Photography: Emily Chalk.
“Ooh, baby, it’s making me crazy,” a soulful voice sings.
“Every time I look around, it’s in my face.”
Despite it being three decades since OMC’s global smash hit How Bizarre was recorded, the voice is unmistakably Sina Saipaia’s, the Samoan-Kiwi singer behind the iconic chorus.
“That is undeniably a definite hook,” says Sina, 55, speaking to Woman’s Day at her home in Auckland’s Mount Roskill.
“Because here’s the thing – anyone can sing it.”
None quite like her, though, which is why Sina was chosen by her friend, OMC frontman Pauly Fuemana, for the job.
“I wrote the tune and the melody, but not the words,” she says.
Sina and Pauly became mates at just 13 years old, as part of a group of kids in Ōtara, South Auckland, who loved performing.
“The year was 1983 and I’d just started third form,” she recalls.
“I hung out with four other kids, all three years older than me. We enjoyed singing, acting and dancing, and were all blessed with gifts.”
A journey full of surprises
Since that time, Sina’s life has been full of unexpected – some might say bizarre – twists, which have led to stories she now enjoys sharing with her four beloved kids,Luther Leigh, 23, 22-year-old twins Vincent Louis and Malone Robert, and LamarHendrix, 21.
“Oh, most definitely,” she answers when asked if her children are proud of her achievements.
“They can’t even believe some of it.”
Sina’s musical journey began alongside the inception of the Ōtara Music Arts Centre (OMAC), where she and her mates were first mentored by co-founder Sione Pasene.
“His dream was to have a place where kids could express themselves through the arts, to keep them off the streets and out of trouble,” she says.
“After school, we’d walk to the Ōtara Hall and hang out with Sione. He’d talk to us about our goals, what we were capable of and how to bring out the best in our talents.”
The people who believed in her
It was also at OMAC that she met Tim Mahon of the band Blam Blam Blam, then the programme supervisor, who’d go on to significantly influence Sina’s career.
“He always encouraged me to keep writing songs and practising the instruments I was good at, no matter what scene I was into at the time.”
He also introduced her to Sistermatic, with whom she recorded the song Million Dollar. Around the same time, Sina also lent her distinctive backing vocals to Tim Finn’s 1995 top-10 hit Runs In The Family.
That year, she performed with OMC at the Big Day Out, alongside Hole, the Offspring, Silverchair, Supergroove and Sisters Underground.
“That was definitely an eye-opener for me,” remembers Sina.
When everything changed
However, it was How Bizarre that changed everything. The song hit number one in five countries, including Australia, Canada and the UK, propelling the South Auckland musicians into the spotlight.
“All of a sudden, we were hot property number one,” tells Sina.
“Neither of us knew it was going to happen. I didn’t realise how popular the song was. Once it dawned on me, I thought, ‘Oh, this is great!Is this what it feels like to be a rockstar?!’”
But despite the whirlwind success, Sina insists fame didn’t change her or Pauly.
“It was just the music driving us. We were always the same. A window opened and we walked through it, then more doors opened for us. We just did the best we could.”
Pauly died in 2010 after a battle with chronic illness. Sina remembers him as an extraordinary entertainer.
“He was an amazing artist,” she enthuses.
“He was unique in the way he danced and performed. He gave everything to the audience. The way he rapped too – he had a natural lisp and you can hear it in the songs. I can’t thank him enough. God bless his soul.”
Ready to make her own mark
Pauly was a close friend and Sina speaks warmly as she holds up a gift he gave her.
She explains, “He picked up this lavalava made from tapa cloth for me on Karangahape Road to wear in the How Bizarre video. We were basically like brother and sister. I used to help him along a bit and he understood me.”
It wasn’t all harmonious, though. Sina admits Pauly could be a difficult artist to work with, but her empathy for her bandmate is clear.
“He did his best and his best was the best. You’re talking about a kid from Ōtara who made it big worldwide.”
Following the success of How Bizarre, producer Alan Jansson and Huh! Records founder Simon Grigg approached Sina about recording her own album.
“They both looked at me and said, ‘Sina, what do you want?’ I put my hand up and said, ‘I want to record and co-write an album with Alan.’”
A bond that went beyond the band
Her first single, Don’t Be Shy, was released in 1998, reaching number two on the New Zealand charts and earning gold certification. The follow-up single, Boy, featured in the film What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted and became an unexpected radio favourite.
“They were absolutely amazing,” Sina says of Alan and Simon.
“Alan gave me links in the music industry. I co-wrote my album with him, and he engineered it and did the majority of recording. I call him a genius and he still is. I really worked for that album.”
The album was due for release in 1998 through Huh! Records in New Zealand, Motown in the US and PolyGram elsewhere, but the project was derailed when PolyGram was sold. Amid the upheaval, Sina’s album was shelved.
However, Simon’s belief in Sina never wavered and nearly two decades later, he convinced Universal Music New Zealand to finally release the album. Recently she also came full circle with Tim, when she was asked to do backing vocals on his new record The Great Kerfuffle, with a band that includes members of Ardijah, Bamboo, the Newmatics and Blam Blam Blam.
“Tim Mahon’s style is amazing,” she says.
“I was totally blown away watching them perform. Tim has helped so many people and now it’s time to give back.”
Where Sina finds happiness now
Sina says that while she continues to write and record music, she also enjoys something far more down-to-earth these days – busking outside her local supermarket.
“I love seeing the look on people’s faces,” she smiles.
“If they tap their toes as they walk past and I get a little grin, then I’ve done my job. Some of them know me as the girl who sang the chorus on How Bizarre. I’ll even give out photos of myself and Pauly as memorabilia.”
But it’s at home where Sina now gets her greatest satisfaction, with her husband Luther Leigh Rogers.
“We just sit back and watch our children,” she says.
“They’re lovely. They do all the cooking and cleaning now. We get to enjoy the fruits of our labour.”
Tim Mahon’s album The Great Kerfuffle is out now.
