NATURAL ROOTS
Natural Roots began their journey into the world of music as a band in 2004, although individually they have always been making music. Their cultural roots can be traced back to the Islands of Aotearoa, Samoa and Tonga. Jan “Mailevai” van der Beek (lead vocalist) writes all the songs for their band and with the help of Esi Lautaimi (bass), they compose the music for their songs. The name Natural Roots is reflective of the bands desire to play what they feel is the purest music from the roots of the earth; Reggae music. They strive to create music that comes naturally to them and hope that in the process, their music will unite people regardless of race, class and gender! Although they admire many of the Reggae greats such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and many others, the real inspiration behind their music are their families, who continue to encourage and support them and especially their parents, who continue to be role models in their lives. Natural Roots will be performing live on December 07, 2007 at the E-Center in West Valley City, Utah as part of the Island Christmas Bash. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to listen to them live!!! PT: What sets Natural Roots apart from other Pacific Islander Reggae bands? NR: We pride ourselves in the original music we write. We do a few covers but we’re known for our original songs. PT: What is it about the power of music that brought your band members together? NR: Music is life. We all grew up loving music and singing or playing instruments. Most of us have played in other bands and over the last three years we’ve had a few band members come and go but the core of Natural Roots remain strong and the music is as good as ever.
PT: Ultimately, what do you hope to accomplish with the music that you create? NR: We want people to appreciate it for what it is and get the message that’s in our music.
PT: How does your Pacific Islander culture and identity influence the kind of music you create? NR: Being Polynesian we love and accept people of all colors, creeds, races and religions and it manifests in our music.
PT: If you had the chance to collaborate with anyone in the music scene, who would it be? NR: We would like to collaborate with any Polynesian artist and band because we all have so much talent and we need to help one another.
PT: Out of all your songs, which one would you say is the most empowering and why? NR: ORIGINAL, because it promotes what we’re all about, bringing everyone together in peace and unity and not discriminating against anyone. It promotes pride for all people. PT: What is something about you (or your band) that would surprise your fans? NR: We can write a great song in five minutes. No lie.
PT: What does it mean to you (or your band) to live a “life filled with purpose”? NR: It means we’re doing all we can with the potential God gave us to fulfill whatever purpose he has for us mostly serving our fellow man or woman and playing music is a way for us to do this.
PT: What do you feel are the biggest misperceptions about our Pacific Islander people? NR: That we’re not smart. That we all have bad tempers and that we’re all loud.
PT: What do you feel is our contribution as Pacific peoples to the rest of the world? NR: I feel we Polynesian people as a whole contribute to the world through our giving and selfless nature. We know and care about our neighbors and we help people in need. Love and family values is our biggest asset for the world to see.
PT: One of the main purposes of the upcoming concert in Utah is to create a positive awareness of our Pacific Islander communities and to promote education, non-violence/unity/peace, and health awareness hence the theme “live and learn”. Please share with us your views as an artist and a member of our Pacific Islander community on the following three topics in relation to Pacific Islanders.
Educating Our Minds
The easiest way for us to realize our parent’s dreams of why they moved here in the first place is to become educated. With education come better opportunities, better jobs and better money.
Ending violence and Promoting Unity
We need to realize that we are all the same no matter what island we originated from. We need to help one another succeed and look out for one another. There is no room for conflict amongst our people. I believe it is in our nature to be the peacemakers of the world.
Health Awareness
The statistics and facts show that Polynesians don’t live nearly as long as the average human. We need to take better care of ourselves physically and mentally, I say mentally because we can’t let the stress of trying to make it here in the US take away our natural disposition to laugh and be happy.
Natural Roots Myspace Page
http://www.myspace.com/naturalrootsreggae
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Ben Tameifuna