One of the sweet things about running your own music site is that you get to choose the musicians that you feature. I’ve long been a fan of Hawaiian and Island Reggae music. Perhaps it’s a roots thing and the Hawaiian in me. But I’m pretty sure I’d still love to listen even if I was just a typical haole from the mainland.
Island Reggae is a genre that is by all definitions “underground” in the mainstream of music. Like Hawaii itself, Island Reggae is a bit of a melting pot of styles blending traditional Hawaiian styles and instruments like the ukulele with Reggae skank and off-beat accents, then mixing in a dash of Hip Hop and Rap with horns and powerful vocals. It’s like a plate of Loco Moco for the ears.
One group that typifies the essence of Island Reggae and one I’ve long enjoyed listening to is Ekolu. They hail from the island nation of Maui and bring some of the coolest jams and sweetest vocals you’ve ever heard. When you put on any of their albums you can’t help but get that “ire” feeling.
We’re very excited that braddah Lukela was able to take time out of his super busy schedule to talk with us. He’s currently working on two Ekolu albums, planning a West Coast and South Pacific tour, and producing an album for another band. So we have to give a big mahalo out to Lukela Keala.
Tell us a little about Ekolu, how long has the group been together, how did you meet?
We’ve been together professionally for 11 years but we met in high school about 15 years ago. My mom’s brother was the slackey teacher at our high school and he saw our love for music so he put us together. One thing led to the next and here we are!
What does “Ekolu” mean in English?
“Ekolu” means 3 in the Hawaiian language! We started off as a trio doing contemporary Hawaiian music but it lead to us creating our own music and we stuck to that cause the people seemed to like it!
Can you run down the band line-up for us?
- Lukela Keala – Lead Singer
- Makapu Hoopii – Lead and Background singer, Bassist
- Kamakoa – Background Singer and Lead Guitarist
- Tom Mamuad – Keyboardist
- Michael Casil – Drums
- James De Bose – Trombone
- Paul Bunuan – Saxaphone
What are some of the challenges or advantages of being a band based in Hawaii and specifically on Maui?
The only challenge about being in Hawaii is that the big time producers don’t get to hear what our music is all about, or I should say…it takes longer for them to hear it… but we keep striving and hope to get lucky someday. The advantage about being in Maui is that we have so much inspiration around us to write music. We get to write about the land, the ocean, and the beautiful scenery, it’s incredible!
Can you tell us about Waiehu Records? Why did you start your own label? What is it like running your own record label and running a band? What do you have coming up from Waiehu?
Waiehu Records is a label I put together after a certain situation happened with our past label. I’m sure you can guess what happened, hahaha! We literally had to learn the music biz overnight and so we did and we started the Back to the Valley album months later just to show our prior label that you ain’t gonna stop us, just watch this, and then the Back to the Valley album came out!
Do you have your own recording studio? If so, what equipment or software do you use?
Yes we do have our own studio and we are using Pro Tools LE!
How often do you get to play shows as a band? Do you play any place else, like church?
We play almost every weekend. And yes, when the church asks for me to sing I go up and do a song or two.
Who are your musical influences?
I grew up listening to Aswad, Yellowman, Pam Hall, Oliver Kelly, Kapena…shucks there are so many, hahaha!!!
What are you listening to right now?
My favorite singer is Raul Midón, so I’m listening to him at this moment! I been listening to alot of Andrea Bocelli too for some reason and I love it!
How did you get started in music? Any formal music training?
No music training, just watch and learn! My dad would always go to my grandmas house on the weekends and that’s where it really started. They would have cookouts every weekend and have huge jam sessions. Me being a kid I used to just watch them play and at the same time take notes!
What brand of instruments do you play?
My Guitars are a 6 string Taylor, a 12 string Takamine, 6 string Goya, 6 string nylon Cordoba, and a 12 string Sigma guitar. I have 3 ukulele’s, 8 string Kamaka ukulele, 4 string Mele ukulele, and a 4 string EkoluLive.com and feel free to write to us at ekolulive at Yahoo.com for booking info or if you have questions about the band.
Final question, not music related at all. Where should people go for great grinds when on Maui?
Sam Sato’s in Wailuku or Da Kitchen in Kahului, WICKED GRINDS!!!!!
Final thoughts?
I’d also like to give glory to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for the strength, I could never make it without you Lord. To my wife Dar, YOU ROCK!! haha! To the Ekolu Crew, thank you for taking this journey with me, I love you guys!
To all the EKOLU FANS, you make us who we are today and we’ll never forget that! Much love to braddah Bret for this interview. YIKES, I can hear my wife scolding my nephew, gotta go save em, haha!!! Love you all!
Check out Ekolu’s music on iTunes.
You can keep up with Ekolu through their website EkoluLive.com as well as on Facebook.