Comfy, cosy and intimate. For Ardijah, the gig was face to face, in your face, close up and personal, just the way we like it. It is about celebrating the music and reminiscing the memories that each song brings on and also, creating new memories with the newer listeners that have just been exposed to the PolyFonk sound that some of us have enjoyed for decades before. Welcome to the celebration of life!!!!!