"I think a lot of Pasifika people's desire is to be more European, and now that I live [in Berlin] I've learnt so much about Europe… [That's given me] so much appreciation for where I'm from and the depth of my culture and trying to revive what's left, you know. That's very real."
Noah Slee Photo:
Neo-soul singer Noah Slee grew up with his Tongan family in West Auckland but moved to Berlin in 2016.
His new album it takes a village is a collaboration with friends and collaborators in Germany that has a distinctive Pacific influence.
Noah spoke to Tony Stamp about how it came together.
Tongan-Kiwi musician Noah Slee (centre) and his Berlin-based collaborators on the 2022 album 'it takes a village' Photo: Milena Zara
Noah says moving to Berlin, where he's surrounded by buildings, made him realise how important the ocean is to him - and that he'd previously taken it for granted.
On a trip to Samoa in early 2020, just before the pandemic, he had a beautiful experience rediscovering his heritage and found a new love for the ocean, its sounds and "the centring that it brings".
it takes a village features Samoan percussive instruments that Noah brought back to Berlin, including a log drum, and a Tongan choir performance he sourced from YouTube.
"I tried re-creating [a Tongan choir] with my friends but it didnt have that intense auntie voice ...That really perfect imperfection, we couldn't replicate it."
Due to "a kind of a loophole", music studios could still operate in Berlin when everything else shut down in the city, Noah says.
While Berlin was locked down, he hit pause on the record he'd previously been working on and dove into a collaborative project with the Berlin-based musician friends he was hanging out with anyway.
"That's kind of how [the album] started and what 'it takes a village' meant to me, you know … [My friends and I] always work together and we always teach each other."
Noah Slee - music videos
