Fran Kora is originally from Whakatane. He's contributed a lot to NZ music, he's a founding member of KORA and now Modern Māori Quartet KORA, which stars the four musical brothers of the Kora family who began playing together as a band in the early 1990s. The band have released three studio albums and are one of the country's most prolific and beloved live bands.
They began songwriting for their new releases in 2019 with a fresh line-up. Based around long term members Fran Kora, Dan McGruer, and Richie Allan, new members Darren Mathiassen (Trinity Roots, Hollie Smith, Shapeshifter), Marika Hodgson (Hollie Smith, Troy Kingi, Alae) and Karlos Tunks (Troy Kingi, Modern Maori Quartet) have joined the mix.
His new project, Modern Māori quartet (James Tito, Matariki Whatarau, Maaka Pohatu, and Francis Kora) put their own spin on modern and classic numbers. Fran joins Charlotte for an honest and casual chat about life, his musical journey so far, and picks 6 of his favourite tunes on this episode of The Mixtape.
