Dirty Waters AKA Damian Wairau is an artist from Linden, Wellington.
LBB: Where are you from?
DW: I am a descendant of Ngati Kahungunu. Born in Wellington City, raised in Kenepuru/Linden my whole life, 4 generations deep.
LBB: What got you into music initially?
DW: When I was a kid I used to get into a lot of bad shit. I eventually ended up meeting some older guys who were doing their own music, they took me under their wing and helped me develop my love for emceeing. It got me off the streets and out of trouble.
LBB: What is your sound?
DW: I would say Hip Hop with grimy overtones beat-wise topped off with conscious but brutal lyrics.
LBB: Furthermore, who or what is/are your greatest inspirations in choosing the path you have? Why?
DW: The Hip Hop culture and the love of Music. Everybody knows Hip Hop is a way of life and it gives people identity and reason. It took me and a lot of other people off the streets, kept us out of prison and opened our minds to other possibilities and opportunities other than what we had. That is my main inspiration.
LBB: What do you most enjoy about the creative process, specifically to do with music? Conversely, what sort of challenges do you face during the process?
DW: I love making a beat that has certain type of feel to it, then vibing out trying to come up with hooks and rhymes that compliment that beat and feel.
The main challenge I almost always face is myself e.g: being picky and doubtful about whether this or that could be better?
LBB: What do you think is the single most important thing most artists overlook when it comes to creating their music, performing their music or marketing their music?
DW: Being Real.
LBB: Are there any pieces of valuable knowledge you could pass onto an artist striving to cut the same path as you?
DW: Be yourself, do it for the love.
LBB: Any final words?
DW: Shout out to everybody out there chasing their Dream. 100%.
Low Budget Brotherhood 