Pacific wayfinding is an ancient art of navigating the open sea without the use of instruments. Throughout the centuries, Polynesian voyagers relied on techniques passed down generation to generation through chants, star circles, and stick charts to read natural signs to guide their way across vast ocean distances. These gifted mariners crossed thousands of miles of the Pacific in double-hulled canoes by memorizing the rising and setting positions of over 150 stars to form a mental compass. They read ocean swells by feeling changes in wave direction and interference patterns caused by distant islands and reefs, while tracking flight paths of land-based seabirds and observing sea color, bioluminescence and wind and cloud patterns.

Drawing inspiration from this tradition, Aotearoa (New Zealand)-based music producer and recording artist, Iharaira Starr, recently released his latest album, The Producers Chair, Vol. 3: Way Finder. The Quiet Achiever. Firmly entrenched in Māori and Pacific Island culture with themes of identity, heritage, resilience, spirituality, family and community, the record deftly oscillates between polished lovers rock and heavy roots and dub, threading traditional values through modern sounds and perspectives.

The son of lauded reggae vocalist, The Mighty Asterix, one of the first reggae-style toasters/MCs in the South Pacific who helped spread reggae, jungle, and drum and bass culture in Aotearoa, Starr previously released music under his birth name, Israel, before recently changing his professional moniker to the Aotearoan version, Iharaira. “It’s the transliteration from Hebrew to Māori ,” Starr explained. “I’ve been meaning to change it for a couple years now, but decided to do it with this new album.”

Starr related the odd circumstances that forced his hand. “I was getting a lot of people arguing on my (social media) posts about Israel & Palestine, which the posts had nothing to do with. The algorithm would pick it up and run with it and it was just getting out of hand where I had to delete comments from almost every post,” he laughed.

“Rasta don’t deal in war, so I’m against all war, anywhere,” he continued, referencing his upbringing in the 12 Tribes of Israel Rastafarian community in Aotearoa. “It’s a shame, because my real given name is Israel, but my name was just causing too much drama, especially with Starr next to it.” It even stopped him from getting show bookings because festival promoters didn’t want the name “Israel” on their posters, he said. “It’s not a major change – it’s still the same name – but now hopefully the algorithm can’t run away with it.”

Speaking of issues with names, Starr had even dealt with some uncertainty regarding the title of his latest album, which ended up being quite the mouthful: The Producers Chair, Vol. 3: Way Finder. The Quiet Achiever. The title denotes that this is the 3^rd installment in his series of albums called The Producers Chair, which  represents the artist working alongside an abundant amount of producers, vocalists, writers and musicians rather than it solely being his work. “It also represents me taking my life into my hands once more and sitting in the producer’s chair, directing and taking charge, molding the physical realm into what I’ve imaged in the mental and spiritual,” he added.

As far as the rest of the lengthy title, Way Finder clearly references the central theme of the album, but what about The Quiet Achiever part? “Funny story,” Starr began. “We had the name The Way Finder for a while. Then, two weeks before the drop, Disney announced the album (the soundtrack to the 2026 live action version of the animated film Moana,) with a lot of my musical friends on it. I started getting a lot of feedback from people who thought it was a play on Moana with the whole Disney buzz going on at the moment, when really we had this concept way before.”

“People even thought the front cover was trying to be like Maui from the movie Moana,” he laughed. “And that’s all sweet, but I thought it seemed a bit too close, and the timing was just bad. So, we added the main title, The Quiet Achiever, which was the other name we were going with.”

Starr explained the latter part of the title: “I feel like in my music career I’ve done a lot, in terms of numbers and achievements, from multiple platinum plaques, sold out shows, festivals, crazy streams, big productions, artist development, etc., but I don’t quite get the recognition or validation from the industry or other musicians.”

Starr said that he has always been happy with “kind of standing in the background” as a producer and/or manager for a lot of popular artists in the music scene Down Under. “And I do enjoy this space just slightly off screen, but at the same time, I feel like I shouldn’t have to fight as hard as I do to get things done in the industry. The real ones know and I love them for that, but I feel like I’ve paid my dues now and I’m ready to step out of the shadows and cement my place within our music scene,” he said, comparing his role to
“that one player on a rugby or football team who just goes about their work and gets the job done quietly and is super crucial to the health of the team but doesn’t quite get the overall recognition.”

The Producers Chair, Vol. 3: Way Finder. The Quiet Achiever offers a lot to unpack but let’s start with the most obvious, the album cover. Starr said it was photographed in his kitchen. “The Tapa Cloth hanging on the wall is a taonga (treasure) hand made from barkcloth and was gifted to us from friends from Fiji. Then we have multiple other taonga from different Pacific islands that are in our house. Having these all together represents our Pacific consciousness as a whole and how I wanted to bring together those themes of us all being connected from ancient days.”

The album starts off with vibey soundsystem fodder, “The Whakapapa of Sound,” which builds at a crawl, opening with the sounds of waves crashing before being joined by the spoken word voice of Ngataiharuru Taepa chanting in Māori. Whakapapa refers to the Māori concept of genealogy, lineage, and descent, broadly acting as a framework that links all living things, natural elements, the earth, and the sky in a cosmic family tree. It also refers to the passing down of traditional Māori knowledge, including history, legends, and philosophies, from one generation to the next.

Starr immediately establishes the theme of the record with this opening track, relating whakapapa to “a genealogy of sound.” He explains, “This song represents the ancient lineage of sound and how we’ve progressed. We first hear nature sounds, like the ocean. Then, we hear Māori traditional instruments, which represent man’s relationship and communication with nature. Then, it moves onto voice which is man now being able to communicate with nature and the spiritual realm. Then, finally, onto semi-modern horns, and then up-to-date modern synths, representing how far we have come from nature until now. It tells the story of our whakapapa through AND of sound, from birth to modern times.” Starr added that the chant he used is called a karakia, or type of prayer that relates exactly what he had stated but in a more poetic way.

From the opener, the album goes into three songs with the smooth r&b flavor that Polynesian reggae is known for. The second one in the sequence, “Roots Session,” leans more towards roots reggae as the title suggests, and features soulful vocals from Irie Love and Lomez Brown.

The fourth track, “Love is All We Need,” percolates with understated brass and soars with the heavenly voice of Sianne, who sings lead before dueting with Starr.  “Sianne is an amazing voice with a generational range,” gushed Starr.  “She lives not far from me, so it was easy to link up. She’s been around for a while, but she’s only in her early 20s and has a big future. One of the most enjoyable voices I’ve loved to produce in the studio. You can throw anything at her and she can just smash it first go!”

Following this trio of songs, Starr presents a skit introducing the next tune, a banger called “Aotearoa Rastafari.” The song features a chorus of voices that shout out Rastas from around the different geographic regions of Aotearoa over a fierce riddim. “The skit beforehand was an embellished re-creation of what actually happened when we started flying ideas around for the track,” Starr explained. About the tune itself, he said, “It’s a very playful song, but also super militant, which I think shows the contrast of our actual personalities. We joke and laugh a lot, then next minute we are burning down the system in a serious way.”

East coast Rasta are the craziest

West coast Rasta are the waviest

Down south Rasta are the haziest

Up North Rasta are the blaziest

Starr provided more context about the tune: “Growing up Rasta, we were taught to be very serious about our mission, but I think as I’ve grown and matured, I’ve found that you can’t be in that state at all times. You have to find humor in the struggle, or you just become an angry person. Rastafari has been well established in Aotearoa for almost half a century now and we have created our own livity and fused it with our ancestral and modern way of life. This song is supposed to be a representation of who we are as Māori and Rasta people combined. An anthem for us to be proud of.”

Worth mentioning, Starr lists Aotearoan producer Riddim Cartel as a collaborator on the skit and song, along with several other tracks on the album. About his contributions, Starr said, “He was an integral part of this album. We locked ourselves in the studio for four weeks straight. He helped with ideas, melodies, playing musical parts and just being a bouncing board as well. Being in the studio is as much about the energy and the vibration as it is technical, and he is a bredren (with) who we work together really well.”

After the amped up “Aotearoa Rastafari,” Way Finder. The Quiet Achiever downshifts to the intoxicating “Words of Wisdom (Ngāti Riddim).” In Māori, Ngāti translates to “descendants of” or “tribe of,” so with these cultural associations of kinship, the song intertwines Rasta and indigenous perspectives to celebrate wisdom passed down through family, community, and elders.

Once again, Sianne’s smoky vocals take the lead before the growl of Lion Rezz enters for a spirited verse of Rasta consciousness, followed by the singing of Paquin, who, like Sianne, sings with a bit of a raspiness, but in a lower range. Starr said that he had no “major master plan” around having multiple voices on the track, but that Sianne “laid a mean hook and verse” and then he just thought Rezz and Paquin would sound good together on one track, so he sent it to them and “they came back with their fire.” As it turns out, the presence of multiple vocalists reinforces the feeling of a shared conversation, as though different members of a community are contributing perspectives and lessons.

Musically, “Words of Wisdom” is headphone gold. Along with heavy bass, Starr weaves vocal samples and instrumental loops along with other sonic elements and sound effects, creating a heady atmosphere to showcase the varied voices. Like with the majority of the album, Starr played every instrument on the tune. He said he intends to release a “juggling” on the riddim, with two other versions already produced.  

Starr keeps a similar vibe going into the next song, “Revolutionary Anthem,” as he channels Dennis Brown’s “Promised Land.” The track intertwines Rastafarian and Māori messaging with a rebel spirit tied together with sound clips excerpted from African American political activist and Black Panther, Fred Hampton, as well as Bob Marley, speaking on revolution.

Everybody got their own energy

And how you spend it totally up to thee

And in my heart I know one day we free

Coz you shine you light woah

As for me, rebellious spirit is was blessed unto we

As for me, Rastafari it a di highest energy

As for me, burn down corruption with positivity

As for me, many called few a chosen

After the seriousness of “Revolutionary Anthem,” another skit signals a shift in energy, and the mood lightens up with a couple of buoyant collaborations with Starr’s father, The Mighty Asterix: “Roots Selection” and “Stylee (Pep the Conqueror Riddim),” the latter of which Rootfire covered with a Single Showcase in December, 2024.  “The skit is an idea we had paying homage to soundsystem culture and Riddim Cartel’s actual soundsystem, OraWhana HiFi,” Starr shared. “I feel like these songs show best how Dad and I perform live on a soundsystem.”

“Seasons” follows, a chilled-out instrumental dub tune with some lovely guitar and simmering brass featuring The Dub Quartet, which was the name Starr gave to the three instrumentalists on the track: Mat Enright on trumpet, Adrian Win on guitar and Bryn Vliet on flute. About the title, Starr explained, “There are four verses including mine, each representing the seasons of nature, but also our seasons throughout our lives.”

From here, Way Finder. The Quiet Achiever pivots back to the easy r&b flavored lovers rock with a beauty titled, “I Like It,” before getting spiritual again with “Tuia.” Ground-shaking sub-bass lays the foundation for spoken word lyrics courtesy of Tekahu Rolleston, who, according to Starr, “is arguably the greatest spoken word poet Aotearoa has ever created.” Tuia is a verb that means to weave, bind, stitch, or thread together. It is deeply symbolic, often used to describe bringing people, communities, or ideas into unity and connection. Starr said, “I feel like this spoken word actually brings together the whole idea of the album…the inherent connection between all Pacific islands,” before adding, “He also speaks of carrying the energy with you when you speak on marae or in formal places, and have mana or confidence to live within and express those vibrations that your ancestors gave you.”

“Tuia” segues perfectly, both musically and thematically, into “The Awakening,” which has a spiritual theme and the feel of a mantra. Plodding bass and cascading horns frame singing from Starr, The Mighty Asterix, Ras Stone and the unmistakable Cedric Myton of The Congos. “Ive been wanting to have Cedric on a tune for a while now,” Starr said. “Finally was able to get in touch at the right time, and when I got his vocals in, I cried (laughs). I can’t overstate how much it meant to me having Cedric on a tune. He’s a legend and his work shaped me as a person. I really look up to Cedric and the Congos as how I would like to function when I’m that age.”

Starr explained that Myton actually wrote an entire track to the riddim. “I had sent a version with just the verse free, and then the whole riddim, and he decided to do an entire song, of which we might release down the road.”

Starr continued, “This is one of those tunes that just organically happened as well. We didn’t come up with the name of the song until after it was fully done. We had done all our parts, then sent off to Cedric, and he was inspired to focus on Africa, which just fit perfectly. A true highlight for me in my career.”

The album wraps up with a really cool number called “Fire for the Soul,” featuring  an up-tempo percussion-driven rhythm and muted guitar notes. A sound similar to a fog horn punctuates the song at times, courtesy of a queen conch shell. Starr pointed out that the actual shell is on the front cover of the album. “We use it for many things in the Pacific, from acting as a bell for school children to calling out to the whales,” he said.

Perhaps ironically, with its percussion, the song is reminiscent of The Congos “Congoman,” but Starr said there was no link to the collab with Myton, and that the inspiration for the rhythm actually came from “Something Funny” by Wailing Souls.

Starr also shared that “Fire for the Soul” evolved out of informal jams. “This song was special because I tried to incorporate as many indigenous native instruments lying around my house, so we have drums from Africa, percussion from Samoa, Melle drums from the Cook Islands, and native Māori  instruments along with string sections from Europe, bass, synth, guitar and keys. Finding a way to harmoniously marry all native instruments.”

In the spirit of the scout who travels beyond the horizon in search of new opportunities for the tribe, Way Finder. The Quiet Achiever speaks to individuals who trust their instincts, wisdom, and vision instead of following conventional paths. True to his independent spirit, Israel Starr continues to create on his own terms rather than conforming to trends. The result is a work that celebrates personal growth, honors cultural heritage, and reminds us to reach toward the future without losing sight of where we began.