4/4 Pacific Music + Arts Volume 2:1 Oct 2016 | Page 13

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FEATURE: MAL & DEAHNE LAKATANI

I wanted to interview Mal, to learn more about his
artistic journey and The Creative Souls Project. For the
interview, we talked at Mal’s home and the interview
itself reflected his very full home and work life. Firstly
it took a while to confirm a time to meet, then during
the interview I got to interact with his children who
joined us from time to time, and also talk with Deahne.
The soundtrack to the interview was the sound of
kids playing and laughing, the dog barking, a bit of
drumming from his two year old son – all combining to
give more insight into Mal’s life.
Mal backs up all his work, with a huge work ethic and
also talent to match. Mal is the real deal through and
through. He is completely dedicated to his work and
to supporting the young people he works with. He has
been able to share his gift and love of music with his
students and the young people he is mentoring.
MAL'S MUSIC JOURNEY
Before we talked about The Creative Souls Project, I
wanted to talk with Mal about his journey with music.
He said “I started doing music in church from a really
young age, I was maybe 3 or 4. My family was very
musical and I was part of our family band.” Mal was
the drummer in his Dad’s band when he was just 6

years old and picked up piano when he was older. His
parents were the tutors for the Tamaki College Niuean
group, so Mal was also introduced to Polyfest when he
was very young.

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Mal Lakatani is one of the special people of the world. He has a wonderful positive
energy and the best smile and laugh I know. He has a genuine interest in helping
others, which ϐits perfectly with his profession as a teacher and mentor. Together
with his wife Deahne, they are the dynamic duo and powerful force behind the social
enterprise, The Creative Souls Project.

“I think I’ve always known that I wanted to do
music. I didn’t know what it was, but knew I loved
the idea of playing, learning to play and learning
to sing. You don’t really learn to love something, but I
think, the more I did it, the more I was exposed to it, the
more I found a huge enjoyment with it. I knew I really
wanted to do it as a serious thing in my teenage years
at high school”.
Graduating from the University of Auckland with a
teaching degree, Mal began working as a high school
teacher. “Teaching alone is such a rewarding job,
but teaching music is something that is special to
everybody. It comes down to a matter of sharing
experiences and what we all know.”
While working as a teacher, Mal continued to be a
very active musician and over the years has been in
a number of high profile bands including Te Vaka, Che
Fu & the Krates, and Daylight Robbery with David
Dallas. He also gigged consistently in the covers
scene. Mal also worked on his own original music,
writing and recording his debut EP in 2009, which

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