COURTESY OF THE CRUD
The Crud, clockwise from top left, Matt Webb on guitar, Reut Evil on vocals and guitar, Justin Vincler on drums and Jonny Stitch on bass.
11 bands to cut loose
at Kapono’s GIG
To survive the competitive music scene, local bands will play just about anything for audiences, whether it's a song request at a private party, a wedding reception or on the club circuit.
You want reggae? Rock? Jawaiian? No problem. Just give them enough time to go rehearse, and they'll be there for you. And, by the way, there's usually some original material they want you to hear.
'GIG'
A local band showcaseWhere: Kapono's, Aloha Tower Marketplace
When: 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. tomorrow
Tickets: $10 presale, available at the club and from band members; $14 at the door
Call: 536-2161
Eleven of Oahu's emerging bands will try to squeeze in as much as they have during half-hour time slots as part of the showcase, "GIG," happening at Kapono's tomorrow night.
Promoter Kramer Paaga picked the bulk of the bands from his annual Mai Tai Rumble, held at the popular Ala Moana Center bar. Participating bands get to keep a portion of proceeds as their earnings for the night, so don't be surprised if some enterprising band member tries to sell you a $10 presale ticket to you.
The bands are Amplified, Country Fire, The Crud, Elevin, Fool Around Kine, High Intensity, Mystic, Pozitiv NRG, Revalation, Rizon and Speed Limit.
The guys in High Intensity lost in the semifinals, but ukulele player and backup vocalist Eric Crisostomo said they've played Kapono's twice before. What started as a five-piece in April has since grown to nine members, and Crisostomo said it'd be fair to call them an "island reggae band, but we also play some old school classic rock, alternative, and we also have originals.
"Most of us in the (National) Guard, so it was tough to get our name out there. Nobody knew us until the Mai Tai Rumble. We're not necessarily looking for club gigs, but we like doing private parties.
"When we first got the group together, it wasn't supposed to be just about making money. All of us have fun in this band, we all have good day jobs and most of the gigs we play for free. My philosophy is that we take care of our family first, but with High Intensity, it all just clicked -- we got the band together in three days specifically for a party.
"We never expected to be where we are right now. We actually called ourselves The Halfway Crew at first, because it seemed that we could never finish a song," Crisostomo said.
With a front line of three ukulele players/singers, trying to pull off alternative rock seems like more of a novelty, but High Intensity is up to the challenge.
"Also, it helps that our bass player is Fred Domingo," he said. "He's awesome. He's the oldest guy in the band and he used to play with the Makaha Sons of Niihau as their original bass player."
COURTESY OF THE CRUD
The Crud, from left, Matt Webb, Reut Evil, Jonny Stitch and Justin Vincler.
RIZON WAS originally named Horizon by one of the band members' wives, but Robert Hayno said they opted for something shorter, catchier.
The drummer and self-appointed "market person" is a self-employed carpenter in his other life. Like three other members, he once worked at Frito-Lay, where they met. "We originally got together to do a Christmas party there, and through word of mouth, we started to do outside gigs."
The band's been around for three years and they, too, are starting to build a repertoire of original songs. "We're already doing two of them -- 'Better Days,' which has an alternative flavor, and 'Whiskey,' a kind of bluesy rock song that we usually do as a closer -- and we have more, but with the buzz around the scene nowadays, we don't do them 'cause some other group might take them!"
Another Rumble semifinalist, Rizon gigs "two to three times a month, and we're booked every week until Christmas.
"We've worked too hard over the last two years, writing new material, to stop now. I admit we've had our musical differences -- some guys would rather we play more alternative, others, Hawaiian reggae -- but we've kept the band going.
"I listen to bands all the time, and I know it's hard, especially for us, to compete with bands if they already have a CD out. But, talentwise, I think we can pretty much compete with anyone. There's a chemistry in our music that we've put together, and it's still fun to play."
COURTESY OF ROBERT HAYNO JR.
Rizon will be one of the 11 bands at Kapono's GIG this weekend. The band consists of, from left, Jason Rathyen, Kaui Kaulia, Gordon Lau, Robert Hayno Jr., David Kawelo and Hiram Johnson.
YOU HAVE to give the guys in Fool Around Kine credit. The five of them -- all west-side residents -- regularly gather in a Waipio garage.
One of "da Kine," lead singer and ukulele player Rey Fernandez, said that like many local bands, the scattershot method of playing different kinds of music has worked for them. "Reggae, rock, Jawaiian, a little 'I'll Be There for You' from Bon Jovi -- we've played whatever we could. We've even tried Filipino folk songs."
Another former Rumble participant, Fool Around Kine was performing mostly at community events until this summer, when they made an effort to get back into the scene. The band made into the finals last go-round "but we were beat by Country Fire by I think about 8/10ths of a point," Fernandez said. He considers that "pretty good" considering they entered just for exposure.
"We're trying to put together a demo tape that we can give to clubs. We already do a couple of originals that I wrote: 'Natural High,' a positive kind of relationship song, not a sad-kind breakup one, and 'Party Time.'
"I'm in the middle of writing two or three other songs. I write the songs, and the rest of the band gives their input when we do it together. That's what I love," he said.
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