Aro Matariki tour 2022

Come grab a bite, a drink and enjoy tunes by the bilingual duo Aro, sharing waiata off their most recent release, He Wai and songs from their previous Manu projects.

"It all adds up to a warmth of experience, wholly original, anchored in Aotearoa, that left all who had been present to it with the feeling of having been let in on a special secret." - Gig Review, Common Room, Hastings - Rosheen Fitzgerald

Aro is made up of husband and wife Charles (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Te Ata, Te Ati Awa) and Emily Looker (nee Rice). The bilingual duo share a passion for the power of language and music to tell stories and remind us of our cultural identity.
Their moving new EP, ‘He Wai’ was released in September 2021 and celebrated 5 waiata inspired and guided by our relationship to te taiao and what we can learn from it about ourselves and each other. ‘He Wai’, follows their first project 'Manu’ and their second, 'He Manu Anō', and is the third major project out of five for the Silver Scroll APRA Maioha Award and APRA Best Children’s Award Finalists.

He Wai consists of five songs which display Aro’s signature playful and uplifting sound, using a plethora of instruments and taonga pūoro, including guitars, strings and saxophone. A multi-genre offering of storytelling pop, RnB, electronic and jazz, fusing vocals, tāonga puoro and chants, each song also thematically explores the ideas of kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga - looking after ourselves, looking after each other and looking after our environment.