Far North-raised brothers hope debut single is start of musical career

Brothers Te Manawanui and Te Hauroamairangi Tawhara-Crown - AKA Zentarge - will release their debut single ‘Balanced’ for Matariki on June 28

Two Far North-raised brothers hope their debut single released next week will be the start of a career that will take them around the globe.

Te Manawanui and Te Hauroamairangi Tawhara-Crown - former students of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Pukemiro, who go by the name Zentarge - will release their debut single Balanced for Matariki on June 28.

With beginnings in kohanga reo, the brothers moved to Ahipara when they were 6 and 8 and it wasn’t long before they got to work as Baby Buskers in the area.

“We were performing at events and festivals and holding down these regular busking spots on Kaitāia’s main street and the Saturday Farmers Market. It was a good way to make money for lollies and chips at first, but as we got older, it helped to pay for petrol to fuel our other passion, basketball. We were surrounded by friends and kaiako, musicians and coaches - our extended whānau - who moulded us to who we are today,” they said.

“We spent over a decade growing up in the Far North but stayed connected to our whakapapa of Rereahu, Maniapoto and Te Whakatōhea of Opotiki.”

They said their waiata is all about maintaining balance in your life.

“It pays tribute to that decade of our life in the Far North, that time where it was all so simple, where as buskers we learnt the rhythm of the street, as ballers the rhythm of the court, and as young Māori men, the rhythm of life.

“Balanced also acknowledges and reminds us of our connection to the taiao [natural environment], from the whenua to the awa, how these taonga bring balance to our lives, no matter what the world tries to put us through.”

During their decade in Kaitāia the brothers were Far North’s Got Talent finalists, Shine on Kaitāia Youth Navigators and rep basketball players for Muriwhenua and Northland.

They’re now completing their degrees at Waikato University - Manawa having recently graduated with a Bachelor of Sports Science and Te Hauroa with two years of his music degree to complete.

While studying, they are creating music and taking on gigs when they can and playing basketball for the Waikato University Mens Team.

Their next goal is to release an EP and tour the world playing their music. The brothers hope to return to the Far North later this year to showcase their new music as Zentarge.