Manaia Toa has been in the game since the late-80s, bar managing at now legendary venues in Wellington and crewing at warehouse and one-off raves.
One and a half years in London deepened his knowledge and experience of pirate radio and sound system culture, and he religiously attended Aba Shanti I sessions and Bryan Gee’s Movement nights. During two years in Ireland he was deeply entrenched in the Drum n Bass scene, always causing trouble in the dance at early Bassbin gigs at Switch in Temple Bar.
Back in Aotearoa, Manaia Toa held down a Saturday night radio show on Base FM in Auckland from 2003 -2010, spinning hip hop, dub, dubstep, jungle, jazz and more. He was one of the founding members of the Dubstep Alliance crew, and ran the junglistic nights, F_ckin Yardcore. He has been on multiple bills for Bassweight and NiceUp in Wellington during 2010-2013 and was a jazz show host on Active Sundays. He has also ran a Saturday nightshift show on RDU in Christchurch in 2014.
Now he is back with Aotearoa-wide Jungle Crew, Momentum. Manaia Toa says, ‘Like most of the Momentum selectors, I have been through 2 or 3 waves of this music being in ‘fashion’, and I still play the same killer 20-plus year-old records to new audiences!
In 2017 Jungle is even bigger worldwide with more killer contemporary productions, and we are bringing it to the masses here with the realness!’
More info:
Momentum Facebook
NiceUp SoundCloud
NiceUp MixCloud
