Despite the early adoration of crowds, Loxmyn, now in his late 20s and an accomplished jazz musician, didn\u2019t put much thought into whether he would go on to play music growing up. <\/p>\n
However, he was exposed enough that it \u201cdidn\u2019t feel unusual\u201d.<\/p>\n
Touring with your best mate, what’s not to love? Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
Gaming, anime, sports, exercise, the One New Zealand Warriors \u2013 the father and son share many of the same interests and music is one of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was always going to happen, that he was going to be a part of the music,\u201d Che says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love spending time with my son \u2013 and we get to play together, which is a joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Loxmyn isn\u2019t just contributing on harmonica these days. He\u2019s carving a path with his musical outfit, Filthy Junk Traders, and has also been a key saxophone player in his dad\u2019s touring band.<\/p>\n
The cover for Che Fu’s “Navigator”, featuring a young Loxmyn and his dad.<\/p>\n
This October, Loxmyn is bringing his jazz background and horn arrangements as a member of The Kratez for the 25th anniversary tour of Che Fu\u2019s 2001 triple-platinum album, Navigator.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo hear my son and his foray into jazz was just awesome because I knew nothing about it,\u201d Che says of Loxmyn\u2019s musical journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo surprise me still through music, that\u2019s not an easy task. And it\u2019s not like there\u2019s a system of nepotism in our band. He holds his own.\u201d<\/p>\n
The young saxophonist says he was more interested in listening to the music and style of Navigator growing up, rather than dwelling on the album\u2019s impact. Being able to explore and work through it in the rehearsal room now, as an adult, is an amazing experience, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are parts of the album that are like these little melodies or little machines that stick with me in a personal way,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Che Fu with wife Ange and Loxmyn (left) after winning five awards at the 2002 Aotearoa Music Awards. Photo \/ Brett Phibbs<\/p>\n
The tour will also feature other big names in New Zealand hip-hop and R&B, including Aaradhna, Betty-Anne and King Kapisi.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be doing their tracks intermittently amongst the Navigator tracks. So it won\u2019t be like the album all in its entirety.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just the music, but also the look of Navigator that Loxmyn is connected to. The album\u2019s cover shows Che with his baby son tied to his back staring at a 3D planet Earth.<\/p>\n
Loxmyn was \u201cabout 2 or 3\u201d when the photo was shot and recalls it being \u201creally fun\u201d despite having little clue what was going on.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything [was] so serious and intense and I\u2019m just in a basket on my dad\u2019s back, and we were dressed like space navigators,\u201d he remembers.<\/p>\n
Che Fu with dad Tigi Ness, a founding member of the Polynesian Panthers in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Che knows what a childhood in a well-known family is like. His parents, Tigi Ness and the late Miriama Rauhihi-Ness, were activists and members of the Polynesian Panthers social justice movement. <\/p>\n
He was brought up as a Rastafarian, watching his father perform at anti-apartheid events. His mum was one of the organisers of the 1975 M\u0101ori land march. In his early years, Che was predominantly raised by his grandma and aunty. <\/p>\n
\u201cI still had mum and dad, but they were doing crazy [things] like protests and being out the gate\u2026 which was amazing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
When he had his own family, Che wanted to make sure Loxmyn and siblings J\u00e9ru, Marley and Kaselle were raised with strong family values and kept close.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I eventually had my kids, I really wanted to keep them where I could see them, because I didn\u2019t have that growing up. You try to put in place what you didn\u2019t have when you get the chance to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loxmyn is grateful, not only for his dad\u2019s love and support but also has a deep admiration for his musical legacy. In his words, his \u201caudacity and the creativity and the perseverance to make s*** happen\u201d.<\/p>\n
The pair share many of the same interests and hobbies, music being one of them. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
As we leave the gold-tinged Civic Theatre, where October\u2019s Auckland show will take place, the self-confessed \u201cnerds\u201d tell me they\u2019re off to the gym to work out together. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of the many things they do to \u201cdecompress\u201d before it\u2019s back to the family business in the rehearsal studio.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalking nerd stuff and getting healthy is good fun,\u201d Che laughs.<\/p>\n
Che Fu & The Kratez\u2019 25 years of Navigator tours NZ from October 7. Visit eccles.co.nz for details and tickets.<\/p>\n
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald\u2019s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke\u2019s Bay Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite the early adoration of crowds, Loxmyn, now in his late 20s and an accomplished jazz musician, didn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[141959,24752,695,95,4624,138,294944,16123,294951,156,2109,2082,294945,294950,20557,70487,13840,294946,294947,118350,111,139,69,90,1523,294948,1314,60971,22639,199,223,27300,12637,192435,14605,294949,1530],"class_list":["post-598483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-25th","tag-ago","tag-album","tag-and","tag-anniversary","tag-business","tag-che","tag-cover","tag-definitive","tag-entertainment","tag-family","tag-for","tag-fu","tag-fus","tag-hitting","tag-joining","tag-like","tag-loxmyn","tag-mcdonaldness","tag-navigator","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-over","tag-peered","tag-road","tag-shoulder","tag-son","tag-take","tag-the","tag-theyre","tag-together","tag-twentyfive","tag-whats","tag-wideeyed","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}