Located in the central part of Africa, Burundi is a tiny country compared with it's neighbors but a country rich in history, culture and of course music. Sadly though, after more than five decades of unrest, civil war and sadly - genocide, Burundi is now one of the ten poorest nations in the world. Following a similar situation to Rwanda in the early 90's - Hutu and Tutsi saw many fleeing the region to escape the war. Somehow, some of these Burundians made it as far away from their homeland as you can possibly get - New Zealand, and now for more than a decade there has been a thriving Burundian community in Aotearoa. Pierre Bahti is a great example of that, he escaped with his wife and children and after some time in a refugee camp he made the mission to New Zealand and now runs his mechanics workshop on Auckland's North Shore. Once he arrived he became friends with other Burundians and they formed a group playing the legendary Burundian drums - as you'll see it's a performance like no other and for me whenever I hear these guys preform it's even more moving when I know what they've been through to finally find some peace, far far away from their home.
About Beats In Our Backyard with Nick Dwyer
Beats In Our Backyard is an exploration of New Zealand's multi-culture through music. All my life I've been all consumed with the discovery of new music and over the last ten years I've been traveling the world in search of new and exotic sounds from all around the globe - especially in the last 4 years with a TV series I present and direct called 'Making Tracks'. Last year I was given the opportunity to host at the Auckland Cultural Festival and it was really then that I realized the extent of our ethnic diversity. From Burundi and Somalia in Africa to Mongolia and Nepal in Asia to nearly every Caribbean Island nation - New Zealand is home to over 150 different nations - each of these people has an extraordinary story to tell, and for alot of them the best way to do that is through their music, which they are all incredibly proud of. The idea behind Beats In Our Backyard is to shine the spotlight on these communities and their music, and hopefully as a by-product you'll learn a little bit more about your relatively new neighbors along the way.