Tenor: My Name is Pati is a music-packed documentary that tells the story of Pene Pati and his brother Amitai Pati. Follow their against-the-odds journey from Samoa to platinum-selling success in the popular trio Sol3 Mio and on the world’s greatest opera stages. Bursting with humour, heart and soaring performances, the film reveals the resilience born of adversity, the richness of family and culture, and the rewards that come from following an unlikely dream.
As Tenor: My Name is Pati releases across Australian cinemas this weekend, Nick L’Barrow spoke with the subject of this new documentary, Pene Pati himself, about the emotional power of music, and how his family and community is the foundation behind everything he does.
Nick: This is a beautiful documentary, Pene. And there is a lot of examination about how music can emotionally move people. I’m curious to know if you can remember back to the first time you were moved by music?
Pene Pati: You know, my dad used to play “I Am Sailing” by Rod Stewart on the guitar. It was the first thing he told us we were going to learn on the guitar. And I just heard him constantly singing this song. Then I learned it on guitar, and now every time I pick up a guitar, I start playing it. I play “I Am Sailing” by Rod Stewart. And I don’t know why, but it’s become so emotionally attached for me because I realised he was singing about going back home. Now when I sing it overseas, it makes sense to me.
Nick: The emotion in singing is one thing, but I’m intrigued as to how you create the performative physicality to go along with it and tell these stories through song?
PP: I take such a different approach, but a lot of artists take a really scholastic approach to acting. They’ve gone to schools, whereas my approach to whatever character I am playing on stage is to just put myself in the shoes of that person. I’m not trying to play Rodolfo. I’m trying to be Pene Pati as that person, you know? So, all of the interactions and emotional content is how I would purely react naturally. It’s funny because in so many instances, directors are like, “No, you should do this”. And then I always pause and say that I just instinctively wouldn’t do that. I can’t do that or cry there or be angry there because I don’t feel it there. I need to be immersed, and so the acting sort of comes second nature to the point where it’s not even acting. It’s really just me on stage.
Nick: Another technical aspect of singing that I was curious about was singing in another language. Do you have to learn foundational parts of Italian to understand what you’re singing, or is it a matter of just learning the words for the songs you need to know?
PP: There are so many ways to attack this. And in fact even today people don’t want to admit on the stage that some people just sing and they don’t know what they’re singing about! They just know the story and the words, but they don’t know the language. And that’s fine to a degree. You can get to that point. But, for me, I really wanted to get an understanding of the pronunciation and learn the language. I started learning off of a free app! But the biggest drive for me was understanding what I was saying outside of the emotional music moments. Learning the language allowed me to take it to the next level so I could understand what was happening in the quiet, nonchalant moments, too.
Nick: It’s mentioned in the documentary that being an opera singer is like being an athlete. Are there parallels to training for something like rugby as there is to training to be an opera singer?
PP: We could talk for ages about this! Absolutely! Anyone can just go and yell a note on the street, or do some karaoke, and that’s fine. But the amount of work that goes behind singing – it’s one of the hardest, if not the hardest instrument to teach. It’s not like piano where if you strike the same key over and over, you will get the same result. It’s also about getting the feeling right, trusting the sound, and training that. The amount of commitment is beyond. You can’t socialise because if I yell too loudly at an event, or if I hug someone who is sick, you lose a job for the next two weeks. And like rugby, you’re constantly improving yourself. You have to stay healthy. You have to be at the gym, because if your fitness is not up there, you won’t get fielded. It’s the same for singing. And beyond that, it’s a team sport. You can’t have a team of just wingers, you need the forwards too. The same way a singer needs technicians and stagehands and actors. You can’t do it alone!
Nick: The documentary shows how comfortable you are exploring and expressing your emotions, not just through song, but with your family too. What was your experience exploring emotions growing up, and how was the affected by music, culture and family?
PP: That is such a nice, vulnerable, good question. I’m glad you brought this up because also as it says in the film, it can sometimes be a private thing. You keep those feelings to yourself in a way because as youngsters, we couldn’t express much, especially in strong Samoan culture. It was like, you were told what to do. And if you’re sad, you just be quiet and get on with it. If you’re over stimulated, too bad. And suddenly, music then became this outlet that was emotionally driven by something. It’s somewhere I could just let it all go. And as that progressed – and I’ve realised this happens in a lot of families – we used to just shelter up. We couldn’t talk to each other about these things. And now, when I do it with my mum, my dad, my sisters and my brother, we have this very open style. I’m like, “Why didn’t we just do this from the start”! Well, I guess we needed the medium of music to step in and be the vessel for what we wanted to say.
Nick: Speaking of family, your brother is also a prominent part of this documentary. And I love that you don’t just bond through both of your incredible talents, but you see that bond when you’re both watching rugby or playing video games. I’m curious to know how all of these different elements of expression and connection helped strengthen the relationship between you both?
PP: Man, great question. You know what, my brother and I didn’t really have a good relationship growing up because we had two older sisters. So I connected with the eldest sister more, and he was connected with the next sister. We never really got along. And then we got into art, funnily enough – oh, God, I hadn’t even thought about this. As we got more and more into singing opera together, we became super tight. And the funny thing is, we’re so competitive in so many things… except for being on stage. On stage, we’re together. We sing together. The one thing that brings out emotions, let’s not be competitive there. We share the stage together.
Nick: You mentioned earlier how you can’t do what you do alone. How does the Samoan and islander culture, especially the idea of community, feed into what you do professionally?
PP: Oh, my God! You’re coming in with the great questions! Everything! Everything! You know why? Because they keep you true to who you are. It’s easy to get lost into the glitz and glamour of the arts. Everyone will praise you. Then you go home, and you’re a son. A brother. I might be a star overseas. But when I am with my mum, I feel like a child again. There’s something so innocently beautiful about that. I sleep at my family’s home. I could get a hotel down the street, but I belong at home. They are the reason to sing, because it’s that community that made you. That’s what makes art so beautiful. And you have to find your “why” when you’re doing it, as opposed to just wanting to be the best. I am always surprised at this level at how many people just do this for themselves because they want to be the best. They don’t care about anyone else. And if you’re satisfied, it’s fine. But there is something beautiful about knowing that you’re not just doing it for you. You’re doing it for a bigger purpose.
Thank you to Pene for his time, and to Rialto Distribution and NedCo PR for organising the interview. Tenor: My Name is Pati is in Australian cinemas now.
