Jono Heaps

I grew up singing. I first got paid for my work when I was twelve, singing Christmas songs in various shopping malls as part of a choir. I then progressed to making several recordings for the Love to Sing Choir in Auckland, utilising my slightly squeaky boy soprano to dubious but unfathomably profitable effect. Trust me, 200 bucks is a fortune to a preteen! My parents figured it was just a passing phase and that, soon enough, I would settle down to a safe, productive life of law school. Much to their initial dismay, I discovered busking almost by accident when I was 17, and I was hooked. Performances at bars and weddings followed, along with a gig in Minnesota for which I wasn't really ready, but which I still look back on with considerable, if slightly cringey, fondness. I'm now 20 years on from that and hopefully a little more polished. I had a four-year residency at Orleans Jazz Bar in Auckland, performed at numerous corporate functions, birthday parties and the like, and kept busking. I developed quite a following in Auckland as "That Blind Singer!" — usually shouted at me by random strangers almost every time I went anywhere. I loved it, and still do. I moved to Christchurch in 2023 and am building a similar profile, albeit with slightly colder hands to show for it. One of these days, I'll wise up and get gloves. But hey, you can take the boy out of Auckland... you know how it goes.