Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks. It be
Speaker 1: follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Hello, good morning to you, Welcome back to the programs.
Speaker 2: So my guest for the next fifteen minutes is soul
Speaker 2: an R and B musician Diva Mahal. She's based in
Speaker 2: Wellington and she's just released a new single and this
Speaker 2: is it. It's called South Coast. So Diva's journey to
Speaker 2: Wellington and her musical influences is a fascinating one. She's
Speaker 2: got a famous dad. So I think it's time to
Speaker 2: meet Diva Mahal and you can hear her story from
Speaker 2: her own mouth. And it's good morning to you, Diva.
Speaker 2: So first of all, Cura. First of all, you're American
Speaker 2: and you said that very well.
Speaker 3: Thanks.
Speaker 2: There we go. And you were born in Honolulu, is
Speaker 2: that right? Big family? One of six?
Speaker 3: No, I was from Kowaiti, from where.
Speaker 4: Kuwaiti, which is the island next to where the capital
Speaker 4: city of honolulus on.
Speaker 2: All right, so you were born in Hawaii. You're part
Speaker 2: of a big family, one of six. And here's the thing,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure you hear this every interview. Your father
Speaker 2: is legendary American blue singer Taj Mahau.
Speaker 3: That is correct, very true.
Speaker 2: Now man himself, the man himself a frequent visitor to
Speaker 2: New Zealand. What a great player. Now, the thing about
Speaker 2: following in famous parents footsteps because you're a singer, he's
Speaker 2: a singer. You do the blues, he does the blues,
Speaker 2: is that it can either be a blessing or a curse. So,
Speaker 2: having Taj as a dad, how was it for you?
Speaker 3: Well, my dad has always taught.
Speaker 4: Us that it's not following in his footsteps, it's standing
Speaker 4: in his light. So I try to lead with that
Speaker 4: way of thinking that he casts not a shadow, but
Speaker 4: he throws light, and he illuminates us and gives us
Speaker 4: more strength and sense of self and individuality, knowing that
Speaker 4: we carry carry what we bring to this world from
Speaker 4: a long line of creators and storytellers, and we come
Speaker 4: from a really deep legacy, a very deep and.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so at times.
Speaker 4: It has been more like the journey of becoming who
Speaker 4: I meant to be as an artist and then being
Speaker 4: able to and strong enough to like hold that light
Speaker 4: would then be able to emit your own life, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, So it's such a beautifully poetic way
Speaker 2: of putting things, which is probably what made him such
Speaker 2: a great artist as well. But when did you decide
Speaker 2: to follow in your father's life.
Speaker 3: Well, I didn't really decide.
Speaker 4: I guess it just kind of was how it was
Speaker 4: always meant to be. Really, I've always been musically inclined
Speaker 4: and musically inspired since I was really little, and I
Speaker 4: performed with my pops when I was really little, so
Speaker 4: he kind of caught on that I was musical from
Speaker 4: a young age, and he included me in a really
Speaker 4: beautiful way on his projects. And my actual first studio
Speaker 4: project was recording with Bob Marley's mom.
Speaker 3: So it's funny that you say.
Speaker 4: That my first album that my first experience in a
Speaker 4: studio outside of recording with him. I was really young,
Speaker 4: I might have been like eight or nine, and I
Speaker 4: recorded a whole album with Sidela Moi booker and spent
Speaker 4: a lot of time.
Speaker 3: We've even made a music video.
Speaker 4: It's really funny.
Speaker 3: It's like a VHS music video of.
Speaker 4: Me and like all of my mates and my family
Speaker 4: at the beach on and on Ahola.
Speaker 2: Just like well, you know, you speak about videos, but
Speaker 2: not only in music. You've also been in films. You
Speaker 2: were in American Hustle with Bail and Bradley Cooper. So
Speaker 2: how did that happen.
Speaker 3: I was cast by David O. Russell, the director.
Speaker 4: It had kind of come across my way, and I
Speaker 4: had to submit like an audition video and record record
Speaker 4: a track because it was you know, because obviously it's
Speaker 4: set in the seventies, so.
Speaker 3: I had to like record a cool video.
Speaker 4: And it was like it was like I think it
Speaker 4: was like either me or Sharon Jones in the dap
Speaker 4: Can And so I got the role. And then as
Speaker 4: in the movie, I'm in that really big scene when
Speaker 4: they're in the hall and I have I think I'm
Speaker 4: like funk band leader, which.
Speaker 3: Is like my credit or something like that.
Speaker 4: Oh cool, and you can see me wearing this like
Speaker 4: golden calf head and an afro wig, and it's pretty wild.
Speaker 4: Actually I'm in the scene with the entire cast and
Speaker 4: then like hundreds of people.
Speaker 3: So it was like twenty two hours of shooting.
Speaker 4: And the first person I like saw and said hello
Speaker 4: to was Christian Bale. I'm such a huge fan of
Speaker 4: his work, So it was kind of wild and it
Speaker 4: was really funny actually, because you know, like he's so methods,
Speaker 4: so he like came in and he like waved at
Speaker 4: me as if he was like the character. But I
Speaker 4: like totally forgot myself that we weren't filming, but I
Speaker 4: like forgot myself and I just like waved like a
Speaker 4: total nerd. That was really fun.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I got to meet Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper.
Speaker 4: Oh.
Speaker 2: I went back and looked at that scene. Uh, and
Speaker 2: Amy's striding all over the place and she's got big
Speaker 2: hair and a very load decolotage. And Jennifer ll she's
Speaker 2: kindest yeah person. And then then I found you, and boy,
Speaker 2: that afro amazing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was great.
Speaker 2: So good, wasn't it.
Speaker 4: It was like the most epic afro and the gold
Speaker 4: calf town I was. I was really hoping that I
Speaker 4: could find a way to like snatch it.
Speaker 2: Okay, now, look doesn't keepsake. The next obvious question is
Speaker 2: how on earth did Diva Mahal end up in Wellington?
Speaker 2: But I got to take a break. So we'll take
Speaker 2: a little amb break and we'll come back and we'll
Speaker 2: hear how you're here and all about your new project.
Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, My guest is Diva Mahal. So this
Speaker 2: is news stork B. It's my Triki Friday, and I'm
Speaker 2: Andrew Dickens and my special guest is Diva Mahal, who
Speaker 2: has a new single out and a tour coming. She's
Speaker 2: from Hawaii. She's the daughter of Taj Mahal. A big question, Diva,
Speaker 2: We're all asking, how did you end out in Wellington
Speaker 2: well Fano family.
Speaker 4: Really, my brother came out here after touring with my
Speaker 4: dad and my dad, you know, came out here and
Speaker 4: he was doing some work with the fellas from the
Speaker 4: Herbs and or the Herbs and they in a and
Speaker 4: he's also the justicese guy. Yes, funnily enough, so he
Speaker 4: had already established like a connection with aut like in.
Speaker 3: The eighties and nineties.
Speaker 4: And then my brother came through on tour with him
Speaker 4: and ended up staying.
Speaker 3: And then he fell in.
Speaker 4: Love with a Maudi woman and had I.
Speaker 3: Had their first child, and my mom came out. She
Speaker 3: had to be nan, you know, she had to be
Speaker 3: the mukama and came out and then I.
Speaker 4: Followed not long after that, after like a family tragedy
Speaker 4: and I just really needed a fresh start and came
Speaker 4: here and just came to visit really, and then I
Speaker 4: fell in love with Wellington with.
Speaker 3: And started going UNI. It was like going to Massy.
Speaker 4: The jazz program got accepted and everything just kind of
Speaker 4: like it was like you should stay here. So I
Speaker 4: was just listening to the universe really and started playing music.
Speaker 2: And now I'm here, Yes you are, and that we lucky. Now.
Speaker 2: Your first EP was a very soulful thing, six tracks,
Speaker 2: very very R and B. So I've listened to the
Speaker 2: South Coast, which is your new single which is out now,
Speaker 2: sounds a little bit more like the Wellington scene is
Speaker 2: getting into your bones. And I know that you say
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, and I know you saying
Speaker 2: back ups and wondering eye with Fat Freddy's drop. You're
Speaker 2: part of the scene, You're part of the gang.
Speaker 4: Well you know.
Speaker 3: My first album is actually.
Speaker 4: Called a live album from Wellington called Live at Hope Brothers,
Speaker 4: and that was my first recorded album, and that was
Speaker 4: very much a result of me living in Wellington. So
Speaker 4: the Wellington sound has influenced me since I was about nineteen.
Speaker 3: But I have lived lots of places.
Speaker 4: I lived in New York for thirteen years, I lived
Speaker 4: in I've been in London.
Speaker 3: I lived in New Orleans.
Speaker 4: For a year, so my first debut album has a
Speaker 4: lot of influences from living in New York and then
Speaker 4: my like second record, well my first EP, but my
Speaker 4: third album was recorded back in Wellington. So you can
Speaker 4: kind of hear the evolution between the first album in
Speaker 4: this one from all.
Speaker 3: The places that I've been. I've actually traveled.
Speaker 4: All over and toured all over the world at this point,
Speaker 4: and so like playing in Northsea Jazz Fest, or playing
Speaker 4: at Carnegie, or playing at the Hollywood Bowl or playing
Speaker 4: you know, things like Jules Holland and stuff like that.
Speaker 4: You know, just touring all over over and like really
Speaker 4: cultivating this new sound, and then came back home and
Speaker 4: kind of put all of that into the first half
Speaker 4: of Future Classic, and so the second half, because obviously
Speaker 4: it's called Future Classic. I wanted the first one to
Speaker 4: feel like it was really steeped in classic like old
Speaker 4: school music, and I wanted the second album to sound
Speaker 4: really future, more feature for it and more contemporary and
Speaker 4: things that I hadn't really done before. And the unifier
Speaker 4: is that both sides of the EP will be songs
Speaker 4: that have like a classic like timeless nature to them,
Speaker 4: but that they can exist going forward or going backwards.
Speaker 2: Brian, absolutely brilliant. So of course I know all the
Speaker 2: fans are saying, we got the first episode of Future
Speaker 2: Classics in twenty twenty three. The fact that you've now
Speaker 2: released South Coast You're single, does that mean the second
Speaker 2: one is coming soon?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you would be right.
Speaker 2: Can you give us some day.
Speaker 4: October? Just keep your eyes on October. But I'll definitely
Speaker 4: be putting. I'll definitely be releasing tracks records off of
Speaker 4: the EP from you know, from May until October, so
Speaker 4: there's more to come.
Speaker 3: I have a new song that's coming out in July.
Speaker 4: I think we're looking at July eleventh, but yeah, keep
Speaker 4: your eyes.
Speaker 3: Honed on that month as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, is absolutely Look it sounds amazing, It sounds amazing.
Speaker 2: It sounds amazing to New Zealand ears, and I hope
Speaker 2: it sounds amazing to international ears and so they can
Speaker 2: really get a grip on what is actually happening down here,
Speaker 2: because interesting stuff is happening down here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, you want to.
Speaker 2: Go and see this woman. She's got great pipes. You
Speaker 2: start at the end of July at mel In Wellington.
Speaker 2: Is that rightly, yeah.
Speaker 4: July twenty fourth, twenty fourth, yeah, and then twenty sixth
Speaker 4: that Space Academy, and we finished the tour in Tomakae,
Speaker 4: Makoto on August second.
Speaker 2: Big Fan, Big Fan, which is Joel Little's place, so
Speaker 2: you know, yeah, hopefully he turns up and then flicks
Speaker 2: a copy to to Taylor Swift and lord.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that'd be great.
Speaker 4: That'd be great.
Speaker 2: You know what we're going to do, I'm going to
Speaker 2: play a bit.
Speaker 3: Of really honestly, I'm in no shame.
Speaker 4: I love him, but I would love for him to like,
Speaker 4: of course, you know, maybe like I don't know, like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that would definitely be That's what Joel
Speaker 2: wants to do. He wants to be a content. That's
Speaker 2: what Big Fans all about. And I think it's brilliant.
Speaker 2: I think your song sounds great. In fact, what I'm
Speaker 2: going to do, We're going to stop the interview now,
Speaker 2: going to take a break, and after the break, I'm
Speaker 2: going to play the people a bit of South Coast
Speaker 2: with of course the second part of the Future Classic
Speaker 2: EP collection coming out. As we've heard in October, Diva
Speaker 2: Mahal from Hawaii but really from Wellington. It's lovely talking
Speaker 2: to you today on Mataiki.
Speaker 1: Happy for more from news talks that'd be listen live
Speaker 1: on or online. And keep our shows with you wherever
Speaker 1: you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio