Tāwhiri Funk

Psychedelic soul-clap grooves dipped in funk batter, rolled in jazz crumbs and deep-fried on raw naked flames. Tawhiri Funk started life as a four-man funk experiment named Rhino Boogie, armed with only horns and drums, playing arrangements of some of the best funk music from the 60s and 70s at dive bars, cocktail lounges, house parties and anywhere else that would have them.

After a couple of years as the hottest funky four-piece in town, they chose to switch their focus to writing their own music and developing their own unique style, recruiting a keyboard player and switching between their horns and other instruments to add depth and variety to their sound. They have since grown into one of the most exciting bands on the Wellington scene with a unique sound drawing on influences from hip hop, turntablism and electronic music through to jazz, funk and soul.

Deep heavy dirty stinking Funk. Drawing influence equally from the jazz, funk and soul music of the late 60s and early 70s (James Brown, Kool and the Gang, The Average White Band and a host of lesser known players) and the Hip Hop of the late 80s and early 90s that was made by sampling that music (A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, The Beatnuts etc); Tāwhiri Funk have been bringing heat to dancefloors in their home town of Wellington and across New Zealand for a number of years.