Stories — Mixes

If you think Hawaii is all about surfing and volcanoes then you're wrong, it’s about surfing, volcanoes and soul, jazz and funk. Roger Bong is the 50th state’s crate digger supreme, collecting records that are almost too obscure to be true. After five mixtapes in 2012, this exclusive mix for DJhistory means he goes one better than Hawaii Five-O.

Every Wednesday in Sydney, Australia, a man named Paris takes over the Australian airwaves at Radio 2SER with his rare groove show, Jumping The Gap. Listen to an exclusive 7-inch vinyl mix by Aloha Got Soul featuring seven Hawaiian funk, soul, and jazz.

If not for music, cultures would have a difficult time traveling thousands of miles around the globe in hopes of sharing the spirit of their lifestyle with cities worldwide. But luckily, we have music to connect with each other no matter where we live. But instead of a guy in Honolulu (me) sharing a Hawaiian mixtape with someone in Europe, DJ Tobago's mix does the opposite. An enthusiastic French DJ named Alexandre Watelet-Escudero, also known as DJ Tobago, recently shared with me his mix of 25 Hawaiian rare groove tracks. Not only was I excited to hear how a Frenchman...

Last year, I thought the Fitted x Aloha Got Soul collaboration would breed the only mixtape I'd release for Aloha Got Soul in 2012 (if you're curious, it's on its the way... patience!). With No Place Like Home—my fourth mixtape of the year—I'm sending you on a journey through the beautiful places of Hawaii, as seen through the eyes of local musicians. Whereas the 1x10x100 mixtape series showcases the funk-soul vinyl I found at Harry's Music Store (not Hawaiian music, but music found in Hawaii), this aural landscape of warming, loving sounds is a tribute to the places Hawaii's musicians...

Before I get to work on the next 1x10x100 mixtape (can you say 45s?), diggers out there need to know who's behind the tracks on the first mixtape in the ongoing 1x10x100 series. After all, music like this deserves to be shared. Artists in pursuit of the purest sound of the soul deserve to be recognized, and keeping the complete tracklist from you does nobody good. At first, 1x10x100 was an outlet for me to share the 100 vinyl records I bought for just $10 at Harry's Music Store in February. The Honolulu landmark was closing and moving to a...