Carla & Linda just took the puppies for their walk and gave them their treats.  Our dogs are so weird – Buster grunts like a pig, Jazz plops herself down on my foot whenever I’m preparing food, and Peanut welcomes us home by grabbing one of Carla’s socks and running back into the house.  They wake everyone up at the crack of dawn demanding to be fed and walked … hmmm, I guess they really ARE a pain in the butt after all!!  But SOOOOO cute, ya?  lol!

Got a break today .. no meetings scheduled – yet.  I still have a backlog of work piled on my desk so I’ll probably be down at IOLANI pretty much the whole day.  During one of my meetings yesterday, a local banking exec stated that the crisis in Japan was not going to affect our local economy very much.  HELLO!!  WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN SMOKING?!  The hotels are already experiencing major cancellations, a number of flights are being cut back, and this guy’s saying that we won’t be affected.  I strongly suggested that he go down to Waikiki in a few months and try to convince the workers that there’s no impact after they’ve had their hours cut or worse yet, been furloughed.  Jackass …

On a brighter note, I’ve been receiving emails and text messages from many of our friends in Japan saying that things are slowly improving and that they’re all trying to get back to their normal routines.  Of course, everyone is still very concerned about the ongoing nuclear crisis in Fukushima and feel that a full recovery cannot begin until it’s resolved.  I hope and pray that it’s soon …

And lastly, I want to send a BIG mahalo out to two local DJs in Japan – Vance K and Kamasami Kong – for their continuous updates on the situation there.  These guys could have dug out at anytime and fled to safety like most of the other foreigners, but they chose to stay and help.  And I couldn’t help but tear up when I heard that someone told Vance, “Thank you for not leaving us.  You being here gives us hope.”  Pretty awesome …

Aloha, “D”

On Friday, early in the morning with the tsunami watches still in effect in Hawai’i, I woke up with a desire to help. I quickly made several phone calls, wrote a couple of emails, and by mid-day had setup an impromptu fundraiser at our usual Lulus show. The idea was simple: instead of a tip jar, we would have a donation jar, and everyone who enjoyed our music that night could donate money which we would then collect and give to the Red Cross. By the end of the three-hour dinner show, we had collected $402.25. Amazing.

Then Saturday night, while we are getting ready to do a private show, we get a call from our friend telling us that the Honolulu Festival wants to up the ante and produce a charity show with Jake Shimabukuro. A few emails, and calls later and we were at the Waikiki Beachwalk, ready to go! Along with Jake, and another ukulele player named Dai Hirai, we were able to raise $15,877.12. Again, amazing is the only word that can describe it.

So what’s the difference? $15,877.12 vs. $402.25? To me, there is no difference. What matters is on both of those nights, Hawai’i showed overwhelming support and Aloha for our Japanese friends and family. I remember tweeting a picture of the crowd at Beachwalk with the title, “Lots of Aloha being shown for Japan!” Immediately, I received responses from people saying that thank you, and that they could feel the support we were sending them. That’s what I will always remember from this weekend.

So as we continue on, supporting and finding ways to help, please remember that it’s the actions that speak louder than words. ManoaDNA was blessed to be a small part of the actions, and we hope to continue on. Thank you everyone for all your support, please continue to do what you can, and we wish everyone in Japan a blessed and safe week.

Mahalo,
Nick

The life of a Waikiki musician is a complicated one. It’s a blessing that every night we get to see hundreds of new faces and get our music into hundreds of ears. However, it’s such a constant battle of satisfying a large, diverse population of people, that it leads most people to buy your CD because they like your sound, not your music. Not really you’re goal when you are someone trying to make a name for yourself. That’s like saying to a fashion designer, “I like the fabric you use!” It’s a compliment to his choice of cotton, but their goal is to get you to enjoy their entire line of styles, colors and prints.

You would think, with a constant stream of new listeners and a captured audience, that its an easy “fish in a barrel” scenario. When we first started, I thought, ok, if we can sell ten CDs a night to 10 new listeners, then in a year, we would have 520 new fans! Simple exponential math would also assume that those ten would tell two friends, and their two friends, and so on. However, the average Waikiki restaurant CD purchaser does not become that referring fan. Your music now becomes associated with their overall Hawai’i experience, and they will remember not how your band or your music made them feel, but how it added to their trip. It’s great that we have the opportunity to add to their trip, and are honored to do so, but if we were looking just to highlight our music, playing in Waikiki is a tough way to do that.

I know this may come across to some people as whining, excuse-making, or even being conceited, and that’s not what I want to convey. I know there are a lot of people out there who would kill for a weekly gig, and definitely appreciate all the support places like Lulus and Kani Ka Pila give us. This is just a word of caution and encouragement to the future musicians of Hawai’i. If you get a chance to play in Waikiki, take it, but don’t assume that this is where you will be discovered, or where you will make your mark. Work hard on your music, believe in your product, and that will be what takes you to the next step. It’s the content, not the packaging.

Other than that, it’s a busy week for ManoaDNA with a private function on Wednesday, and Lulus on Friday. Kani Ka Pila is cancelled for us this weekend as the DNA boys will be cheering on the University of Hawai’i Warriors against Nevada on Saturday! Go Warriors!

If you haven’t heard already, we have been broadcasting our live events using ustream.tv! This is really fun and exciting for us because it allows us to connect directly with those fans who cannot be at our show in person. We have met a lot of people around the world who watch us and continue to support us from afar. Thank you to all who have made Manoa DNA Live! a success, and we look forward to broadcasting more in the future!

2nd, 16th, 23rd & 30th: Lulus Waikiki Live! Continuing the live broadcasts direct from Lulus, Manoa DNA continues their weekly haunt at Lulus. Come down and see them live, or watch them online at Manoa DNA Live!

3rd & 17th: Kani Ka Pila @ The Outrigger Reef Come down and see Manoa DNA under the stars in Waikiki. This outdoor venue is a perfect setting to listen to Manoa DNA! Live broadcasts will be unavailable at Kani Ka Pila due to bandwidth restrictions by the Outrigger Reef hotel.

For a little laugh…

Happy June All! I don’t know about where you are, but it is hot here! We don’t have too many special engagements this month, but we will be down at our regular haunts weekly. Here is our summary for June:

5th, 12th, 19th, & 26th: Lulus Waikiki Continuing our weekly Friday night feature at Lulus Bar & Grill in Waikiki, Manoa DNA is there every Friday night in June from 6pm-9pm!

6th, 13th & 27th: Kani Ka Pila Honolulu’s hottest kama’aina and visitor hotspot is Kani Ka Pila Bar at the Outrigger Reef Hotel in Waikiki! We are there on a couple Saturdays during June, so come and see us, 5:30pm to 8:30pm!

9th: Na Hoku Hanohano Live Performance For the first time in our short history, we have been invited to play live on stage during the Na Hoku Hanohano Award Ceremony! This is a huge honor for us and we are happy to be a part of this year’s festivities!