Sulata

Tokelau-Aucklander Sulata Foa'i-Amiatu was still at high school when Kane Massey from label Deepgrooves signed the singer and her band Colony after a gig. They released their first EP in 1994 and Foa'i's career escalated with a guest vocalist slot on 3 The Hard Way's Australasian hit 'Many Rivers' that same year. In 1995 Foa'i won Most Promising Female Vocalist at the NZ Music Awards for "Pacific soul classic" single 'Never', from her solo album Kia Koe ('for you' in Gagana Tokelau/Tokelauan language) which also featured the jazz-infused 'Mancini'. In 1997 she joined cousin Opetaia Foa'i’s Pasifika supergroup Te Vaka. She also features on the US platinum-selling soundtrack to hit animation Moana.