The core of the band has always been three Tongan brothers – Rob, Sione/John, and Charlie Pome’e. In 2002, they won a talent quest at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel on Yates Rd in Māngere. They formed a gospel band with family and friends, but it didn’t work out, so they headed back to their own house, which was three houses further along Blampied Road. Their father, Talanoa, encouraged them to form their own band, and fourth brother Loiola also became a founding member. This led to their name, Three Houses Down.
Talanoa Pome’e, the boys’ father, encouraged their music in every way
Talanoa had recently been laid off after working over 30 years as a machine operator doing 12-hour shifts at a local factory. He took what he could from his superannuation each week to buy musical instruments for his boys. He provided musical direction too, since he was choirmaster at their local church, as his own father had been. Three Houses Down was originally a four-piece – Charlie on vocals and guitars, Rob on keyboards, Sione on backing vocals (later percussion), and Willy/William Fehoko on keyboards. As they grew in confidence, the band expanded to become a 10 to 11-piece band.
Their first album Dreadtown (2007) was recorded at York Street Recording Studio with Nic Manders, with the band playing live in the studio. The album encapsulated their roots reggae sound. ‘Dandyman’ is very true to its Jamaican roots, sounding like early ska in its rhythm and use of horns.
Their music drew in other influences too – ‘3HD Anthem’ added some wailing guitar into the mix and the album ended with a song in Tongan, ‘Foi Paongo,’ which spoke of yearning for a lover far away.
Other group members joining the Pome’e brothers at this point included Junior Brown, Vincent Paul Brbich, Ritchie Langi, Nora Pange, Siosaia Manu, Tala Niko, Peni Tapueluelu, Clayton Holloway, and Mark Houghton. They won the People’s Choice Awards at the Pacific Music Awards.
Break Out
For their second album, they booked five days at York Street and recorded each song live as a band, with no individual takes added. It was very much a follow-on from their previous release, as Sione explains:
“The band was always known for their live performances, so it was only right to record our albums live. We followed every concept we did with the first album from the recording studio, sound engineer and messages of the songs.”
The line-up included guitarist Josh Iopu, bassist Matt Auva’a, keyboardist Tonga Vaea, and drummer Lisiate Langi, as well as a horn section made up of Penisimani Palavi Tapueluelu, Liva Tapueluelu and Siosaia Manu.
Break Out (2009) opened with one of their most infectious tracks, ‘Kanikapila,’ named after a Hawaiian tradition of making up music within a jam session. On ‘Keep Your Culture’ they called on Polynesians to be proud of their heritage. They made clear that Māori were included in their message by filming the music video at Ōmarumutu marae.
At the Pacific Music Awards in 2010, Break Out was awarded Best Pacific Music Album (Tui Award) and they also received the Best Pacific Song for ‘Kanikapila’.
Three Houses Down played their first overseas show in Anaheim, California
Three Houses Down played their first overseas show in Anaheim, California at a show arranged by Soli Mauigoa, who had been involved with Break Out. They followed it with shows in Hawaii, Utah, San Francisco, LA, and Las Vegas. In 2010, they returned to Hawaii – first to play their own show at the Waikiki Shell in January, then a return visit to support UB40 at Aloha Tower’s Waterfront – an early highlight of their career. They also visited Australia, playing with popular Hawaiian singer Fiji and Nesian Mystik. One of the most satisfying trips was visiting Tonga, where they performed at their own sold out show-and appeared at The Block Party event.
Back in Aotearoa they were chosen to perform ‘Young Blood’ by The Naked and Famous at the APRA Silver Scroll Awards, transforming it perfectly into a reggae hit, though with some crunching distorted guitar by Josh Iopu in the bridge section. They were already regulars on the reggae festival circuit and played the 2011 Big Day Out that summer, while increasing their influence across the Pacific. In Australia they played Polyfest in Sydney and Melbourne, but when the Brisbane leg was cancelled, they organised their own show with other artists who had been booked, including Che Fu and Californian-Samoan singer J Boog.
Their popularity in Hawaii had already seen them play the main centres of Maui, Koha, Oahu, and Ellong. Then in 2012, they booked their own headlining show and drew a crowd of 12,000. Their busy schedule sometimes caused difficulties, as when Charlie got married then immediately had to head away on tour.
Throughout this time, Talanoa often acted as their tour manager and helped them succeed as an independent band.
Their live line-up included a range of musicians from different backgrounds. New drummer Albert Cook played his first show with them at their Silver Scrolls performance. The horn section was more fluid, with members including saxophonist Mark Houghton and trumpeter Christian Mausia. The band also gave a start to Zimbabwe-born saxophone player Thabani Gapara, who went on to play with Katchafire, House of Shem, Stan Walker, and others.
Three Houses Down kept a connection with their neighbourhood community by running a regular open mic night on Wednesdays at the Community Cafe in Ōtāhuhu. Band members provided the backing band and invited attendees to get up and sing. This led up to a final Christmas concert which included Swiss and Higher Ground.
To The Moon and Back
Three Houses Down sought to connect with US fans through their next single ‘She’s My Woman,’ which featured Spawnbreezie – an artist who grew up in Kansas City in a family that played Hawaiian music. The group had been so focused on making conscious music that they had seldom written a straight-up love song before, so they made up for it with this single and its follow up ‘Moon & Back’. Both were then collected on the Moon & Back EP (2013), which kicked off the band’s new approach of releasing only singles or EPs rather than albums.
The band continued to give back to their community and sought to promote the Tongan language. They played shows at schools, including their old high school, Ōtāhuhu College. They made themselves available to a range of charity shows, raising money to supply clean water to villages in Samoa and to send supplies to the Tongan islands of Ha'apai, after the devastation by Cyclone Ian in 2014.
They performed at a range of charity shows, to assist Samoa and Tonga
That year they played at the Island Reggae Festival in California and visited Samoa for the first time. Their overseas trips sometimes include charity concerts; they performed at an event in Las Vegas put on by the Paul Soliai Foundation, an organisation started by a US-Samoan NFL player to encourage the health and success of Pacific Island youth.
Over the years, Three Houses Down had performed several times with Hawaiian singer Fiji (who takes his name from his Fijian heritage), and they collaborated on the single ‘On My Heart’. The music video hinted at a new talent emerging from within the Pome’e family. The idea was for the singers on the track to be portrayed by children, so Rob’s son Lotima was brought in to be a young Charlie who took up the role with clear enthusiasm. Sione Jnr also appeared.
The line-up of the band continued to evolve with Saga Iopu (younger brother of guitarist Josh Mase) taking over as their regular drummer, Loni Havea on bass, Cyril Savea on keyboards and a horn section consisting of Saia Manu, Ben Tapueluelu, and Christian Mausia.
When Herbs were given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 Pacific Music Awards, Three Houses Down were chosen to perform their music. They also took home the People’s Choice Award.
Their summers continued to be busier than ever, with festival bookings at Reggae by the River (Taupō), Soundsplash (Raglan) and One Love (Tauranga), as well as a support slot with UB40. They continued with their charitable work too, appearing at the Music Is Love concert, which raised $110,000 to combat homelessness. However, the band was slowing down when it came to releasing new music, so it would take a fresh introduction of energy to reawaken them as a recorded act.
Fiyah
During Three Houses Down’s One Love performance in 2016, they brought a special guest onto the stage. Rob’s 10-year-old son Lotima confidently strode out and delivered a version of 80s hit ‘Pass The Dutchie’. The crowd cheered uproariously. It was clear the youngster was a star in the making, so the band began writing an original song with him. They’d begun referring to him as the young “General” and he’d been toying with taking the MC name “Fiyah” so the two were combined to create his new moniker, General Fiyah.
‘Love and Affection’ went wild on streaming services and television appearances followed on Good Morning and What Now?, with General Fiyah performing solo to a backing track. He appeared with his own crew of backing dancers on the music video and they were brought along to take part in his section of the Three Houses Down set at One Love the following year.
it was difficult to match the buzz around General Fiyah
In the meantime, Three Houses Down had released a new streaming hit of their own, ‘Smile’ which showed they still had a knack for good time reggae. However, it was difficult to match the buzz around General Fiyah – his follow-up single ‘Here To Stay’ attracted big numbers online too, and received the Best Music Video award at the Island Reggae Music Awards in Hawaii. General Fiyah performed with the band in Hawaii and was interviewed on a breakfast TV show there. Three Houses Down once again showed their community spirit by adding an extra show to raise money for Kaua’i flood victims.
At home, they won Best Group and the People’s Choice Awards (for a third time) at the Pacific Music Awards.
In 2019, General Fiyah returned with a new single ‘It’s You’ – once again backed by Three Houses Down, as he had been on his previous releases. Three Houses Down then had their plans disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and it wasn’t until 2022 that they returned with new music: ‘The Dream’ featuring Fiji and Troy Kingi and ‘She Loves Me’.
Unfortunately, Three Houses Down also hit a period of turmoil. Founding member Sione Pome’e was found guilty of tax evasion, which related to a company he owned which went into liquidation. He spent a short time in jail in 2022.
Three Houses Down always tried to make something positive out of any situation, as they had done when first rejected from the church band. Sione’s prison experience inspired them to perform for prisoners and in 2022 they arranged a show at Auckland South Corrections Facility in Wiri. The band hung around afterwards to talk to prisoners, creating an uplifting experience for all involved.
They took on other new challenges too. In 2023, they wrote music for the film Red, White, and Brass. Two of the songs were in Tongan and General Fiyah took part in the project. Charlie and General Fiyah also appeared on two episodes of The Panthers television show. General Fiyah took on an acting role in the New Zealand series Under the Vines. That was also the year when the band first played in Canada.
After 20 years together, the band remains central to the Aotearoa reggae scene. They performed a repeat support slot with UB40 and once again won Best Reggae song at the Pacific Music Awards for ‘She Loves Me’, written by Sione Pome'e while in prison. When he was released, they got back into the swing of things once more, booking live shows and preparing a new set of singles for release. The band had come a long way from that garage in Ōtara, but their fire continues to burn.
