NOT many people are familiar with the name Gluck Whippy in the local music industry.
But once you take away Gluck and add the name Jojo, everything changes because people have been accustomed to hearing his name and his band’s tunes over the past 35 years or so.
Jojo, who is known to many people in the entertainment industry, took time out and relayed his story of determination and love for music to this newspaper.
Hailing from the Whippy family of Kasavu, Savusavu, Whippy said his love for music and desire to form a music band originated during his school days at Labasa College in the 1970s.
“When I was boarding at the college, I was part of a small music group in the hostel. This was just to keep us company because back then there was nothing to do,” he said.
“I came to Lautoka in 1976. I played football for the Lautoka soccer side. After this, I wanted to grow and carry on my interest in music.
“I formed a small band in 1976. We used to play just in nightclubs in the Western Division then. We didn’t have much breakthrough back then in the West.”
But in 1990, Whippy fulfilled his dream of forming a proper band called ” Raikivi Boyz” when he moved to Suva.
“This band had four members and one female lead vocalist. The band broke through the scene and took Fiji by storm,” he said. “From this band, we started to record at Procera Music Shop and we did an album recording at South Pacific Recording (SPR).
“The album’s name was Highlight 2000. This album is still a hit today. When we released it, we had 14 tracks in it .”
Some of the well-known tracks in the album include Sweet Caroline, Highlight and Never Knew Lonely.
Whippy said through this album the band managed to secure a contract at the Sheraton Fiji Resort in 1998.
“We performed reggae, rock, country and vude music and we got a lot of recognition,” he said.
He said after the 2000 coup, the band started to play in functions around Suva.
“That time, because of the coup, there were not many jobs and we really struggled. But luckily, while playing at the Sheraton, I was saving money to buy musical instruments. So it reached a stage when we had a set of instruments of our own,” he said.
According to Whippy, two of his band members passed away, which really affected the band.
“Our drummer, the late Junior Fish, and lead guitarist, the late Eneriko, passed away leaving a huge vacuum in the band. This really affected me and I was in a very tough situation because I couldn’t find replacements for both,” he said.
Whippy then made the choice of training his two sons, Nestor Whippy and Raymond Whippy to join the band.
“I trained Nestor to be a drummer and Raymond to play the keyboard. I played bass and during this time. I decided to change the name of the band to the Lost Tribe in 2010,” he said.
“Since then, we have been playing in private functions all around Fiji. We have been playing at major concerts and festivals in the country.”
But Whippy’s journey has not been smooth sailing.
Last year he suffered a major health scare and was admitted at the Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital in Suva for three months.
“I was fighting for my life and I got paralysed. I was bedridden for three months and was on wheelchair for six months. It has been just two months now that I have started to walk again,” he said.
Whippy said his determination proved valuable in this time because he managed to recover well and started playing in the band again.
“At the moment we have seven band members. My lead vocalist for the past 15 years has been Nanise Tabuakuro. We get together and we practise twice a week now,” he said.
Whippy said a lot had changed in the local music industry compared with the late 1970s.
“To look back at the industry, I say it has dropped after the deaths of the late Tui Ravai, late Waisea Vatuwaqa and late Paul Stevens,” he said.
“It has never recovered after their passing away. We have talented individual musicians in the country, but there is no dedication to lift the standard of music.
“There are a lot of difficulties in the music industry right now. Firstly, there is lack of jobs and the competition with remix music. Nearly all the clubs nowadays play this type of music. The only way to counter this is to play original music and to do a lot of concerts.”
His current band Lost Tribe has managed to release three albums.
Whippy said the future plan for the band was to release an original album next year, which would help them tour the Pacific.
He said individually, each of his band member was not a great musician but their contributions and their mix enabled the band to perform powerful music for the audience.
“The way to go now is to play original music rather than to use cover tunes. Cover tunes are a thing of the past now,” he said.
For those who know Whippy, they believe that he has done a lot for the local music industry.
Whippy will make his appearance on stage again tonight after a long time.
His band will perform tonight at the Procera Music Carnival being held at Valelevu grounds in Nasinu.And he has urged people to come out in numbers to support local music and local musicians.
