“Amuia le a’a ma le pua e fefaasoaa’i le ola.” Blessed are the roots and the flower that share life

 

LEAO pays homage to the matai name ‘Leao’ (translated as ‘The Day’), which is a prestigious ali’i title held in the village of Lalomauga, the matriarchal village of David Feauai-Afaese.

 

A new spring of an ancestral flower is rooted at the core of the creative entity that is LEAO, project of David Feauai-Afaese to bring the mats of traditional fa’asamoa and their own diasporic experience into meeting. Budded from a conversation with collaborator, Larsen Taylor (Whyfi.), a curiosity, which would then transform into tōfa saili (a journey of wisdom), was sprung of unfolding an alternative fa’asamoa project. Coinciding with work on Samoan feature ‘Our Father’ directed by Esther Mauga, David had already been delving into traditional samoan-pop staples of The Samoan Surfriders, Punialava’a and The Five Stars.

 

Journeying themes of rediscovery and reconnection that is grounded in fa’aaloalo, a term meaning ‘to act with the many faces’, nurture the space of feeling outsider to one’s own culture and acknowledges the ever-present energy of ancestral resonance. These themes channel into a sonic-va'a that is new in it's fashion, but eternal in it's oceanic intentions. In bridging traditional perceptions of fa’asamoa and unconventional forms of pasifika music, LEAO hopes to shine light on not only the flowering possibilities of creative forms but also on the forgotten homes we are all rooted in and allowing them to share life with and through each other.

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Instagram: @leaomasina

Album: https://noarecords.bandcamp.com/album/ghost-roads

Post Mag Article: https://postmag.nz/leao/