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ISSUE 14
DJ Nocturna is Keeping Us in the Dark
Get Some: Good Taste
Hawaii Hip Hop EXchange: Interview with Dai
Hawaii Hip Hop EXchange: Interview with I.A.
Interview with Afatia
Hardcore Fervor - The Akimai Boys
DJ Nocturna is Keeping Us in the Dark
article and photos by Katie Whitman
The 808 Scene Zine’s interview with DJ Nocturna is the third installment in what is becoming a series about KTUH radio DJs. And no wonder. These are the people that get our local music on the airwaves, who bring us their unique tastes and are able to broadcast without boundaries. They volunteer their time simply because they are passionate about music and want others to hear what they have discovered. Many KTUH DJs are also performers and organizers in our live music scene, providing us with regular events and needed exposure.
DJ Nocturna is a perfect example of everything described above. She DJs every Wednesday Night at Next Door (43 N. Hotel St.) for their 80’s party aptly named Acid Wash Wednesdays. Nocturna is also the organizer of a monthly Goth and industrial club night called Camera Obscura. The event is currently in hiatus and in search of a venue. If you’ve ever been, you know to expect darkwave 80’s and deathmetal on the turntables with dark tragi-romance movies playing in the background. Candles and red flower petals set the mood. Finally, Nocturna’s radio show, called a Feast of Friends, airs every Saturday night from 6-9pm on KTUH 90.3FM.
A Feast of Friends is, admittedly, and odd sounding name, or at least it always has been to me. The phrase would bring a confusing dichotomy into my mind. I would either envision the Romanesque scene of laughing people overindulging in a lavish feast... or I would imagine something more cannibalistic. It turns out that the phrase is taken from a poem called “An American Prayer” written by Jim Morrison:
“No more money, no more fancy dress
This other kingdom seems by far the best
Until its other jaw reveals incest
And loose obedience to a vegetable law
I will not go
Prefer a Feast of Friends
To the Giant family”
To Nocturna, a “feast of friends” is the formation of a spiritual family. “In this life, we form a bond with the people we are closest to and we call them our family.” She extends this concept out to our music scene, elaborating, “Although we come from all walks of life, from different musical genres, from different backgrounds, we are all connected and one family.”
DJ Nocturna began her radio career many years ago as a DJ at KPRG 89.3. It was at this public radio station that she began “A Feast of Friends.” After going back to school three years ago, Nocturna moved her show to KTUH. As far as I am aware, this is one of the only radio shows in Hawaii that gives us goth music, deathrock, industrial, and darkwave 80’s. A Feast of Friends reintroduces us to the sounds from our past and reminds us of a different palette of musical inspirations so far from the over-produced, same-sounding pop songs of today.
When asked about this darker genre of music and her role in the music scene, she responds “What I want to do is keep the music alive. Keep the goth culture moving. Whatever it takes.” She continues “I’m just trying to reach out to more people. It’s not just for goth people. It’s for anybody.”
You can say hi to DJ Nocturna or find out more about her shows and music online at www.myspace.com/djnocturna. Information on Camera Obscura can be found at www.myspace.com/cameraobscura and Acid Wash Wednesdays at www.myspace.com/acidwashwednesdays and www.whoisnextdoor.com.
INTERVIEW:
How long have you been in Hawaii and a DJ?
I was DJing for KTUH for three years. Before that, I was at KPRG, another radio station. KPRG 89.3. Public radio. That was for 3 years.
Then you went to UH?
I took some time off, then I went to KTUH.
Are you a student?
Mmmhmm.
You’re also involved in performing and spinning in the music scene. Have you always been doing that? DJing outside?
Yeah. I started in radio, then I started DJing outside.
Was there any reason you wanted to start doing events?
I wasn’t planning on it. It just happened. I started [being a] club DJ. It’s more fun. More entertaining.
Do you pretty much Dj goth stuff or 80’s stuff?
My favorite to play is dark 80’s. It depends on the venue. Definitely no mainstream. For Acid Wash, I play 80’s. Dark 80’s and 80’s.
Is it important to have this music playing in the scene?
I try to keep it alive. If you don’t keep it alive, then nobody else will.
Tonight, you have a guest. Daniel Ash from Bauhaus. Do you bring these people in here?
No. Acid Wash does. The good thing is that
One of your radio promos for your show, you talked about how you were always inclined towards dark things or goth things. Do you consider yourself goth?
Yeah. I think once you’re goth, you are always goth. You may not dress like it or you may not look like it, but you are.
May I ask what it means?
You’ve heard the term deathrock.
Is it very music oriented?
Yeah, it’s mostly music oriented. It’s a culture, a sub-culture. People wear black. I mean, I’m always wearing black. [laughs]
You’ve been going Feast of Friends all three years?
Yup.
You went in with that concept?
I went in with it. Even when I started. I started Feast of Friends with my previous radio show. It was always Feast of Friends.
Your ad for the show, a couple goes down and talks to a mystic who declares doom and breaks up their relationship.
Oh [laughs], it’s very gothic. With a soothsayer, fortune teller, a disastrous kind of situation. Kinda dark, but kind of funny. I didn’t want to make it too scary or weird.
You do Acid Wash. You do a radio show. What else?
I have Camera Obscura, but I’m waiting on that. I don’t have a venue. It’s good though. I’m taking a break.
Are you trying to expand with what you’re doing?
What I want to do is keep the music alive. Keep the goth culture moving. Keep it alive. Whatever it takes. I don’t want it to change.
Was the loss of Pink Cadillac a bit deal?
Well, it was bad, but we still have Flesh at 1739 [Kalakaua]. I want more people to come down here like Daniel Ash. I want to keep it going. I’m just trying to reach out to more people. It’s not just for goth people. It’s for anybody. Anybody from the 80’s. It’s not just goth music. It’s 80’s and dark 80’s and deathrock.
Really, nobody is playing music like that around here.
I don’t want it to fade away.
Are there other people that are coming up and who are interested in the music you play?
Yeah. A lot of people tune into the show. They may not go out, but they probably [remenisce] about the past. A lot of people from the 80’s they usually get married and have kids and then they get busy and they don’t want to do anything. I’m not married and I don’t have kids so I can still do this kind of stuff.
Get Some: Good Taste
Sure Shot Cafe (left) & Well Bento (right)
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Articles by KiKi
Sure Shot Café
1249 Wilder Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
523-BEAN (2326)
Mon.-Sat. 6am-6pm
Sun. 7am-6pm
Entering this quaint little café, one can only help but to be bombarded with overflowing sweet aromas of espressos and shakes, almost enough to drive any coffee cravings insane. A constant flow of orders, the café was filled with patrons of all ages either there cramming for an exam, catching up on some light reading, or just socializing over a tall Americano. An atmosphere of trend, I immediately noticed the out of the ordinary artworks gathered on the wall, not to mention the ‘wall of plugs’ as soon as you enter the door. Very reasonably priced, the coffee and espresso menu offers an array of cappuccinos, mochas, teas, thais, and sure shot shakes. With their vast assortment of soups, salads, sandwiches, and sweets, Sure Shot Café sure does satisfy all walks of hunger as well.
“Our customers are very dedicated customers, mostly people who live in the area,” says employee Nix Kinney. “I don’t think a lot of college kids even know about it here, although people seem to like it because it’s a better place to study.” [Ahem, as opposed to Starbucks]. In search of the perfect espresso, float, slice of cheesecake, or turkey sandwich? Check out Sure Shot Café, conveniently located in the Makiki Shopping Village.
Well Bento
‘Macrobiotic Fusion’
2570 S. Beretania #240
Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
941-5261
Mon.-Sun. 10:30am-9pm
The Well Bento, winner of Honolulu Weekly’s Best Vegetarian Take-Out, offers only a minimal of menu items, but all of which are equipped with an addictive savory kick. This Macrobiotic Fusion eatery, owned by husband-wife duo Todd and Kristine Brown, opened 9 years ago and has grown increasingly in popularity ever since.
The Well Bento offers three vegetarian meals-zen macrobiotic, tempeh scaloppini, and grilled tofu, seitan, or tempeh, all served with macaroni salad, coleslaw, brown rice, and tahini gravy. To sum up my experience with the tahini gravy with just a single compliment…would be a crime. For those interested in appeasing more of a transitional appetite, the eatery also serves up grilled chicken, grilled salmon, hamburger steak, grilled steak, and soon spaghetti, all very reasonably priced to proportion. Everything on the menu is organic and nutritional, composed of ingredients free of chemical additives, preservatives, or refined sugars. The veggies are power-steamed, the fish is fresh daily, and organic products are used whenever possible. “The food makes you feel expanded, warm, and good, and everything is prepared by keeping it simple,” explains Kristine Brown. “Our food is addictive.” Customers vary from neighborhood residents, UH college students, to out-of-towners whom have simply heard about The Well Bento through the grapevine. If you’re looking for some healthy ono grindz, stop by this first-rate eatery. Well Bento is only take-out, but they do cater…and students with valid ID receive a 10% discount.
Hawaii Hip Hop EXchange
Beatmaker: Dai
www.myspace.com/soundsfromtherealm
Interview and photos by Katie Whitman
What is Sounds from the Realm?
Sounds from the Realm is the music that I make.
What kind of music do you make?
I don ‘t like to label things. Whatever comes out comes out. That’s why I like hip hop. It’s a mix of a lot of different genres… in my mind. I don’t know. I just don’t like to label myself, define myself as just one type of music.
How do you make your music?
Used to be keyboard. Keyboard and computer. Recording system. Start off with a beat, then the bassline. Gradually make something. As a lot of other musicians say, music comes from lots of things. It could just be out of the blue or it could be a total process.
Everything you make is synthetic or do you play instruments?
I started playing the piano when I was about 5 years old, so the piano is my most comfortable instrument. I can play some guitar and I guess percussion on some drums. I used to do live audio engineering too. That brings in the mixing part of the production.
You used to do live concerts?
Yeah, I used to do the live engineering at Dave and Busters and Eastside Grill.
Are you out in the scene now?
I’m not really making much. Work is work.. Music is my passion.
I’m looking into getting some production equipment later in the year, but right now I don’t actually have any production equipment to bang out on.
Do you mostly make your music because you have a passion or do you want to make it for profit?
Of course I want to make money off of it, but I do it because it is probably the most passionate thing I’ve come across in my whole life. Music is my most favorite form of art. It moves you differently. It’s kind of like magic, you know, in my mind. When I make it, too. The things that I hear when I make music… it’s a pretty weird trippy process. There’s a lot of formulas for making a beat. I already have a drum beat or a bassline and I can already hear the harmonics of what I’m imagining comes along with the bassline. It just kind of clicks and it comes out. It’s weird. Nothing else does that for me.
Is there an emotion that you try to evoke with your music?
I guess hip hop. The culture. That’s the culture that I guess I would relate to… [pauses and laughs] What was the question?.
Your music, to me, it was a little more trippy and ambient. Like surrounded me. You know, it wasn’t like the hard beat you might hear in some rap. It was kind of emotional. Do you make beats like that or do you make others?
I guess you could say that those tracks that I made up on myspace come almost like a picture. A picture in time. Expressing what I was feeling at the time. I’m sure if I got back to it, it would probably be a pretty different sound. IT’s always evolving to different things. You’re right about that ambient thing. I did add that. I think that’s because the keyboard I was using has that sound in there. That ambient thing that you talked about was one of those things the drive the music.
Inspired by the tools…
Definitely, the gear that you use are going to have a large impact on what you do.
When did you start writing music? How old were you?
I started about 98 or so. That’s when I first got my gear. I think that’s the time DJ Mad got his turntables, too. We were kind of collaborating. I had an interest in recording. At that time, my mother wanted me to go to this school in Liverpool, England. It is a school that Paul McCartney made. Liverpool school of performing arts. In order to get in to that class, I had to put a demo together. Eventually I got into the school and went up there. That was in 2000. It was a really cool experience.
Tell me about it.
The actual school he used to go to in his elementary days. Eventually, he bought the school and turned it into a performing arts school. They have bands, acting, management, music of course. It’s just a cool mix. You could peek into other arts like acting or dancing. One thing about England was that the food was totally horrible.
So you were pretty serious about your music. What do you do now?
Just chilling actually.
So you’re not trying to be a professional musician, but if it happens…
It’s a love. I don’t want to burn out on it or something. It’s almost like a meant to be kind of thing. If it happens it happens.
If somebody wanted to collaborate with you on something?
Definitely. Definitely. I want to put some beats together and get with a good MC.
Is there anything you want people to know about you or your music?
Peace and love.
Interview With Vocal MC: I.A.
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www.myspace.com/kamaainaclassic
Interview by Katie Whitman
Interviewing I.A. in 102.7 da bomb’s station.
I was very blessed to get this job. I straight up came to Sam the Man, walked up into the studio and said “Look man, I’ve got this song. It’s hot. It’s local hip hop. I think you can do something with it.” They were totally shocked that I walked in. They put it on. They worked it in. They put it on the smackdown. It won all five nights and they put it into rotation. People were telling me that the song had the most [plays of any local hip hop song] on prime time radio. October, November time, it was spinning 3 or 4 times a day. The program director asked me one day – because I was hanging out up here with JT – straight up asked me if I wanted to work there. A lot of times I feel bad because the interns are working so hard, but the program director told me that it’s hard to take somebody who knows the machines and create a personality. It’s easy to take somebody with personality and teach them the machines. I guess he just saw potential in me. It was just a blessing.
How long have you been doing radio?
Probably like a month. Let me rephrase that, I was doing Sunday Nights, right before Stone Groove, since the end of ’06. Then I stopped. I went to fill in mode because I wanted to concentrate more on the music. I didn’t want to be perceived as a radio DJ. I’m more of an artist.
How long have you been doing music?
It all starts… I think every hip hop artist starts by fooling around with beats and being inspired by artists and idolizing them. I started in middle school, actually. I was starting to get real deep in collecting. I’d go down to this locslstor – I live in Florida at the time – a friend and I would go down to this used CD store. We would be so hype to find a DMX or Jay-Z for $6. This was in ’97. It was almost like a second coming of the golden era of hip hop. It was pretty diverse then and I was hype off the Jay-Z, DMX, Nas, Ja Rule. It so happens I get inspiration from the old school cats, The Wu Tang Clan. I still love Wu Tang. Tupac, Biggie. That inspired me in middle school to fool around on the microphone.
High school is when I did get serious. Me and a bunch of my friends, we started making our own beats. I was way more into the production side in things.
From high school, I moved back home to Hawaii. All my family is pretty much on the West side of Oahu.
What were you rapping about back then?
Back then, we were just trying to copy everybody else. Real raw, rugged, in your face battling. “Your mom…” [laughs]. We were just coming up and we would try to outdo each other…. We weren’t really song writers. We would just rap.
You said you were more into the production side of it…
When I first started in high school, I was more into making beats and instrumentals. Then my friends pushed me to rhyme and rhyme. Finally I just did it and I loved it. … When it came out of me, I realized I was able to speak my mind through hip hop. [pauses] I can’t really explain it. It’s just like this hype when you’re in the moment and these words are flowing through you. Just like pulling ideas from the sky.
It seems like you really draw from the crowd while you are performing.
Oh yeah. I try to read the crowd before I go on and I mold the performance according to the crowd. I love feeing off the crowd. I love when Dougie Fresh and Slick Rick just be like “When I say hey, you say ho” “Hey!” and the whole crowd says “ho!” Everybody loves what you’re doing and inspired by the same kind of music.
[Album coming in spring.]
[We get to talking about all the hip hop talent here in Hawaii.]
If Def Jam were to come down here it would be like a buffet! I think we’re sitting on a pot of gold out here. I think we’re very true to the roots out here. It’s almost like a brotherhood. Hip hop is competitive, but everybody in Hawaii is respectful of each other. I just think there’s a lot of good going on. …
Do you feel a little bit hopeful…
Definitely. I was on the Midweek cover in August and then I think it was the month after that Creed Chameleon was on the cover. C’mon! When do you ever see hip hop artists on the cover of Midweek? … I mean, that was huge for us. Then this year Krystilez sold out his first shipment of his album. That was incredible. Then his album release party at Pipeline was pushing almost 1000 people which was unheard of for two local MCs.
MORE INTERVIEW TO COME... STILL HAVE TO TRANSCRIBE...
Interview with Afatia
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Interview by Katie Whitman
I took a listen to your music on myspace. Really good. So you’re a singer?
I’m a singer, yes.
I expected hip hop. Rapping.
I sing. It’s all about R&B and trying to creep into that mainstream market, but at the same time, never abandon who we are as a people. I’m Samoan, Hawaiian, island born, island grown. I just have a passion for R&B music. I wanted to delve into that genre. As far as content and representation, never stray away from saying who I am and where I’m from. It’s a mainstream sound, but we want to be able to represent, or re-introduce ourselves as urban Polynesians in today’s society.
People still see the luau stuff. When they see Hawaii, they think Don Ho. The whole luau thing, which I do, too. That’s my family background, my family business.
[We order some pupus from Big City Diner.]
How do you feel about the genre of R&B right now? It seems to me that hip hop and rap are really growing.
Yeah, kind of dominating the music industry. There’s no denying the strength of hip hop, and I love it, too. We all like that. I like all kinds of music. I like John Mayer to Kanye West to Luther Vandross to Marvin Gaye. I like all of that. There is a strength in hip hop today in how they have kind of dominated the industry, visually as well as the sound, but I’m not a rapper.
Have you tried?
Yeah, I can flow a little bit. A lot of my live gigs, I’ll do a down tempo type of flow just to give the audience that aspect of it. I am a singer, a straight up singer. I try to adapt or adopt some of the hip hop stuff. I like a lot of the swagger that those artists bring. I started to bring some of that while maintaining the R&B style. I think that there’s ways to bring all other styles of music into my music. Just like how I incorporate Polynesian influences into my R&B, I try to incorporate the hip hop influences. I’ll have guest rappers come up and do their thing just to give it a change from the regular so it’s not just a crooner set. You can be excited and appealing to people to get up and dance and fill the dance floor.
How long have you been singing? Do you play any instruments?
Yes. I grew up playing the ukulele. It was always all traditional stuff that I started from because of my family business background – Polynesian entertainment. [Afatia’s parents own Tehati Productions.]
So you set up a luau at Royal Hawaii for example?
Actually, we actually do the luau at the Royal Hawaiian! We do a luau out of Sea Life Park. We actually have seventeen luau locations state-wide. I kind of grew up on the stage. I grew up pretty much entertaining. I think I was able to.. I wouldn’t say I was forced.. but [laughs] you just kind of end up on stage after watching your parents up on stage your whole life.
What drew you to R&B?
As I started to sing, I think my voice, the tone of my voice, and the style that is inherent in me kind of just fit well with R&B. R&B came real natural. Artists that I really liked were all R&B,
How do you incorporate your background into your music? I heard the songs with chants in them, but are there other things you include that are more subtle?
It’s a lot more subtle. Instead of a traditional kick drum, we’d use a traditional Hawaiian [drum] as a bass drum. Some of the other percussion instruments that are used throughout Polynesia, we’d thrown in there. Not kind of hide it, but don’t let it stick so far out. I think it’s important for me not to try and shove it down people’s throats, especially on the mainland, that I am Samoan Hawaiian.
They have no idea what it means on the mainland for the most part.
So we gotta try and, not disguise it, but mask it in a way that it’s sound has a little bit of variety in there that makes people think “What is that?” Spark more interest that way. We definitely come out with some chanting, some stuff in our native language, and I think that it’s being received very well.
It’s cool. You’re trying to incorporate it, but you’re not trying to make it a gimmick.
Not at all. We believe in our talent. We believe that we can sing in this genre of music just about as good as anybody, but at the same time, I’m not trying to be the next Justin Timberlake or the next Usher. I’m just trying to be the next Afatia, which will hopefully be the first [big thing] in Polynesian R&B.
[I bring up the only group I can remember in the hip hop mainstream representing themselves as Polynesian or Hawaiian. We decide that I am talking about the Booyah Tribe (Samoans with a gangsta rap style out of Long Beach).]
Guys like that have been pretty supportive.
You know them?
I don’t know them very well. Gangsta Rid, one of the brothers of the Booyah Tribe, came down to check out my album release party, so he was really supportive. At least in the mainland, or on the West Coast, they are the most well-known Polynesian artists. I don’t know of any R&B artists that have broken the door down. It is a genre that is dominated by blacks and whites and there aren’t very many brown skin people in it. If I can be that guy, great! If not, then we’ll see, but we’re going to keep trying to do what we’re doing.
Have you been touring, or are you going touring?
This is our first tour. It’s more of a promotional tour. There is a lot of interest [on MySpace] of people asking “Hey, when are you going to come out here and perform live?” So we were fortunate enough to get people that love my music enough to say “Yeah, let’s put together a tour and send you out there.” It’s been a huge blessing. I feel so fortunate to take my whole band and my whole show and take it out on the road. Get the music out and expose people out there.
Will you have an album to sell?
Yes. I release my album [Afatia 5:54] at the end of last year. We are on iTunes. You can buy the album online and it’s pretty much in every record store here in Hawaii.
Where have you performed here?
Growing up in the entertainment business through my parents’ company (Tehani Productions), I was able to go around the world doing Polynesian shows in front of hundreds of thousands of people. Phillipines, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Japan. All across the Midwest, East Coast, West Coast, Canada, Europe. As far as my music, the R&B, I have only done a show in a couple of venues on the West Coast, Seattle, but it was just me jumping on stage during someone else’s show. All over here, I’ve done the interisland circuit and hit all the little clubs. I had my big concert album release at Pipeline. We had about 1500 people.
Are you nervous to go out into the public where you are not known?
Not really.
Excited?
Ecstatic! I feel so blessed to be able to have this opportunity. I want to make the most of it and get the music out there. All I can ask of them is for people to come hear the music and check it out. At that point, let the music speak for itself, let the voices flow. Either they are going to like it or not. If they like R&B, I’m pretty sure they’ll like it.
On to your tattoos.
[He pulls up his pants leg and shows me the tradition Samoan tattoo going from mid-thigh all the way up to his waist. Also points to a band around his right arm.] It took 11 days. It’s the traditional style – tap, tap, tap. So what that is is a traditional Samoan tattoo. Of course, tattoos originated in Polynesia. The way that I got my tattoo done was the traditional way, the way that the first [tattoo was done in Polynesia] – the jaw bone and teeth of a boar, then was dipped into the ink. They were all natural inks.
Was the ink more modern ink?
I used both actually. Now, with modern civilization, it’s hard to get the natural materials. It’s a lot easier to get the manufactured ink. So I did use both - Samoa’s, then when that ran out, I used the modern ink. It takes years for the... [Natural ink] comes from the Kukui Nut…
[We get to talking about why Polynesian’s first started tattooing, discussing tattoos as art and tribal identifications.]
Do your tattoos incorporate tribal identifications?
It is basically me wearing my culture. It talks about everything from my genealogy and tracing it back to early Polynesian and my responsibility to my family, to my culture. It’s all incorporated into it.
Your family sounds like they are really supportive of your career.
Yes. There’s no way I could do it. I have to thank my wife first of all. She’s the one at home with our kids – three kids, two boys and a girl. All young. All under 4 years old. Between rehearsals, when I’m performing, it takes an unbelievable support system to do that and not have the burden of worrying if everything is okay, because you know everything is okay with my wife home and my parents being able to help out with the grandkids. It’s great. Definitely couldn’t do it without them.
[We start talking about the zine and how it reaches a group of people in the “underground” who aren’t well represented in the media and who aren’t easily reached through mainstream media.]
[In response to not easily reaching this group of people –] It’s frustrating. I’m fortunate because a lot of the exposure I get, and I’ll ride it, too, is because of the connections my parents have in the industry. I also have some merit or exposure because I was an all-star running back in high school. Heavily recruited football player, but I stayed home. I’m the local boy that stayed home to help his team. I got a lot of exposure that way, through the football team. It was always a nice catch media-wise. On the off season I’m a fire-knife dancer and there is always a lot of press on me on that end. So I’m fortunate and I use it. If people don’t remember me, then I drop that in there.
I feel for a lot of crazy talented artists that don’t get recognition. Some of these artists that are getting a lot of hype, tons of airplay, dominating the radio and I’m like “this guy sucks.” There’s guys that I know that play $200 gigs at hole in the wall clubs just because they want to play and they get no love. It is frustrating. I’m fortunate that I have a little media edge that I use because like I said, I want to break the door down and crack the Polynesian market open.
When you perform, who’s on stage with you? DO you do anything special?
It’s a full four piece band, three background vocalists. Eight on stage. We do a lot of R&B, some hip hop. Some of the things that add to the show – I do have a couple of hip hop dancers. Female dancers, hot, but they are Polynesian. It’s kind of the same thing when I perform. I incorporate subtly some undertones, some harmonies are traditional Polynesian harmonies that I use. If you listen to Hawaiian music, you hear it all the time, but when you fuse it with R&B then it sounds pretty different. Same thing with the dancers, they are girls who have been dancing with us in the Polynesian [group] but they also can dance crazy hip hop. So they look good. They are Polynesian. Some of their dance moves they’ll be breaking it down, then they’ll throw in a couple of traditional moves. We do one full-on break down of a Samoan slap dance. I bring the boys out and they are in their traditional garments. But I’m in my street clothes. Creates a nice contrast. The first part of the dance that we do is to hip hop beats. It’s a cool fusion. Then we cut the music and do a slap dance and the Polynesians go crazy!
I’m the only R&B artist in the world that can do the fire-knife dance. Promoters want to see something different, and it’s not a gimmick. It’s the real deal fire knife dance. I’m a world ranked fire-knife dancer. They have a world competition and I won in ’98 and I came in second, third, andsecond again in the following years. So I’m a world ranked fire-knife dancer and an R&B singer. That’s something we tell them. It’s something you wouldn’t typically see and I know it will blow a lot of people’s minds.
So you’re going to incorporate that into your set?
Definitely. We’re going to do it in Vegas. We’ve done it here once at Aloha Tower – it’s open air.
Significance of 5:54?
My brother, older brother, passed away when I was a sophomore in high school. He, too, was a football player. His football number is 54. Mine was 5. When we used to play, before we would say 5:54 is our time. It’s in reference to time and that time being our turn.
The ultimate goal is to break into the mainstream?
Sure. I think probably one of the ways or angles is to potentially get a major record label to sign me, or major distribution.
Is there anything else you want people to know about you?
I honestly believe this whole movement, or what I’m doing, is a lot bigger than my personal career because I believe that there is a lot of talent in Polynesia in other genres than traditional. If this thing works out and I’m able to crack the door open and get in, then a lot of artists after me are going to really benefit because they can follow the same steps that I took. Or ride the wave that I’ve created potentially. It’s bigger, it’s not just about me.
Hardcore Fervor: Akimai Boys
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review by Alexander Nickolas Kaiser, photo by Ryan Miyashiro
I've seen bands come and go. I seen bands still playing shows but they seem gone already, beating a dead horse, pushing a sound that don't stick. Alternately, I've seen bands that just fucking explode. They don't last long or make a big 'scene' impact in the long run but sometimes their shows, these little flames, burn so fast and so bright that they set the precedent for everyone who happens to witness their magnificence.
Akamai Boys didn't put on a show as much as ram a stick up the ass of anyone in the audience that had any pretentions about the current punk scene in Hawaii. With a name like Akamai Boys it's redundant to mention that these are a local gang. They're old school patriots of the hawaii 'scene' for over a decade and responsible for over a half dozen different incarnations making their collective a veritable institution in the Hawaii scene. Akamai Boys is about as roots as it gets, Minor Threat and FYP come to mind when listening to the recordings but more importantly their live show felt like pure loud fast fever across the audience, punk rock at it's most frenzied in the best way. With song titles like Kill Haoli Day, Hurricane Ewa (they mispelled Iwa I didn't) and Mililani Lyle the Akamai Boys touch upon iconography that resonates a timeless local flavor and it tastes like nineteen eighties Amercian hardcore dipped in Teri sauce.
Bodies flew from wall to wall and photogs snapped away with a nervously excited demeanor. I threw my shoes in peoples faces but thats not the point. Akamai Boys proved that with a few anarchic and passionately shambolic loud tunes you can incite a near riot among a dozen or so fervent and reckless believers. Akamai Boys walked the line. They scared promoters with their brand of acrobatic and seemingly violent, extrovert punk rock performance while pushing simplistic and classically stylish 'Akamai Boys' T shirts and a gritty, wonderful demo not to mention an unforgettable rock and roll performance. So, in the twilight of the Akamai Boys slash upon the face of the Hawaii punk scene I've been left to inhale the smell of blood left behind. Like a shark I feel excited, inspired as it seems. Waiting for the next thing to stimulate my senses, anticipating new blood. Look for Akamai Boys to reform in another incarnation, i'd go as far to bet my life on it. Be there and, like a shark, tear shit up if you got teeth.
