Jump to content

Draft:Matatia Foa'i

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: The page does not presently meet WP:ANYBIO or WP:MUSICBIO and lacks WP:RS. it has potential so rather than nominate it for deletion I have moved it here into draft space for development. Feel free to ping me if you have any questions. Cabrils (talk) 00:49, 29 May 2025 (UTC)

Matatia Foa'i (born October 29, 1990) is a New Zealand actor, screenwriter, music producer, vocalist, and percussionist of Polynesian and British descent. He is best known as a member of the family band Te Vaka, which is known for its contemporary Pacific music. Matatia gained international recognition for his contributions to the soundtrack of Walt Disney's animated films Moana (2016) and Moana 2 (2024). In addition to his work with Te Vaka, Matatia has pursued a solo career as an actor and screenwriter.[1]

Life and career

[edit]

Matatia is the youngest son of Opetaia Foa'i and Julie Foa'i, born in October 1990 in Auckland, New Zealand[2][3] and is currently based in Sydney, Australia. His father is the composer, musician, singer and founder of Polynesian band Te Vaka, and his mother is the band's manager.[3][4] He started his career with Te Vaka at the age of 6, touring 40 countries by the age of 20.[5][2] He was instrumental in shaping the percussion sound of the band[2] and composed their first log drum track in 2007. This was followed by Te Vaka's all-percussion albums "Te Vaka Beats Vol.1" (2017),"Te Vaka Beats Vol. 2" (2020) and "Te Vaka Beats Vol.3" (2022) for which he wrote and composed all the tracks.[6][7] In 2018, Matatia collaborated with his sister, Olivia Foa'i, producing her single "My Way" as part of a series of joint creative projects.[8][9] The following year, in 2019, he produced her entire album, Candid,[10] which went on to win three awards in the Pacific Music Awards. The album also gained him a nomination for Best Producer.[11][12]

Foa'i has been since described as the "Polynesian percussion Maestro" [13] and contributed to the soundtracks of Moana and Moana 2[2] as writer and producer for the track "Tuputupu"[14], co-producer for "Mana Vavau", "We're Back (Te Vaka Version)"[15] and "Nuku O Kaiga", and also performed alongside Te Vaka for tracks such as "My Wish For You (Innocent Warrior)" and more.[16][17][18][19]

As well as his musical career, he became interested in acting. He completed several acting courses, graduating from Screenwise Screen Acting in 2018.[20] Following this, he appeared in multiple feature films including the 2019 Bilched,[21] Thor: Love and Thunder,[22] and continued to work as an actor and screenwriter in the 2020 short film Stuntbot.[23]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Matatia Foa'i". IMDb. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Te Vaka - Te Vaka". tevaka.com. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b "The Mixtape: Julie Foa'i". RNZ. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Opetaia Biography". Opetaia Foa'i. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Te Vaka - WOMEX". www.womex.com. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  6. ^ Romero, Angel (31 July 2020). "The Fantastic World of Polynesian Log Drums | World Music Central". World Music Central. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  7. ^ ""TE VAKA BEATS" - Percussion album vol. 1". Youtube. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  8. ^ "NewTracks New Artist: Olivia Foa'i". NZ Musician. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  9. ^ ""I am growing up; I'm trying to age gracefully" – Olivia Foai, on her recent Album"Tumau Pea"". TP+. 20 September 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  10. ^ "The Foai Siblings". OLIVIA FOA'I. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Auckland hip hop duo Church & AP big winners at 2020 Pacific Music Awards". RNZ. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Pacific Music Awards: finalists and recipients". AudioCulture. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  13. ^ Romero, Angel (15 September 2020). "Interview with Polynesian Percussion Maestro Matatia Foa'i | World Music Central". World Central Music. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  14. ^ "Tuputupu (The Feast)". Genius. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  15. ^ "We're Back (Te Vaka Version)". Genius. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  16. ^ "Moana 2 soundtrack: Full list of songs in the movie". RadioTimes.com. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  17. ^ "Disney goes 'Beyond' in Oscar-contender song ahead of Moana 2 release". Pacific Media Network. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Matatia Foa'i". Discogs. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
  19. ^ "Moana the star in great show 85 8". Otago Daily Times. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  20. ^ "MATATIA FOAI". Screenwise. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  21. ^ "Bilched". IMDb. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  22. ^ "Thor: Love and Thunder". IMDb. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Stuntbot". IMDb. Retrieved 22 October 2024.


Category:1990 births Category:New Zealand percussionists Category:New Zealand film actors Category:21st-century New Zealand actors Category:Living people

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Matatia_Foa%27i&oldid=1293340561"