Kapena
keeps it coming
'What's this haole-Portagee
By John Berger
guy doing with two Tongans and
now this Samoan kid?'
Special to the Star-BulletinWHEN does a Hawaiian entertainer receive "uncle" or "auntie" status? Kapena's Kelly Boy De Lima isn't sure, but says he's not ready to be dubbed "Uncle Kelly Boy."
"Some of the kids in my church call me 'Kelly Man,' but I don't know about the 'Uncle' part. I'm going to be Kelly Boy for as long as possible," De Lima said. Kapena had released a new album eight days earlier and dispersed for vacation almost simultaneously. The other founding members -- bassist Tivaini "Tiva" Tatofi and rhythm guitarist Teimoni "Timo" Tatofi -- weren't back in town yet so De Lima was doing interview duty. Drummer Eddie Teo let De Lima do the talking.
"Eddie's an incredible drummer, and the band has been in full acceleration with this young guy pushing us from behind with those drums. He gives us that new oomph up there," De Lima said.
"Everybody's been fascinated with the combination. What's this haole-Portagee guy doing with two Tongans and now this Samoan kid?"
Teo is 18. He sat in with Kapena as a child prodigy seven years ago but never expected to be more than a fan. Teo celebrated his first anniversary with Kapena this month and is pictured on the new album, "Kapena Is Da Crew."
"We like to catch all different types of audience, stay with the times and what is happening today, but still keep it island style," De Lima said of the album's eclectic contents.
"When we started we were strictly just a Hawaiian band playing Hawaiian music, but I like singing all kinds of music, and the good Lord has blessed me with such a repertoire ... Country and rock and ballads and reggae and Hawaiian is pretty much the avenue we chose."
Those choices were first made 15 years ago when De Lima and the Tatofi brothers founded Kapena as their vehicle for fame and fortune in the "I-94 Brownbags to Stardom" contest. The trio represented Kaimuki High School in the finals, but saw the judges pick another act as grand-prize winner. Does anyone remember who it was?
"Brownbags" marked only a momentary setback. Kapena was soon signed by Ken Kahanu Post and recorded "Satisfaction Guaranteed" for Post's Kahanu Records label in 1986. The group won Hoku Awards for Group of the Year and Contemporary Hawaiian Group of the Year for their second album, "Kapena," in 1988. The Kahanu empire imploded a year or so later, and Kapena recorded for several other local labels before signing with KDE.
"After 'Brownbags' our only goal was to record one album so that when we grew up we could show our kids, and here we are today, I think 13 albums later. I never thought I'd make a living out of the entertainment business, but 15 years later it feels real good. Kapena is like a marriage that has been successful. We've gone through our struggles but now it feels tremendous."
De Lima is credited as one of the two ukulele players responsible for the resurgence of interest in the instrument among teens. De Lima mentions the other, Troy Fernandez, as having been "one of my heroes" in high school.
De Lima's father, the late Rudolph "Duffy" De Lima, was another. De Lima says he recorded his solo album, "Jus' Kelly Boy," for his father as well as for himself. "He inspired me even before Kapena, and (the album) was something I had to do for both of us. It was nervewracking, but I wanted to try singing all the parts myself, putting all the music together, and do it all."
De Lima adds he wouldn't have undertaken the solo project if the Tatofi brothers hadn't supported his decision (both wrote liner notes). He says Kapena may retire "in the next 10 years," but the group will not break up.
"We're a package. Tiva really thumps on bass, Timo's rhythm guitar is always right there, and so are the harmonies. People ask what kind of music it is and all I can say is that it's music made up by local kids growing up here in the islands and doing it local style. I've always been fascinated with the ukulele, and with the new pick-ups that you can put in you can really hot rod 'em and they sound killer. An' ukulele can rock!"
De Lima has been contributing original songs. He acknowledges local radio stations often seem to prefer remakes to originality, but says writing has become more important to him. The Tatofi brothers are sometimes overlooked but they and Teo are important parts of the quartet.
"I bring in the contemporary Hawaiian influence. These guys bring in the Polynesian kind of thing. What we always try to do is stay with the times and what is happening today but still keep it island style."
Typical hit
on their handsKapena Is Da Crew Kapena (KDE)
KAPENA moves forward with this impressive new self-produced album. Versatility and diversity makes it interesting listening -- and typically Kapena.
Wendell "Lau Lau" Ching and Steve Lincoln did most of the technical stuff, Radical Rob Onekea added the edge to the local rap cuts and sat in elsewhere, and Sakiusa Bulicokocoko anchored the band that joined the quartet -- Kelly De Lima, Tiva and Timo Tatofi, and Eddie Teo -- in the studio.
Kapena sets a nationalist message to a brooding reggae beat with "Rua Kenana" and includes a song for Hawaiian speakers only with "Punana Leo O Hawaii."
Kapena's "Listen to the Music" remake offers a fresh perspective to a Top 40 classic. Adding a local-style rap narration to "Home" gives the Olomana standard a contemporary edge while remaining true to the original sentiment.
"Home/I've Never Been This Homesick Before" caps the album. De Lima's voice, the Tatofi brothers' harmonies, and a hot piano solo, makes this Christian medley a country-gospel showstopper with lyric landscapes of loved ones and "the carpenter of Galilee." Kapena has done inspirational music before but never more effectively than this.
A De Lima original, "Forgive Me," is also memorable, but there is lightweight stuff too. Comedian Augie T does his best Bu La'ia impression on "Okie Dokie Makou," a song by Ken Makuakane. "Gin Gan Goolie/The More We Get Together" delivers a positive solid social message via an interpolation of "Have You Ever Seen A Lassie."
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