There are so many directions I could go with this post. Should I spill more details about the Fitted x Aloha Got Soul project? Should I highlight a local music shop? Maybe I'll showcase my latest song-that's-on-repeat?
Wait, why can't I just talk about all of it?
Somewhere near University Avenue, 10:00 a.m.
OK, so I took a day off to hunt for records with a few members of the
Fitted team. We hit a handful of spots in the Honolulu area on a typically hot yet overcast Thursday in Hawaii. We climbed into one car and I popped in a CD-R of some Hawaiian stuff not featured on the upcoming Fitted x Aloha Got Soul mix,
including Hal Bradbury's "You Win, I Lose" from the singer's solo album,
This Is Love.
Before the big release (tentatively dropping in February), we're giving away a free 30-minute teaser mix to get people excited about the project. This musical appetizer (we call them
pupus in Hawaii) will be
a delectable prelude to the main course: a 1 hour, 16 minute blend of Hawaiian jazz, funk and soul.
That's right, the main course will be
an original Aloha Got Soul x Fitted shirt with a professionally pressed
CD featuring over 25 tracks of Hawaiian grooves—delicious to the last bite, just what a main course should be.
Digging for vinyl at Bailey's
Bailey's Antiques and Aloha Shirts specializes in what tourists usually call "Hawaiian shirts".
That's how you can tell whether someone's a local. Bailey's offers a sizable collection of used Hawaiian music, though no local ever calls it "Aloha music".
Condition dictates price at most vinyl music stores. But, because Bailey's is at the edge of Waikiki and Hawaiian music is a novelty most tourists pay more for, price tags here discourage me from buying more than two records.
Of all the stores on Oahu that carry vinyl, Bailey's boasts the most aesthetically intriguing environment—with over 15,000 Aloha shirts, hundreds of posters, and thousands more trinkets,
this Honolulu vintage store sells enough tropical paraphernalia to hypnotize any shopper.
Redeeming a broken record
If you follow
@alohagotsoul on Twitter, you might remember the day I fell down while skateboarding with records under my arm.
Bad idea. Crack in ground = cracked LPs.
I redeemed my tumble after finding another copy of the
fourth album in the Homegrown series, produced by radio DJ Ron Jacobs. This time, my four-wheel ride home was a pickup truck, so my records were safe.
Digging in Hawaii is more fun with friends, especially when you're filming for an upcoming Fitted project. Did I forget to mention that we're also filming a teaser video for the upcoming project?
Well, there you go, secret's out!
Mahalo for reading, and remember:
support local. Stay tuned 'cause there's lots more to talk about!
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