Issue 5 Excellence Happens by Excellence Happens

Extra Special DJ Issue Double-O-Spot A Short Story

Remembering The Wave Tribute to the 808 Olâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Skool Party Kids t

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Table of Contents 1BSUZ 1FPQMF 2011 Issue

Skizzo, beatboxer/Mouth Jockey

10 The Wave DJ interviews 2

5SJCVUF UP UIF 808 Old Skool Party Kids

2 5 5

DPVCMF 0 4QPU Fave of the Month Tafahiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Corner Social Jez Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Deal

Cazwell 7JTJUT )VMBhT Mahalo to our supporters:

Hulaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bar & Lei Stand Chef Cassie at Jawaiian Irie Jerk Manoa Valley Theatre Chikoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tavern Apartment Three OO-Spot Bassick 4PVOETZTUFNT Hawaii Actors Network .BOJGFTU

Excellence Happens through Endurance, Perseverance, Hope, Love a

Creator JEANNE WYNNE HERRING

Editor JEANNE WYNNE HERRING

Photographer

JEANNE WYNNE HERRING

Public Relations J+&"//& 8://& )&33*/( Jared D.

Advertising & Marketing

JEANNE WYNNE HERRING

Production JEANNE WYNNE HERRING

Technical & Web Development JEANNE WYNNE HERRING

Multimedia +&"//& 8://& )&33*/( Chad Burch

Writer

JEANNE WYNNE HERRING

Logo ;JOF Design Chad Burch

and Blessings. Excellence isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t given to you, you have to fight for it!

hough his mother, Kimberly Bradford, is a well known Jazz singer here in Hawaii, he could never be compared to his local celebrity mother. Making his own name, the most unique and exciting mouth deejay on the island, Skizzo (a.k.a Evan McKinney) kills it every time at every performance. Most audiences are first shocked when they see Skizzo lay down some heavy beats with his lips. Some even look around to see where the music is coming from. It’s coming from his mouth folks! After the initial shock, the audience moves into the “awe” stage which then leads them to screaming, hollering and of course dancing. How many of you have gone to a club and was stunned by the skills of the deejay as he or she throws down the records (well now tracks on the computer) and builds these crazy mixes causing you to lose your mind and your body to the sounds of blissful chaos? Well imagine these same tracks being mixed in someone’s mouth! Guaranteed Skizzo will make you lose your mind and body to his chaos producing mouth. He is a beatboxer...no...he is a mouthjockey...no...he spins...no...he...loops? NO! Aaaah! Skizzo! What are you, man? “Beatboxer, looper, mouthjockey, live beat maker of the mouth.” Skizzo has never deejayed before in his life. He touched a record player once, though. (Do they still have those?) His style of beatboxing, that matches so close to the styles of a deejay, was inspired by famed beatboxer Beardyman. The first beatboxer to take advantage of the Kaosss pad, (a touch pad MIDI controller, sampler and effects processor for audio and musical instruments) Beardyman impressed Skizzo with his looping/beatboxing mixes to the extent that Skizzo bought his own pads, stuck a mic to his lips and started...what do you do again Skizzo? “Beatboxing is the art and the technique the inate human ability to make sounds with your mouth and basically everything that you would normally use to make speech. Could be called, literally, called the language of music because you are using the same organs and the same parts of your body that you would use to speak to make music. So, everything from your lips, your tounge, your vocal cords, your uvala, your nose, your naval cavity, your esophucus...all those different parts down there that you can’t see and you don’t pay attention too all sorts of sounds you can make. Different shapes, different amounts of pressures, closing off different parts of the mouth...putting it to rythmn.” Skizzo also told me that there are some beatboxers that use their teeth! What? Crazy! Skizzo got into beatboxing when he was 17 years old after he saw a video of Effects. He started beatboxing in March of 2008 when Jason Tom, another local beatboxer, invited anyone up on 5

stage to beatbox. Skizzo was right there, grabbed the mic and got a taste of performing in front of a live audience, and that was it! “It was like a drug!” He couldn’t get enough. He took every opportunity he could find to get on stage and improve upon his technique developing his own way and voice. “Almost three years later, I’ve gotten way better at beatboxing. I took it seriously at that point. I perform on a semiregular bases. I’d liike to perform on a regular bases.” Skizzo’s first memory of performing on his own in front of an audience was at Pipeline’s Poetry Slam. “They advertise 600 plus people, they had 600 plus people that night. I was the last performer of the night. I made it only because some of the other people left because they got tired of waiting.” Although he didn’t feel his stage presence was accomplished back then, he won the Slam and received $100! “That felt very, very nice. To get on stage in front of a huge audience, give them a good time, and surprisingly win a bunch of money. So, I won’t forget that!” Skizzo’s deejay like style of beatboxing is heavily influenced by his idol Beardyman. Taking beats of a cover, through freestyle or of something original and using an oral scratch, a combination or shift in beats to create a sound reminiscent of a dance deejay. But, it’s with his mouth! Crazy! “I like to make my performance more continuos. I don’t like too many breaks. So, I try to find away to get the audience to inneract with me while I’m making my music.” One way he achieves this is by asking the audience to make some noise as he transitions into his next routine. The audience then becomes part of his music. Skizzo hopes to do more open mic nights about town to add to his performance schedule. Right now you will mos likely find him opening and covering breaks for the local reggae band TTYM and AMP (Aloha Movement Project) a club at the University of Hawaii that holds regular concerts and open mic nights. When I asked Skizzo what his most memorable performance was, it surprisingly wasn’t when he was beatboxing. He was rapping! Well, trying to rap.

“I was invited three days before the performance (in Korea) to rap for one song with this band. The drummer was my roommate at the time. It was an international band. I worked really hard, practiced a lot with the lyrics, then with the music, then without anything at all. Comes concert time, I practiced several time before the concert right up until I got on stage. Went on stage they introduced us... forgot all the lyrics. All the lyrics! I got the first line and then I forgot! It wasn’t because I was nervous. It was because I had less than three days to learn the lyrics. The whole audience (of over 2000) was cheering for me anyway... trying to help me to remember the lyrics. I didn’t remember the lyrics, but they still cheered. I just stood onstage and smiled. Because I looked good. I had on some nice clothes. I felt like a genuine rapper. Famous rappers can get on stage and just stand there, and stand... and stand... and stand... and the cheering doesn’t stop. They haven’t forgotten anything! They just stand there. That’s how I felt!” Skizzo’s confidence and excitement on stage add to the love audiences have for him. He is immensely talented, sweet like ice cream mochi, always happy, hystericle, cute, cute, cute and quite dapper. Skizzo is a treat to see on stage. Catch him now so when you see him performing at the MVT Music Awards you will be able to brag to your friends, “I saw him when he performed in front of Bali at UH!” Go to www.excellencehappens.net to hear a sample of his performance at Bedrocks (on University Ave in Honolulu, HI) when he opened for TTYM. Become a Skizzo fan, and “like” him on Facebook: http:// www.facebook.com/skizzobeatbox

For My Party People Peeps Many times I sat down to write this introduction to the 808 Olâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Skool Party Kids section of the issue. Everything I wrote came across too... whatever is the best way to describe JU I listenFE to my favorite tracks from back in 2000. Deleriumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Silenceâ&#x20AC;? (featuring Sara McLachlan) is first on my list, the start of the mix tape I made for myself 10 years ago, so that I will always remember such a beautiful time in my life. A track DJ Rayne first introduced to me at Evos as I flung around in the go-go stage. Yes, I was a go-go dancer at Evos. I danced just about every Friday night and most raves as a Viva la Diva dancer. The best job in my life! It allowed me to make a living dancing to some of the best deejays on the island at the time. The best job in my life! It gave me the opportunity to meet the greatest people I will ever meet. The best job in my life! It gave me a new perspective on love and life. The best job of my life! It allowed me the most beautiful memories. Memories that will never leave me. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not going to lie. Working on this issue choked me up. Speaking with some of my favorite deejays and one of my favorite promoters gave me an idea as to why the music brings people together. Why the scene was so special. Why, when I think back 11 years ago, my heart leaps. It is because of the love and passion these talented people have for their work which is transferred on to us. Eleven years ago this month I moved from San Francisco to Hawaii. Eleven years ago this month I met some of the greatest people ever to have been a blessing to my heart. Eleven years ago this month I became an 808 Party Kid. 8

Thanks to Rebekah of Viva la Diva, DJ Daniel J, Jack Law, KSM, Alex, Byron the Fur, D. Gillmore, DJ G-Spot, Jamal, DJ Sovern T, Sommer Jensen of The Red Door Dancers, Flashee Flash, DJ Ikon, DJ Rayne, DJ Dawn, Hoku, Tim and Joey of The Vinyl Pimps, Lilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Dave, our military boys and girls, dancer Kyle and all of the other 808 party kids for making the year 2000, my first year in Hawaii, truly special. I must give special thanks to Charlie 1/12, my best boys, for making me a part of the crew, for protecting me and for loving me. I miss you guys so much!

Be sure to check out www.excellencehappens.net to hear some of the tracks created and mixed by some of my favorite deejays.

he W a v e Waikiki closed its doors iin the summer of 2006. Located on Kalakaua, just past the entrance of Waikiki, The Wave was thought of as an W entertainment landmark in Hawaii. IIf someone were to ask what kind of club The Wave was, the only o aanswer you could give is â&#x20AC;&#x153;it was THE club.â&#x20AC;? You would find everything at The Wave: live rrock bands, dancers that actually knew how to dance and were good d aat it, and deejays statisfied tthat eevery taste of eeven the m o s t

finicky musical palate. The Wave attracted everyone and everyone was welcomed there. I started out as just a partier. I wondered in one Tuesday night to see what all the fuss was about. Love struck, and when I was finally asked to be one of the go-go dancers I was ecstatic! “You mean you are going to pay me to dance with these awesome deejays?” Later, after getting to know the residents, I found out just how truly lucky I was. I was in love! Alex, KSM, Byron the Fur and D all were my musical lovers and managed to make my feet bleed, my heart pound, and they contributed to some of the best memories I have. IN THE BEGINNING... In November of 1980, Jack Law opened The Wave Waikiki. Who knew back then that a mere club would make such an incredible impact on hundreds of party goers’ lives. Jack Law, owner of Hula’s Bar and Lei Stand, decided to take over the space after the tragic death of the gentleman who owned the club (named Lava Lava) at the time. Hulas’ location from 74’ to 80 was at Kaliamoku and Kuhio which was not too far from this legendary lot, and it made sense to Jack and his partner, Bob Magoon, to purchase the real estate and stave off 11

competition other then themselves. “It had a 4:00 (AM) license. It also had a cabaret license. So, after negotiations we took it over. With anything new, it was a struggle. It certainly was a struggle.” Towards the end of 1980, right as The Wave was prepping for it’s grand opening, Hula’s caught fire. The fire damage was so immense that it meant rebuilding the club. Luckily, The Wave was ready read for some bodies. So, Jack into The Wave during Hula’s and Bob moved their employees from Hulas int rebuilding. The Hula’s p party people followed suit. However, once Hula’s reopened on New Years Eve, The Wave lost lo its customers to its new “competition.” “We did everything we could think of to get people to go into The Wave. ‘Course when Hula’s would close at 2:00 (AM) our customers would run over to The Wave and party till four o’clock in the morning.” Jack needed away to create an atmosphere during the early part of the night at The Wave that would attract a crowd that would compare to the after two crowd. The 12

solution? Live bands. “Punk rock was just coming in, and so I decided to go with punk rock because I thought the punk rock genre would not conflict with the gay group that came later. I was afraid if we had hard rock or something like that it just wouldn’t work, you know.” The first band to introduce punk rock to The Wave was The Squids. From that night, on The Wave crazed partiers with its live punk rock bands. Bringing in live music wasn’t just to fulfill the requirement of the cabaret liquor license. With the desire to stand out from the rest of the clubs, Jack wanted to give his customers something more than just a disc jockey playing records. “If we just played recorded music, you could go any place in town for recorded music and hear the same recorded music.” Of course if all you wanted to hear was recorded music and you had the need to hear it into the wee hours of the morning, or after a hard night of head bangin you were too revved up to go home, The Wave was there to accommodate. But, how did The Wave transition from being a venue that just produced live punk shows with a little record playing on the side to one of the clubs not only known for its magnificent live bands but also known for housing some of the best known deejays on the island... dare I say... the world? THE TRANSITION... “Everything evolves,” Jack explained to me. “Deejays at that time weren’t really as important as they are now. You’d never think about a deejay be a headliner.” Being the astute business man as he is, Jack turned to someone who knew deejays and understood the love a party person had for them. “I remember saying to Flash, ‘I don’t understand what it is about a deejay that is so great,’ because I was used to deejays coming in and just spinning 13

their records. A deejay was just someone to play the music. Because I was kinda old school, I couldn’t rap my head around the fact that deejays were becoming their own personalities.” In the late 1990s, when the rave scene began to explode in Hawaii, Jack brought on Flash Hanson as his resident promotions and marketing director. Flash introduced the idea of filling the club with the unique sounds that only the truly talented deejays could make. He replaced the belief that a disc jockey was only there to jock discs with the knowledge that a deejay rages the spirit. Flash was one of the owners of the original 1739 night club. After the club closed, he wanted to continue to provide for his customers and deejays. He started a night called Pussy Cat Lounge every Tuesday at The Wave. “We just took everything that was about our night club, and put it into one night and we partied at The Wave.” Flash’s deejays from 1739 continued on with him to The Wave. Deejays such as Sub Zero, Byron the Fur, KSM, Drama and D all helped transition The Wave into a new sound and a new feel. Pussy Cat Lounge was a enormous success and packed the club every Tuesday night. A couple months later, Flash was hired to take charge of the club’s promotions. He proceeded to help transform the venue into The Wave we know and love today. “The first thing I did was I made a deejay booth

“I remember the very first time we did Pussy Cat Lounge. The very first night, because the Wave wasn’t use to having a deejay booth upstairs, they had MacGyvered a deejay rig for us with less than ideal parts. Literally the first thing Grant (G Dog) did was blow out the amp in the deejay booth upstairs. It was an $800 amp. It was a very bad night for our first night. We were freakin out! It was quite a first night.”

~ Flash 14

Before I started working there, there was no music up stairs. Then I started having hip-hop deejays playing upstairs.” He didn’t stop there. Bringing hiphop to The Wave was just the beginning of igniting the musical life of the club. With the knowledge Flash brought to the club, the deejays became a more valuable talent, and he abolished the idea of a disc jockey just sitting there playing the radio tunes while the band takes a time out. No more was the deejay believed to be just the filler who helped give late party goers something to do after two. The deejays were the highlight and being a Wave deejay meant something big! Already in residence at the time Flash started working for the club was Razor X, KSM and Space Cowboy. By the year 2000, the same year I started working for The Wave, Byron the Fur took residency. Though he was never a resident deejay, DJ D., one of the hottest hip-hop deejays at the venue and The Wave’s “I’m really lucky to have had The Wave, cause I got to see a lot of world class deejays and I got to meet awesome people. That was the best part about it...meeting awesome people.” ~

Alex

sound guy, left quite an impression on the booty shakers. ALEX … In the early years of The Wave, DJ Daniel J was one of the most popular resident deejays. Now known for his Love Light parties, he was thought of as one of the best deejays on the island and was an inspiration to many well known deejays today. “That’s my mentor! Daniel J!” It was because of his love for Daniel J’s work that Alex is now amongst the best of the best. “I started out as his light man at The Wave Waikiki. I use to dance till 4 o’clock in the morning. After 3 or 15

or four years of doing that it was like ‘hey that kid is always here! Might as well pay him for being here!’” Alex started working for The Wave as the lighting guy in 1988. During the six months of lighting Daniel J.’s sets, Alex took lessons on music and deejaying from his idol. After only six months of being Daniel’s apprentice, Alex got his first deejay gig. Being a natural, Alex took on the role of a deejay as though it was his second toe, and he, himself, became an inspiration for many deejays that came after him. “I loved to dance. It (The Wave) was one of my favorite places to stop. I started going there in ‘82...oops...you can delete that! That was a long time ago!” Alex fell in love with The Wave as we all did. He especially loved they way Daniel J. presented the music, and he began developing the desire to spin records himself. “I figured hey, you know...I wonder if I can get a job here. A couple years later they finally said okay.” Alex began his career as the deejay for the off nights at The Wave and Hulas. “It was perfect because it was all a learning process. It was scarey. I’m not a public person, so it was even more scarey. I’m a private person so in the beginning it was really scary. I still get butter flies.” In the early 90s, after Daniel J left The Wave, Alex moved into Daniel’s spot and began spinning for all the major nights. Alex played rock, industrial and house music. “House music was just birthing in 88, and it was an easy genre to spin, and it had a good, positive vibe to it. So, I really enjoyed that. But, I come from a rock/alternative, industrial, pop background. I tend to like spinning house because it was easy to spin, and that positive vibe kept me going. I really enjoyed the positive vibe. The PLUR. Peace, love, unity and respect.”

DJ KSM ... “I heard there was an opening at The Wave through a friend of mine. She also knew the deejay supervisor of The Wave and Hulas. She suggested me even though I had no deejaying experience what so ever. I just made mixed tapes for friends. She just lied and said, ‘hey hire Keith! He’s good!’”

“Someone was having a threesome on the stairwell to the deejay booth. That was pretty memorable! My most memorable moment deejaying was opening for LTJ Bukem. Because he showed up late and because of the buzz for LTJ playing in Hawaii for the very first time, the electricity in the air was so tangible! I was playing and they were going off on whatever I was dropping.”

~ KSM

Although DJ KSM (a.k.a. Keith) lied his way through his initial interview with the supervisor about his vast knowledge of deejaying, he managed to work his way into the hearts of hundreds with his daredevil and heavy style of spinning. Known as one of the best deejays on the island, KSM introduced to The Wave brand new styles of house, pop and, my favorite, drum-n-bass. “I actually had to go through a grace period of not being paid at all. To weed out any ‘would be’...I don’t know...fakers or whatever you want to call it. I think they wanted someone that they could bring from the ground up. Someone with no sense of a deejay background and maybe, eventually, be able to go into other areas.” I bet many of you didn’t know that KSM was also the video editor for The Wave. All the crazy visuals and random movie collages that added to the uniqueness of The Wave was created by KSM. (Fun 17

do anything to get it. You want video editing? Hell, I’ll do that. Teach me how to do video editing!” There were five clubs in the same area where folk would walk around to visit. But The Wave was the only 4:00 AM club, and that is where everyone ended up. But, KSM’s sensibility for music drew him to the club that wasn’t just about playing the same Top 40 songs he could hear on the radio. “I loved The Wave!” My best memories of KSM’s music were of his drum-n-bass set. These sets were few and far in between, but it was what drew me to KSM. When I asked him if that were his favorite electronic genre he replied, “I think I’m really fickle when it comes to music. Right now I think I’m all about dubstep. I think I’m just more into very heavy...whether its bass or almost grading... like electro can be very grading and harsh. Those sounds appeal to me. I love the inventiveness of drum-n-bass and now dubstep as well.” DJ BYRON THE FUR … “One of the moments that actually really sticks out in my mind was when Miguel Migs was there, and Lisa Shaw was singing. Lisa was center stage by herself with just a spot light on her, and the club was just packed. To have a vocalist live! She’s such a great vocalist! She had such a great voice! Just to hear her sing live, and have a great deejay as the back up, and have him take over after she was done, and to see everybody appreciate the music and appreciate what the music was about... that was a great moment for me.” ~ Byron

“I’ve been trying to shorten it (deejay name) to B.T.F” Anyone who knows Byron the Fur knows “Byron the Fur”! It is almost natural to say “Byron the Fur” when referring to Byron. It simply rolls of the tongue. It doesn’t matter if you are referring to him while he’s behind the turntable or after seeing him on 18

almost natural to say “Byron the Fur” when referring to Byron. It simply rolls of the tongue. It doesn’t matter if you are referring to him while he’s behind the turntable or after seeing him on television giving us the scoops on the night life in his weekly segment on Hawaii News Now. Byron started at the Wave around the same time I did which was back in 2000. Originally a guest deejay that traveled with Flash from 1739 to Pussy Cat Lounge, Byron won a spot at The Wave as a resident deejay, and later replaced Flash as the promotions and marketing director. “At the time I was the deejay at Mooses. We had to play a very eclectic mix. This was before mashup was even known. I guess that’s what Flash was trying to go for, and he asked if I would work at The Wave, and I said yes.” Byron jumped at the chance to work with the deejays he admires. Byron’s style of deejaying created the completeness Flash was aiming to achieve. That one deejay that could play Top 40 hits the music the masses were familiar with, but make it sound unlike anything you would hear on the radio. “I think I had great foundation just from working at Radio Free because of the eclectic and a wide range of music that they had there, and Daniel J. who actually inspired me to start deejaying. Just looking at the music he had in his library made me want to be good at that. I always had a passion for music.” Byron, like the rest of the resident deejays, took on the responsibility of giving the customers a brilliant song to dance to every time they hit the floor. “To try to define or to say ‘what did you play at The Wave’ is really hard because we had to play everything. As a deejay, you want to get people to dance, you wanna have a packed floor, and you want to kill it all of the time. But, you also have to think of it in the business aspect too. You want to rotate the floor, and you want to make sure the people are drinking because they are the ones that are making you survive. So, you have to be able to read your crowd. You have to be able to switch up and rotate, and just make everybody 19

happy. You know when you need to go into hiphop, or switch it up a little bit, and do something people don’t know and maybe ‘educate’ them just so they can be closer to the music. To see them get into it is a great feeling.” DJ D ...

“Working with Powerman 5000. It was a real trip working with those guys. Like Spider, the lead singer. You know how you have idols in the music industry, and you finally meet them, and they turn out to be assholes? He was a really cool guy and really fun to work with.”

D was not a resident deejay at The Wave. He was their sound guy. But, I wanted to include D. because he was part of the love I had for The Wave. I was not a hip-hop head, but I scrambbled up the stairs to the hip-hop room whenever D went to throw down some beats. He did it in such a way no one else could. “Music has always been around. From a little kid, it was like a major part of my life. It was a natural progression. I remember when Rocket came out, and I heard the scratching thing with DST, and the hold turntablism thing came up. I went out and bought some turntables and a mixer, and right out of high school my first job: playing in a club.” In 1984, D worked for Power Station at the Ilikai, and moved with them to where Fusions Waikiki is located now. After Power Station closed, he worked for many clubs as their guest deejay and eventually ended up with Flash at 1739. He, then, transitioned with Flash to The Wave and played for Pussy Cat Lounge. One night at The Wave he noticed the sound wasn’t up to par. So, as a favor to Flash he fixed the problem. Shortly 20

after that, he was hired as The Wave’s sound guy. He set up the system for the live shows, dabbled in a little lighting and worked in the art department on the club’s creative installs. Another unique Wave feature. Dancing to DJ D was a treat, but to see this punk rock kid bobbing his head to the heavy, slow beats of the hip-hop records he was spinning was a beautiful site! The marrying of drastically different styles was the epitome of the magic of The Wave. MUCH LOVE FOR THE DEEJAYS... I did not have the privilege of dancing for Space Cowboy on the go-go stage, but I did get to throw it down with him as a paid customer. It was well worth the cash I paid to hear him spin! Space Cowboy was in residence from 1996 into 2001. “It was a Klub Kid’s paradise, and we (KSM, Alex, Dano, and I) supplied the beats.” Though he left The Wave to pursue his career, his legendary sets lives on, and more often than not I hear folk mentioning his name in their fond memories at The Wave. But he attributes his learning and survival to a couple of other legends: Alex and KSM. “Alex and KSM were my mentors, taught me how to rock the floor and survive in the scene. I doubt I’d be the DJ I am today if it weren’t for those two.” “Working with KSM and Alex,” Flash smiles at the memory, “it was just an honor to work with those guys. I was almost in awe of them. They were like, what I thought to be, as far as non-hip-hop deejays go, the most talented deejays on the island. They are extremely talented and extremely diverse. Its just fun to watch those guys.” “KSM and Alex were with me for a long time,” Jack explains, “they were with 21

me before this transition. They evolved into being super mixologists, and they’ve really been able to go with the flow and become really great deejays in their own right. Byron came in as a deejay in 2000, and then ultimately he was working with us and became my promotions guy after Flash.” “It’s almost like I never really viewed him as a deejay but more like a homey.” Flash began working with Byron during the days of 1739 and Byron still guest spins for Flash at his new club Apartment Three. “He brought a different sensibility as far as the tools he was using. He liked to play rock, he could play hip-hop. He played everything but House, but he secretly was a House deejay, I think, all along. He is very well rounded.” “Byron the Fur,” Space Cowboy says, “that’s my boy! D...MF D!” (You decide what MF stands for.) “My main hip-hop partner has way more records than anyone I know.” “D is an amazing deejay,” Flash reveals! “He’s always been an amazing deejay. He is just all about hip-hop. His vast collection of hip-hop records and his encyclopedic knowledge about hip-hop...you can bring up any artist or any album, he would know anything about it. I don’t think people appreciate, I mean there are people who appreciate and knows, but to the general population...Club Land... (knows) he is an extremely good deejay, extremely talented.” YOU WILL BE MISSED... The Wave quickly became my second home. I was heart broken when it came time for it to shut off its lights forever. “The auction especially was sad,” Jack continues to run a hugely successful Hulas Bar and Lei Stand. “To see over 24 years being sold off for pennies on a dollar...”

“We knew it was only a matter of time,” Flash partners with Matty Hazelgrove (also known as Matty Boy, ) and continues to throw some of the hottest parties on the island. Recently the two opened their own club and restaurant known as Apartment Three. “It still was very sad. It’s still like...God, I still can’t believe it’s gone, and every day there’s a new generation of people who maybe have heard about it, maybe even haven’t heard about it, was too young to go. How do you even describe it if they haven’t been there?” As luck would have it, I managed to find Space Cowboy on Facebook, and he writes me, “there is not one venue around that provides the same atmosphere as The Wave Waikiki. It was unique and reckless all at the same time, the place is sorely missed.” “The Wave had a good run,” Byron smiles proudly, “but hopefully there will be another one for future generations, so they can experience something like that. The Wave left a great legacy. A lot of great memories.” KSM spins over at Hulas as well as with Bassick Soundsystem, a collective of local electronic deejays. “There are a lot of memorable moments at The Wave.” Alex is still with Jack and KSM, and spinning at Hulas. “It was like putting a good book down, but you can’t pick the book back up and read it again.”

n Thursday night at SOHO, we featured a special engagement exclusively hosting nothing but old skool underground classics. Mainly the crowd consisted of nothing but familiar faces from my career, devoted fans that have been with me since the beginning. Sharing the stage with Miko Franconi, we set the night in motion with an old skool soundtrack that ranged from about 1992-2005. Every song brought back so many memories of parties and nights of dancing that it took me four hours to get to sleep that night. My mind was flooded with rhythm after rhythm, repeating in my head: all classic anthems of an era of my career that was so amazing. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite a compliment to a DJ when you drop a track and the entire club starts screaming louder than the music. To top it off, they all start singing along. And that happened with every track. Even the younger kids that may have never heard these track before were jumping around as though these songs were fresh off the press. I cant express into words how great it felt to relive those moments of my life again, but I will never forget that night. The night was a huge success, and now is going to be a staple at the Thursday-night parties at SOHO. Quarterly, we will be hosting an old skool night to bring it all back, once again. Still there is such a catalogue of music to relive and rock the dance floor with that this event could go on forever. 24

And it just may. After the event, in a fit of insomnia, I posted a note to all my fans on Facebook... I think this speaks for itself as to how my state of mind was afterward: â&#x20AC;&#x153;After a night of nostalgic bliss, sharing once again, an era of my life with familiar faces from the past, my cheeks sore from smiling so much, I feel so at peace with life and happy to have been able to rock my friends into a frenzy as I have done so many times before. The music that made me who I am blasting at high volume; my loved ones dancing like thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no tomorrow, singing at the top their lungs, and wishing the night would never end. What more could I ever ask for? The memories I have shared in this music culture of ours can never be topped by anything, and I am forever grateful to have been able to go there once more. I promise that we will all meet at another time, under the same roof, on one dance floor, to do it all once again... Long live the old skool! Long live the underground! Thank you to all who came out and made it such a memorable night! I love you all!!!!

---- DJ Rayne

2OG 6FKRRO 3DUW\ .LGV 1LJKW DW 6R+R

I*t had been a few months of partying and about a month of go-go dancing in Hawaii back in 2000 before I finally met THE DJ G-Spot of Double-O-Spot. A name I had heard from every Raver, Clubber, Hip-Hopper...basically every party person on the island. A name that was often attached to the line “I went to the best party last night” or “you gotta go to (place name of Rave here.) It’s gonna be tight!” I giggled every time I heard the name and balked “what kind of guy would give him the deejay name of “G-Spot?” I had my ideas. I had my visions. I imaged him being this tall, muscular black dude...possibly with a gold tooth and a touch of bling...but I don’t think they called it “bling” back then. It wasn’t until one very memorable Perpetual Groove night (Perpetual Groove being the Thursday night at Venus that drew crowds even though it was a school night) when my friends and boss Rebekah of Viva La Diva convinced me to partake in the evening’s contest: “Double-O-Spot Girl”. After signing up for this ridiculously girly contest, I waited in the VIP room with the rest of the girls for the arrival of the famed G-Spot. To my surprise he didn’t look ANYTHING like I imagined him. Not even close! He had no gold tooth. He was wearing no bling. He certainly wasn’t tall. No muscles I could make out under his oversized clothes. And he absolutely was NOT black. He was this cute little white guy that spoke slow and kind to us. I don’t think I heard a word he said because I kept thinking “that’s G-Spot? What? No!” But it was, and from that night on his love and passion for music became a significant part of my party life, as it was for thousands all over the world. 29

I met up with G at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. We sat down to chat at the college radio station, KTUH, where G has hosted his own Friday night radio show for over 10 years. What an exciting surprise it was when he suggested I interview him over the air where thousands of people tune in from all over either by way of the good ol’ fashion radio or via the Internet. This was such a treat for me. I hope it was a treat for his listeners. TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF. My parents were both musicians, and they met at DuPaul University in Chicago. I got three siblings: a twin sister and two older brothers. We all played two or three instruments, and that doesn’t include my dj career. I went to Miami for a little bit, back to Chicago, then University of Hawaii solicited me to come out here for graduate school for the Civil Engineering Program...and that’s pretty much my life. ARE YOUR BROTHERS JUST AS HOT AS YOU? Well at one time, one of the first parties, I deejayed, I was just a young buck, right? I was in seventh grade, and I was deejaying one of the school dances. My older brother, Mark D., well... let me finish this story but, I’m going to answer the question yes. They’re pretty dapper. I was deejaying, and a couple of the teachers that were there at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Chicago over there on the North

Side they all started asking me, “who was that guy that drove you and kinda watched over?” I was like, “that’s my brother Mark D,” and they were like “oh, okay.” Then over the summer, Miss Pritican wanted to make sure my Spanish got better over the summer, so she was willing to come over to the house and give me some free lessons in Spanish once in a while. I really didn’t know what was going on because I wasn’t a player like Mark D. But she was basically coming over my house to give me free Spanish lessons so she can hook up with my brother. Carlos is pretty cool, too. He always use to be sneaking in the basement with honeys and stuff, but I didn’t know what was going on in the eighth grade. They were athletes, and they were party boys. So, they were in good shape and so forth. But, you know, they use to beat me up, but they also took me to my first party and first concert, so they’re cool. Mark D. has a beautiful wife so is he attractive I would say so... I don’t’ know. But, I like him more for what he is. WHY DID YOU BECOME A %&&+":? On the radio (in Chicago was a station coming up WBMX, it’s legendary in the dance music scene, 1027 WBMX) they had this mix show, just like the one I’m doing here that came on after 10 pm Friday till three in the morning. So, I just stayed up. My parents wouldn’t let me watch TV. That’s what my brothers were listening to in the car when they would roll to parties and stuff.

So, anyways I got into the mix show. They started making tapes and stuff, and that turned me on. We all played instruments, and to me it’s just an extension of music (because) the dj is more like a conductor, and I don’t think you can argue that a conductor ain’t a musician to any court of law. So, I just got into it. Mark D took me to my first party. He was friends with the deejay. His name was Ice T before there was the Ice T you all know. So, he took me to the party and put me behind the deejay booth. Patted me on the head, said what’s up. Todd was deejaying, and there was some other deejay there. It was dope because I was there kinda in the beginning. I saw what was going on, I knew the music they were playing, the tricks they were doing on the decks, there wFSF hot girls in the room, people were having fun, it was hot. I even liked how the wires were wrapped around the speaker stands. I just thought that was fresh, you know. It was a good time, and then the cops came, and some girl was like “what are we going to do with him, what are we going to do with Little G?” 32

They use to call me G back in the day. Actually they called me Spot like the little dog. That’s where it came from. There was this door, and you would close the door a little bit. I just kinda hid in the crack of the door between the door and the wall. So, when the popo came in I just hid behind the door. Then they left, and I came from behind the door. Anyways, that’s kinda what got me. YOU SAID YOU PLAYED AN INSTRUMENT. WHAT INSTRUMENT WAS THAT? We all had the base instrument of piano. I also played cello, and Caroline played violin and saxophone. Mark played violin and clarinet, and Carlos played cello. My piano skills aren’t as good or hardly as good as they were, but that was one of my regrets that I didn’t keep that up. YOU ARE NOT JUST ,/08/ AS A FABULOUS... Baseball player? WE’LL GET TO THAT ONE LATER. YOU ARE ONE OF THE TOP PROMOTERS, NOT JUST HERE BUT DOUBLE-O-SPOT IS KNOWN ALL OVER THE WORLD. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A PROMOTER? Honestly, I don’t think that was inspiration. What happened with that was a basic music industry evolution. I never wanted to be a promoter. I wanted to be a deejay, and I was also recording music back in the day. I couldn’t afford the normal hours. I’d rent the studio out at two in the morning to seven in the morning. I was putting out tracks and music, and trying to produce some stuff, and seeing where my disco can go. That was frustrating and rewarding.

Recording was just an extension from dFFjBZin’ and I played all those instruments, and stuff before I was a deejay. The promoting thing came around as an abstract from the deejaying worlE. I had a Nobile deejay company. I was deejaying all the parties... all the dj parties on the campuses. I was working hard, man. I’d bPrrow my parent’s car. I’d do a Bar Mitzvah from, like, five to eight. At 9:30, I’d be set up at the other party. From there, I wanted to become a club deejay. So, when I started deejaying clubs in Chicago, when I was in high school, I was just like “look give me 75 bucks for something I’d be doing for free anyways,” so that was cool. But, eventually, after Miami, I was deejaying some clubs (like) Dragon Fly, which is down the street from Second City (the famous comedian house in Chicago,) on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays every other Saturdays and Tuesdays. Eventually I just realized there was a value in what I was doing, and then eventually turned to the point were some people were packing the house out on a Wednesday with having me and my boy Brian Bordon spin. All they were really doing was calling it something and putting my name on the flier, and I thought “I can do that.” That became the evolution. I started doing a party every once in a while with some friends. So, it kinda came about that way. I like doing it now and I found ways to be creative and all of that. But basically I got in promotin’ because it was was an offset of deejaying. If people are going to be coming to see me, might as well put your own canvas to it. DURING THE INTERVIEW, ONE OF G’S LISTENERS CALLED IN WITH HER OWN QUESTIONS. SHE ASKED HIM SOME GREAT QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS FAMILY, HIS MUSICAL TALENTS AND HOW HE ENDED UP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANAO.

My parents are both concert pianist. My mom was a public school teacher in the Chicago School. She taught at an all black school in the south side of Chicago. She was in the music department. I have said this a few times: the one thing I’m familiar with is when they start doing education cuts. The first thing they come after is the music program because they think its expendable as far as the administrators. So, my mom (was) always bouncing around from school to school being a music teacher, but she settled down. After school, she taught piano lessons out of the house. We have a nice grand piano in my living room in my house in Chicago. Honestly, every morning I’d be woke up to music on the piano be it my mom playing or she’s teaching. When there’s a young student, they doin’ all the damn repetition and exercises. Kinda annoying when you hear it in the morning, but I’d rather hear music than anything else. They (parents) did a lot to push music upon us. My sister still plays the violin around town. She has a Stradivarius. She worked her butt off for it! My mom, she’s retired now from the Chicago teaching school system, but she still teaches piano after school. I always thought that music has transcended more and done more to bring people together than politics and academics and all that stuff. I mean listen to this sound right here? Come on. “I Need Love ” everyone knows that. We use to all play together, too, like for seminars and stuff. Like me, my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother my other brother...do a little family quartet type a thing. There’s me and my brother Mark and Caroline, we’re all engineers. We got bachelors in Science and Engineering, and we got Masters in Science and Engineering. We were all just really good with math and science. Like beyond normally good. One thing that they’ve been finding out lately that I contribute to is that, at a super young age, we were being taught music which has the same mental capacity as 35

mathematics. So, when you look at something with 1/4 note and 1/2 note what’s the 1/2 note telling you? It’s half: 50%. When you look at a crescendo, it’s an increase. Music can all be derived

note, 4o we all became

mathematically. Eighth note, sixteenth the different increases and so forth. engineers.

I went into civil engineering because I thought it was the closest thing to environmental engineering, which is something that...the environment...I tend to care a lot about and do different things for in events throughout my history. But when I got into civil engineering I realized that environmental engineering wasn’t what I thought it was. It was more like sanitary engineering, and I wasn’t about to sit there and analyze what the best processes to clean up the thing that rhymes with processes. So I switched over to transportation engineering. Anyway, so what happened was after University of Miami I was going to Illinois Institute of Technology on the South Side of Chicago over next to Sox Comiskey Park. So, basically I was going to school there for a little bit (IIT is like MIT) then, 36

University of Hawaii offered to match the deal I had at IIT. Guaranteed free tuition for two years and a teaching assistant internship, and so I jumped at the prospects of coming out to beautiful Hawaii *hm happy with that decision very much. WHERE DID DOUBLE-O-SPOT COME FROM? Basically, my nick name was Spot, and I was a big James Bond fan, and obviously I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be 007. So, I never really thought, when I was throwing parties, to have G-Spot Presenting or Spot Presenting. so, (I) came up with Double-O-Spot. I do what I can to help the world...to save it. (Laughs) Keep people dancinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. THIS WAS JUST A HAPPEN CHANCE THAT IT BLEW UP TO BE THIS EMPIRE...DOUBLE-O-SPOT EMPIRE. (Laughs) Maybe Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m delusional... but I still think that what Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m doing is punk rock first off. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think of it as an empire. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? YOU ARE TAKING OVER THE WORLD! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Double-O-Spot, girl! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m fighting evil just like James Bond. What are you talking about? (Laughs) I never looked at it like it was going to blow up or that people would associate Honolulu dance club scene...music scene...with somewhere else on this planet. Some people itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s synonyms. More so outside of Hawaii. But, did I ever think it was going to happen? Not really. I think the main reason that happened was persistent consistency, and things going on that we were doing. Almost relentless regardless of the climate in the economy or whatever. I wanted to get people together and have fun. Get their disco on. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think of it as an empire. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d rather be in some other shoes than in the big promoter shoes. you know. WHAT OTHER SHOES WOULD THAT BE? 37

I’d like to be a pitcher on the United States Olympic team in the gold medal match. I would have black tar under my eyes. I’d bring home the gold. I’d also like to do a bunch of other things, but you know. I love what I’m doing. Don’t get me wrong. But... who knows. SO, YOU’RE SAYING AT SOME POINT YOU WOULD LIKE TO, MAYBE, HAVE A SUCCESSOR SO YOU CAN GO ON AND DO SOMETHING ELSE. You know what, I love doing this. A lot of this stuff we are doing are annual events like Silky Love is Valentines, so fourth. So, it’s becoming more of an annual rhythm on a lot of things, and a lot of people on the team and so forth. I think of Double-O-Spot in the same terms as my baseball thing. Everyone is on the same team. Regardless of where theyhSF at politically or racially or whatever it might be...we’re on the same team, and we’re working hard together. IS THAT YOUR STRATEGY AS FAR AS BUILDING DOUBLE-O-SPOT... USING THE CONCEPT OF BASEBALL? It might be basketball. Is that my strategy? You know what...I don’t really know what I’m doing. I just want people to have fun and get down, and one thing is I always want to improve upon what * did last time and learn from it. I make mistakes. We make mistakes but, we’re pretty conscious about it, and we’re cool to hear about it, too. How else will we learn? I think one of the things was, let’s talk about boxing sport, eye of the tiger. I always felt that I was hungry. When I first came out here...it wasn’t a cake walk when I came out here. People were trying to black ball me, they wouldn’t book me. I’d throw an event they’d throw one on the same day. I’m friends with the people now, but you know...it wasn’t easy. I had to fight. It wasn’t like I just woke up at 12 noon and ate a sandwich and went to bed. I was 38

working hard. I had to fight. I had to be persistent, and I just got that “I don’t care if you don’t like me.” I’m going to throw the dopest party. You’re going to come regardless. If you put PVU a 60 minute mix tape, I was going to put out a 90 minute that was red. If you came out with one that is blue I was going to come out with one that is orange, you know. When I first was here, I was trying to sling $5 mix tapes. My dad showed me a place where I get mix tapes with my name printed on it. One night, I still remember I use to put a sign up “G-Spot mix tapes. $5.” I remember one night I sold 12 mix tapes. I was super happy. I was stoked! I was stoked. LET’S JUMP AHEAD TO CARL COX 2000. The BBC was putting together this world party, and the major cities around the planet earth, Sydney, London, whatever... Honolulu being the last major city to hit midnight. So, they hit me up in 1998. So, I was working on this project for two years. They called me up, and talking about they wanted to throw some big party and all of this stuff. Me...I’ve seen it all. I’m like “yeah, okay,” but seeing is believing. I need to see it. 39

There’s so many just random people in this music industry. Hagglers... whatever... so, you just don’t take everyone at face value. Anyway, they flew out and they came to meet me. We put the project together, and that’s a whole story in itself. There was a lot of politics involved. Politics between the Governor’s office and the Mayor’s office and me in between. It was supposed to be here on campus at UH. Y2K concerns. They were doin’ a lot of stuff, anyway shape in form, to not let it happen. I was trying to get a hold to the Convention Center. It was booked out by the Governor’s Millennium Commission. So, I called them up and did a presentation to them. They said “Why do you want to do it inside. They need to see Hawaii’s beautiful island,” and I agreed. I know I probably looked like some eccentric punk rock kid to them that talked slow. But, they adopted the project, and we worked really hard. Cayetano’s Milliniem commission and everybody over there on the board...I appreciate everything they did. The BBC did a documentary on it. I get emotional on there when their like “why you doing this?” It was a free party at Kaka’ako Waterfront Park. No one got hurt. There was over 25 00 people who came, and it was broadcast by every major news company in the world. BBC was doing it, and they are the biggest radio news station in the world. It was huge. It was huge for Hawaii. I was proud to be a part of it. I didn’t make a dollar. I was so over worked. I couldn’t get my hair cut. I was so over worked that I got the flu. I couldn’t see my family for the holidays. It was a lot of work. But, we’ll do another one.

I’m still friends with the guys at the BBC. They fly me out to LA for a bowling match. A BOWLING MATCH? Yeah...I think I won. I think I won the second game. I didn’t know the dude was being serious until he won the first game. So, I said, “let’s platy another one.” Luckily I won. TALKING ABOUT BIG PARTIES...LOVE FEST. WHERE DID IT START? I KNOW YOU HAVE IT HERE IN HAWAII, BUT I KNOW A LOT OF THE FOLK IN HAWAII DOESN’T KNOW THAT IT’S NOT JUST HERE. We’ve been doing it all over. I’m a majority involvement here, and a minority elsewhere like on the mainland and so forth. But, we’ve done it in Mexico and in Tokyo. Recently we’ve been settling into doing it in Vegas, LA and Honolulu, and we’ve been at the Palm’s Hotel Memorial Day weekend. I helped put the Vegas one together, but I couldn’t go to the Vegas one because my twin sister got married. That was just a weird trip for me. I’ve gotten over the fact that I don’t necessarily need to be at every party. That’s one I should have been at, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to miss my sister’s wedding...for a party! I’ve learned through promoting that family and friends are first. It took a while to learn that, but I got that lesson down now. No problem. WHERE DID THE LOVE FEST IDEA COME FROM? That was not originated by me. That was originated by Reza from LA. One of my best friends. He ain’t getting married if I ain’t gettin’ married...I mean I’m not getting married, but I’m sure if we do we’d be each other’s best man...best mate not best man...stand up at each other’s wedding...is that what you call it? BEST MAN... I don’t even need to know about it. It ain’t going to happen. I ain’t worried about it. But he started it out, and we did a few parties together. He deejayed for me a few times, I deejayed for him a few times and we then we started to do a show together. 41

Reza and I we work together really well. We understand each other’s dynamic, idiosyncrasy. It’s a team effort. It always is. Even Double-O-Spot. It’s a team effort. If you can understand the metaphor, there’s a lot of fifth Beetles running around. Some of them are running around for UXP or UISFF years, some are runnin’ around for life, some are running around for seven years helping out. They might not be gettin’ nominated for an award. The team does. I was just honored by the American Red Cross for throwin’ benefit parties during disasters like the Haiti earthquake and stuff like that. It’s just a little weird because a lot of people worked on that and helped out, and all the EFFKBZF all deejayed for free but... you know... I guess... I don’t know... they need to take a picture with somebody. SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT YOU SOLD OUT. WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THAT? Well...are they referring to G-Spot or are they referring to Double-O-Spot ? G-SPOT... I don’ t really understand why they would think that because in my world what I’m doin’ is seriously underground. I mean... in what context? Like musically? #usiness wise? That I’m throwin’ a party at Pipeline instead of in a basement? Like, in what context? I THINK...FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND...THAT WOULD BE TO SOME PEOPLE “SELLING OUT”. Throwing a party at Pipeline? YEP. Well...have they been to the parties at Pipeline? PROBABLY NOT?

Well, touche. Well... here’s the thing... alright...all I need is four walls. Give me four walls, power and a door...I don’t even need walls. Just give me a field. Give me somewhere and I’ll do what I can to get people to dance. I’ll get them to listen to some music they didn’t hear before. I’ll do whatever I can to get them to meet a new friend by giving them a venue to get down in. To get their dance shoes hot. To maybe meet the first person that they’ll ever kiss or the person that they marry. You’d be surprise sometimes when I end a weekly like Perpetual Groove. There’s a bunch of married people came up and thanked me for throwing the party. “We met at your party. We’re married, we’re happy.” Oh snap...okay, that’s cool. But..the thing is...you know what...two things...one is...the venue Pipeline is letting people do what they want to do and bring music. What other venue %oes the Blaisdell let you throw this stuff? Actually, I did throw a party at the Blaisdell. (Laughs) Basically, I’m thankful that they (Pipeline) are letting people do events there cuz not everybody will let someone throw a party, a concert, a get down or something at their place. If anyone has the freakiness to allow people to get together and have a dance floor...I’m not tryin’ to say they should commended... but maybe. I mean...all I need is some four walls, and I’ll come in there with some lighting, some decorations and if the place is drab I’ll do what I can to decorate it. If they have a screen... I have crazy visuals you have never seen in your life. Lighting, lasers, sound... If you’re really hung up on a venue I think you need to get over yourself, and that’s one reason why I’m enjoying playing for the kids now more than the adults because the adults... they don’t like this, they don’t like this person... “oh, that caths on the line up? Naw 5hat venue? No! Oh it’s on that side of town. Only this kind of people go there...” No, that’s not in my world!

You know what...if you’re jaded and so forth...you need to find out what’s new and fresh, and these kids are just bouncing around...they don’ t care! They don’t care what the venue is they just want to have a good time and a lot of those people are probably older. They need to go back and find out the reason they loved the thing, and maybe I can’t do that as a deejay or promoter and that’s fine. But they need to get past that and be able to go to a venue and not have the negative attitude: “I don’t like this venue...I don’t like the promoter that’s doing this.” You need to go out and try to have a good time, and the more people that comes to the event the aura and the excitement and so forth gets it more exciting. With Success comes hate. Envy has been around since before JC’s time. Jesus Christ, you know. It’s just out there. I think the way I deal with it I’m happy with, and I’m able to go out and have a good time with my competition’s events and parties...if you want to use that word competition. You know what, I’m going to have a good time, and that’s the bottom line is having a good time and doing what you can at having a good time. This good friend of mine, Jeff, who played volleyball at UH, he said to me one time “you know G, you’re only hearing the squeak of the mouse. But you don’t hear the roar of the lions.” I’m down for criticism, and I need it to learn how to improve upon what I am doin’. But, if I say this should be red somebody will say “I hate that he does it cuz it’s in red.” They’d rather have it in Blue. What are you gonna do? 44

Just get down on the dance floor close your eyes and listen to some music. OUT OF ALL THE MIXES YOU HAVE CREATED, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MIX? That would be that song “Yeah, Yeah”. A lot of people like that song. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THAT MIX YOU LOVE SO MUCH? A couple of things. One, the processes in which I did it. I found some marching band drum riffs that I liked. I had them reproduce (the rifts) with live instrumentation and sampled it. I looped them, and that was the back. Then I wanted a bass kick in it that was so dirty and nasty like Too Short from Oakland. I wanted a bass kick in it on the four. Well, the one if you are a JB fan on the fourth if you’re into Prince. The bass was the hit. The kick bass would be hit so dirty and nasty it would ride out for four measures, and I had some fast drums on there and looped them up. I paid an upright bassist to come in there and do this one bassline that I liked off of the Roberta Flack song. It was very hard to play live. So, he played a couple of riffs, and we sampled it and recorded it and so forth. Then I had a diva come in and sing. She was really talented, and she was able to do three parts, and she was able to harmonize with herself. Then did some piano on it, and brought a little girl in the studio whose name was Melissa. She came in the studio and she was really young, so we just put a mic up by her and started playing “repeat after me.” So, you’d get this really cute girl and say, “let’s play repeat after me,” and she’d say, “okay.” I’d like say, “I like music,” and she’d go, “I like music.” Then, “I like it when the beat drops,” and she’d go, “I like it when the beat drops.” You know, so she’s just playing all this stuff. Then we just had her start talkin’. Basically she was saying, 45

â&#x20AC;&#x153;my name is Melissa,â&#x20AC;? which should have been the name of the song, â&#x20AC;&#x153;My name is Melissa.â&#x20AC;? She was talkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; about, you know, â&#x20AC;&#x153;my name is Melissa. I like Barbie. I like to look up at the stars at night,â&#x20AC;? and stuff like that. SO MANY OF THE HAWAII OLD SCHOOL PARTY PEOPLE, INCLUDING MYSELF, FOUND THE SCENE IN 2000 AND PRIOR TO BE DEEPLY SPECIAL. DO YOU AND WHY? Yes, not exactly sure why but I do. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE 808 OLD SKOOL PARTY KIDS GROUP ON F"$&#00, I like seeing the old fliers and such. Some I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even have copies of. I definitly needed to cut my hair more. DOUBLE-O-SPOT WAS A HUGE PART OF WHAT WAS SPECIAL ABOUT THAT SCENE. WHEN YOU ASK ANYONE FROM BACK THEN THEY WOULD AGREE. HOW DO YOU FEEL KNOWING THAT YOU CONTRIBUTED TO SUCH A POWERFUL LOVE? Good I guess. Still doing it today. Compliments make me uneasy sometimes. WHY DO YOU THINK SUCH A LOVE EXISTED IN THIS PARTY WORLD? All you need is love. Go to www.excellencehappens.net to here â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yeah, Yeahâ&#x20AC;? written by G-Spot. To learn more about G-Spot and to find out about all the latest parties, go to XXX PPTQPU.com.

Good times! By D. Tafaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;i Silipa

Whether it be in shorts and slippers at a ba latter. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get me wrong, I love dressing u

Now, if dancing is your thing, Auntie shy peeps who needs to dance buried 52

Special thanks to Manifest, Lotus Downtown and Ke Kai’s Club!

afa'i’s orner

ackyard barbecue or dressed to the nines at an exclusive nightclub, we all love to have fun. I, honestly, prefer the former to the up and going to a hot concert in Chinatown, but it’s those gatherings that take place in someone’s home that I truly appreciate.

and Uncle’s hale just won’t cut it. You can easily find a spot with a hot (or cold, depending if you’re one of those d in the middle of the crowd) dance floor in Chinatown. You just need to know where to look. 53

Miller DJ Hawaii For those who think that DJ’s are strictly found in night clubs, think again. In this day and age, walk through most malls, and you are likely to find a DJ in the store window mixing sounds for you to enjoy while you shop. They are at weddings, parties and other events, and if they are good enough, you might even find the same DJ at a variety of venues. Like DJ Pat, from Miller DJ Hawaii, a family owned and operated company here in Hawaii Pat can be found at weddings, birthday parties, and even in the clubs. He has been the manager and DJ at Fusion Waikiki for over 16 years now. I was lucky enough to talk with Pat briefly in between gigs. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A DJ? My first night was at the Navanuno Disco Chicago. August 13, 1978. Wow! My girlfriend was a DJ there. I went with her one night, and well, they fired her and hired me. Funny Huh? EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A STORY OF WHAT INSPIRED THEM TO DO WHAT THEY LOVE TO DO. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A DJ? Hanging out with Bill Scnott, one of the “Dogs of War”. A group of DJ’s that predated “The Hot Mix 5” on the forefront of Chicago House of Music. WHAT SORT OF GIGS DOES YOUR COMPANY COVER? Big or small, we do ‘em all (laughs). Primarily Weddings. We also perform at parties, birthday, graduations...that sort of thing. We also Co-Produced The Village People last year at the Sheraton, as well as Tiffany at Pipeline. IF SOMEONE WANTED TO BOOK YOU GUYS FOR A WEDDING OR PARTY, WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO DO IT? Check us out at millerdj.com. You’ll find out about our complete services and our affordable rates. WE WILL HAVE TO GO CHECK IT OUT. 54

Here’s The Deal

By Twan Matthews

It’s party time!!!! I have always wanted to open an article with that salutation. This month we celebrate those men and women who make us want to dance and shake our you know what. That is right I am talking about you; the D.J.s who rock the house down with their expertise on spinning, mixing, and jamming with their beats. I am one that is truly grateful for these people who transport me into another place that I like to call the fifth dimension, where it’s just me and the music. DJs inspire us mere mortals to step outside of our normal selves and become who ever we want to be for a few short moments. I for one pretend that I am the most beautiful, stunningly gorgeous supermodel, who has all eyes on himself and the world just wants to be in my magnificent presence. God that sounds so pretentious, but I know that I am not the only one that feels this way. I am just one who will actually admit it.

so much. Oh yeah I will see you on the dance. You will know it will be me, because I will be the one that will be floating across the stage. Hey, that’s just me. That’s just my GAYWAY! See you around!

These mixing artists are touched with the ability to make hundreds and even thousands of people to believe that they are superstars and that all is right with the world, even if is not. As I am writing this, I am can feel the music in my head. Kylie Minogue’s ‘ Get Outta My Way. ‘ I request it all of the time. It speaks to me and helps me to deal with all that I need to accomplish in my life. I have a lot on my plate. You have no idea. However, when I hear that DJ Honu is spinning at Hula’s on a Thursday night. I have to go. I have to get my butt up and dance, it’s a sin if I don’t. It makes me feel beautiful.

EARTH ANGELS SWIMWEAR

Fashion Show

March 19th at The Pearl in Ala Moana. Go to www.earthangelsswimwear.com for more information.

DJs I salute you. I am thankful for the power that you have given me and many more people. I want you all to know that what you do is inspirational. Thank you 55

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$Y H Q X H T

ula’s Bar and Lei Stand is one of the most popular gay and lesbian bars in the world. Folks travel internationally to Hawaii and usually ends up at Hula’s at some point during their trip. Usually once they have discovered Hula’s the love is planted, and it becomes the obvious destination while on the island. This is true for many famous artists as well, and these artists are quick to show their love by giving a special performance or two at the bar. Cazwell is one such artist who delighted the Hula’s patrons with not just one performance, not just two performances, but two n p performances and three nights of djing! Best known for his sexily refreshing track “Ice Cream Truck”, Cazwell entertained hundreds at Hulas in January. EH’s Godiva was lucky enough to spend the whole weekend with Cazwell and his boyfriend Johnny partying and touring the island. Godiva sat down with one of his idols and got to know a little bit more about the man to whom Beyonce owes $10. 57

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN RAPPING? I’ve been raping for six months. I was rapping at a friend’s party, and they said I was good at that, and I should do it. So I just started. REALLY? No. I was part of this rap duo with a girl called “More Play”. We broke up in 2002. HAVE YOU ALWAYS FOCUSED ON GAY THEME RAPS? I’ve always been out. I don’t’ know what gay rap is. I don’t really think about it. I just write what is natural to me. I just treat it like it’s normal, and hopefully other people will treat it like it’s normal. I don’t make a big deal out of it you know what I mean. It’s just life to me. I’m definitely grateful that people can relate to my music. “ICE CREAM TRUCK” VIDEO IS VERY POPULAR. EVERYONE LOVES THIS VIDEO EVEN MY MOM. DID YOU HAVE A HAND IN PICKING THE DANCERS? I picked out the guys and Marco 0WBOEP, the director, picked out the guys, too. They were all guys we knew from the clubs and different things. We knew all of them. DO YOU NORMALLY BRING A COUPLE ON TOUR WITH YOU? Sometimes two. Sometimes three. A lot of times people request me to bring a couple “Ice Cream Truck” dancers. SO, LAST YEAR’S HIT WAS “I SEEN BEYONCE IN BURGER KING”. HAVE YOU EVER MET BEYONCE? No. HAS SHE HEARD THE SONG? She has, and she saw the video. I heard she liked it. I heard the part she thought was funny was the part where she is standing and staring at the food. I had a feeling she had a sense of humor ‘bout herself, and it’s not like I’m talking shit about her or anything. It’s just about her owing me $10.

I love Beyonce. I love her voice. I think everyone does. What makes the video funny is that Beyonce is this personification of beauty and perfection. So saying “I seen her at Burger King”...it’s like, “huh? What?” If I said Britney then nobody would be surprised. DO YOU PREFER DJING OR PERFORMING. I always preferred performing over djing. Djing is like a hit or miss thing. You always have to judge the crowd. Also, djing isn’t what I’m gifted at. I just think I’m okay but I’ve gotten much better. Performing is something I’m good at, and I’ve been doin it for a long long time. I feel like that’s when I can show my talent, you know, when I perform. HOW HAVE YOU ENJOYED YOUR TIME IN HAWAII? I love Hawaii. I wish I could live here. I love the people! They are all really, really nice. I love everything. The nature, the culture, the climate. I would love to buy a house here to have for the winter. NOW, I HAVE BEEN CAZWELL’S PERSONAL ASSISTANT FOR THE PAST TWO DAYS. CAZWELL, HOW HAVE I DONE AS YOUR PERSONAL ASSISTANT? You’ve done really good for a personal assistant I do not pay. Cazwell’s newest single, “Get My Money Back”, is out and it’s the bomb! Go to www. excellencehappens.net to check out the new single, “Ice Cream Truck”, and “I Seen Beyonce and the Burger King”. 59

Hawaii the next Hollywood? It can be with the help of Bill 1550 Courtesy of Jeanne Wynne Herring Photography Facebook Page

What if Hawaii was it’s own Hollywood? Bollywood would have nothing on us! With the extraordinary talent we have right on the islands, the versatile location, and the gorgeous Spirit of Aloha there is absolutely no reason why Hawaii shouldn’t be the Top of Mind destination for filmmakers and producers. Well, Ryan Kavanaugh, founder and owner of Relativity Media, thinks so, too. With such hit movies like “Mama Mia” and “300” under his belt, the man knows what he is doing. After speaking with Ryan, I come to find that he is doing it because it makes his heart sing! “Hawaii is a place where we want to shoot in!” Ryan is from Los Angeles, born and raised, but he also has a home on Maui. “I was getting sick of leaving my most beautiful home in the world, and then having to fly to Freeport, Michigan to go make movies.” Ryan recognized that the states that offer higher tax credit had the exact same economical and social structure as Hawaii including the need to stimulate economy. Ryan and his crew flew on to Oahu to make history! Ryan flew in with a dream that was clearly mapped out in his hand. But his dream can only be realized by making 1000s of others’ dreams come true. Ryan carried a well thought out Bill that was presented to the Hawaii Legislature that will increase the tax credit for film productions. With his research, he had found that Hawaii gave the lowest tax credit rate to film productions making us noncompetitive to such places as Michigan, Canada and Eastern Europe. With Senate Bill 1550, Hawaii will offer an impressive incentive that will pull major productions away from other areas and onto our beautiful islands. What happens then? Opportunity! Opportunity for jobs on the island for everyone not just film folk, reasons to be a professional actor or technician and stay on the island, a better economy, and even more reasons to say “lucky we live Hawaii.” “This is the go to spot for film!” Cuba Gooding Jr. flew to the islands to offer his support and to speak to the legislature on about the importance of passing Senate Bill 1550. “Whenever you get a job that shoots on the island, you get two things in one. I think it’s because not only on the island is it the environment, the habitat and locations, but the people here make you want to come back. Come back, again and again.” Cuba expressed the importance of keeping film making here in the United States.

Ryan isn’t only here to help pass a bill, but he also hopes to build two studios in Hawaii. One on Maui and one on Oahu. But to do this he has to get his board to buy into the idea, and that buy in would be a tax credit to offset the high expense of filming on location. There are too many “runaway” productions that film in other countries because of the tax breaks given to the production company. Canada and Eastern Europe offer substantial incentives to film in their countries, and these countries reap the benefits. Ryan wants to go a step further and provide studios that will not only be a venue for filming but also a training location so that the locals will have the skills to run the productions themselves instead of the jobs 61

being sent away or the skilled worker being flown on to the Island. The members of the Legislature were quite candid in voicing several concerns about the Bill including the language of the bill seeming to be unconstitutional according to the Hawaii constitution which was focused on by Senators Roslyn H. Baker and Malama Solomon’s. Senator Donna Mercado Kim expressed her concerns about the few mistakes found in the bill while Senator Brickwood Galuteria made certain that Hawaii will not lose the opportunity if the movie fails at the box office. Despite the member’s concerns, several locals took the microphone and testified the urgent need for such a Bill to pass.

Cody Gomes, a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Aftra), points out to the members that our talented residents are leaving the islands to seek better opportunity since there is very little here in Hawaii. As an actor, he sees the need to pursue a fulfilling career elsewhere. But he loves his home. To pursue his career on the islands would be ideal. Caroline Michael is not an actor. She is not a technician. She doesn’t really have a hand in the entertainment industry, but she recognizes the importance of providing more jobs on the island. If an incentive brings more films to the island, it will provide better income to the locals. As the President Emertus of the National Champion of Federally Employed Women, Hawaii, Caroline first answered Senate’s Facebook question of how to save the Hawaii economy. Her answer? “Have our Beloved Honolulu as (the) second Hollywood City...”

Mr. Richmand points out that no other industry has stepped forward wanting to come to Hawaii, but Ryan and his crew are here and want to provide jobs. Mr. Richmand is a native Hawaiian who has been an actor for over 35 years. He has also worked behind the camera and as a stunt man. He started as an extra. He understands the distrust of some Hawaiian people but hopes that the Senators realizes the benefits of the bill which includes a venue to produce Hawaiian films. He also added a question from Uncle Frank that asks the members: “what is coming from you folks that trickles down to us folks.”

There were many that spoke in support of the Bill. But those who were unable to attend, like Ex-president Bill Clinton, wrote in their testimony of support. (Yes, THE Bill Clinton sent a letter supporting this bill.) Only a few testified concerns. Concerns such as the language being unconstitutional, worry of financial loss, and a request to add an amendment that will guarantee work for experienced and well trained locals. However, they do support this Bill as long as these concerns are addressed. Having a bill that will attract more productions not only will provide an opportunity to local talents but will also provide jobs for thousands of Hawaiians in many aspects, and a lit path that will lead us out of these dark and scary woods. On Wednesday, February 16th, 2011, Hawaii passed Senate Bill 1550 seven to one. After amendments to the bill is made, the bill will go into effect offering incoming film makers a higher tax credit than what they are being offered now.

Attention!!! Diamond Head Theatre closes its 2010-2011 season with the Hawaii premier of the hit musical Hairspray, July 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; July 31, 2011 This extremely funny and exciting musical touches on the topic of the struggles of African Americans in entertainment, segregation and the clash between whites and blacks in the 60s. DHT will be auditioning for this show in the spring, and will need a large cast that include African American boys, girls, men and women.

To hire Jeanne for photography services, go to her website Jeanne Wynne Herring Photography jeannewynne.com Visit me on FaceBook: Jeanne Wynne Herring Photography Go to excellencehappens.net to be on the EH eZine email list!