Canvas Soundtrack to My Life: Posenai Mavaega, Posenai Mavaega, Pacific Underground's music director

Posenai Mavaega, Pacific Underground's music director.

Soundtrack to my life

Sensitive to a Smile - Herbs

This song entered my life through Radio With Pictures, the early music video show on television. I was impressed seeing brown people on TV. At that time it wasn't very often you'd see brown artists, Polynesian or Māori, making music and making videos. That pulled focus for me. I was seeing community and people of our demographic. The whole family life was on there; old people, aunties and uncles, granddads. Real grassroots.

It planted a seed and reminded me of when I was even younger. My parents would go to church weekend socials and there would be an island band playing on the stage. I'd be bored, throwing stones out the back or something, then I'd come in and sit on the stairs of the stage and watch the band. The video reminded me of that because it has images of kids doing the same thing.

It really took me back. And watching the communities in the background made me stop and think that these guys were doing a good job, not just musically but with the whole video thing. They normalised it and calmed everything down, "Just chill everybody, here's some nice, beautiful music." Sensitive to a Smile bought a smile to my face.

Affirmation - George Benson

Around our house, there was a lot of Abba and greatest hits compilations being played. My sisters would play all that stuff but my brother was in tune with bringing home vinyl and cassettes. I remember thrashing George Benson's Breezin' over and over. Then he played the other tracks and I was blown away.

When he put on Affirmation, I was like, "Oh what?" It calmed me down and made me listen to what was going on. I didn't understand listening at that time. When you hear songs, you just hear songs. You don't dig into what the musicians are doing. With this one there are all these parts that weave in and out. It was like, "Wow." It just made me listen.

And then there's Benson's amazing playing. He's so at ease, just cruising over the top. I'd be trying to play along but I'd always end up putting the guitar down and just listening. I learnt how to listen through George Benson.

Good Times - Chic

This song takes me way back to mimicking [Chic guitarist] Nile Rodgers' guitar style on my sister's acoustic guitar. This song was my jam for practice. Every time I heard it playing I'd grab my sister's guitar and play along until I fumbled into the chords.

My older brother Cliff's an artist and musician and he'd always bring home records that were unique and different from what was on the radio. Some of the stuff he'd bring home I'd have no idea what I was listening to. But I was the younger brother, so I didn't bother asking questions.

A lot of it was funk, early Chaka Khan and Rufus, George Clinton, all of the beefy stuff from back in the day. And then the stuff came out that made the radio and that's when my younger ears would stick up and I'd go, "Hey, that stuff that's in the garage is now on the radio!"

So Much Trouble in the World - Bob Marley

Once again it was an influence from my young days living with my brother. We shared a bedroom in the garage, partitioned off beside the car. Back in the early 80s, there was a whole Bob Marley phase. A lot of people were following the trend getting those green, yellow and gold jerseys and getting those flags. The trend was high back in those days but my brother was in there before the trend happened.

With this particular song, I remember him painting on our bedroom wall. By the end of the day, the whole wall was covered in a slave chain silhouette with Pacific themes in the background and then a massive face of Bob Marley. I was like, "Oh, we're gonna get in so much trouble with Dad."

I don't know where this was coming from with him but he was playing Marley a lot. A lot of my family members - cousins and aunties - would remember it. His artwork was amazing.

In the Stone - Earth, Wind & Fire

This was a Saturday morning wake-up song that my older sister would play. My parents would be at work, they worked double shifts and three jobs, and our job was to keep the house clean.

She would play this song and it was a really good alarm clock. There's enough time in the intro for you to wake up, stretch, sit up on your bed and catch your breath and then the groove kicks in and you're off.

It still stands up today, my kids listen to it all the time.

Posenai Mavaega is the music director of Auckland Theatre Company and Pacific Undergrounds' season of Dawn Raids by Oscar Kightley, where he will lead the live on-stage band, at ASB Waterfront Theatre, August 16-Sept 3.

• As told to Karl Puschmann.