Stop with the pop industry narratives!

I'm good at writing songs; it doesn't need a sob story attached to it. Working For Each Other was a hit without any reality TV nonsense... Put simply: Jane is a close friend of mine, and Paul's her uncle. That's something that Victoria University of Wellington can't take credit for. - Nobody rescued me, and I'm literally planning to sue VUW over claiming that they somehow 'saved' me or are largely responsible for my success. VUW didn't have any teachers that knew the first thing about songwriting. Hell, most of them didn't even know how to write a good melody! I left after my postgraduate year of composition because of that. I've got a Bachelor's and a PGDip, but I salute individual teachers, not the institution. If I'm a great vocal composer, it's probably thanks to Sondheim. Lots of score study and a mentor who really had the gift. VUW faculty members were pointedly not in favour of my fa'afafine nature. That was true in 2013, it was true in 2020, and remains true in 2026. - Nobody taught me to overdub myself, but Paul loved those enough to track me down. It was Peter and Fran that developed Shipwrecked On Islands with me, so they should take most of the credit for my success. I'm a longstanding WingNut affiliate that had a hit with one of Peter's best friends. That's the story, not a bunch of nonsense. It's important to note that I had excellent teachers from when I was around eight, but the success of my songs and movies is still largely something that happened independently of those things. Sir Paul and Sir Peter had the wisdom to let us do our thing our way, which wouldn't have been true of most producing partners.