Young Kiwi reggae singer Swiss is a self made kind of guy.
When he was 13 he started writing his own songs in the hope of getting somewhere
later.
At 14 he began turning those songs into real music - playing on the family computer and recording himself so he could listen to the words he had written. Asked what his songs were about back then, he laughs.
"What else do boys that age write about? Girls! I just started off writing love songs . . . and over time I fell in love with the whole buzz of making music and being able to listen to myself on a CD that I burned on the computer. "I thought I sounded like a professional
singer back then. It's just one of those things - hearing myself on a CD pushed me and inspired me to chase bigger dreams."
Real name Pepa Manu, he coined the name Swiss on the back of being naughty at school, when he would tag the word "Swiss" all over the place. He's grown up since then and at 21 has already achieved many dreams.
Those earlier mixes slowly led to him releasing his stuff on the internet, which eventually led to his self-released single and video, Slow Wind. He funded his own tours in Los
Angeles, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Hawaii and Australia and he soon got noticed by South Auckland record label Dawn Raid.