CalmerCulture

CalmerCulture

Acoustic Duo

Calmer Culture are a duo-acoustic pairing of South Island gal Deborah Jane Poi nee Dagg and Ra Poi.

 

Deborah hails from Dunedin, has lived and worked at Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph as an outdoor guide, moved to Christchurch, worked hard to get her Dip.Science and B.Ed degrees, a lover of Music but not so serious about performance until she joined a Christchurch Rock band as a backing vocalist, then lead singer, performing songs from Hendrix to SRV, Guns & Roses to The Black Crowes between 2005 – 2007.

 

She then moves to the Sunny Bay of Plenty 2008 to teach Science at a College of 80% Maori teens, tough exterior, but always potential. As we know all teens can be tough nuts to build a rapport with and all it took was for Deborah to front the teachers band and sing “Play that Funky Music White Girl” in the School Talent Quest, suddenly the students see her firstly “brave”, then secondly “Mean Singer” ahhh never underestimate the Power of Music sung with Feeling (the first time the teachers have ever won, we should have had the TQ in Term One and not Three). Miss Dagg had already the respect of staff but after that song, the important respect of the whole student body.

 

In the years following Deborah took some classes at Wellington Jazz School, returned to BOP and joined a reggae band and a Jazz, Blues, R&B, Soul, Rock ensemble (whose numbers change according to availability) with both groups performing at various music festivals in Auckland and around BOP. After a 2 month OE of Asia and Spain and UK she returned to BOP in 2016 teaching college students for NCEA Music levels 1-3 as an ITM Vocal teacher for 4 different Colleges.

 

1. App. Sci. Grad. Dip. tch

This year 2017 she has returned to Christchurch working at the Lincoln University Science Department and will be singing with Calmer Culture where opportunities arise.

 

 

 

Ra Poi, Musician, Singer/songwriter in Te Reo Maori and English comes from the Bay of Plenty. Involved in Maori Performing Arts and Composition for over 30 years

 

Ra hails from the Bay of Plenty, was educated in Wellington under musician father and learnt Maori performing Arts while at college. Returned to the Bay of Plenty and became a Music tutor for the NZ Modern School of Music, teaching guitar at the local intermediate school doors open and Ra becomes a Kaiarahi-i-te-Reo-Maori tutor with bilingual units and the Kapa Haka Lead Tutor.

 

Moves to local college Bilingual Unit to continue Maori Performing Arts. Opportunity to work with the Music department, ITM guitar tutor and then involvement with bands in Smokefree Rockquest and Pacifica Beats competitions where one band becomes the 2006 Pacifica Beats National winners, the same band then competes at the Rockquest National finals held in the Christchurch Town Hall 2008.

 

Ra meets Deborah in 2008 to create an acoustic duo, he then joins a reggae band with “Katchafire” keyboardist Hani Totorewa, side music project “Tiger Hour” then along with Deborah they join Whakatane Reggae band “Yesiah” and then form acoustic group ‘Calmer Culture”. 2016 performing overseas in Bars and Restaurants he then returns to teaching Music amongst Maori youth.

 

This Year in 2017 Husband and Wife, Ra and Deborah have moved to Christchurch where Ra is currently studying Jazz at the Ara Music Arts Centre, and will be performing with Calmer Culture where opportunities arise.