The latest sensation to hit the local music scene, Kula Kei Uluivuya, has added to the smorgasbord of the Fijian music literature with the catchy phrase Eitou dau ania!
Eitou dau ania is the traditional rallying call for the people of Taveuni and was immortalised in the title track of their debut album Tagimoucia.
Kula Kei Uluivuya’s Viliame Cokanauto says the song Tagimoucia pays homage to his island home. It ranks alongside Seci Fly Banuve’s Daddy Mummy Kuch Bolo or rapper Sammy G’s 67Ciwa as some unique phrases coined out of their creative genius.
Viliame who hails from Welagi Village on Taveuni said the phrase Eitou dau ania is a battle cry which was something that his grandfathers and uncles used when they played rugby for their village. It has been around for generations.
“It gives some sense of pride to the people of Taveuni and its known for the Tagimoucia flower and also this battle cry Eitou dau ania,” he said.
Kula Kei Uluivuya started off as vibrant students singing on the grounds of the University of the South Pacific between lectures which turned into a successful music adventure.
The group is creating a stir with some of their songs from their album Tagimoucia.
Led by the 22-year-old Viliame, a third year USP student, Kula Kei Uluivuya also consists of students Luke Rogocake, 21, from Balenaga village in Vaturova and Steven Wormack, 23, from Nabuna Village on Koro Island. The rest of the group is made up of Iliesa Maqanatagane from Nabua Village in Savusavu, Vilikesa Yaca, 30, from Moala Island and Viliame’s older brother Uraia Cokanauto.
Produced by Solomon Islander David Bogese or Young Davey as he is commonly known, Kula Kei Uluivuya’s album is a collection of original songs with crisp and clear vocals wrapped in a nice harmony against the backdrop of Davey’s mastery of island reggae and techno mixes.
The moderate use of the vocal processing or the T Paint effect complements the whole package but wading through this technological marvel you cannot deny the harmony of the vocalists.
Davey’s worth with synthesised music in the title track Tagimoucia produced a techno and funk feel that goes well with the siba (dance) lyrics and of course the famous phrase Eitou dau ania!
A similar style was used in Kula Kei Uluivuya’s work with local producer J1 with a Fijian rendition of Common Kings’ song Wade in your water.
Davey’s work with the rest of the album especially with Isa Asinate and one of Kula Kei Uluivuya’s first original Kawai Kamikamica, the one drop reggae carries the song well and coupled well with Viliame’s lyrical and musical genius.
In fact Kawai Kamikamica goes back to their early days while singing on the grounds of USP.
“Last year we had USP’s Got Talent; we were just sitting some distance away with our guitar and just singing where the auditions for this talent show was being held. We didn’t know about the auditions and that it was being held there and then.
“I didn’t even think about auditioning as we were just singing, but they asked us to audition and so we sang one of the Nautusolo songs and we were then picked to be part of the show. It was just me, Luke and Steven. We started it, the three of us. We reached the semi-final where we sang our original song Kawai Kamikamica. I didn’t expect the reaction we got from the crowd and after that show we formed our own group,” Viliame said.
The adventure actually began with Viliame who used to love singing but didn’t find out that he could write songs too, until much later.
“The first song I wrote was when I was 19-years-old (in 2011) and we sang that song at a dinner with some group of boys and I saw that people liked it very much. Later I was encouraged by Sevanaia Yacalevu — we were brought up together at Nabouwalu in Bua. He had released his album and was showing it to us. I didn’t start writing songs again until last year. The first songs I wrote were about the 21st birthdays of some of my friends and school mates and we started singing from there. It was just me, my uncle and one of my friends.
“When we were going to sing at the birthdays, my mum had named the group after the tallest hill at Nabouwalu called Uluivuya and the traditional bird of the Vuya people, the Kula (the Collared Lory).”
Viliame was on the lookout for more talent to join the newly formed group and one of the first recruits was Iliesa, whose brother Vilikesa immediately joined too upon his return from New Zealand.
He found Vilikesa by chance after moving to rent a house closer to USP, the caretaker Vilikesa was always singing with his phone.
“I always heard him singing outside and he didn’t know that I had plans for him.
“One day I asked him if we could sing a song that I had just finished writing, I sang him the tune, he sang it and that’s how I got him,” Viliame said.
The group was complete and they focused on their next goal which was to record an album but along the way, they found out that raising funds was a little difficult.
“We are all students and it was hard trying to pay for a recording; we had been fundraising through the year, even to the extent where my mum said we shouldn’t continue because it was hard raising the money for the recording.”
Things were not looking up until the Vusonimasei family stepped in to help.
“I had written a song about a young woman in that family called Maria Timaima, they live in Labasa, we used to be neighbours and it (song) was for her 21st birthday.
“They heard that we were looking for money for our recording, so her mum in the States (USA) sent some money.”
It was an emotional moment for Viliame and the rest of the group as they now stand to make good of their dream.
“When they gave the money I just couldn’t stop crying because it was our dream to record our album and also because we had nearly given up until they came with their donation.
“I talked to their mum over the phone and kept on thanking her and then I promised myself that when we do this recording, Fiji will definitely stand and listen because I don’t want them to think that they wasted their money,” Viliame said.
And Tagimoucia was what they came up with, and, enquiries have even come from as faraway as the US, Australia and New Zealand!
Ma Sa Achi!
