Alongside an incredible live show featuring a groundbreaking an all-indigenous Māori line-up, the iconic Boiler Room and Lady Shaka’s Pulotu Underworld have teamed up to provide free DJ and production workshops aimed to inspire and empower Māori.
Taking place in Rotorua this weekend, we spoke with Lady Shaka about what participants can expect, the importance of these opportunities for our Māori community and her own personal journey with music.
"These workshops are for people of all experience levels," Lady Shaka told George FM. "So from beginner all the way up to advanced, and we just hope that everyone gets to take something away from that."
The workshops are spearheaded by Māori DJs artists Poppa Jax, Mokotron and Lady Shaka herself - the latter having played Boiler Room sets across the world including in Berlin, London, Melbourne and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
The workshops actually coincide with the release of the latest Boiler Room shot in Aotearoa, featuring the aforementioned Poppa Jax and Mokotron.
Beginning with karakia, the workshop covers both practical and thought-provoking lessons including sound selection diversity, the use of Māori instruments in production, creative transitions, personal branding and marketing as an artist, insights into the international music industry and an open discussion around how more opportunities and spaces for Indigenous people to thrive can be created.
Expanding on what she hopes people take away from the workshops, Lady Shaka said: "Whether that is seeing people from our Māori community doing these things and being like, you know, this is something that I can do."
I really hope that our rangatahi Māori - our Māori youth - come along and feel inspired, and those that are already DJs and producers get to upskill and share their talents.
The workshops will conclude with a 90-minute open decks session as a chance for attendees to showcase their talent and test out newfound skills.
As for why it’s important for Māori youth to be afforded these opportunities, Lady Shaka put it simply.
"We don't actually get afforded these opportunities," she said.
"Especially in places like Rotorua, and neighbouring rural areas as well. That was one of the reasons we wanted to take it to Rotorua."
If we've got these skills as Māori people, as an artist, I just think it's so important for us to share those skills and to put them back into our community so there can be more of us in the future.
This isn’t her first crack at something like this - having hosted similar workshops when Boiler Room went to Rarotonga in early 2024. The vision remains the same.
Lady Shaka’s personal journey with producing music dates a long way back, from making remixes at age 13 for her dance crews, making edits and putting them on YouTube (they have since been taken down), and eventually picking up DJing which became a true turning point.
"Basically, back in 2018, it was my leaving party for my first visit in the UK, and I decided I wanted to DJ at my leaving party," she said.
So I downloaded VirtualDJ and I practiced and practiced, and then I performed at my leaving party and realised that it was my calling.
"From there, I just kept practicing, and putting myself out there. I think it's really important for people to network and to ask these promoters, ‘Hey, do you need another DJ?’, ‘Hey, I want to play at your club’, ‘Hey, I want to do this, here's my music".
You really need to back yourself. And that's what I did.
Here’s hoping the series of workshops this weekend is just the beginning of more success stories for our rangatahi. Maybe one day some of the attendees will be on the bill for the next Aotearoa Boiler Room.
