Meet the Designer Part 3: Sol3 Mio

On early memories of music...

Pene: My earliest memory is of our [Amitai and my] dad on the guitar singing I Am Sailing – he sang it all of the time. It was a song that we all learned how to play first on the guitar.  

Amitai: Our [Pene and my] dad would make us siblings sing together. We would go around to the retirement village—Dad's workplace back then—and we would sing to the residents. 

Moses: Music was always there. There wasn't one pinnacle moment. It was like everyone in our family was always playing music. There was always a guitar out or someone was playing the piano.  

On being supported by family...

Amitai: Our dad is the reason why we were exposed to so much music in the very beginning. He's also the reason why we sang so much when we were kids that we didn't like doing it and we actually wanted to stop. But we look back at that now and we realise that everything that he did for us then set us up for our careers and where we are now. It's the reason why we can deal with criticism. It's the reason why we love discipline. He and Mum and the rest of the family have always been super-supportive of us. It's not the most stable of careers—they've always been worried about that—but they always believed in us so much that they let us pursue it.

On overcoming adversity...

Moses: It is never easy when you're starting something new. We were always on the back foot because we had to prove to people that we had artistic value—and we [had to] believe in ourselves. We came across different barriers along the way and people who didn't believe in us. But these challenges you are faced with are what makes you stronger as an artist.

On a significant person in life...     

Moses: It takes a village to raise a singer and it takes a community really to raise a good person. We’ve been in this industry for a long time and we've seen musicians come and go. I’m grateful for my brothers, my mum and my dad, and my uncle Morris. He's just one of those guys who loves music, and that passion has never died regardless of whether he’s playing the guitar in his house or he's playing in restaurants and bars right through New Zealand. He's been song-writing since he was a kid. He has a normal job, a family and everything. But as soon as you start talking to him about music, there's a passion that comes out of his chest. He ignites—we talk about it, play it—and he'll just start singing.

On being nurtured in youth...

Pene: One of the many people I'm truly grateful for is my high school teacher, Terence Mesko, because he curated a lot of my musicianship. He taught me theory and a lot of my practicality on the piano. He also disciplined me. There were certain things—he checked the way I spoke down to the nitty gritty. As a kid growing up in South Auckland, the local high school at the time wasn't that great. I am so thankful for this man who turned me into a gentleman. He really did. I would turn up to choir with the intense discipline required to sing classical music and choral music. And I feel like a lot of my current musicality is because of Terence Mesko. 

On hope for the future...

Pene: With two years of a slump due to the virus, the appetite for art—live theater, live music or live anything—has grown immensely.  The fact that people were cooped up in the house, watching everything through their screens has [now] really made them want to go out and support [the arts].I'm very hopeful in that sense that the appreciation for the arts has truly grown.

Moses:  As performers we rely on crowds. You take away the crowd, you take away people's livelihood. So what I'm hopeful for is for new opportunities and for more creatives,  performers and [other entertainment industry insiders] to create new platforms for artists to step on. That's what I'm excited for. This whole Covid lockdown has opened people's minds, and it has forced people to create and to want to be more and do more, which is exciting.  

On home being Aotearoa...

Moses: New Zealand's a place that you carry in your heart. It doesn't matter where you are. You meet other people who are doing exactly the same thing—living their dreams, while also carrying that love of their country.  

Pene:  My heart, my parents, my history and my past is in New Zealand. I grew up in New Zealand. At the moment, I'm a singing nomad, without a home and when I think of home, it's something very personal. And I feel like I belong, and my belongings, are in New Zealand. I could live in a lot of places, but the idea, the definition of home for me will always be New Zealand.