Introducing 'The Morning Shack' - Tim, Regan & Aaron
Niu FM have changed up their breakfast show for the first time in 7 years!
Comic content creator Regan Foa'i aka Just the Norms has teamed up with long-time friend, podcaster and founder of the 'Bakery Run' Tim Te Ati Awa to give listeners an energy burst to their day. They provided cover over the Christmas/New Year period, but they're back by popular demand and this morning was the social media duo's first official day in the breakfast show hot seat.
If you're in Auckland tune in to 103.8FM in the mornings from 6am - 10am Monday to Friday and if you're outside Auckland, you can listen in via the iheart radio app.
In the meantime get to know the guys and the shows producer Aaron Pulemafaga below ...
Regan: My name is Regan Foa'i, I'm half Niuean on my Mums side from the village of Alofi Tonga and half Tokelauan on my Dads side from the atoll of Fakaofo. I was born and raised here in Mangere from South Auckland.
Tim: Kia Ora, my name is Tim aka Timprovise. I am Maori from Te Ati Awa in Taranaki just down past Waitara on my Mums side and on my Dads side I'm from Tainui. I was born and raised in Clendon, Manurewa
Aaron: Hey it's 'The Western Guide', legal name Aaron Pulemagafa, Samoan descent. My villages in Samoa are Falease'ela, Alefaga, Usoali'i, Apia and Samatau. Born and bred in West Auckland.
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What were you all doing before this?
Regan: I came from the telecommunications industry. I was a manager for Chorus and then I currently moved over to another project - the Vector project. Been there pretty much all my life, started in 2009 as an apprentice and just climbed my way up to that position.
Tim: At first I coached basketball, so I was working for Counties Manukau, Waitakere and Auckland basketball and then I used my teaching degree and started teaching intermediate school out in Ramarama and then yeah, made the change now.
Aaron: I was an audio engineer before this but before radio I was doing some trades - I was working in the trades.
How did this opportunity come up to host the Niu FM breakfast show?
Tim: I have a podcast called the Provise Project and I'd interviewed Lui (Niu FM Programme Director) a few times and he was like "man you're pretty good at just talking, would you be keen to come on?" and I said "Yeah sure but I want to do it with my good mate Reegs". Me and Regan did a little short skit type series called 'The Shack' and it was online and then it transformed over here and Reegs has been part of the Niu FM eco system for a while.
Regan: Lui hit me up a while ago, asking me whether I'd be keen to do some radio stuff and at the time it wasn't the best time for me but it's crazy just how everythings kind of full circled around and I've been able to get this opporunity.
I was part of the Regulators (laughs). The regulators were a loyal group of listeners of Niu FM from back in the days and I've been a loyal fan of Niu FM from way back and it's another full circle thing where I was listening on the air waves and now I'm on the air waves - it's a crazy experience.
Aaron: I was just an audio enginner, I was already in the building. I came with radio schooling and expertise so when I heard the boys were on, I was keen as to jump on as a producer.
I'm a musician which is my main thing and with that, you just kind of get curious and you learn things on YouTube and from that I could put into the Engineer role at Niu FM cos I was doing covers for these guys and then I moved from audio engineering to production.
What can we expect with the new show?
Regan: A whole bunch of antics I reckon, we still want to showcase that raw, rugged side from South Auckland that we're from and what we know and have experienced over time and at the same time we just want to do our Polynesian people proud and represent the best way we can.
Tim: I think it's that authenticity, I think it's a gift and a curse I suppose not having a radio background, is that we just come and we just talk. It's really helpful that we have chemistry cos we know each other, I've known Reegs for a while and just meeting Aaron and really getting an easy vibe with it.
It's very different to what you're usually used to on the radio where it's that radio voice that you put on. Me and Reegs - you could go down to the carpark and we talk the same but with just more swear words in the carpark (laughs). It's that authenticity, that genunine caring about what we say and we have a platform that we can communicate that.
Aaron: It'll sound cliche but definitely expect the unexpected, from someone who did radio school you're taught structures, you're taught this is how you should sound. With this show itself we're always on the go we're creating new things like live as well so yeah I think definitely, unexpected all the time.
With you guys not having a radio background did you find it difficult starting out?
Tim: For me I've always been a talker and I did the podcast so I've done quite a lot of interviews and I learned from that just on the fly and I was able to critique myself so that was cool but coming into it, I think Reegs struggled with it a little bit.
Regan: Yeah, I struggled with how it works with how the radio world works - what you can say, what you can't say, just having fun but knowing there's that line you can't cross sometimes you've gotta stay in the boundaries as well. West (Aaron) has always been a great mentor to us and telling us "oh we need to stick to this, maybe do something for females" and stuff like that and it's been really good getting tips from The Western Guide.
Goals for the show?
Tim: There's a couple - not that Niu FM isn't relevant but we want to make it more relevant and keep levelling up and also improving our craft and our work without blurring the lines between classic radio and what we're already used to. We want to play with the big boys.
Regan: We've got heaps of goals in mind, I think just getting back in the conversation with where mainstream radio is at and where people mention these other radio stations we're in the same list as everybody else so that's what we want to bring back to the station.
Music content wise - is it still strictly Pacific artists?
Aaron: We're expanding that now, we want to try something new with the new shows so the majority of the music is still Pasifika artists but we do want to expand that just a little bit more, just to see how we go with adding international music so we can get the listenership up again.
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Follow the guys on social media via instagram here -
Regan aka Just the Norms
Tim aka Timprovise from The Provise Project
Aaron aka The Western Guide
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Public Interest Journalism funded by NZ on Air