Tone Audio Interview

January 2015 / Jeff Dorgay / ToneAudio Magazine

TA: In light of Joe Cocker’s passing, your soulful rendition of “You are So Beautiful” when we saw your November show, and your recent video clip, do you see that as a serendipity? Did you ever get a chance to meet him or sing with him? (LINK TO MAKANA’S JOE COCKER TRIBUTE VIDEO)

M: I see everything as serendipity: everything is echoing- it’s up to us to recognize. Life is a grand feedback loop. It requires being in tune with one’s “na’au”, as Hawaiians call it- the gut, the intuition. It is so incredibly powerful, and I allow that force to guide my art and life. I didn’t meet Cocker in person but his vocal delivery expanded my palate from the moment I first heard him wail. I realized then- music isn’t only about order and relativity of notes- those notes also have a fluctuating intensity, and Cocker took that to the highest possible degree. 

TA: Is your show always half traditional Hawaiian music and half contemporary music, or is every show different? I’ve seen a few artists that keep the set list pretty tight. You seem like a pretty free form guy. 

M: With the exception of large scale stage productions involving lots of moving parts and a cast, all my performances (especially the solo ones) are spontaneous and differ according to a range of variables like the vibe of the audience, geographic location, my mood, whatever I’m going through emotionally at the time, and most of all, the acoustic character of the venue- that seems to influence my song selection more than anything else. A common thread in all my gigs is that I always take a part of the show to honor my slack key guitar masters, the Hawaiian legends, and the elders (of all music genres) that influenced my art. I am very passionate about the idea of “living traditions”: celebrating how music evolves over time in the hands of consecutive generations. Because I come from Hawai’i and that music, that is a huge part of what I offer… but then I love to rock, so that always seems to find its way into the gig too.

TA: You mentioned that people don’t always know what to expect with you. Because they don’t always know what “Hawaiian music” is they might be shy to experience Makana for the first time. It’s a pretty moving experience even to the uninitiated, and I must admit, not even what I expected. What can we do to enlighten more people of what you have to offer?  

M: After years of touring around the world I’ve come to find that Hawaiian music often carries a very outdated stigma- a sort of cheesy, “hotel lobby” touristy vibe. This is probably due to the wild popularity of Hawaiian swing jazz or “hapa-ha’ole” tunes that were released in the 1920s and 30s. The music I create is very different from that, to say the least! My music is based on a unique, little-known, traditional guitar style that dates back 200+ years, perhaps before the  blues. It’s called Slack Key Guitar. Just as Brazil has the Bossa Nova and Spain has Flamenco, so Hawai’i has slack key. I play an old beat up 6-string acoustic guitar- nothing fancy. But the slack key style allows me to turn the guitar into a symphony. Using various handed-down and original tunings, slack key simulates three guitars by having the player perform alternating bass lines, rhythm and lead melodies simultaneously. The open tunings are tuned to chords so that most of the melodies are played on the higher strings while all the others ring open. This creates a beautiful droning effect that resonates constantly, evoking a grand sound, almost piano-like, from the guitar. I play the old traditional family styles as well as my own, which is a combination of those with influences from players like Richard Thompson, Leo Kottke, Jimmy Page, Dick Gaughan, Robert Johnson, Andreas Vollenweider and many others. While I love playing the old music of Hawai’i in slack key (I sing as well), I also enjoy extracting the techniques from this Hawaiian art form and applying them to other styles like bluegrass, rock and blues- which I’ve gotten into deeper lately. My friend calls my non-traditional style “Slack Rock”. Because I can accompany myself (without loopers) and sound like three guitars, the comment I receive the most after performances is “I can’t believe all that sound came from your guitar!” I love to push the boundaries of guitar and voice in the absence of computers- so I work with the “negative space”, subtracting rather than adding, to create dynamics. I consider the mind of my listener as a second instrument, so often I’ll establish a groove and then move onto something else while still “insinuating” the first groove, and amazingly the listener will still “hear” the initial groove- an important phenomena when working solo. Vocally, a lot of people say I remind them of a cross between Tim/ Jeff Buckley and Tracy Chapman. It really depends what I’m singing- backyard falsetto, killing floor blues, operatic wails or whisky laden folk rock. I love doing it all. And I love playing live- it’s where I thrive. My shows are like solo cabaret shows- a wide range of music styles, intertwined with comedy, stories, always some educational element about the culture or style I perpetuate, as well as social commentary- love my activism (I penned what Rolling Stone called the “Occupy Anthem”). Unpredictable and emotionally moving is what I aim for…

TA: Have you ever taken a band with you on tour or have you always performed solo? If not, is that something you might ever consider on a future tour?

M: I mostly tour solo but occasionally bring my trio (Lono- bass/ vox, Lopaka- percussion). They’re the most fun guys on earth to play with- we never rehearse. As Lono (my bassist) says, “no need brah, I like be excited when I see you”. We’ve found that if we rehearse it kills some of the urgency when we play live- not knowing where the music may go keeps us on our toes! 

TA: Do you ever play electric? Do you ever get the urge to plug into a wall of Marshall amps and go for it, or is that completely not your style? If so, what do you like to play? (in terms of instrument)

M: I’ve recorded a few tracks with solo electric guitar (I have a Fender Tele). My approach has (of course while utilizing slack key tunings and techniques) more of a Knopfler/ Gilmore vibe to it I’d say. I’m not an electric guitar shredder by any means- I like to use it to emphasize emotionally. Loudness isn’t really my way of moving emotions- but I do use distortion as a  flavor at times. Beyond guitar, I LOVE composing on piano. In fact, most of my songs these days are composed first on piano. The piano is like a melody garden to me, waiting to be plucked and eaten… no greater joy than sitting at an old upright with some Lagavulin 16 and a pen and paper.

TA: Speaking of the electric guitar, are you surprised how many electric players dig Makana? You are quite a hit amongst the shredders of the guitar world.

M: So stoked that they are discovering Hawaiian slack key guitar.

TA: After 25 years of playing and touring, you still come across as an incredibly prolific musician. Do you ever just get stuck? And if so, what gets you back on track, your creative juices flowing?

M: Honestly, I have never felt stuck nor have I experienced writer’s block. I do get exhausted though. I just took a week off and flew to Kaua’i for some R&R. What a magical place on Earth…so healing. 

TA: How long do you typically go on the road?

M: Usually I set my tours at about 3 weeks to a month each. Sometimes longer. I don’t like being away from the ocean too long, and I don’t like wearing wetsuits… 

TA: What’s the biggest obstacle to doing it all yourself, other than forgetting a sweater now and then? I’m guessing that the web and a smartphone makes this all a lot easier than it was 25 years ago.

M: Building a business alone is no easy task as many entrepreneurs know. I can’t count the number of times friends have called to invite me to surf or cruise and I say I’m working and they say “you’re on the beach writing songs?” No, I’m sitting at my laptop for the 16th consecutive hour managing lists, updating websites, doing social media, negotiating, adjusting tech riders, reviewing contracts, booking flights and hotels and rental cars… The hardest part has been the sacrifice of time- time that could have been spent creating, laughing, exercising, being with loved ones, enjoying nature, building relationships. The countless hours handling the ins and outs of building a sustainable career. That being said- I am so very thankful for all that I have learned. My dream is to create an online school to teach young artists about thriving in the music business without going into huge debt or having their financial streams pillaged by middlemen. I’ve been blessed to create a model for indie artists and I want to share what I’ve learned with others. PS Thanks for the scarf and sweater Jeff!!! It literally saved my life on the last tour!

TA: What are your most and least favorite aspects of travel?

M: I can’t say I actually love travel… I mean I never crave it (at least not anymore). In 2013 alone I flew 100+ times. If I’m not gigging I’m such a home body… It’s tricky for me because I have a  very clean diet (I’ll eat any kind of food, but am extremely mindful of its sourcing and method of preparation) and I love my green foods (wheatgrass, chlorella, kale, Kamut, etc). So, when I travel, I have an entire suitcase full of healthy snacks and weird super medical devices in case I get sick (electromagnetic pulsators, blood electrifiers, biomodulators, ionic silver makers, etc). I’m like a walking alternative hospital! 

TA: Where is your favorite place to chill other than Hawaii? (though I imagine that’s tough) 

M: Some faves include Saint Barth (French West Indies), Morro Bay in Cali, and Santa Fe. I do love Manhattan.. not for chillin, but for the vibe.

TA: Tell me one musical and non musical thing about you that we’d never guess. 

M: MUSICAL: I’m about to launch a completely independent brand of politically-incorrect music that’s a cross between The Flight of the Conchords and Frank Zappa. It won’t have my name on it so good luck on finding it. NON-MUSICAL: My mother was Miss Hawaii International.  

TA: What’s the furthest thing musically away from the music you play that you enjoy?

M: I LOVE Enya and Ulrich Schnauss. I probably listen to those two more than anything. They cleanse my palate.

TA: With so many artists doing duet albums, would you ever consider that? Who would you really like to sing with that you haven’t?

M: I’ve written a few duets but haven’t found the right singer(s) for them yet. I really want to! Dream duets for me include: Alison Krauss, Alison Moyet, Kendra Morris, Anoushka Shankar, Bebel Gilberto…

TA: What about more blues in your future projects? Your blues chops are amazing!!

M: When I was younger life was easy, so I had no reason to sing the blues, hehe. No, but really, I dig the slide and the grittiness, the simplicity, the rawness. And I’m very interested in exploring the origins of the slide and the correlation between the Hawaiian invention by Joseph Kekuku and early American blues slide music. On my recently recorded original song “Sexy Lady”, I explore the meeting place of slack key and blues.

TA: Was doing the new record “25” all analog, in such a stripped down fashion a revelation for you? Was this anomalous for you or will you produce your next record in this vein as well? Did recording to tape force you to do some self editing before you sat down to put it all together?

M: Yes, the entire process was a revelation. For years fans had been asking for a live record, but I wanted to give them a live performance without the noise and chaos of audience presence. The approach was intended to showcase me as honestly as possible, without any studio trickery  or manipulation. A year or so ago I had publicly announced that for the rest of my life I will only record traditional Hawaiian songs to tape, as I felt the genre deserved that sort of treatment in order to stand up to the classics. This album is actually a double: “Root” (Hawaiian with a touch of blues), and the other “Raw” (my singer/songwriter material). The Root record was captured in stereo through a vintage AMPEX tubed mic preamp straight into a ¼” Studer tape machine. The Raw side is a monophonic recording: we set up a single AKG-414 in a basement, ran it into a UA tubed mic pre, and straight into the Studer. One mic, one preamp, one tape deck, one guitar, one Makana, two bottles of whisky. That’s what we did, and it sounds like I’m sitting right there in the room when it plays. In the future I’ll continue to do all my Hawaiian music this way. With other genres I’ll use analog and digital depending on the feel and complexity of the music I’m intending. But I’d like to comment on my choice to move to analog in general: I chose to move to analog recording, and away from digital recording, because of how the music hits me when I listen to analog reproductions of it. (Magnetic) Tape exudes a presence, and I think it is because there are a lot of things going on in the music that we don’t necessarily hear with our ears, but are in any case an integral part of the experience of the music. Analog recordings treat those subtleties with respect, whereas digital recording assigns them a number, generalizes their behavior, or leaves them out altogether. Music saturates into magnetic tape in a way that digital recorders don’t absorb. What I mean is, there is a depth and dimension to analog reproduction that simply is unavailable through digital playback, due to interruptions in the sampling process of audio data (analog samples continuously), assumptions (and ultimately distortions) made by quantization, and dithering, which removes harmonics and ultimately distorts the signal. I find this process similar to modern day food processing: more fillers and less of the real ingredients. This is why they keep coming out with higher resolutions. They’re admitting the problem: that digital is anything but accurate. It is in fact a binary interpretation of an analog waveform, demanding uniformity in reproduction, unable to accommodate the curve of Mother Nature. But all of that aside — it really is a complex and highly debatable subject — there are other reasons I have moved back to analog. For one, all of the music I obsess over was recorded to tape. Beyond its sonic character, tape demands more honesty from the artist. It is much more difficult to handle. Editing becomes laborious. The convenience of digital recording allows for infinite alteration to occur once the music has been captured, and as exciting as that may seem — it is that very convenience that led me to shy away from the medium… it is all too easy to lose the immediacy of a performance in that world. So what does this mean for the listener? More accuracy and authenticity in the music. Think of it like this. When you walk through the city, you feel differently than when you walk through the forest. Why is that? Because you are nature. In nature, there are no squares. Digital recording builds a city out of music — it turns sine waves into squares. You may not hear this, but your body knows it, and on some level, you feel it. 

TA: You give so much in your live performances, and seem to strike a perfect balance between exuberance and calm. Where do you usually go mentally when you walk off the stage?

M: “FOOD!! NEED FOOD!” Is usually the first thought that enters my mind after walking offstage.

TA: And last but not least, are there any other non musical projects that we might expect from the mind of Makana in the years to come? If you could be anything else than a musician, what would it be?

M: One of my passions is philosophy. I’ve written extensively and posted many of my pieces on my website. I call them “Mind Mints”; to freshen one’s perspective. At some point I’ll publish a book and/ or an app. That, and my plan to run for governor of Hawai’i in 2034 (I’ll be 56).