COURTESY OF SUGAH DADDY
If SUGah DADDY wins Hard Rock Cafe's battle of the bands in Honolulu, they go on to compete against winners of 24 other Hard Rock Cafes. Pictured above, clockwise from top left: M. Kalani Souza, Darrell Aquino, Capt. John Charleston, Mike Cueva and Jason Nobriga. Below, Aquino, Cueva and Souza jam on the high seas.
Taking
SUGahDADDY
to the topMaking the finals of a local
contest tastes sweet for isle rockers
A positive attitude is essential for long-term success in the music business. What else keeps musicians going when jobs are few or that big "can't miss" deal turns out to be equal parts dream and scam? Darrell Aquino and M. Kalani Souza have seen it all -- many times -- over the years, but they're still optimistic their band, SUGahDADDY, can make it playing original rock in Hawaii.
'Hard Rock Cafe-Cabo Wabo
Battle of the Bands Honolulu Finals featuring SUGahDADDY, Center City, Sister Suicide and Sabbatar
Tequila Mexican Standoff'Where: Hard Rock Cafe, 1837 Kalakaua Ave.
When: 10 p.m. Monday
Admission: $5, 21 and over; $7, 18-20
Call: 955-7383
"You have to be (optimistic). If you see the glass as half-empty, you wonder who took your water, but if you see it as half-full, you're happy there's enough for you," Souza said.
After years of playing everything from "Hawaiian covers" to pop with various groups, Souza and Aquino are finding a niche market for SUGahDADDY here and on the West Coast.
"We're actually getting paid relatively good money to play our own music. When I go to sleep, I feel real good about it," Souza said.
And the group is taking the music beyond weekend club work. A debut CD, "e'hawaiianrockband," was released last fall. The band's first video, "Let It Go," will begin airing this month, with a second to follow. Two more videos are in production along with a second album, "Under a Native Moon," with music that Souza describes as "more sophisticated, less of that country influence and a little more of us finding our own little voice with a Pacific influence. I haven't been excited about a project like this in 10 or 12 years."
Aquino and Souza are the vocalists and trade off on bass and rhythm guitar. Capt. John Charleston (drums), Jason Nobriga (lead guitar) and Mike Cueva (sax) complete the band.
Making the local finals of the battle-of-the-bands contest, Hard Rock Cafe-Cabo Wabo Tequila Mexican Stand Off, has been a big boost. Monday's winner will represent Honolulu against bands from 24 other Hard Rock Cafes across the country. Of those 25 national finalists, six will make it to the last round judged by what the rules describe as "a celebrity/ industry" panel.
The grand prize winner will play two sets at the Cabo Wabo Meltdown at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on October 3 and 4.
"We were a last-minute entry," Aquino said of the circumstances that resulted in SUGahDADDY making it into the final night of preliminary competition last Thursday. "Johnny Charleston, our drummer, was walking by and heard about it, called up our business manager, and we jumped on it."
"I don't think we were slotted to win -- it was our first time in that venue -- but I think we snuck up on them and the judges liked what we did," Souza said. The winner was determined by audience response and "secret judges," he said.
Whatever the outcome on Monday, Souza says SUGahDADDY will be a band to watch in the months to come.
"We're redesigning the way that the band looks. We've got a designer working with us on certain costume aspects. We've been working on our (stage) blocking and working with a choreographer to take it up to the next level."
"Like Darrell says, we feel like we're right on the edge of something," Aquino said, "and when we make that little leap, they'll call us overnight successes after 30-some-odd years of getting there."
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