Seru Serevi - Half a century on stage and still playing

IN the village of Nakorovou in Dreketi, Rewa, veteran musician Seru Serevi is living what many would call a well-earned semi-retirement.

Yet even after nearly five decades in the music industry, the stage still calls and he continues to answer.

Three nights a week, the respected entertainer performs with his four-piece band at the Suva Bowling Club, sharing the spotlight with fellow well-known singer Georgina Ledua.

For Serevi, performing is no longer simply a profession but a lifelong commitment.

“I will still play until I drop dead on a stage,” he says with a laugh, as he reflected on the passion that has shaped his life for more than 50 years.

Early beginnings

Serevi’s musical journey began while he was still a student at DAV Boys College, where he joined a band led by renowned Fijian singer Saimoni Vuatalevu.

Even as a teenager, he performed regularly at Suva’s town hall and community venues.

After leaving school, he continued performing with the band Mary Jane, laying the foundation for a career that would eventually take him across Fiji and the wider Pacific.

Over the years, Serevi has held long-term performance contracts in major hotels and resorts across the country, from Suva’s Grand Pacific Hotel to resorts in Pacific Harbour, Nadi and the Yasawa Islands, as well as in Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and other Pacific destinations.

The soul of vude

Central to Serevi’s legacy is his contribution to vude music, a genre deeply rooted in traditional Fijian three- and four-part harmonies.

He believes the harmony-based style, closely linked to the country’s strong choir tradition, ensures the genre will endure.

“These harmonies suit our lifestyle,” he said

Serevi shared that vude reflects the spirit of solesolevaki, the spirit of collective participation, where people can gather and sing together in sigidrigi sessions.

While he acknowledged the evolution of modern Fijian music, he encourages younger artists to broaden the themes in their songwriting.

Instead of focusing solely on heartbreak songs, he urges them to draw inspiration from everyday life, community stories and social issues which are subjects that defined many of his own award-winning compositions.

A life shaped by music

Serevi’s contributions to music and community work have earned him numerous accolades, including being named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Government in 1993, along with national awards marking Fiji’s independence celebrations and multiple Fiji Music Awards over the years.

Music has taken him around the world, enabled him to build a stable life for his family and brought opportunities he never imagined as a young student performer.

“If I had another life and could choose again, I would still be a musician,” he says.

Even technological changes from analogue tape to digital recording and now artificial intelligence do not concern him.

For Serevi, innovation is simply part of the industry’s evolution, something artists must learn to work with rather than resist.

The story behind the hair

Among the many things that make the veteran performer instantly recognisable is his long hair, which he began growing at the turn of the millennium after a final haircut on December 31, 1999.

He had promised friends he would grow it for 25 years which is a milestone he recently reached.

Now, with the symbolic journey complete, he believes the time has come to finally cut it, closing one chapter while continuing another, still performing, still composing, and still inspiring new generations of Pacific musicians.

Half a century later, Serevi’s ethos and outlook on life resonates with a very simple fact that very much defines him – as long as the audiences continue to listen, the music will play on.