Jerome Lino Tauleka — known on stage as Jay Tauleka — is the latest young voice shaping Fiji’s contemporary music scene, and new details about his background and career cast fresh light on how he arrived there. At 29, the eldest of three siblings, Tauleka’s music is rooted in church choirs and family influence, but his formal education in architecture and recent work with the VT1S collective show a deliberate move toward a professional music life.
Born in Nukui, Rewa, Jay’s early years included several family moves: from Nukui to Vutia, Rewa, where his younger sister was born, before the family settled in Lodoni, Tailevu. His parents were both primary teachers, and his father, Petero Lino Seru Naika Tauleka, now lectures at Fiji National University’s Nasinu Campus while his mother continues to teach. Jay credits those family and faith settings for nurturing his early interest in song. “My music journey began in church,” he says, recalling how he would stand beside his father at Tailevu North Christian Centre and, as a child, sneak the family guitar after being told not to touch it.
Jay’s schooling tracked through local institutions that have shaped many young Fijians: Lodoni Primary School, Queen Victoria School, Tailevu North College and Lomaivuna Secondary School. After high school he studied at Fiji National University’s Derrick Campus in Samabula and earned a Diploma in Architectural Studies — a pathway he says was “far removed from the music industry” but one that didn’t dim his creative drive.
The most significant shift toward music as a profession came when Jay joined VT1S, the creative collective that has become a hub for emerging Fijian artists. He joined in the second wave around 2021–2022 and describes that period as transformative. “VT1s really changed my perspective on how I can earn and live off music,” he says, contrasting the collective’s collaborative studio approach with the “9 to 5” jobs he never enjoyed. Within VT1S he found mentors and collaborators, notably producers and artists such as Stee Vereakula and Phil Dekei, who helped him through his first tense but formative recording sessions.
Today Jay functions as a singer, songwriter and producer, contributing to VT1S catalogue tracks and a string of collaborations. His songwriting draws on love, everyday life and island identity, and his sound resists neat categorisation. “I wouldn’t say I have a musical genre-based style. I work with anything,” he explains — moving between R&B-inspired tunes, reggae-inflected fusion and pop rock depending on the project. He has recorded with fellow VT1S performers and vocalists including Oni and Kal, and credits family members such as his uncle Sake Tukana of the band Tadrakomoana for early compositional inspiration.
As Fiji’s music landscape continues to diversify, Jay’s story highlights two converging trends: a persistent link to community and faith-based musical roots, and a new institutional ecosystem — collectives like VT1S and accessible studio mentorship — that allows talent to pursue music as a sustainable career. For Tauleka, the path from church pews to recording booth has been gradual but deliberate, and his versatility positions him to shape how island identity is expressed in modern Fijian popular music.
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