Shy pop and neo-soul music artist, Hina has been producing music from the comfort of her bedroom for a while now and it's working so well she's not only releasing her own music to the public, she's also managing to collaborate with other artists.
Christchurch indie-pop artist Bexy Shingleton is just one, and together they've just released a new waiata called Made This Way.
Hina, also known as Amy Boroevich, of Te Rarawa and Ngāti Raukawa descent, has a sultry voice infused with jazz, soul, hip hop and R&B.
“I started writing songs when I was about 17 just on the guitar and singing. But I was always too shy to sing in front of everyone."
Hina and Bexy's new waiata, Made This Way, literally emerged from fire and ice while they were at a writing camp in Palmerston North last year.
"We got put together by producer Rory Noble who's an incredible producer, and Mikey Dam, an amazing songwriter … and the mixing desk that we were going to be working with, caught on fire, and smoked out the whole room, which was wild, and we ended up writing the song out on the deck in the freezing cold.”
Hina explains her new waiata is about, “confronting the uncertainties of life sort of head-on because I guess there are two schools of thought where you can say we're all going to die one day, life is pointless, this sucks, or you can say, We're gonna die one day, let's make the most of this beautiful life that we have.”
The multi-instrumentalist artist says it was her involvement in a Māori TV youth series called Pao, Pao, Pao that made her want to pursue music as a career.
"I had some beautiful mentors at Pao Pao Pao who have also jinspired me so much like Seth Hapu, Troy Kingi, Maisey Rika, Ria Hall, Tama Waipara, and Teeks."
“I've got two songs coming up. One's going to be the leading single of my next EP called Tararua. So it's grounded by and centred on my maunga on my mom's side.”
Hina's father is former All Black, Kevin Boroevich and says her whānau loved the sound of her new waiata, especially her dad whose musical taste could best be described as old school.
“He's so funny. He loves listening to the same music that he listened to when he was 17 and he doesn't really branch out. So the fact that I've made it onto his "boroe-nator" playlist as he calls it. I'm pretty proud that I'm there among the greats in his mind.”
Hina has a few more waiata coming out this year and collaborations with other artists but, in the meantime, she is working on her confidence to sing in front of audiences as she fulfils a dream to tour around Aotearoa.