3. You were a boy soprano but studied law at the University of Otago. What kind of lawyer would you have been?
An average one at best. I often look back and wonder "what if?" regarding my law degree. It's one of the proudest moments for me, because it took an incredible amount of hard work and support from the law faculty and my family. Singing in a way for me is natural and instinctive. Law, alas, was not. Using emotion and feelings as a singer is great - as a lawyer, it's all about the law.
4. How were you received when you went to the Royal College of Music in London?
It was the first time I'd left home. I'd never gone flatting or anything. I felt really confident about myself and being from where I'm from, I was a novelty. On the first day I walked into school wearing a floral shirt that my mum had made for my dad and a beanie. Everyone else had shirts and blazers. But I like being different. As a performer, if you don't like being in front of people, forget about it.
5. And now you perform at opera houses all over the world. Are your parents beside themselves with pride?
Oh yes, of course. There are photos at home of us with famous people and I send them programmes I'm in from different opera houses. They have them all in scrapbooks.
6. What's your favourite low-brow pursuit?
I would love to dunk a basketball in an NBA game, sing Nessun Dorma at pitch and be awesome at it. We have a lot of classical music at home but I listen to a lot of hip hop. Kanye West. I like Lupe Fiasco. No, I can't rap myself. There won't be a crossover album.
7. Your wife Sandra is Bosnian - any cultural clashes?
Sandra and I have no cultural clashes. We are in a wonderful position as citizens of the world. Sandra is a very spiritual and holistic person, a traveller through time and space, bringing peace and harmony to the Earth. Her influence and support in our family is immense and she's a hugely calming influence on me.
8. I'm guessing you sing a lot about love in your line of work - what have you learned about it?
Both love and singing are extremely difficult. Loving something is vitally important to doing it, working at it, enjoying it and gaining satisfaction from it. But, to be honest, love is not as prominent as one would expect in my line of work, particularly in terms of opera roles as a bass. I am normally playing bad guys, priests and bitter, angry and comic characters. Buffoons. I fall over a lot.
9. How do you cope with rejection?
In love, or work? Rejection is a part of life that we wish didn't exist, but is a necessary part of everything we do.
In terms of work, I hate rejection, but what can you do? You need to be thick-skinned and self-confident to the nth degree.
10. Do you know many Samoans in London?
Three. And one of them is my sister Selena.
11. Do you have any good opera diva stories?
You don't really talk about those, but have you heard the Kathleen Battle ones? Such as when she was in a limousine and the air-conditioning was too cold and she phoned her agent, in another country, to get them to ask for the aircon to be turned down? At the tippety tip top I think there's still room for divas and I'm sure if you asked my cast members about the last few days they'd say I've been a grumpy so and so. I don't know what it was. Jetlag maybe. What calms me down is ranting to my wife and every morning I Skype my son and read him two bedtime stories. That's really good for me.
12. Have you had anything to do with Dame Kiri in London?
Dame Kiri has been very supportive of me and many, many other Kiwi musicians. When I first went to London I got a call to come around at Christmas time. I thought it was a joke, but it was in fact actually her and she gave me a homemade Christmas cake.
