as Hanisi Garue alongside Navakatoa Tekela-Pule
TINĀ (Film) d. Miki Magasiva
STILL HERE SEASON 2 (TV Series) d. Litia Tuiburelevu (2023)
TUIA NGĀ HERE (Short Film) d. Kura Turuwhenua and Heriata Rurehe (2023)
NEXT GOAL WINS (Film) d. Taika Waititi (2023) cover of 'Musika Malie' by The Five Stars
LEAO is a creative endeavor spearheaded by David Feauai-Afaese. Drawing influence from traditional Samoan-pop staples such as The Samoan Surfriders, Punialava'a, and The Five Stars, it is an experimental work written from a fa'asamoa core.
At the heart of LEAO lies a deep-rooted connection to ancestral heritage, symbolized by a new spring of an ancestral flower. This project brings the mats of traditional fa’asamoa and their own diasporic experience into meeting. Budded from a conversation with collaborator, Larsen Taylor (Whyfi.), a curiosity, which would then transform into tōfa saili (a journey of wisdom), was sprung from unfolding an alternative fa’asamoa project.
David alongside Navakatoa Tekela-Pule as screen-composing duo Hanisi Garue, have scored season 2 of the award-winning docuseries ‘Still Here’, a love letter to the inner-city Auckland Pasifika community, directed by Litia Tuiburelevu and produced by Four and Five Films. They scored the short film ‘Tuia Ngā Here’ directed by Kura Turuwhenua and Heriata Rurehe produced by Māoriland Productions, and contributed to the soundtrack of the film ‘Tinā’ directed by Miki Magasiva and produced by Dan Higgins, Mario Gaoa and Jamie Hilton.
With their famous high-energy live shows, they performed for RNZ Music Live Sessions series at Samoa House on Karangahape Road, were featured in RNZ’s Aotearoa Music Web Series ‘Amplified’, and opened for Saharan superstars Tinariwen in their Aotearoa tour.
Part of the Aotearoa based pan-Moana record label and collective Noa Records, LEAO released 'GHOST ROADS' on the label in 2019 to critical acclaim.
In 2023, their cover of 'Musika Malie' by The Five Stars, was featured in the film ‘Next Goal Wins’ directed by Academy Award winning director Taika Waititi.
By bridging traditional perceptions of fa'asamoa with unconventional forms of Pasifika music, LEAO seeks to illuminate not only the boundless creative possibilities but also the forgotten homes we are all rooted in and allowing them to share life with and through each other.