Stories
On Kalapana: Kainani Kahaunaele celebrates the mele and legacy of Kalapana
Music transports us to the past and roots us in the present. The music of Kalapana does just that — and so does the mele of Kainani Kahaunaele, whose craft is rooted not just in the past, but pushes the present forward into the future with progressive sounds that meld Hawaiian music with contemporary sounds of the 20th and 21st centuries. Photo from BigIslandMusic.net. Born and raised in Anahola, Kauaʻi Kainani has lived in Hilo, Hawaiʻi for 27+ years as an advocate for Hawaiian language revitalization and the perpetuation of Hawaiian music through education and performance. While earning her B.A in...
Pushing Pallets across the Pacific: Closing our "LA HQ" and consolidating inventory
3 We've come a long way as a label, and continue to learn various lessons along the way. Earlier this week, we closed up our Los Angeles storage unit. For the last 10 months, our storage unit in Greater Los Angeles has served as a convenient locale for shipping orders to US mainland customers. Our LA counterpart, Vinyl Don, has lovingly been holding it down in the City of Angels by receiving pallets of records and shipping orders out to customers and distributors. It's saved us some time and resources, and for a while it made sense to ship part of our pressings to...
On Kalapana: Cnrboy talks about Mackey and 90s R&B group, chant
Continuing our series of asking artists about Kalapana's music and influence is local rapper and beat maker Cnrboy, who traces his Mackey Feary fandom to his father's time spent in a 90s R&B group, chant. What is your all-time favorite Kalapana track? Why do you love it?"Nightbird" is definitely my favorite track. I just love the visual storytelling behind mackeys lyrics. I heard he wrote the song in NY, while being homesick. Sounds like he’s talking about love or a woman but he’s really talking about home. I can definite relate. Nothing like Hawaii. How has Kalapana and their music influenced...
Kalapana '4k' T-shirt: Official reprint of their classic tee
In 1970s Hawaii, band logos were the thing to have — Summer, Kalapana, Country Comfort, and Olomana were some of the islands' most popular groups whose marks were instantly identifiable. In flipping, clicking, and digging through images of Kalapana for our forthcoming official reissue of their seminal 1975 debut, we've regularly come across this Kalapana "4k" design. It's a timeless stamp that many in Hawaii recognize and love. It's a classic design that deserves to be carried on into our present and future. Aloha Got Soul has been granted permission from Kalapana Music to product official Kalapana merchandise. We'll be kicking things off with a reprint...
On Kalapana: 3 Questions with Greenwood's Robin Kimura
We're kicking off a series of interviews today centered around the influence of Kalapana, Hawaii's seminal contemporary band from the 1970s. Kalapana left an indelible mark on Hawaii's local music scene — not only did they set the bar high with their self-titled debut in 1975, the group shaped what became the sound of the islands at the time. Their sound was unique —a difficult to pinpoint mix of rock, jazz, soul, R&B and AOR — and it proved to locals that Hawaii too could have a world-class, trailblazing act borne of its people and places. With the help of music writer Jason...