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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
 Posted - 01/19/2010 : 2:47:08 PM
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Music at the Northcoast Hula Workshop was provided by Chad Takatsugi, Ryan "Gonzo" Gonzales and Glenn Mayeda, Jr.
You know Auntie Wanda by now. I could not let a chance go by this year without talking story with the band. This year, the musicians who joined us were Chad Takatsugi and Ryan “Gonzo” Gonzalez of the group `Ale`a and Glenn Mayeda, formerly of Pilioha. We were so happy to have them join us and to provide the music for the ho`ike on Saturday. Preceding the ho`ike was a lu`au which was a fund-raiser for the ALS (Lou Gehrig ’s disease) foundation.
Auntie cornered the guys one day after lunch and asked if we could wala`au a bit about the Hawaiian music scene and if I had their permission to share some of our conversation with you, our cyber-`ohana. I didn’t do this like a formal interview with specific questions and recording their answers verbatim. We just talked story and whoever had a point to make chimed in.
I asked the guys how they came to be interested in playing traditional Hawaiian music. I was specifically interested in this point from them, because as you know, we have had many discussions already about how the traditional music will be carried on by the next generation. All of these gentlemen became interested in Hawaiian music while attending the Kamehameha Schools. When asked if they grew up with the music in their homes, they said traditional Hawaiian music wasn’t a major part of their childhood. One of the guys, and pardon me, Auntie cannot remember who, said that his mother was a hula dancer in her youth, but as she grew older and began raising a family, she grew away from it. Other than that, it seems like their inspiration was due to music teachers at school. This speaks highly of the value of music education in the schools for our youth. Can you imagine if they did not have those lessons? It could be there would have been no spark to set the music fire burning in their na`au.
All three of the guys work “day jobs”, all involved in one fashion or another in the field of education. Glenn teaches General Music (with a focus on the `ukulele) at an intermediate school; Chad and Gonzo work for Kamehameha Schools. We talked about whether or not Hawaiian music could provide enough to make a living. Pretty much the consensus was that there is a limited opportunity to do so. There is a limited market for Hawaiian music and it seems that many people who live in the islands may take the music for granted. Matter of fact, there is no `Ale`a any longer. Glenn no longer plays with Pilioha. Currently, most of their musical work has consisted of backing up various Hula Halau for performances in Hawai`i, Japan, and the continental U.S. One said that it is hard to take a steady musical gig on when you have to be up bright and early the next morning to go to a regular day job. (Auntie’s editorial comment: Work gets in the way of so much good stuff.)
We talked a bit about what their thoughts are regarding where they think Hawaiian music is heading. Part of the discussion centered about lamenting how hard it is becoming to sell a complete CD (and this is a problem for all genres of music). With the advent of things such as iTunes, people pick and choose individual songs and do not want to buy a complete album. Consequently, along with that, you get no liner notes, no lyrics or translations, no sharing of mana`o. The younger people who buy music are used to instantaneous fulfillment of their desires. With iTunes and similar technology, they can have their one mele they like right now. We also talked about the increasing popularity of Hawaiian music elsewhere, such as the west coast of the U.S. and in Japan. One of the points to ponder is whether this is true because this new audience consists of folks who never grew up with the music and therefore do not take it for granted? I see plenty of comments on You Tube Hawaiian music videos where former kama`aina lament the fact they are no longer in Hawai`i and are so touched by the music that reminds them of home. Do you have to be away from it to appreciate it?
You know I am niele, right. So I asked them what they think are the reasons the younger generation seems to disdain traditional Hawaiian music and embrace Jawaiian, reggae and hip-hop. They believe that one reason may be access—other genres of music are more prevalent on local radio stations and television and venues that showcase live traditional Hawaiian music are far and few in between. For example, on the island of O`ahu, there are more than a handful of FM stations focused on Jawaiian and contemporary music (both Hawaiian and Mainland top-40 pop/rock/hip-hop types), with only one real station focused on traditional Hawaiian music—which, by the way, sits on an AM channel. Another possible reason is that a lot of people may not understand the language (Although, the guys remain hopeful because more people are learning the language everyday).
Even though to me, these guys are the next generation of traditional Hawaiian music, they also are lamenting that there does not seem to be a generation of budding musicians behind them. We talked about whether someone introduced to `ukulele, for example in elementary school would stay interested into adulthood or whether the music should be introduced as they get older, perhaps in high school?
Then the interview was pau. Auntie had to get back to class. We learned three oli (two of which were hula noho) and one `auana. It was a busy, busy weekend. If you have never seen Aunty Mapu dance, oh my, you are missing something for sure. She is so regal, so graceful, so amazing at what she does.
If you do not have any `Ale`a music or Pilioha music in your Hawaiian music library, you call always check out mele.com:
Here is the listing of `Ale`a music available on mele.com : http://www.mele.com/search.html?referer=894e6d8aa73e283526294c8a94eea1a1&searchField=ale%60a&submitSearch.x=20&submitSearch.y=16
And here is the Pilioha music: http://www.mele.com/music/artist/pilioha/pilioha/
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Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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Conversation with Chad, Gonzo & Glenn
