Releasing their first release in 1999, Oceania were a collaboration between Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman (who had moved to New Zealand a decade earlier) and singer/songwriter and television producer Hinewehi Mohi. The aim was to combine traditional Māori music with the music of the modern world. While this approach was in some ways akin to the world beat of acts such as Deep Forest and Enigma, Coleman stressed that the project was not a sampling one, and instead was written for, and played on authentic Māori instruments by master Māori musicians.