Ngāruawāhia mother Pianika Duncan and her two daughters have been using music to help others during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the lockdown, Duncan has posted videos on social media of her and her two daughters, aged three and seven, singing old school music.
“People love the old school stuff too and I think when it’s sung by little babies it’s different and they like it.”
She says people from all around the world have tuned in to watch them sing and one of the videos posted to Duncan's Facebook page gained almost half a million views.
“That was a bit of a shock and heaps of it is from other countries as well which is pretty cool. We didn’t really expect that response.”
Duncan is a singer-songwriter and comes from a musically inclined whānau. She has been writing music for as long as she can remember.
“I was bought up on old school (music). My dad, that’s all he played. Elvis, Carpenters, Bee Gees and all that jazz."
She says she enjoys writing gospel and inspirational music.
“I think it just brings back memories of my childhood and so it’s a bit nostalgic for me. But I just enjoy the old school tunes way more than anything else.”
She says her and her whānau have enjoyed the lockdown.
“It’s a time we’ve been able to just chill out, slow down and sing and have fun. We’ve been enjoying it and I’ve been baking more, cooking more so we love it.”
Duncan says the trio will continue to post videos of them singing to bring more happiness to people during the lockdown.