John Karaka was born in Auckland and was educated at St Benedict’s School in Auckland and Tamaki College. After leaving school, Karaka was employed on the production line and also worked as a labourer and truck driver. Karaka spent eighteen years working on the Auckland waterfront and then began a career in music. He is a founding member of Herbs and has written many songs with other members of the band. His songs are a "message for the head and music for the soul".
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation with Dilworth Karaka, 3 August 1998.
Music
- "No Nukes." Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 3: Te Puāwaitanga O Te Kōrero: The Flowering. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 176-177.
- A strong anti-nuclear sentiment with a specific plea to keep the Pacific nuclear free. This song is recorded on the Herbs’ album Sensitive to a Smile. (1987).
- "Pay the Man." Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 3: Te Puāwaitanga O Te Kōrero: The Flowering. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 177-178.
- A song about economic hardship. This song is recorded on the Herbs’ album Sensitive to a Smile. (1987).
Other
- Staff, Brian. "Herbs: Spice of the Pacific." Magic Kiwis: A Celebration Of New Zealand Achievement. Auckland, N.Z.: Moa Publications/TVNZ, 1991. 84-91.
- Dix, John. Stranded in Paradise: New Zealand Rock’n’Roll, 1955-1988. [Wellington, N.Z.]: Paradise Publications, 1988. 333, 335.
- Dix, John. Stranded in Paradise: New Zealand Rock and Roll.: 1955 to the Modern Era. Auckland, N.Z.: Penguin Books, rev. ed., 2005: 261-263.