Shameless Plug is a new series where we turn things over to creatives. In exchange for plugging their project, they have to spill their guilty pleasure, best advice, personal motto and a few other secrets.

Left: Lila Crichton and crew perform A Master of None: Brown Fala

Lila Crichton is a Samoan artist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. He mostly works in music, but gets bored fast so slips into theatre, movement, ensemble work and whatever else lets him play with voice and storytelling. He says “my work is honest, sometimes heavy, sometimes soft, always built with community.” 

Lila grew up between Tāmaki Makaurau and Hawke’s Bay, raised by church choirs, island discipline, and a love for dramatic entrances. He trained formally in opera with Project Prima Volta, Festival Opera NZ and The New Zealand School of Music. He’s performed in tours with Chamber Music New Zealand, The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Aaradhna, but his biggest achievement (so far) is bringing his debut show, A Master of None: Brown Fala, to life this year. Reviewers have called it brave, comforting, generous, thought-provoking and joyous.

“I had this stubborn belief that I could build a world with voices, culture and truth at the centre, and I did,” he says. “I gathered some of my favourite Pasifika artists, we told some uncomfortable stories, and people showed up for it. That show changed my life.”

Here’s Lila’s Shameless Plug:

My favourite local artist (that I don’t know) is Nganeko. She’s a new emerging Māori artist. Her music makes me feel like I’m allowed to be human first and an artist second. Obviously, as a vocal artist I’m addicted to beautiful vocals always, and she is in her own pocket right now in Aotearoa and is stomping on it. Nganeko sings like someone who trusts herself. Her harmonies are unreal and the way she builds a world with just her voice – it sets something on fire in me. Every time she releases a song I just sit there like, “I wish I wrote that.” Listening to her reminds me why I love the voice as an instrument.

My guilty pleasure is locking myself in my room and ignoring every message, email and phone call. I was probably born an introvert but raised to be an extrovert – Samoan household, opera training, choirs – performance since I was a child. I’m addicted to my phone and it’s bad! I write all my songs on my phone, record all of my show ideas and edit all my posters on here too. When I’m on the ground actually doing a contract I don’t even have the time to think about my phone and I usually lose it because I’m running around all the time. So when I get a gap between contracts, even just one day, I disappear into full hibernation mode. Bed. Phone. Doom scroll. Recharge?

My closest collaborator is Tony Douglas. Even though we haven’t officially released anything together yet, he has a fingerprint on nearly everything I’ve done in the last two years. If I’m building something – music, visuals, ideas – Tony’s brain is in the room. He’s a producer, photographer, designer, and has about 900 hidden talents I still don’t understand. What I value most is that we come from completely different genres. That’s important to me – everyone I collaborate with has to stretch my brain open somehow. Tony helped build the set of A Master of None, shot campaigns for my shows, pushed my ideas, and challenged my standard. We’re working closely now on my EP and it feels like we’re just getting started.

The most fun I’ve ever had on a project was World of WearableArt (WOW) this year. I got to fly. Literally. I got harnessed up and flown across an arena stage mid-song. I performed with fireworks, dancers, a live band, and a crowd going wild every night for three weeks. I had a custom wig. I got to act, sing, and do theatre-scale performances inside a fashion universe. That contract reminded me how much I love spectacle. I have an insane bucket list of things I’d love to do onstage and this one show slashed it in half. I still have things I’d love to do. I want to perform with holograms one day, stage a storm with rain, and maybe one day do a show in knee-deep water. We’ll see.

My personal motto is: Better to be tired than bored. For me it’s not about hustle culture or grinding for the sake of it – it’s about purpose. If I’m tired, it means I’m working on something that matters. It means I’m choosing direction over drifting. Boredom, for me, is dangerous. When I’m bored, I get complacent, silent, and passive – and boredom, complacency, silence and passiveness are all luxuries many communities don’t have.

The best advice I’ve received was from my dad. Before I left for uni he told me: “Don’t just learn from your own mistakes – learn from other people’s too.” Simple. It sits in my bones. It made me unafraid to ask people questions – especially about what went wrong, not just what went right. Failure leaves clues.

The moment I knew I wanted to be an artist was when I tried not to be. Back when my art consisted of performing other peoples works, I applied for over 100 jobs outside the arts – boring jobs – and nobody wanted me. Meanwhile, I had already toured, taught, lectured, directed, produced, sung opera, done film work, backed other artists – and still got rejected from entry-level roles. One day I realised I had spent more time writing cover letters than making art. So I stopped applying. I put my energy into creating – and I was backed by an entire community. That was my answer. I was always supposed to do this.

My favourite arts space is The Rogue and Vagabond in Wellington. Yes, the bar 😂 It isn’t officially an “arts space” but it really is. It’s where I started performing my original work. It’s where I built early versions of A Master of None. It gave me a stage, a family of musicians and people working in hospitality, and the freedom to fail and grow publicly. Louisa Williamson introduced me to Rogue and Vagabond stage with our series “The Mixtape” and I’ve stuck to that building ever since. It’s also so nice to have a bar that’s committed to live music and paying artists to collaborate.

My all time favourite play is For you to know and me to find out by Liv Tennet. I got to watch this at the NZ Fringe and it ended up winning the overall award along with so many more. I couldn’t get pastd how I felt sitting in that theatre. A solo show about her own personal journey being an artist, a mother and a partner to another artist who was also a father. I cried, cringed and I celebrated. I was so inspired to take my work and work on it all over again after that. I left wanting to know how I could make my work more relatable to me and to see how that could then make it more relatable to others as opposed to the other way around. I wanted to know how I could hone into all of my skills rather than fixating on one and how that could help my shows. I couldn’t shut up about that show for weeks after I had seen it. Big fan of Liv.

My all time favourite album is Voodoo by D’Angelo. Growing up I didn’t get to listen to entire albums so really my favourite nostalgically is either B’day by Beyoncé or The Dutchess by Fergie because so much of those albums were released as singles. BUT when I finally got around to it I started with Neo Soul and I basically never left that space. Erykah, Lauryn, Floetry etc. Voodoo though was a special one because, again, Vocals as an instrument is something I want to explore forever and ever. D’Angelo gets a lot of praise for the instrumental and production of his songs but I can’t get past his vocals. Every time I try to dissect the harmonies and the layers of how he orchestrated himself – blows my mind. Special shout out to 'Send it on' because that's the one. The part where they sing Run and the vocals start rolling. CRAZY! I assume that this album went on to inspire the sound of Adeaze. I hope it did and in another universe they would’ve collaborated on Always & for Real.

My shameless plug is that my show, A Master of None: Brown Fala, is coming to Ōtautahi Christchurch for two dates only: October 29 & 30 at Papa Hou Black Box Theatre. If you love layered vocals, theatre with a heartbeat, Pacific storytelling, and fearless performance – come through. Bring someone you love. Bring the whole city. Tickets are live now on eventfinder.