Healing together: Incredibly successful Williams siblings open up about their past

The Williams siblings are a supernova of musical talent with decades of New Zealand and global accomplishment between them.

It’s hard to believe the family have never been interviewed all together before now.

Individual careers have influenced the R&B, Soul, and Hip Hop Music scenes here in Aotearoa and performing together at the New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards is what united the family amidst their busy schedules.

But for Lavina, Emily, Josh, and Ezra, sharing their origin story is one of vulnerability that invites long time fans to a deep and meaningful behind-the-success talanoa.

They spoke to PMN about mental health, family violence, their parents’ split and the toll that took on them, and the drive for a better future for their family.

Josh, aka Jay Williams to the fandom of teens from the 2010s, explains that when his parents split up when they were children, it changed the way their dad raised them and how it affected their music career.

“My dad was very strict. He was very religious. He was a very typical island [man]. Straight down the line.

“If it wasn't for him, let's be honest, we wouldn't be able to sing the way we do. We wouldn't be able to dance the way we do. We wouldn't be able to entertain the way that we do because he's the one who instilled the discipline.”

With Manurewa being home to the family of five siblings, Emily says being raised in South Auckland had its harsh life lessons and motivations.

She says their surrounding environments weren’t exactly encouraging in “getting out of the hood”.

“Being brought up with a very strict father, that didn’t make it any easier for us to live life and find our own feet in this world.

“Advantage, I think being brought up in South Auckland instilled a lot of discipline. It instilled a lot of focus because we wanted to get out of that rut.”

Watch the full interview with Lavinia, Jay, Emily, and Ezra with Pacific Days host Ma'a Brian Sagala

Emily says what has been most important to their growth as individuals and as a family is allowing each other room to heal and fulfil their own dreams.

And then by returning to the foundation of love that they’ve created strengthened and redefined their purpose.

“We’re a very close knit set of five. We were put in a very difficult situation when we were younger and from that we’ve had to build a relationship with each of us because we’re so different.

“But at the end of the day, the older we’ve got, we’ve come together and realised why we need each other. And why we need to continue to keep our relationship strong.

“Because, to be quite honest, we are all we have.”

Through this adversity they all rose to be one of the Pacific's most recognised families in the music world.

Lavina, as the oldest of the siblings, felt it was incumbent upon her to ensure they would persevere but also maintain humility and service to.

"What's kept me humble is remembering where we started, the roots of it all.

"Sometimes it can take its toll on people because of the attention that you get. And that's just a given. It's inevitable. You get all the love from the audience and you get all of your flowers and you're getting recognition in the industry. But at the same time, without being grounded and without a foundation, you will crumble to the ground.

"And it's all about also thinking about your mental health and making sure that that's up in the priority list too to keep that levelled."

Lavina is known for her role in NZ female pop group Ma-V-Elle, Emily who’s just finished playing Whitney Houston in the Bodyguard UK theatre show, and Josh who sung and danced Hip-Hop and R&B songs during a time when no one was.

Youngest sister Ezra, who’s now beginning her career, says despite her family's accolades she uses it as a superpower, rather than feeling she’s living in their shadows.

“Of course there was pressure, of course there was a level that I always felt like I always had to try and reach.

“Eventually once I did see them pave the way, eventually I found my own voice and I found my own pathway to what I wanted and to represent them as well so I thank them for creating that benchmark.”

(From L-R) Lavina Williams singing at Christmas in the Park, Josh Williams in a photo for his health and fitness company, Emily Williams performing at a concert in Melbourne, and Ezra Williams before appearing on The Voice Australia.

Despite the family’s busy performing lives and residing in different countries, the opportunity to perform together at this year's Aotearoa Hi-Tech awards was an exciting prospect.

Lavina has been headlining the event for the last few years and was approached by the creative director to see if they could all jump on stage together.

“The opportunity presented itself, and … because my family, their schedules are crazy, and it's very rare for us to be able to.

“We come together with crazy schedules, individual schedules, because usually every time we do come together for a family reunion, either one is missing, two is missing, but it still goes ahead. But thank God that our schedules made this happen and they could clear it for this event.”

For Emily, the on-stage reunion with her siblings will be a much cherished moment.

"It's very healing, it fills my cup. It allows me to go all over the world and perform because obviously my siblings are a standard. And there's not many people that I know that I can talk to or ring up straight away at any time of the day and go, 'yo, I need help',

"It's healing and it's a blessing."