Shivers believe in playing genre fluid music, but it’s easiest to describe the Pōneke four-piece as being a soul-pop group bringing positive and uplifting vibes. Composing infectious melodies they also pride themselves on making music with meaning, men’s mental health being a particular focus. Their latest release Tahuti is an uplifting waiata reo Māori, originally written in English by MC /vocalist Timmy Porter, who talked about the track with Richard Thorne. 

Versatile and much respected Wellington drummer Rick Cranson (Little Bushman, Kita) first connected multi-instrumentalist Adrian Win with drum’n’bass/soul MC Timmy Porter back in 2018. It wasn’t until 2021 that Shivers emerged from the various line ups with the addition of reggae/dub producer Josh Parata, and a first infectious dance tempo single titled Right of Way – currently closing in on half a million Spotify plays. 

Released in March 2024, the much more soulful Look At ‘Em Now, a song about overcoming adversity and intergenerational trauma, deservedly brought them mainstream radio play. In November 2024 they released Tahuti, their first song in te reo Māori. Funded through Te Māngai Pāho, Tahuti was originally written in English and released in 2021 the single Runaway. Addressing men’s mental health and suicide prevention, Porter says it was written for men who may see being vulnerable and asking for help as a sign of weakness. 

“In my eyes that is really a strength. We need to look out for each other, be there for each other through tough times, the small things we do can make a big difference.” 

Tahuti reflects that with an upbeat cruisey strummed guitar rhythm and bright horns overlaid with Porter’s compassionate soulful vocals. Recorded at The Surgery, produced and mixed by regular collaborator Toby Lloyd of Tiny Triumph Recordings the track was mastered by Benny Tones, and video directed by Ben Cushman.

It’s fair to say that Shivers’ output hasn’t yet built up a full head of steam, but as much as they’d all love to do music full time Shivers is necessarily a part time project. Porter, Win and Cranson are teachers and need to maintain that full time employment. For Porter there is another very compelling excuse, three major cranial operations.

“There are a number of reasons why there’s been so few releases from us since Right of Way. The main ones are me having some major health hurdles. I suffered a traumatic brain injury two years ago which had a major impact on my entire life, to the point that I thought I would never be able to make music or fully be myself again.

“Our releases this year have made me feel whole again, or as much as possible after such a serious injury. These health hurdles not only impacted me physically but mentally, and everything in life had to take a back seat during my recovery. I only started full-time teaching again half way through this year. 

“We are also an independent self-funded band and always want to release music of a high standard which comes at a high cost with things like top quality studios, engineers, mixing and mastering.”

Playing catch up for a lot of this year the band have decided to take a break over summer and won’t be seen on festival stages. 

“We are really pleased and proud of Tahuti. We treated it as its own song. There was a lot of reflection before this release on how we can make it our best waiata possible. Runaway was our first full band song so we have had a lot more time together as a unit. We made a lot of changes to the way it was recorded, mixed and re-mastered too.” 

Te Māngai Pāho funding for the production of Tahuti and the song’s video helped to cover the additional costs such as cover art and mātanga reo (te reo Māori advisor). 

The recording was done over multiple sessions both at The Surgery and Toby Lloyd’s own Tiny Triumph Recordings studio. 

“It was all recorded separately, layering as we went along,” Porter explains. “Adrian pretty much leads the musical elements and myself the vocal side of things. Toby has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is incredibly humble, so we never feel out of place when we are working with him. He has lots of great ideas and input but there is no ego with him. Toby always knows how to get the best out of us.” 

Even in comparison to other Shivers’ releases, including Runaway which is Tahuti’s English-written original, Porter’s vocal delivery is exceptional – the use of Te Reo seeming to enhance his usual harmonics and vocal richness.

“I think on many levels myself and other band members feel that is the case. Te reo Māori is a beautiful language and flows very well in song. The vowels are quite unique. I think there are many reasons that my vocal presentation is possibly better than some of my previous work and that comes down to many factors. Some of which include my maturity and self-belief, both things I have a lot more of these days. 

“I also worked harder than I’ve ever worked on my vocal delivery with this because I had to really honour the language and with that paid incredibly close attention to my vocals. I practised and prepared more than I have in the past and I will now carry these learnings with me in my kite for all of my music moving forward.”  

Saying that they are soon to record their next single and Porter promises Shivers will deliver a debut EP in 2025.