SAIMONI Vuatalevu’s name has been synonymous with Fijian music for decades and his long and colourful career started when he won his first local talent quest as a 21-year-old in 1968.
Winning awards
And he went on from there to winning five Vakalutu-i-Voce Awards through 1986 to 1998 and then to international fame when he was awarded Overall 2nd Prize in the 1998 USA Songwriting Competition for his famous composition Tucake Mai. He later won the 1st Prize in the World Music Category in the USA Songwriting Competition in 1999 for his song Meda Sua Ai Voce Ki na Yabaki 2000.
Honoured
His services to the development of music in Fiji and the Pacific culminated in him being honoured by the late President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara with the Medal of the Order of Fiji in 1999 and later in 2003 where he received the Knight of the Order of Fine Arts and Literature conveyed to him by the Government of France.
And on being asked by The Fiji Times Backtracks team when he was going to stop, he simply said: “When the Almighty tells me ‘Sai, it’s time to stop’, then that’s when I’ll stop otherwise who knows.”
Even now at the ripe old age of 70, he still managed to walk away with an award at the FPRA Music Awards 2017 just earlier this month; the International Achievement Award for his song, Meda Sua Ai Voce Ki na Yabaki 2000, which won him international fame in 1999.
Latest album
And to top it off he has just released his latest album called Dawn of a Blessed Day — We Are the Champion We Are Fiji. The album looks back at 49 years of his successful music career spanning from 1968 to 2017 and it looks like he’s not about to stop soon. Well not from the way he was strutting his stuff on stage during the FPRA Awards at the GPH a couple of weeks ago singing a couple of his favourite Cliff Richard songs.
Well, who knows, but that’s the ageless, timeless and colourful musical life of Saimoni Vuatalevu in a nutshell.
How it all started
The Fiji Times Backtracks team managed to get him for a one-on-one and this is what he said about how it all started: “Music has been part of my life from my school days until now and I was always inspired by these old groups such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard and so it’s always been my dream to be like them; to have a band and perform on stage like what you see in the movies about these groups.”
First public performance an inspiration
He said it all started when he was in Form Four at Ratu Sukuna Memorial School in 1964.
“Our teacher then was Master Nelson Delailomaloma and he always caught me drumming my fingers on my desk and humming Cliff Richard tunes. Cliff Richard is my favourite singer then and still is now. Master Delailomaloma told me, ‘Sai, since you’re so interested in singing, you will sing to represent our Form Four in the school concert.’”
Saimoni said that was his first public performance as a singer.
“It was the first time I sang in front of a huge crowd and all the shouting and cheering inspired me to take music more seriously. That was the starting of my musical journey,” he said.
“I left school and joined the civil service in 1965, but my dream to be a singer and form a band and entertain people always remained with me.
“So in 1968 I entered the Fiji English Talent Quest and won it singing two of my favourite Cliff Richard songs.”
First band Quin Tikis
He said after his win at the talent quest two of his former bandmates, Cecil Dass and Eddie Krishna, were then trying to form a band then and they came to see him and asked if he was interested in becoming their lead singer.
“I immediately agreed and that’s how the original Quin Tikis band was formed way back in 1969. They said they had looked for me after I had won the Fiji English Talent Quest.”
He said the original members of the Quin Tikis band were James Dass (lead guitarist), Cecil Dass (bass guitarist), Eddie Krishna (drums), Saga Cheer (rhythm guitarist who was later replaced by Seru Serevi) with me as lead vocalist.
“Most of the original band members have passed on, but I continued to manage the band until now.
“When I started singing I used to like singing in all kinds of languages; you know language is not a barrier in music, so that’s how I won the Fiji Hindi Talent Quest in 1973.
“Then in 1985 I won the Fiji National Song Contest winning prizes for best composition, best performer and best entertainer for my song Lali ni Noqu Vanua.”
International awards
He said it was funny when he won the Overall 2nd Prize in the USA Songwriting Competition back in 1998.
“I was with the Ministry of Health when I got a call from the USA telling me I had won the second prize in the USA Songwriting Competition; I thought someone was pulling a joke on me but when the person on the phone added, ‘it’s on your song Tucake Mai, I was convinced it was real. But funnily he had pronounced the iTaukei word Tucake which means ‘stand’, as ‘Tu Cake’ pronouncing ‘cake’ as in the English word ‘cake’.
But he sent me a fax to prove that my win was for real. And what the US gentleman said next brought home to me the significance of winning the prize as a Fijian; he said, ‘When you won the prize we were trying to locate Fiji on the world map, but couldn’t at first until we found it as a little dot in the Pacific’. That really meant a lot to me being a Fijian, coming from a ‘little dot’ in the Pacific and winning a major music award in the USA.”
The comment about his wins taken from the website: http://www.songwriting.net website was:
“Saimoni Vuatalevu from the Fiji Islands won the Overall Second Prize with his song Tucake Mai. He is the first Fijian songwriter from Fiji or the Pacific to win a USA Songwriting Competition prize. Saimoni, a self-taught musician, has also won the world music category award at the 1998 South Pacific International Song Contest with the same song.”
Saimoni added: “The gentleman from the US also asked me which university I had attended and how I had learned music and when I told him I didn’t attend any university and I was a self-taught musician, he said, ‘What! You know what, Whitney Houston’s songwriter had also entered the contest and you beat him’.”
Tours
Saimoni has also toured the region extensively for performances or by invitation to Australia, New Zealand, Noumea, culminating in being invited to perform at the Fiji Day celebrations in Santa Rosa, US, in 2013.
Worked tirelessly for composers and performers
He has also been in the forefront of the push to promote composers and performers’ interests and welfare from day one because he was a former president of the then Fiji Composers Association from 1987 to 1999; the first chairman of FPRA from 1993 to 1999 and has remained a board member up to now.
His advice to young aspiring composers, musicians and performers is for them to be focused and consistent in their work.
“The main thing which led to my success as a musician is firstly discipline; and you have to be focused to be able to bring out the best in your God-given talent.
“You should always try to be the best; when you compose you make sure it’s the best lyrics, the best melody and with the band you’ve got to give it your best,” Saimoni said.
He said even with all the challenges he went through with finances, lack of band equipment etc, it was his faith in God and passion for music which drove him on.
“I have now trained a son of mine, Archie Vuatalevu, who is now in the band with me to continue with the music, but as for retiring I leave that to God.”
