The Western Guide’s shift to country music earns his first Pacific Music Awards nod

From city-boy to cowboy, The Western Guide’s transition to country music has led to his first nomination at the Pacific Music Awards.

While Pe Moni Ea is still one of Aaron Pulemagafa’s most successful songs with over 1.1 million streams on Spotify, it is his single Bottom of the Bed, produced by Taro Patch Creative, that secures his spot in the Best Music Video category.

“As I was still discovering what music I wanted to make and what stories I wanted to tell…it got to a point where I was really comfortable with what I was making,” Pulemagafa says in his Behind the Beat* interview with NiuFM.

“Now that I’ve got a nom for Bottom of the Bed, country music is what I’m doing. I’m pretty stoked with that.”

The Auckland-born artist has become one of the most intriguing new voices in Aotearoa New Zealand’s music scene, blending classic country with elements of R&B, soul, and his Pacific heritage.

Pulemagafa has been described as an artist who explores a wide range of genres, with a catalogue that includes Gagana Sāmoa, reggae, afrobeat, house music, and even rap. He believes the recognition comes at the right time in his career.

“I think it’s cool. I think it’s a journey…I think it just wasn’t meant to be. If it came a bit earlier, maybe it would have been less exciting.”

Bottom of the Bed is perhaps one of the first visuals where The Western Guide fully commits to the country music persona, riding a pick-up Chevrolet with the licence plate that reads, “CHEEHAW” and spends much of the music video on horseback.

“It was the horse that got me the nomination,” he jokes.

He also shared a humorous moment involving his daughter, Ping, who helps keep him grounded. “I try to explain it and she’s like, ‘That’s cool dad. You can’t swim though, so it’s not that cool’.”

A major creative team contributed behind the scenes, including fashionista Frakie Lolohea and fellow muso JP Foliaki on wardrobe, as well as Tongan visual creatives Emz, Vea, and Liz Mafile’o, and Craft Service NZ, known for stylised films and commercials.

The music video featured well-known public personalities like Regan Foa’i, AJ Ta’ufo’ou, and Kardia Ah Kiau, who made appearances as cowboys. The music crew included producer Jeremiah “Hales” Fale and Edy Liu, the sound engineer magician.

For The Western Guide, country music embodies authenticity, raw emotion, and a good reason to enjoy a drink. Most importantly, it represents a return to the simplicity and vulnerability of songwriting and connection.

“My dad used to always tell me that I'd make better music if I just played a guitar and sang to a crowd instead of using all these fancy beats that I always used to try to do into my Afrobeat songs,” he says.

“I would experiment with pretty much every genre and then I came around to trying country and it just made the most sense, it was the easiest for me so naturally I shifted into that.”

What’s at the ‘Bottom of the Bed’?

“Her boots,” Pulemagafa jokingly confirms.

The nominated track was written during a period of loneliness, inspired by a long-distance love story, and a lyric borrowed from Jason Isbell’s Cover Me Up.

He says the phrase speaks to a state of limbo, where labels are elusive, circling back to the essence of physical connection.

“When I wrote that song, I was living in an apartment by myself. I was a little bit lonely…it’s this whole story of feeling maybe this was meant to be, or this could be.

“That specific phrase, ‘leave your boots at the bottom of the bed’, he (Isbell)... is very to the point, I also wanted to be to the point. Skip the formalities, small talk, and just take your boots off.”

Watch The Western Guide's music video to his newest release, Good Alcoholic, below.

Beyond the horizon

Pulemagafa dreams of heading to Nashville - though the recently-engaged cowboy laughingly admits that it might not happen just yet.

“I want to go to Nashville this year, but I don’t have a job…I probably should get married first because that’s probably a big thing.

“I want my kids, or kids who look up to me, to just chase whatever dream you have. I feel like people are watching me go from reggae to afro, and that’s me chasing what I want.

“If I can leave behind a legacy that says, ‘just try it’, that’s it.”

*Behind The Beat is a social media series featuring sit-down interviews with PMA finalists, where artists share their creative processes and inspirations. It is available to watch on Niu FM’s social media platforms.

The Pacific Music Awards will be held at the Manukau Due Drops Events Centre on Thursday, 21 August. Tickets are available here.