MISS ON-SCENE: My open letter to HARA: Why Sing the Body deserves...

With news of local indie rock band Sing the Body's nomination for Best Rock Album at this years Na Hoku Hanohano awards, local blogger Malia Baloyot has written an open letter to the Hawaii Academy of Recording Artist (HARA) on why Sing the Body deserves the Hoku this year.  Sing the Body has made some major moves this year including recently opening up for the Shins on Maui and also representing Hawaii in this year's Hard Rock Rising competition (so if you haven't done so vote here)!

So check out Malia's blog: MISS ON-SCENE below to read the full letter!

MISS ON-SCENE: My open letter to HARA: Why Sing the Body deserves...: Dear members of the Honolulu Academy of Recording Arts I am a friend and fan of the local group and first-time Na Hoku Hanohano Award nomi...

Albums From Hawaii


So I picked up a couple of new albums in the past month:

[EP]ic: Chris Salvador's debut as a solo artist.  [EP]ic features 5 original tunes by the ukulele player Chris, featuring epic ukulele playing from opening tune ATP to the strong build of Seconds To Launch.  The album also features the delicate somber touch of song Autumn Will Never Come.  Featuring Alden Tokuzato on bass and guitar and Abe Lagrimas Jr. on drums.  Check out Chris also on Solo Ukulele: The King of Pop and Heart & Soul's: Take it Easy.  Album recorded at Low Brow Studios by Demetri Marmash.


It Always Comes Back Around: Saving Cadence releases their first full-fledged album with Jordan Fite on vocals and guitar, Glen Molina on bass, and Taylor Fite on drums and vocals.  It Always Comes Back Around features 10 original pop-rock songs ranging from the upbeat of track Rock Star Baby and the mellow ease down of title track It Always Comes Back Around.  If you want to check them out, Saving Cadence will be opening for Jimmy Cliff later this month down at the Aloha Tower Waterfront.  For more information go to their website here.  Album recorded at Low Brow Studios by Demetri Marmash (assistant producer Steven "Lock" Lynch).


Alternative HI: Local bands from the alternative scene brought together by producer Brandon Apeles and Shawn Livingston Mosely have been compiled onto one CD called Alternative HI.  Alternative Hi called for following criteria :

1 – All the material had to be original. 
2 – Aside from solo artist with guest musicians, all bands had to remain together and are actively performing in the local scene. 
3 – The songs selected for the album would be done so by the producers. 
4 - There would be a rigorous pre-production with the bands and their material to assure they are up to an international level of quality in line with the top artist in the Alternative genre.
5 –Although their singles would be fully produced, recorded, mixed and mastered at the expense of ‘Aumakua Records, they would retain the rights to the master’s.

On this: 18 tracks were made featuring Hawaii's top alternative artist from the beautiful poeticism of Johnny Helm's Master of Ceremonies to the power of Mantra's Misguided Adoration.  Other artists featured on the album are Mano Kane, Sing the Body, Sabrina, Owaila, Disaster Kit, Mike Love, Erika Elona, Sex Puppet and the list goes on.  The product of this myriad of artists creates a great eclectic mix and a certain intimacy with the unrecognized alternative music scene from Hawaii.  Tracks from Alter Hi have already made their way to radio play on Star 101.9 on the new Sunday rock show: Unsigned HI.  With the help of The Mountain Apple Company, Alternative Hi can be found in your local CD rack at Walgreens, Longs, Target, Walmart and more (of course you can always download your copy off of iTunes).  For more information on the CD check out the official website or "like" the Facebook page below.  Album recorded at Soul Sound Studios by Shawn Livingston Mosely (assistant producers Steven "Lock" Lynch, Kelii Heath, and Michael Casil on track Walk Away).

Awesome Bands=Awesome Night

For those of you who had the chance to come down to Hawaiian Brians last night you know whats up.  The show was seriously off the hook!  A huge list of bands including many Alternative Hi artists.  I personally had way too much fun, great music and great people.

Erika Elona Band (pic by Joah Buley)
I had the honor of playing with three of the bands last night including the wonderful Erika Elona Band.  Featuring Erika Elona on vocals and acoustic guitar, Brandon Apeles on bass, Mike Nakamoto on drums, and myself on electric guitar.  We started off nice and slow and quickly warmed up with Erika's original, "What You Do to Me."  After playing both her latest single "Easier" and song featured on the Alternative HI album "Smoke Signals,"  we finished off with "Fans" by Kings of Leon.  We begin recording Erika's album in a couple of weeks at Soul Sound Studios.

Broke Aesthetic (pic by Joah Buley)
Second set was Broke Aesthetic which was KILLER. It was just incredibly fun and I felt possessed by the music.  Max, Mike, and myself worked out our new set with some new material and I feel it went off pretty well!  All three of us were pretty nervous at first but after the first song, "Lovely," we loosened up pretty quickly.  We will be playing at the end of the month on March 31st at the Waikiki Sandbox for this months Top Shelf!

Sex Puppet

Finishing the night was Sex Puppet.  Featuring Makke Farley on lead vocals, Ken Lykes and myself on guitar, Taisuke Tanaka on bass, and Stephen Lock on drums. We started off the night with our single featured on the upcoming Alternative HI album titled, "My Chevelle," which kicked us off to a good start.  Running through our old tunes, it felt really good to get back stage with the gang.  Sex Puppet recently has just returned to the scene, and intends to make more and more appearances in the next couple of months!



Saving Cadence, Virgin Mary, Mano Kane, Desert Sea, Alexia, and Danielle also performed through out the evening.  All of which did a great job but extra kudos to Mano Kane for really bringing the house down.  They had everyone screaming Roadhouse Blues.  Hell yeah guys, lets bring back rock and roll!
Chris from Mano Kane being a beast
More pictures from the Pulse

WAY TOO MANY BANDS!



 So this upcoming Saturday should be a pretty fun night if you are heading down to Hawaiian Brians.  Brandonapeles features Way Too Many Bands starts off at 7pm and will going all the way into the wee hours of the morning.  This is going to be a pretty intense show for me personally since I will be playing in three bands that night : Sex Puppet, the Erika Elona Band, and Broke Aesthetic.  It really hit me this weekend with the three practices within 2 days.  I must say I wouldn't have it any other way, been way too much fun.




Sex Puppet with new drummer Lock

Sex Puppet:  Sex Puppet has gone on a pretty long hiatus at this point but intends to makes its return a huge one.  Practicing some new tunes and reinventing the old ones, Sex Puppet is proud to announce drummer Stephen Lynch (more commonly known as Lock) joining the crew.  Sex Puppet will be closing the night with a heavy, sultry, psychedelic rock tone.



The Erika Elona Band
Erika Elona Band: We got together this past Sunday at Soul Sound Studios to get a practice in of the old stuff and a couple new songs as well.  The Intire Project was also in the house and senor Bran decided we shoot a cover video of Fans by Kings of Leon with Tyler's sweet camera.  Klin Reece set up his lap steel and Tyler set up his banjo and on the fly we did the shoot (thanks to Drew).  Here's a link the vid.
Also starting later this month we go in the studio the work on Erika's full album at Soul Sound Studios.  So expect some magic coming to you soon.


The boys from Broke Aesthetic

Broke Aesthetic: Working and writing.  It really has been so awesome of an experience jamming with Mike and Max.  We really have been cranking out these new songs every single practice and I can say that we really have found a tight groove.  We will be doing an almost all original set written by the three of us these past two months. Big plans are in store for us this upcoming year.  We hope you will be there to share it with us.


The night will also feature Mano Kane (check out the article by Sabrina in the Pulse), Saving Cadence (CD release right around the corner), and Alternative HI musician Kevin Jones with Desert Sea.

For the Facebook event click here.
Broke Aesthetic Facebook event.
Alternative HI Facebook and Website.
For questions about the event hit me up or send me an email at nealchin808@gmail.com.

See you beautiful people Saturday.