Inki grew up in Susquehanna and as a child, like many he began learning songs with a traditional instrument. For ten years he obtained a musical grounding playing standards trumpet with swing bands, marches, and jazz arrangements; however this conventional approach to music, did not satisfy his creative callings and by 2001 he dispassionately had stopped playing.
Life changing experiences then led Inki to explore Native American culture and ritual, which he began to integrate into many facets of his life. Through this new understanding and awareness of the interconnectedness of all things, his love for music was rekindled through the discovery of the Hang in 2009. It spoke to him of new possibilities, meanings for the process of making music and as it is within Native American culture, what music ritual can offer on more deeper and integrative levels. With his instrument’s special interplay of harmonics so began the magical beginnings of his song.
During travel to Thailand and India in the summer of 2012/13 the melody of the hang really began to take a more integral part in Inki’s life and his perspectives of the world he finds himself in. He began to realise, while playing in the streets of India, that with music he could connect people in this tumultuous world into a realm of healing which is deeply sacred and utterly transformational.
Full of inspiration from Mama India, Inki began to integrate his new growth and experiences with performance and collaborations with local artists, including the very successful Dunedin fire and dance group, the Firebugs. Later in 2013 and early 2014 he was invited to perform on stage with renowned New Zealand music artists and social activists including Matiu Te Huki and Karen Hunter. Later he was also invited to collaborate on tour with a popular British reggae/roots artist Bob Hillary.
In the subsequent years the hang has been accompanied by Native American flutes which but speak humbly of his own lineage, with the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Their song is rooted in his work with elders and medicine men of both continents. In addition, the evolution of his own blend of others music within “world-folk-beat” dj-sets have become a channel for listeners to connect to their own cultural roots.
Inki is currently on the road working on his debut album and preparing for collaborations and performances at local and national festivals in the coming year. His goal is to continue to hold spaces which allows others to connect to the divine within, creating an environment of peace and understanding which foster deeper levels of transformation.