Tiki Taane
About
Possibly one of the country’s most well-known and diverse artists & producers, Tiki Taane is considered a pioneer in the NZ music scene, first rising to prominence as frontman of leading band Salmonella Dub in 1996 before embarking on his solo career in 2007.
Tiki’s self produced debut solo release ‘Past Present Future’ achieved double platinum sales and picked up a swag of NZ Music awards. His beautiful acoustic love ballad ‘Always On My Mind’ rose to #1 and broke two all-time NZ records – it sat in the charts for a record 55 weeks and was also the first-ever digital single to achieve platinum sales.
In July 09, Tiki released his remix album ‘FLUX’ and in March 2011 his album ‘In the World Of Light’ which rose immediately to #1 in the charts. In 2013 Tiki released his live album ‘With Strings Attached’, which was recorded in a Wellington Church with his band The Dub Soldiers, an 18-piece string orchestra and kapahaka Te Pou O Mangatawhiri. This album, also charting in the Top 20, was filmed and broadcasted to the country by TV ONE, beautifully showcasing Tiki’s immense diversity and appeal.
Renowned as much for his powerful, headlining live performances as he is for the anthems he writes and produces, Tiki’s extraordinary ability to rock the mic as both a gifted performance MC and/or a solo acoustic performer is something to be experienced firsthand. Although affectionately known as ‘King of the Dubs’ in NZ, Tiki’s musical influences and appeal are broad, traversing from dubstep, reggae, drum n bass and hip-hop, to more contemporary pop/rock sensibilities. No matter the set he performs, or which country he performs in, we are always reminded of the sheer power of Tiki’s ability to unify, warm and wow an audience as he seamlessly delivers a unique performance experience.
Fostering a strong artist community and collaborative mindset has always been part of Tiki’s ethos. Over the years he has teamed up with many international artists such as Joss Stone, Michael Franti, DUBFX, Andrew Tosh, Adrian Sherwood, and has worked with nearly every bass heavy act in NZ.
Tiki has produced multi platinum albums & singles for top NZ artists such as Salmonella Dub, The Adults (Shihad), Six60 & long time friends Shapeshifter, for whom he’s been their exclusive live sound engineer since 1999.
Currently, with many studio projects under construction, Tiki is working on his 5th solo album due for release in 2017. His production skills & live shows are in hot demand globally making him one of the busiest musicians in NZ. Something that Tiki has worked very hard to achieve, solidifying his role as NZs “KING OF THE DUBS”.