Rising Pacific music group A.R.T Photo: A.R.T
Rising Pacific music group A.R.T's single, Easy, soared to the top of the Urban Radio Scope chart as the most-played Kiwi song, in late 2024.
But for the trio of Anastasia Suria, Rosetta Lopa, and Tiresa Foma'i, known as T-R3x, the journey to success has been far from easy, especially as young Pacific women navigating a male-dominated industry.
The group, whose name represents their initials, was formed during their time together at intermediate school. While not biologically related, "we're sisters in Christ," says T-R3x.
"We've seen comments like 'guess which one isn't Samoan' or 'guess which two are sisters,'" Rosetta said. "We're not sisters, but our bond since intermediate makes it feel that way."
Rosetta,24, is of Tokelauan descent, T-R3x, 23, is Samoan, and Anastasia, 23, is of Samoan and Tokelauan heritage.
Challenges
Rising Pacific music group A.R.T Photo: A.R.T
The group spoke about the challenges of being women in a male-dominated industry.
"It's hard to break into this space as young Pacific women," said T-R3x.
"Even before we met our managers, Tana and Avina, it was tough and complicated."
Rosetta added, "Times are changing, and we want to pave the way for other female artists, just like Aaradhna did. She's from Porirua too, and watching her succeed inspired us."
Anastasia reflected on their struggles during tours: "A lot of the crew were men who didn't understand our needs, whether it was preparation time or mental readiness. At sound checks, we'd ask to adjust our mics, but nothing would happen until a male manager repeated the same thing. It's those small moments that show how much work still needs to be done for women in this industry."
A message to young artists
The group sees themselves as the "next Pacific Soul," drawing inspiration from the iconic Samoan group.
Anastasia's advice for young people who want to pursue a career in music is "Know exactly who you are, what you want to say, and how you want to say it. If you have those three locked in, no one can steer you away from who you are."
A.R.T has been signed to IKON Music, an Independent Label from Wellington, which was started by three members of the band Tomorrow People.
A.R.T expanded their audience, as the supporting act for Josh Tatofi on his South Pacific tour, which included shows in New Zealand, Australia and Samoa.
The band have filmed music videos for their singles, Easy and La Vie Dansante, which make good use of the stunning scenery of Samoa and American Samoa. These can be seen on the band's Youtube channel, which has been receiving a lot of online traffic including 475,000 views for the single When He Was Mine.
The band's debut album will be released in 2025.