Apia, SAMOA — It’s been two years since Tuioti Lapi Mariner boarded an airplane for a gig so the world renowned baritone is ready and raring to go for a special guest appearance at the ‘We Are Samoa’ Diamond Gala in California later this month.
Tuioti, 44, lives on the Gold Coast of Australia in the state of Queensland with his wife Joline Mariner and son Deine Mariner who recently signed to play for the National Rugby League’s Brisbane Broncos.
Organizers of the ‘We Are Samoa’ Gala purchased Tuioti’s airfare last week, he said.
A Worship Leader for Glow Church and Youth Mentor for the Queensland Police, Tuioti expressed happiness and excitement about his trip to California.
“It has been two years since I hopped on an aircraft so I can’t wait. I am very excited to travel again. I am very excited to take part because the borders are open and because we get to celebrate the legendary Samoan musician Jerome Faanana Grey and what he has done for me,” Tuioti told Samoa News.
Jerome penned the ‘We Are Samoa’ song, “an anthem for Samoans across the world,” he said.
“It really identifies who we are... as a people and as a nation. I think we can all identify with that song throughout the globe. Samoans are living all over the world now. My memories of the song always connect with rugby, when I was growing up as a young boy. But it was more than rugby,” Tuioti said.
“It talks about like my mom and dad when they chose to leave Samoa and come to New Zealand. It talks about other navigators who left the island and went to different parts of the world like the United States and Australia. It’s global so any Samoan living around the world will always have a connection to that song.”
Tinifuloa Grey, Jerome’s son, reached out to Tuioti about the ‘We Are Samoa’ Gala in August of 2021 and they have been in contact since.
Jerome and Tuioti, who have familial connections in Iva, Savai’i, Samoa, have collaborated in the past. Tuioti and Jamoa Jam remade Jerome’s songs “Eleni” and “Wait Your Moment.”
“I’ve always had that relationship with the children and with Faanana. It’s even more special because I am ‘aiga with Faanana as well. We have our Iva, Savai’i connections and that is very close to my heart. We are family,” said Tuioti.
Jerome’s son Taumata Grey is music director for Common Kings. His daughter Sisa Grey Uiagalelei is a singer and actress (Grey’s Anatomy, Hawaii 5-0, NCIS Las Vegas), and son Tinifuloa is vocalist and lead guitarist for FAIVA.
The event that celebrates 75 years of Jerome Faanana Grey music is set for Saturday, March 26 at Fete The Venue in Costa Mesa, California.
“Living and growing up between their native Samoa and their home in Orange County, the [Grey] family is in the beginning stages of filing for a non-profit, so for the gala they’ve partnered with the National Pacific Islander Education Network to bring their vision to life,” gala organizers said in a statement.
“The We Are Samoa Gala’s purpose is to raise funds to benefit three initiatives, which were inspired by the family’s story. Supporting the Pacific Islander community, the funds will go to academic scholarships, performing arts scholarships (The Jerome Grey Performing Arts Fund) and in honor of their mother whom they lost to diabetes in 2019, the third initiative will raise funds for diabetes and heart disease outreach.”
Tuioti leaves Australia for the United States on March 23.
Jerome has been a major influence in his musical career and he often meets up with the Greys, said Tuioti. They have featured together in past shows with Fiji, in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.
“He (Jerome) has definitely been a big influence in musical life. As a young boy listening to “Wait Your Moment” and other songs like “Eleni” and just the entertainer that he was. I used to love seeing him live. When I was in Jamoa Jam in 2000, he came to New Zealand and that was the first time I met him. Then seeing him perform live, that was a real treat and something that I will never forget. That same year we met him again in Los Angeles,” said Tuioti.
“He just came with his ukulele and he just got up, we just happened to be in the same place and it was a book launch for a Samoan woman from Amerika Samoa. She was from Ili’ili if I remember correctly. She launched the book and he was there to entertain the guests and it was a good time to meet up with him.”
In the years that followed, they often bumped into each other in the U.S.
“I remember going on a tour with the Yandall Sisters from New Zealand and I went on a tour with them to Las Vegas. We did a show in Carson in California and Faanana was there,” said Tuioti.
Regarded as a living musical legend by Samoan artists, he was born and raised in New Zealand. Tuioti is the son of a preacher. He grew up in the Pacific Islanders Presbyterian Church in Ranui West Auckland.
Tuioti and his wife Joline moved from New Zealand to Queensland two years ago when their son was awarded a scholarship to attend rugby league school. They have two children, Deine, 18, and their married daughter Semira Mariner Napa’a, 24.
Before they moved to Queensland, Tuioti served as Worship Pastor for the Dreamcentre Church in Manukau City, formerly the Hosanna World Harvest Church.
In Queensland, he is Worship Leader for Glow Church and Youth Mentor for the Queensland Police. Tuioti worked for eight years in corrections services.
As a Youth Mentor, he teaches life skills like resilience and communications for students ages 13-14 who find themselves disengaged from school.
“Deine is the reason we moved here. He was given a scholarship to attend Rugby League high school here on the Gold Coast and he was only 16 so we weren’t going to let him come over here on his own and live with family. We decided as parents we need to come here. He was the priority and we came here to support him and so now he has signed a National Rugby League (N.R.L.) contract with the Brisbane Broncos,” Tuioti said.
The ‘We Are Samoa’ Gala, he notes, is for “a very good cause” as it will help others strive and excel in their craft.
Performers in the gala line-up include award-winning Shawn Ishimoto and Lea Love, Tuioti, Reno Ano’ai, Gary King, and FAIVA. Award-winning dance groups include TUPUA Productions, TAMA'ITA'I Academy and Hula ‘Olena.
“And it’s also in remembrance of the Grey children’s late mother, Faanana’s beautiful wife. I met Faanana's wife a couple of times at the famous Marina where they would always eat. She was a lovely lady and a beautiful woman so we’ll get to acknowledge her... not in the physical sense but in spirit,” Tuioti said.
“Our people, we need to celebrate people like Faanana. He’s been around the globe and he has represented Samoa and he represented Samoa very well. For someone like me, I strive to be like that. I want to be like Faanana. I want to go around the globe and wave the Samoan flag wherever I go. Even though I am born in New Zealand, Samoa is very dear to me.”
His villages in Samoa are Falelima, Salelologa and Iva in Savai’i, and Satuimalufilufi and Faleasiu on Upolu. The Tuioti matai title is from Falelima.
Tuioti was last in Apia in 2019 for the Tatau Festival where he sang with Fiji at the Taumeasina Island Resort.
Through his biological father, Tuioti has ties to Ta’u, Manu’a in American Samoa. His last trip to American Samoa was for the Troy Polamalu Football Camp in 2012.
“I’d love to go back,” Tuioti said.
Music has taken him around the world to many different places including the Caribbean.
“I am very grateful that music has taken me all over the South Pacific, to most places in the United States and to the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic, to places like Guam and parts of Japan, China, Hong Kong and Macau. I am very blessed that that’s where music has taken me,” Tuioti said.
He also has a connection with Gospel group The Katinas of Leone, American Samoa, who are based in Tennessee.
“Through the Katina brothers, I have been very fortunate to be on the road with the boys. My first time to Tennessee, I never knew there were Samoans living in Tennessee, in Nashville. But you got these boys from Leone who live in Nashville. I am very blessed to have been a part of what the Katina brothers have been doing for years,” said Tuioti.
He encourages Samoan musicians to follow their dreams and write original music.
“That’s the beauty of Samoa. There is so much talent on a little island and my advice to them is just to follow their dreams. Samoans, we can do anything, no matter whether we are born in Manono or Pago Pago – we can do anything. If we just stay focused and follow our dreams then of course anything is possible,” Tuioti said.
“My other piece of advice is to keep writing originals. I don’t know if you noticed but today’s music has changed a bit. The young ones are being a bit more creative. They need to keep writing originals. That was a challenge for us as Jamoa Jam. Even though we were re-making songs from The Five Stars, we were also writing our original songs. A lot of our original stuff really captured the hearts of the people. We kind of followed the likes of Faanana, Punialavaa and Tiamaa, all those legends, all those greats we grew up listening to at a young age.”
Growing up, “we didn’t think it was cool when our parents played their cassette tapes in the car” and “the only time we could only listen to our own music was when both our parents were at work,” he said.
“But I am grateful for my parents, playing all those songs for us, growing up and it’s part of my upbringing. I’m very grateful to my parents,” said Tuioti.
Jerome created “a pathway” and “a map” for Samoan musicians, he said.
“He created that map for us. I always like to say that Faanana to me, he is one of the stars with which our original Pasifika navigators sailed. He is one of those stars...he dared to open the pathway,” Tuioti said.
“Faanana gave us permission to dream, to express our talent and individuality without conforming. He’s gifted me and thousands of other artists in the music industry. He has given us a map to navigate. That’s why I am excited. For 75 years he dedicated himself to writing some wonderful songs – songs that we will always cherish and songs that we will always be a part of our lives.”
During these COVID-19 times, Tuioti hopes that artists will continue to produce.
“I’m hoping that during COVID that musicians and singer-songwriters are producing new things. I’m very excited to see what’s going to be coming up especially this year. I’m always listening to what’s new and what’s out there and we embrace it. We acknowledge the work of our young people and people my age who are still going,” he said.
Fans can look forward to brand new music from Tuioti in ‘The Preacher’s Kids.’
In 2017, Tuioti recorded an album with Fiji and the late Mailo Ben Vai in New Zealand. The three well-known singers are sons of Preachers, hence the album’s title.
“I’m still yet to release an album that me, Fiji and the late Mailo Ben Vai recorded back in 2017. We recorded an album back home in New Zealand when Fiji came over to New Zealand for the One Love Concert and he decided to extend his stay in New Zealand. He got me and Mailo together and said: ‘We are going to do an album and we are going to call it The Preacher’s Kids.’ We are all Preacher’s kids,” Tuioti told the Samoa News.
“I’ve still got the album in one of my hard drives and if anything I need to release one song from that album and that is my single ‘Go Back’ that I did together with Fiji and our brother Mailo Ben Vai. The album, it’s a good one. It’s a mixture of Gospel and a lot of island flavour, pretty similar to what we have done with Jamoa Jam. It’s good. We got three of the brothers doing what we love to do and we had a lot of fun.”
The Gala event, according to Katalyst Public Relations, which is handling the publicity for the gala, the event “is sold out, but their mission for raising funds is still happening.”
Donations are accepted here: https://e.givesmart.com/events/oZW/
