Kia ora e te iwi — Ko Nathan Hauraki toku ingoa, ko au te menetia taupuni mahi i Flume
Hi there — My name is Nathan Hauraki and I am the Studio Manager at Flume. I joined the Flume whanau back in 2020 and it's been an incredible journey so far!
Fresh out of university with no real plans for my immediate future but to travel for 6 months (which of course didn’t happen due COVID), I joined Flume as an Account Executive. Much of the early days consisted of helping the team out with small projects, but as time went by, I developed an affinity for culture building as well as management and soon enough, my role transformed and I became the Flume Studio Manager.
Fast forward almost 1 year and all I can say is that it’s been an amazing journey. We’ve launched almost half a dozen new websites, undergone a whole business and brand refresh (Hatch to Flume) and our team has grown from strength to strength. Though we are a small team, we are tight-knit and work off each others strengths and because of that, we’re a high performing team.
This quote sums it up quite nicely —
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
— Henry Ford
Now some things about me...
First of all, I am a proud Māori and hail from Ngāpuhi and Ngātiwai in Northland. I do come from a very large whanau, with 3 younger siblings and almost 30 first cousins — so you can imagine what family reunions are like!
I was brought up learning Te Reo Māori and my sister and I attended Kōhanga Reo during our early years and then Kura Kaupapa Māori for the first 4 years of our schooling. Fast forward a couple of years, I then went to boarding school and then university where I studied both a Bachelor of Music degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree.
What you might not know about me is that I am actually a professional opera singer, a tenor in fact! I studied classical voice at The University of Auckland and have been singing professionally on the side whilst working at Flume. I currently sing with New Zealand Opera and also Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir.
Singing and performing is a real passion of mine and I have been quite fortunate to travel around the world because of it. From Singapore and Malaysia to the Pacific Islands, I have been able to see the world through singing.
As you can imagine, the impacts of COVID have been quite extreme on the performing art industry and has made it difficult to perform as much as we would like. That being said, we have been quite fortunate in New Zealand compared to other countries and it does mean we need to relish every chance we get, whether that be singing in a small chamber concert to a fully staged opera at the Aotea Centre.
Aside from singing, I am an avid foodie — I love food and food loves me (well at least that’s what I tell myself). Whether that’s cooking dinner for friends or family, to dining out at the viaduct, I love the whole experience of food. The smells and tastes are amazing, but the thing I love most about food is that it brings people together.
Well, that’s it from me! I hope you found this interesting and if there’s ever a time where you might want an opera singer or have some great restaurant recommendations, let me know!
Mā te wā