Sometime in 2020, @djvinyldon got in touch with a man named Mitch Padeken, the bassist for a local group called Moondance. It was a cold call (like many of our efforts are when searching for artists), and a pleasant surprise for Mitch. Few people have reached out to him in decades about their back-in-the-day band from North Shore, Oahu.
After making initial connection (Don currently lives in Los Angeles), me (@rogerbong) and #OliverSeguin drove to Waimea to meet Mitch in person.
He invited us to hang out on his lanai out back, overlooked the open ocean just east of Waimea Bay. It was whale season. We could see humpbacks (and dolphins) frolicking on the horizon. It was magical.
While the band doesn’t own the rights to their album, North Shore Appeal, Mitch mentioned he had some recordings in storage: unreleased Moondance material from 1995 recorded as a trio, and sessions from his heavy metal band, Zontrazzio.
We left on a high note, and asked uncle Mitch to keep us posted when he found those tapes.
Mitch kept in touch, and recently stopped by our shop @ags.honolulu during time off from work (he’s an employee at the Turtle Bay Resort). In his hand was an aged Manila envelope that read “Moondance & Zontrazzio recordings Handle with care”.
Mitch’s willingness to lend us these prized personal items grew from Don’s initial phone call and his ability to clearly communicate our passion for local music over the phone, as well as our enthusiasm in-person to hear his stories about Moondance.
It’s an example of how friendships grounded in music can yield special, unexpected moments and opportunities like this.
If not a release, then perhaps we’ll find other ways to share this yet-to-be-heard music with you."
