MAHALO TO ALL WHO DONATED TO
I HO'ILI KAMALI'I
In support of bringing unique music
experiences into schools in Hawai'i Nei!
We are currently planning
implementation of the programs
to begin in Fall 2008.
Stay tuned for more info! Aloha!
Makana performs in multiple configurations, including solo, duo & with a band. The support instruments may include drum & bass, keys, sequencing, strings, and harmony vocals. Makana plays acoustic and electric slack key guitar, sings lead vocals, and sometimes plays 'ukulele, Gu Zheng (Chinese harp), and a myriad of other sound making implements. He is a seasoned and very powerful presence onstage, both as a solo performer and in the context of other musicians.
Watch Makana's New Demo Reel!
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Rumfire Thursdays
Creating a live soundtrack to beautiful Hawai'i sunsets!
Influences
I am lured by the ideal of mass consciousness. It is what drives me to the insanity of valuing contribution over profit, and the rare activity of thinking.
My influences begin with the traditional Hawaiian music masters of Ki Ho'alu (Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar): Sonny Chillingworth (my kumu), Gabby "Pops" Pahinui, Ledward Ka'apana, Atta Isaacs, Fred Punahoa, Cyril Pahinui, and Raymond Kane; the musicians of the second Hawaiian renaissance: Peter Moon and the Cazimeros (The Sunday Manoa), Hui Ohana, Kahauanu Lake Trio, Gabby Band, Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau, and Olomana; the contemporary Hawaiian musicians Willie K. and John Cruz; and two of the original steel guitar legends Andy Iona and Tau Moe. Beyond Hawaiian music, the list is living and changing, and includes both musicians and artists, authors, philosophers, poets, spiritual guides and personal partners. My Hawaiian Kupuna (elders) and Kumu (teachers), Lao Tzu, Krishnamurti, Martin Luther King Jr., Yashua, George Orwell, Khalil Gibran, Paulo Coelho, Hafiz and Rumi have inspired some of my deepest compositions, as well as Nature- Hawaiian sunsets and waves breaking only minutes from my doorstep. Musically, some of the most influential artists and styles for me have been: Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Tim Buckley, Andreas Vollenweider, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Eno and Lanois (as producers), Alan Parsons, Cubano and Portuguese music, The Chieftains, Van Morrison, Dylan, Richard Thompson, Chinese melodies, Tchaikovsky, Jimi Hendrix, My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins, Eddie Vedder, Tracy Chapman, Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, The Police, Dick Gaughan, Nick Drake, The Stones, Beatles, Ravi Shankar, culturally and spiritually rooted chanting, Aboriginal storytelling and song, Elton John, Bob Marley, James Taylor, David Bowie, Greg Brown, Bjork, Stephen Inglis, Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, Dead Kennedys. There are many more, and some I would prefer not to mention as well! I have attempted to subdue the influence of media and pop culture as much as possible (I haven't had a TV for over a decade), but it would be dishonest to claim that I have not been affected by corporate image building and social indoctrination. I just balance it all with emersion in natural Hawai'i. These days I don't listen to music as much. Just sounds. I like quiet, wind, waves, voices. Now my greatest influence comes in my dreams; hearing the non-existent and then giving it sound. I love lyrics that move the soul, not just validate it, and melody that makes you forget matter and become resonance.
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MAKANA
"Recipe for a Life Smoothie" by Makana
I dreamt a possibility. I awoke. Openmindedly, I told myself "the dream occurred in another actuality". But then I thought, perhaps the dream was just a dream...
Then I wondered, "what is a thought?" And what is the difference between a thought and an occurrence?
The more I look at this phenomenon of experience, the less I can define where it ends and something else begins.
Disposable knowledge! Life is eternal flux. Perhaps our knowledge ought to reflect such?
We are encouraged to become "educated"; to define life and secure our ideal role within acknowledged boundaries. Through the process of recognition we compare what we see with ideas in our mind, attempting to match the two in a system of navigation based on precept, or predetermined assessment and preference. But is there another way to live?
Can I be a Seer rather than a Seeker? Can I allow my consciousness to soften and be permeated by the Present, and in the reflection of this, permeate all of life experience with my consciousness?
In essence, can I transcend the invisible chasm between You and I?
Have you ever held a paradox, friend? Hold it carefully, but not tightly; watch it closely, but allow your eyes to blur slightly; it is moving between multiple possibilities as quick as light reflects between two mirrors facing each other. The Game is ever changing: don't memorize the rules! They'll be obsolete momentarily!
L
I
Q
U
I
D
Turn your world inside out and lose yourself
Uncertainty is a multiversal free pass to merge with life in any form. You make a choice:
Target a specific outcome and risk failure and suffering, or empty the mind of self and flow in harmony with what Is.
Wait!
Let's do BOTH. The New Human is capable of multiple modes of operation, interchangeable at a moment's choice. Constant reassessment of goals combined with a ferocious passion for living, the balancing factor is clear: the ability to instantaneously let go.
Are you ready to be free of your own defined self?
Then drink this. It's a recipe for a Life Smoothie- every sip brings about a smooth Life:
7 deep Breaths
Movement and Stillness (blend until indistinguishable)
2 teaspoons of Curiosity (a little goes a long way)
An endless supply of Trust
1 16 oz. bottle of Uncertainty
1 cup of Fluidity (to smooth the consistency)
As much Emptiness as you can handle (Note: not to be confused with a lack of fulfillment)
The seeds from a Passion fruit
A dash of Insanity
Mischievousness (optional- adds flavor)
An endless supply of Surrender
Blend and dive in. Recommended on an empty mind.
ABOUT MAKANA:
"My music speaks to what is really happening in the lives of our people; all people. Down with corporate fantasy commercialism. Hold a myth to the flame. Clarity is Beauty"
A slacker is one thing you could never call Makana. But you can call him a Slack Rocker. Different Game (his forthcoming independent release), the high-powered fourth album from the young singer-songwriter-musician, fuses Makana’s slack key guitar virtuosity (a style that sounds like three guitars in one) with elements of rock, folk, bluegrass and blues—all within poignant, original message songs—to create a brand new genre of music.
Building upon his roots as the keeper of Hawai..i’s slack key flame, Makana takes the centuries-old tradition and blasts it into the 21st century, much in the way that rock bands of the ’60s and ’70s updated traditional genres like blues and folk music. “I’m constantly expanding my language so I can communicate with everyone,” he says. “It’s really a musical journey, an evolution. My music is about exploring.”
Hailing from the isle of O’ahu, Makana—whose name means “a gift given freely”—began singing when he was 7 years old, took up ‘ukulele at 9 and began learning the ancient art of slack key at 11, studying under the genre's greats including legendary master Sonny Chillingworth. By 14, he was already performing professionally, and before long playing four nights a week. His reputation as the youngest master of slack key spread like molten volcanic lava throughout the islands. Makana rapidly built up a devoted fan base via his unpredictable, awe-inspiring live performances and his first three albums: Makana (1999), Koi Au (2002) and Ki Ho’alu: Journey of Hawaiian Slack Key (2003). With each successive year, more and more music fans—both on and outside of the islands—are experiencing the Makana phenomenon. In addition to his own headlining tours, Makana and his band have opened shows for the likes of Sting, Santana, Elvis Costello, No Doubt, Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz, and they’ve wowed even those hard-to-please audiences every time out. Makana contributed the opening song to the 2006 Grammy-nominated album "Hawaiian Slack Key Kings" and won the Best World Music Album award at the Hawai’i Music Awards for his debut album. A strong advocate of community, Makana was also honored with the Artist for Peace Award in 2005.
Slack key guitar music, indigenous to Hawaii, has been around longer than the blues, and Makana is considered one of the greatest living players. -Esquire Magazine, March 2003
"I've been deep into classical music and Hawaiian slack-key guitar. I've gotten way into Andres Segovia, and this Hawaiian guitar player called Makana" -Kirk Hammett interview, Guitar World January 2006 (Lead guitarist for Metallica)
“…Clearly, he’s a world-class talent” –John Berger, Star Bulletin
“There is an aura about Makana while he is on stage. His heart is completely apparent in his music and this transcends into a command of his audience.” –Scott Macgowen, Oahu Island News
“An immensely gifted artist, Makana’s instrumental brilliance bears comparison with the work of such groundbreaking acoustic guitarists as John Fahey and Michael Hedges.” –Jon Woodhouse, Maui News
“Back on the main stage, one-man Hawaiian band Makana captivated the audience with a high voice, personal songs and powerful acoustic guitar.” –BBC News, on the WOMAD Festival in Reading, England
Going to California
Ka Wailele O Nu'uanu
Makana (back then he was the Ki Ho'alu Kid) and his kumu (mentor) Uncle Sonny Chillingworth at Waimanalo, 1992.
Aloha Makana! It was great to meet you FINALLY in person and give you a hug and talking stories with you at Ala Moana last night. Too funny your comment...hahaha! You were awesome! Yes, now you know that I am REAL person. Hope that you are enjoying the rest of your weekend. Keep it up and keep on jammin'! Take care and keep in touch, send me a comment because I would like to hear from you again. Aloha my friend. ~Alana
i am from the ISLAN PUERTO RICO I LIKE YOU MUSIC,WHEN GOD DO STAR HE BLESS YOU WE THE TOUCH FROM THE MUSIC INTHE QUITAR. GOD BLESS YOU MAKANA..MAHALO 4 YOU MUSIC.
Aloha MAKANA!! Mahalo for the add and being a friend!! Your sound is so nice! I love it. I like play the ukulele. And I practice ukulele everyday(^-^) Have a great week!
Congrats on the special fundraising concert! Music in schools is sooo important - more important than sports (my opinion) - stimulates the mind to think creatively and passionately. Mahalo for being the change you seek in this world!
Aloha bruddah!...I'm bummed, timmy said you came rolling through Santa Cruz while I was in Costa Rica. Sorry I missed ya, do you think you'll be headed back out this way anytime soon?
Aloha Makana, A belated but VERY Happy Birthday - Gratulerer med dagen to you! Hope you had a great one and look forward to catching up with you in the islands next month!
Hau'oli La Hanau, Mr. Toes! Sending you a magical (and chaste) cyber-kiss from out 'Nalo way. Aloha! Tori P.S. Let me know when you're almost as old as I, will ya?
Aloha Baby!! got in touch with your brother...wish i was there too...but have a great bday...you are truely an amazing person-so happy to have you in my life...let me know if you ever come to vegas i'm at the palms...xoxox
Happy Birthday brother! Just landed on the east coast and wish I could celebrate with you. Music in the schools for kids is a profound cause and you are a great cultural warrior for taking that challenge on. Have a great party tonite and may this new year launch you to even greater heights. Big cheers from all of us! - Michael, Carrie, Ben, Sarah
