PONSONBY NEWS - FEBRUARY’14

Page 135

FINN MCLENNAN-ELLIOTT

BIRD OF THE MONTH

Steve Moase - Ukulele Woman

The New Zealand robin is one of the most cheerful and friendly native birds that makes our country its home. Buller, in his brilliant 1888 book, Birds of New Zealand, describes it as a naturally tame bird and discusses its presence in both the deep forest and the outskirts of woods.

I must admit before I begin that I’ve never been a massive fan of the ukulele. But I listened to some virtuoso performers toward the end of 2013 as I wrote about the New Zealand Ukulele Festival and it opened my eyes to the vast potential of the instrument.

This is rare among perching birds, most do not live in the heart of the forest. Robins were often the only company for hiking men and early settlers deep in New Zealand’s untouched bush. The shrill chirp of the robin can be heard piercing through the forest chorus. The call is present regularly as the bird goes about its active life, constantly moving and flitting amongst undergrowth and shrubs. The male is particularly loud, especially in the latter half of the year, singing from the top of the canopy.

So when I walked into Steve Moase’s art gallery in Tutukaka in the far north and discovered he had been a Herne Bay local, I was eager to listen to his album of ukulele songs.

It lives primarily off small insects and grubs found on the forest floor and so is always eager to follow hikers and people who disturb the ground (just as the more common fantail does). There are three different varieties of robin, found on each main island of New Zealand. They are not threatened although they are restricted by mammalian predators, a likely side effect of spending large portions of time on the ground. There are numerous predator-free islands and mainland sanctuaries that are home to populations of robins and in many mainland sites mammalian predators are controlled to low levels. Because of the numerous sites it is relatively easy for the general public to see the robin. The North Island variant is found in Tawharanui Regional Park, the Hunua Ranges and at Wenderholm Regional Park. These sites only have low level management of predators but robins are also found on the predator-free open sanctuary of Tiritiri Matangi Island. The diet of the robin consists of invertebrates ranging in size from small aphids to larger creatures like earthworms and adult tree weta. Interestingly, when they are unable to eat one of their larger prey they will store portions in crevices or holes in trunks and branches to be retrieved later. The North Island robin would have once been widespread throughout the entire North Island but due to native forest clearance for pasture and settlement, its range has been reduced to the presently stable situation. One of the main risks to robins is predation of breeding females. Females carry out all of the chick-rearing and incubation duties and many are predated upon at night. The primary predators are stoats, possums, rats and feral cats. Due to these problems many males are without breeding partners and large areas of suitable habitat are unused or underused by robins. Only in predator-free islands and sanctuaries are robins reaching near saturation point. Tiritiri Matangi has been used as a source for new populations due to the overwhelming breeding success that robins have on the island. The Waitakere Ranges are now home to the North Island robin and I made my way out there in early January for one of the cascade walks and was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of robins from a distance. So, if you’re out that way to hike or for a slow walk keep an eye out for the little dark bird on the forest floor, or listen out for a loud chirp PN high in the kauri trees. (FINN MCLENNAN-ELLIOTT) F

Steve grew up in Titirangi before finding himself in South America, London, Ireland and Denmark working as a graphic designer. When I spoke to him I asked about his time flatting in Sentinel Road, Herne Bay. He considers the Ponsonby area to be his Auckland stomping ground, as he moved around Herne Bay and finally into Grey Lynn. He has fond memories of living in the area and is extremely pleased to have his art shown in Momentum Gallery in Herne Bay. He currently lives at Sandy Bay, a small community north of Whangarei, and manages his own gallery as well as regularly performing his music at Schnappa Rock Bar on the first Sunday of every month. He knew from a young age that he wanted to play music or become an artist and he has been doing it for over forty years now - no mean feat considering the difficulties of earning a living as an artist. He refers to himself as a Jack of all trades - master of none. He plays numerous instruments - guitar, banjo, mandolin and flute. I don’t agree with this statement as the music performed on Ukulele Woman is fantastic and has proved to me that the ukulele can be played as virtuoso instrument - it just depends on the skill of the musician. Amazingly, I discovered that Steve has only been playing ukulele for six years! He owned his first ukulele as a child but quickly moved on to one of its older siblings, the guitar. He never looked back at his time on ukulele, until purely by chance he stumbled across a cheap second hand one in a store in Paeroa. He was intending to give it to a young nephew but quickly became hooked on it himself. A family member who plays steel guitar, arrived one day and gave Steve a baritone ukulele, which he explains is the largest and deepest of the four types of ukulele. He fell in love with this instrument, with a deeper voice and wonderful richness to its tone. It allowed him to apply his knowledge of playing guitar to ukulele performance, through the finger picking style that netted pleasant results. “I can’t seem to leave it alone,” he informs me. Both his two albums, the most recent one Ukulele Woman and his first, Ukulele Man, were performed by Steve on baritone ukulele. A friend did the recording for Steve after watching him perform at Schnappa Rock in Tutukaka. Both albums were recorded in one take and feature Steve on ukulele. He feels that the instrumental album fits a gap in ukulele music which has not been filled in New Zealand as most ukulele music (and ukulele orchestras) feature both the instrument and vocals. Ukulele Woman is a wonderful album. It is written almost entirely by Steve with the only exception being a cover of the Fleetwood Mac song Albatross, a song that he has always been a fan of and a crowd favourite at his concerts. It took him a year to write the songs for it and he is already working on more songs for a third album. Listen out for the upbeat Running Skipping Jumping which is a personal favourite of mine. The Celt In Me is another lovely example of Steve’s talented finger picking style. And finally Spanish Lace perfectly encapsulates images of a highwayman stand-off. If you are interested in getting your hands on this album visit Steve’s website below. PN (FINN McLENNAN-ELLIOTT) F www.moaseart.com Finn McLennan-Elliott is studing for a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree, specialising in human geography at Auckland University. In his spare time, Finn plays the clarinet and guitar. He has a great appreciation of all types of music. E: finn.huia@gmail.com

The World Belongs to the Dissatisfied

DEADLINE - 20TH OF THE MONTH

PONSONBY NEWS+ February 2014

135


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