Stan Walker has announced he is working on a new biography he hopes to release later this year.
The singer from Tauranga Moana, Tūhoe and Ngāti Ranginui, says the book is a reflection of the first chapter of his life.
“This has been something in the making for a while now. I’ve been approached for the last seven years to do something like this and I’ve always just avoided it. I’ve been like ‘Oh I’m too young to do a book like this I’ve got so much more in me’, the 29-year-old says.
“But when they approached me last year it was kind of like an easy yes because it felt like the first chapter of my life has come to an end and I’m ready to tell that first chapter.”
Walker has faced some major highlights in his life, such as winning Australian Idol in 2009, as well as many challenges such as battling stomach cancer in 2017.
Walker says the COVID-19 lockdown has given him time to read through the first draft of the book.
“It was kind of like doing therapy, to be honest. When I was doing the sessions I had an amazing lady Margy who was writing for me as I was speaking. I was getting to know myself all again and all this stuff that I didn’t know about myself, says Walker.
“It was a really cool process and reading it back now, it takes me back to all those different times, those different moments and I’m really grateful. This is probably the biggest thing that I’ve done this far so I’m really excited.”
Working in COVID-19 lockdown
Walker says the lockdown has also given him a lot of time to reflect on where he’s heading with his music.
“It’s just been a really good time to tau and really just see where I want to go with everything because I’m so used to just being on the go and this is one of the longest times I’ve been at one place at one time.”
Walker is staying at his home in the Bay of Plenty where he’s been creating new music.
“I actually had to bring the studio to me and bring in all the gears and I’ve had to do it myself which is cool, he says.
“I can record my songs from here, send them to the producers and they can mix my vocals and everything like that.”
New album
Walker says he's is halfway through his new album which is based on the last two and a half years of his life.
“The last three years have been the best three years of my life and then some of the hardest times as well. All in all, it's just been incredible. So I guess it’s just a reflection, kind of a wrap up of the first chapter of my life, the first season of my life.”
Some of the waiata in the album are about climate change.
“I’m an advocate for climate change. It’s not that I know everything. I’m an ambassador for Cook Islands for climate change. I had the opportunity to be a part of that and it was more so to learn that in my learning I can be educated and hopefully educate other people.”
Overall Walker says one of the positives about COVID-19 is that it gives Papatūānuku “a time to rest a time to heal”.
He says he hasn’t decided on a title for the book but he hopes to release it later this year.