Interview: 'Tūpiki' by Riki Pirihi & Abigail Aroha Jensen - Vinyl Release Shows

This week Audio Foundation Records celebrates the release on vinyl of Tūpiki by Riki Pirihi and Abigail Aroha Jensen with a series of gigs in Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington and Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Friday is the duo's second performance in Tāmaki following their cinema stage set at Outlier Festival 2024, and tonight's event will be their first in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, with visuals from Outlier Festival by artist East accompanying their performance. If you can’t make the evening celebrations, you can also catch Riki and Aroha live in Flying Out record store on Saturday afternoon.

This Saturday evening’s celebration featuring the Tūpiki duo's solo acts; Cave Circles and M4URI M4STA; alongside Hasji and Waiwhai; is also the first gig at Karangahape’s newest venue: A-Space. A sleek, dimly-lit bar clad in black-stained wood and red neon, this sensual space behind bustling Karangahape Road institution Acho's is an expansion of the bar’s longstanding history as a haunt for local musicians and artists. It seems these days, venues are a threatened species, so we couldn’t be happier to have a new spot on the block to book a gig in, run by none other than the Audio Foundation crew’s favourite post-festival kick on spot for great Japanese food and beers. Don’t miss out on this momentous occasion.

For more insight into the incredible album, Audio Foundation Records spoke to Riki Pirihi — check out the interview below…

Tūpiki - Riki Pirihi and Abigail Aroha Jensen - Vinyl Release Tour

Thursday 27th March - Meow, Wellington with Te Kupu / Dan Beban, Mauri Aura
Friday 28th March - Audio Foundation, Auckland with Allana Goldsmith / Parks / Rahana Larsen Taylor, Olga*
Saturday 29th March - Flying Out, Auckland (2pm, free, all-ages)
Saturday 29th March - A-Space / Acho's, Auckland with Cave Circles, Mauri M4sta, Hasji, Waiwhai*

*Tickets on sale HERE via UTR

Tash van Schaardenburg: Tūpiki has a very strong conceptual framework, inspired by Māui’s journey to climb the 12 stairs of heaven, Te Ara Poutama. Could you walk us through how this concept influenced the structure of the album?

Riki Pirihi: Abi developed the overall framework for Tūpiki, and I was eager to explore where we could take it. The structure of Te Ara Poutama naturally lends itself to a compelling album arc — ascension through the heavens, the plateau, the fall, and the rise. We crafted a carefully structured framework for improvisation, reflecting on what each stage of this journey means to us both personally and as a performing trio.

The album is divided into four parts: Puku, Manawa, Korokoro, and Ūpoko, each representing realms of the soul. How did you approach translating these philosophical and spiritual concepts into sound?

The four doors not only define which part of the body the oro is derived from and its deeper meaning, but they also guide the movements that shape the album’s overall form and structure. Aside from this, it is difficult to translate into words how we navigated performing inside a realm. I believe it was intrinsic for the three of us. This is a precious piece of mātauranga and yet another brilliant idea from Abi.

Riki, you developed a technique for conducting taonga pūoro, can you tell us a little more about that and did it play into the creation processes for this album?

I have developed a system for spontaneous composition called Rangatuone, which is essentially an extension of Butch Morris’ ‘Conduction’ methodology. In most cases, Rangatuone is performed with a relatively large ensemble, so it wasn’t something we used in the making of Tūpiki. However, Rangatuone has previously provided opportunities to demonstrate how ngā taonga puoro can be expanded in terms of tonality and, in some ways, mood.

What was the role of Matt Gunn’s live electronic manipulations in the creation of the album? How did you collaborate with him to build and refine the soundscapes?

We were incredibly fortunate to have Matt with us, as he created the sonic world in which Abi and I could zip-zap around in. We invited him to perform live dubs during the recording process, which gave us a clear sense of the space we were shaping. Matt recorded, performed, and mixed the album.

The recording took place during an autumn residency at Audio Foundation. How did the environment and timing of this collaboration influence the energy and flow of the album?

Having the space to think and experiment freely is a rare luxury these days, so we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to create this album. Over four days, we recorded three pieces per day, with each day's recordings centred around one of the doors / realms.

One of the great aspects of a residency is that it compels you to pause your everyday life and fully immerse yourself in a project. This experience was made even more special by sharing it with Abi, Matt, Tash, Grace, and Jeff.

Tūpiki is deeply rooted in both cultural traditions and experimental sound, and the sounds on this album range from traditional instruments like the pūtōrino and pūkaea to more electronic manipulations. How do you balance these different sonic worlds and navigate the intersection, especially when blending indigenous sounds from historically surviving instruments with contemporary electronic elements?

I can't speak for Abi or Matt, but I tend to hear everything as originating from the same source — often the person performing, regardless of the instrument they’re playing. I believe exploration is at the heart of what we do, so using tools that support that journey is important.

How does Tūpiki reflect your personal journeys, and how has creating this album impacted your own understanding of the themes you explored?

The album represents many things for me: a distinct moment within the broader arc of a lifelong musical journey, a chance to play and reflect, and an opportunity for truthful collaboration with the haumis.