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MAKANA |
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I began
performing at the age of 7 in the Honolulu Boy Choir, then picked
up 'ukulele at 9. My father wanted me to learn more Hawaiian music,
he was from Minnesota and is a huge fan. We discovered slack key guitar
the next year and by 11 I was learning from a young teacher named
Bobby Moderow. At 13 I had the honor of meeting the living legend
Sonny Chillingworth, who offered to teach me under a grant from the
State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. A year later Sonny passed
away. Now I'm 31, have been playing guitar for 20 years, and out of
the solid foundation that my teachers gave me I have developed my
own approach to the guitar, which is rooted in the technical practice
of slack key but more universal in its musicality.
My new
album is called Venus, and the Sky Turns to Clay: The Instrumental
World of Makana, and is an all original collection of solo slack
key guitar pieces. The entire recording was done without the use of
overdubs; I wanted to explore the potential of what I could do with
just my fingers and the guitar. It was recorded in Manoa Valley on
O'ahu with my longtime engineer friend Pierre Grill. Slack key guitar
or Ki Ho'alu is an art form indigenous to Hawai'i, characterized by
slacking the strings to a chord and then simultaneously playing an
alternating bass pattern, faux rhythm and lead melody all at once.
One of the fun techniques we applied was setting up another acoustic
so that its soundhole faced the soundhole of the guitar I was playing,
so that the second guitar became a resonant chamber, and then we recorded
its resonance. I tuned both guitars to sympathetic chords but different
tunings. It was like having a room tuned to the song! The songs on
the album truly reflect my evolution of style, from traditional Hawaiian
slack key to bluegrass, blues, raga, flamenco, celtic, progressive
and classical. It is really of language, the guitar, and here the
vocabulary is expanded.
I used
8 different guitars on the album: a Parlor all maple Larrivee acoustic;
2 different Takamine EN-10C acoustics (my main axe); a Laurence Juber
signature Martin acoustic; an old beat-up D-18 Martin acoustic; an
American re-issue Fender telecaster; a Taylor 12-string acoustic;
and a Martin 1969 nylon string classical guitar. Most of the songs
were done without and pedals and just a light reverb (we have a giant
rusty old plate hanging above the studio in Pierre's garage!), and
on one song I used a DD-5 BOSS digital delay. On the electric piece
("A Touch of Deviance") I played through an old Fender twin
reverb amp with one of my old BOSS multi-effects processors, mainly
using wah and delay with a tapping, slapping and muffling technique.
All songs were done in open slack key tunings. For mics, we used either
double ribbons or a pair of Neumanns, or sometimes a blend of all.
Because
of my inclusive mind and philosophy that "everything is a gift",
my influences are broad and far reaching, only excluding purely-commercially
driven work. Major guitar influences include the Hawaiian slack key
masters Gabby Pahinui, Sonny Chillingworth (my teacher), Ledward Ka'apana,
Peter Moon; rock influences Jimmy Page, David Gilmore & Hendrix;
some of my favorite musicians include Andrea Vollenweider, Floyd,
Zeppelin, the Police, Joy Division, the Buckleys, Peter Gabriel &
old Genesis; and then there are my literary ones like Rumi, Krishnamurti,
and Ayn Rand. Richard Thompson's live performance was a big moment
for me inspirationally; I eventually opened for him. My favorite group
and record of all time is The Sunday Manoa "Guava Jam"-
true contemporary Hawaiian folk music from the 70's.
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Simply
put, there is nothing more beautiful or serene—at least in a
musical, guitar-centric way—then the art of Ki ho’alu, also
known as Hawaiian slack key guitar. The art of instrumental slack
key guitar has, through the ages, grown in stature and one modern
master keeping the flame burning bright is Hawaii’s native son
Makana. Returning in 2009 Makana goes back to his instrumental
slack key guitar roots with his CD Venus And The Sky Turns To
Clay, released on his own Makana music. A solo recording
with no overdubbing, the 15 cut instrumental CD features nine newly
composed tracks paired with six of his earlier classic instrumentals.
Far from being just a routine excercise of old time slack key tracks,
Makana’s guitar sound simply explodes with a daring mix of virtuosity
and heightened musical imagination. Earthy, ancient and modern at
the same time, Venus And The Sky Turns To Clay is truly a slack
key record for the 21st century. Hawaiian and slack key instrumental
music will feel the same way that Hawaii’s slack key guitar great
Sonny Chillingworth felt when he first encountered Makana when he
declared, ‘Young man, I’ve been looking for you.’ Guitar
fans will want to hear Venus And The Sky Turns To Clay though
pop and rock fans may also want to give a listen to some of Makana’s
other recordings, including the 2008 CD release of his pop based,
but
no less excellent, Different Game. 