'Heretaunga Resounding' - Phill Jones - Tukituki Instruments

Musical Instruments and echoes of ingrained local stories. Experiments in sourcing or salvaging Hawke's Bay timber for the purpose of making music.

"Tukituki Instruments was founded in February 2009 by me, Phill Jones. I'm a multi-instrumentalist and a keen woodworker. Through my business, I love to fuse my two passions of playing music and crafting with timber to create high quality and musically infused wooden objects.

The Instruments that emerge from my workshop become tools for use in the wider world, whether in the hands of a professional musician, a student in school, or a practitioner of musical therapy. I use recycled NZ native timbers such as beautiful old Kauri weatherboards and Matai 2 by 4’s.

‘Tukituki’ comes from the name of the river and the road on which my family’s farm was situated in 2009 and for three generations before that. That is where I learned to work with timber, firstly with my grandfather, and later on my own while he watched on from the farmhouse.

The first cajón came out of his workshop, along with flutes, didgeridoos and a yurt! I carry the name Tukituki with pride, it reminds me of my roots, where I first played with timber, nails, and a hammer, and it’s where my family comes from." - Phill Jones