Ex-Aparima College student Taiharuru (Tai) Forrester has been pursuing his dream of becoming a singer/songwriter for a number of years. His dedication and hard work has paid off.
Tai recently won the Queenstown song-writing contest, Songstars. Guitarist, Tai, who has been steadily gaining a reputation in the local music scene, won the audience vote on all three nights of the contest.
Tai, 27, sang Guilty, which he says was inspired by a girl.
“I planned to go out with this girl. But when I did, it didn’t go as planned,” he says.
He received the prize of a trip to Auckland, to record with Kiwi music hotshot and former Split Enz band member, Mike Chunn.
Tai recently called into the school to say hello and graciously accepted a request to come down some time to speak to our current students about following their own dreams.
Tai is passionate about music and has been fortunate to make it his full-time career.
His band recently opened for the Doobie Brothers on the New Zealand leg of their tour and he said there are similar opportunities coming up but for now he wants to keep them ‘hush hush.’
Our students will not only benefit from hearing from one of our own who is making his musical dream come true, they may also have the opportunity to hear Tai and his band play in person.
Tai’s songs can be downloaded free of charge from www.thekillerseas.bandcamp.com
His only request is that people help spread the word about his band by forwarding the link to whānau and friends.
We are incredibly proud of Tai’s success and would encourage former students to let us know what they are doing, so we can support them and celebrate their successes too. Nā Kaye Day, school principal of Aparima College.
Taiharuru Forrester.
Tai during a photoshoot.