35

Feel-good track ‘35’ pays tribute to the towns of Te Tairāwhiti, the East Cape, dotted along coastal State Highway 35. Following Ka Hao’s first tour, the 24-member rangatahi choir set out to write an album, with '35' becoming their debut single. Written during songwriting wānanga with Rob and Cilla Ruha, the uplifting music video shows Ka Hao and Rob Ruha gathered in a community theatre, watching scenes of life on the coast. The track not only won the 2022 APRA Silver Scroll Award and topped the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but also within weeks of release gained attention worldwide, going viral on social media app TikTok. 

One of our songs is just blowing up everywhere, and that’s something we didn’t expect. We thought it was just gonna be, you know, a 24-rangatahi choir doing a tour around the East Coast, stop at that!

– Ka Hao memeber Rua Ngatai-Mahue, on the success of '35', NZMusician magazine, December/January 2022

Key Cast & Crew

Abe Mora

Director

Dan Martin

Producer