Strong Foundation

"We really like playing in Australia,” Ruawai begins, reflecting on his band's history. “I really find people are a little bit reserved here [in New Zealand], they're not as reserved in Australia. We've toured Australia 28 times now, over our career, and there was a time when we were playing more in Australia than we were in New Zealand. And I guess it's a numbers thing as well. But it was just the sheer enthusiasm, you know? We played one festival, the Apollo Bay Festival, and there was quite a young group of teenagers that were right up the front. And these kids were like, holding up their iPhones and they had all the lyrics on there and they were screaming the lyrics out. And I was like, 'Oh wow, these guys are really into it.' You wouldn't see that in New Zealand.”

The Australian reggae scene has grown dramatically over the last decade, and Ruawai has seen it shift from a small tight scene into something that supports multi-day festivals like Island Vibes Festival.

“That's ideal,” Ruawai enthuses of the event. “I mean firstly you get to see other acts. We're not the type of band that just hangs out in the green room and drinks all the alcohol. We like to get around and talk to people and soak up the whole atmosphere and the vibe. And if you like a band you buy their CD and say g'day and you talk to them and you spread it around that way. I mean, that's how we got known as well; being pretty much nobodies on festivals and then, you know, you go side-of-stage and you'll hawk off one hundred CDs, just like that. And it's good because, for the amount of people that attend festivals, you know they're there to see music. If you were to go over there and do a club tour, you'd have to go back three or four times to reach that amount of people at one time. It's a perfect opportunity for us to share our music with everyone and hopefully pick up some new bands.”

A family band, Ruawai and his partner, bassist Naomi Tuao, are now joined by their son Reiki, who's contributed vocals to the newest recordings.  “He's always been around us, I guess, on the road,” Ruawai says. “He really likes music. Loves to sing. And I guess coming from a musical family maybe he was destined to do that anyway. But I really like having him around. He's a funny guy. He's got a short attention span as well, so when we muck around in rehearsal, that's it, he's gone. So he kind of keeps us focused. And yeah, he's got some uncanny musical abilities, and we just want to nurture that.”

Even when they're dealing with potentially heavy topics, Cornerstone Roots have a positive perspective, which is something Ruawai is passionate about maintaining.

“That's one of my main things in life, I guess,” he states. “And I think as a musician and a songwriter, you have a certain responsibility to say good things, to say positive things. And it sounds cheesy, but it's not really: if you've got a positive attitude about life it's going to be happier and you're going to do what makes you happy. And hopefully I can get that across in the music, which seems to be a very easy medium, especially the music that we play. And I don't like to stand on a pedestal and talk down to people either. I just like to present my view of the world and hopefully there's other people out there that can identify with that.”