Stories

I often think back to the autumn of 2013—the year my life underwent a big shift in all areas—and the blog post I wrote with it. "To say that September brought extraordinary opportunities to my door would understate the fact that it was probably the busiest, craziest, most serendipitous and exhausting month in my life thus far, passing in what feels like a single day." That's from this post made two years ago, when apparently I was working harder than ever before in life, love, and the label (although at the time Aloha Got Soul was a year away from...

Some things take time, something we don't always have enough of. I first connected with Rob Butler, the man behind Be With Records, in October 2014. He sent me a friendly email and mentioned plans to visit Hawaii in mid-2015. Rob and I both do the same kind of thing: run a record label that focuses on reissuing out-of-print classics and obscure deserving-to-be-classics. Except Rob's way out in London (or, from his perspective, I'm way out here in Honolulu), so the only way we could meet in person is to wait until he makes a trip to Hawaii or I...

"I found that special find". Look closely, and you'll see those words inscribed in the dead wax on the flip side of AGS-7002, the second release from the Aloha Got Soul blog-turned-label (but still a blog!). The idea came to me in January after picking up a copy of RVNG Intl's anthology music by Ariel Kalma. RVNG's attention to packaging quality is consistently superb, all the way down to the dead wax. The Kalma release featured different phrases etched on each side. Inspired, I wanted to do the same for AGS-7002. So I texted Mike Lundy to make sure I...

I sometimes get asked about current soul music from Hawaii. Spending so much of my time focusing on a very particular era of soul music from the islands, I admit find myself caught off-guard when faced with such an inquiry. Thanks to several tips, namely from my buddy JBMbeatz, prominent Honolulu DJ Bennie James, and my fiancé, I picked up Maryanne Ito's debut album Waking Up from Hungry Ear Records. Dear lord is it good. A week or so later, Bennie and I chatted on the phone. Bennie's taken on the role of manager for Maryanne and has successfully arranged...

What follows is a recent discussion I had with record label owner Rob Butler, who runs the London-based Be With Records which, since its inception in May 2014, has released a steady string of solid reissues that dance across a landscape of good music. ORDER NOW: Nohelani Cypriano Nohelani LP reissue available from Be With Records. I was relieved, then, to learn late last year that Rob had secured the rights to reissue Nohelani Cypriano's debut LP, Nohelani, on vinyl. Relieved because Rob cherishes music for what it is—food for the soul—not so much for its collectability. In my mind,...