July 18, 2025 • 31 mins
What is the sacred connection of breath & spirit? This is the "ha" in Alo-ha as explained by acclaimed Hawaiian slack key guitarist Kahu Kawika Kahiapo. Known for his award-winning music that carries the sweet "nahe nahe" quality touching listeners' souls, Kahu Kawika shares stories that reveal how deeply spirituality is woven into authentic Hawaiian music & cultural expressions.
Discover rare insights into how music becomes a vessel for spiritual connection; including a story of Moses Keale's brush with death while hunting on a Ni'ihau cliff—and the resulting spiritual awakening that influenced generations—demonstrates how personal testimony transforms into cultural legacy through song.
Listen & discover how Hawaiian music carries ancient wisdom into contemporary faith practices, & how being fully present may be the most powerful way to perpetuate the true aloha in yr daily life. ALO-HA!
Catch Cousin Kawika Kahiapo on his many gigs & events listed on his website Calendar: www.KawikaKahiapo.net. Plus support local artist & 'ohana by ordering divine music for yr soul--also available on his website. MA-HA-LO!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Aloha mai kakou aloha .
Welcome to Aloha Live Podcast.
I'm Auntie Dawn O'Brien andtoday I'm with one of my most
favorite ever slack key guitarartists and Kahu, but I call him
cousin.
It's Kahu Kavika Kahiapo.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
How's it everybody so happy to be here, cousin?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Thank you for having us Thank you for making time.
He even had to bus the trafficcoming over the Pali and you
know how it goes when Hawaii.
Get traffic, get traffic.
So today I wanted to catch usall up.
You're a busy K kahu, you're amusician, you're a board member
on the north shore and in kokoHawaii with Jack Johnson.
You're also a family man.
(00:53):
What's new with one of Hawaii'smost favorite, most highly
awarded slack key guitar artists?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
what's new?
Not much.
I'm in the studio with BobbyMadero working on a Slacky album
.
My everyday, weekly, normalgigs in Waikiki.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
You are a busy man.
I was looking at your website.
I'm going to throw it right outthere in case anybody's tuning
in now that might have to leavelater, but it's kavikakahiaponet
, so I noticed that you've got alot going on, cousin,
especially on your website.
I love the calendars because Ican catch where you're playing
live music.
Thank you so, kavikakahiyaponet, but you lately have been doing
(01:35):
a lot in studio over 130 plusprojects with lots of different
artists.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But catch us up on what you're doing right now and
you said you're just playingwith bobby madero yeah, bobby
and I in the studio and, uh,trying to fix up an album that
we we started a couple years ago.
Um, that's the only thing I goton on on as far as pending,
yeah, but recently I read Ireleased the uh anthology album
(02:03):
talk to us about that.
Of some of the music I've eitherwritten or co-written with
other artists for the past Ican't remember how many years
1996.
Yeah, almost 29 years, exactly,yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Almost 30 years Fuzzen Pretty good for one
21-year-old guy.
I mean no joke.
You just walked in and I askedyou about the family.
You said you have fourgrandbabies already and I went
what?
Where did time go?
Crazy, it's crazy, crazy.
But talk to us about the latestanthology album and thank you
(02:37):
for putting it all together,because you do have several
albums.
I really do love your music.
Thank you for playing onlinelive during the pandemic.
Sorry, during lockdown time youkept us all entertained.
But, kavika, you have theKu'uma Na'o out and it's a
collection.
Where can we get that at?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Online.
I think you can stream it too,but go to my website and we can
make it available.
We've been just packing it andmailing it out to whoever orders
it.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Thank you so much.
Now, one of the things I loveabout you, cousin, other than
your great music, and it reallydoes have that nahe nahe
anointing which in Hawaiian,nahe nahe means very sweet to
the soul, sweet to the spirit.
But it's almost like and I knowyou're going to rebuke me as
(03:30):
soon as I say it, but it'salmost like brother Israel Cause
when we still hear brother ismusic right.
We just, everybody goes there.
I remember being on a certainradio station and the we only
had three Hawaiian songs weplayed.
It was Mainland SyndicatedRadio Station and one was Brada
Is, and he had already passedaway.
I think it was at that point 10years.
(03:50):
I said Brada was already right.
Can we play other Hawaiianmusic?
We have great Hawaiian talentand artists.
But the reason why I bring thatup is that Brada Israel, kamaka
Vivo, ole has such an anointingon his music, and you do too.
So my question is where doesthat music come from?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
It comes from the source, it comes from God.
We acknowledge that and when weget to the point.
I was kind of like a couple ofyears behind him when he was at
Macassans, like in the 77, 78.
They had already been running acouple of years but, Makah Sons
(04:29):
, they're rooted and grounded intheir church.
You know and I was still sortof on my wayward way and I got
born again in 1983.
What I realized, the traditionand the legacy of what our
kupuna, what our ohana taught us, was just being grounded,
(04:51):
Grounded in the word, groundedin aloha, grounded in just
serving, serving others andmusic was a way for us to sort
of bring all of that into focusand help us deliver that, that's
good and what I appreciate,what you just said, cousin, is
many of our Hawaiians,especially when we look at,
(05:12):
let's say, brada Is or MakahaSons, they were grounded in
church.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
We're not saying they're perfect, they weren't
necessarily perfect human beings, but they were solid in the
church.
In fact, lately let's talkabout that we were both at a gig
.
I was emceeing, you wereplaying music and you started to
introduce a song called Uwamau,and that's where, if those of
you watching listening, we getour state motto, which is Uwamau
ke ea o ka aina I ka pono thelife of this land is perpetuated
(05:40):
in righteousness.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Can you tell us the background of that song?
Oh, interesting, about then1996, I was having a phone
conversation with Brother Israel.
It's funny we knew him asIsrael or some would call him
Izzy, but then the whole Izthing came along and I'm like,
okay, we know him as.
Israel.
Anyway, he told me this storyabout their tutu man, moses
Keale I hear different versionsof the story.
He lived in Iha'au came toKaua'i.
(06:13):
Apparently he was in Kalalauhunting a goat, chasing a goat
up the mountain.
Somehow he, his dog and thegoat ended up going off a cliff
and on the way, in the air, heprayed like in the middle of it
he prayed Lord, if you save me,I will serve you.
(06:35):
He hit a hollow tree landed ina pond and apparently his dog
actually kind of like grabbedhim and pulled him to the.
That's kind of like how thestory goes and they got the goat
(06:57):
, I guess.
But then anyway, he started achurch after that, started to
serve the Lord on Niihau well,niihau, and apparently he was
kahua at a church.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
After that, started to serve the.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Lord On Niihau, Well, Niihau, and apparently he was
kahua at a church in Waimea too.
On Kaua'i.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Which is west side Kaua'i for those of you who
don't know and understand, andit's literally right across a
small channel.
You can see each other Niihau,west Kaua'i.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
You can swim across.
It be that brave, but anyway.
So that was an influential, Ithink, turning point, I think
God moment for people of NiihauKiali family and, you know,
ohanas in Kauai and theirtradition carries to today.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
That's amazing to hear, cousin, because and I was
sharing with you that night Iknow Kumuhula, lena ala jardine,
and she is right up there onkawaii and she has ohana from
niihau, which is largely achristian island, right, I once
met I think it was like eightwomen came to a women's
conference from the ihao wasover half the island came and I
was like, yeah, you, but uh, andthat's the niihau shell
earrings I'm wearing was fromthat lady.
I was signing her a book, right, my book Spirit Speak, and I
(08:09):
looked up and I didn't mean todo this, but I.
What I didn't mean was for herto give me her earrings.
But I looked up and they arevery nice, right, and I made the
mistake as one Polynesian toanother, I said, oh so, oi, your
earrings so lovely.
And I looked down to finishautographing the book for her.
And when I looked back up and Igave her my humble little book,
(08:29):
she had taken off theseearrings and these are worth a
good amount of money, these arelong ones.
And she said this for you.
And what moved me in thatmoment is our Polynesian people.
That's how, if you complimentsomeone, then you give it over.
So I've told that story a fewtimes and other women are like
oh nice, your earrings then Ialmost said that I got a similar
(08:55):
thing.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
You know, over the years I get sponsored
instruments, I get giveninstruments.
I mean my wife will tell youfor every one guitar I give away
I get given to.
Like I mean my wife will tellyou, for every one guitar I give
away I get given two, likewhat's it?
I'll come home, she goeswhere's those from now?
And it's like it's just PoorLori, that giving spirit.
I feel like when we can beliberal with what he gives us,
(09:18):
it's like he'll open up doors,he'll make things happen, you
know.
So I'm blessed in that regard.
Yes, the conversation withBrother Iz was like he's like I
don't know why I'm telling youthese Kaviks and he told me the
story and I'm like then, overthe years, that was probably 96.
And I think he passed in 97,like a year later.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
And then that was the inspiration for Uwamau you said
the song came out of that so.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
So tutu man went back , started the church, wrote the
song ua mau, you know powerfulyou know, it's like we are
gathered in the goodness,goodness of god, and uh, yeah,
it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Now you can sing the songs and tell the story and now
when we hear that music we canhear the entire I I've always
been a fan, even as a radio DJplaying music.
I love the backstory, I lovethe mana'o behind the message
and that's where it comes from.
Another song that I want tobring up right in the front of
this is O'oio, of the most oftenheard worship songs that I hear
(10:22):
when I go around and I see allof my friends, right the kohine,
they dance hula, the worshipwith kanani, mai ole right Some
of the people we mutually knowhere in Hawaii.
But it's gone around the worldand again it's got an anointing
and an appointing on it.
Cousin, where did O'oio comefrom and can you sample for us?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah, we did a songwriting workshop retreat,
white male, hawaii island withdavid and dale garrett and those
in it in the christian circle.
That been running 40, 50 years.
They know david and dalebecause they were the founders
of scripture and song back inthe day.
So I gotta say every church outof the 70s and 80s was probably
(11:05):
singing music out of theirChristian catalog, hallelujah,
and at some point he felt calledto the indigenous people.
So it was at Lauren Cunningham,when Lauren was literally after
25 years I think, they werehonoring him at an event and
David and Dale were going to goon stage to share their thing
(11:25):
and they felt the Lord speak tohim because he lives in Aotearoa
, new Zealand.
He said I'm going to move youinto a new direction and that
was David started traveling theworld and getting with
non-western indigenous people intheir raw sort of moments of
their history, their legacy,their sound, that he encouraged
(11:47):
them to bring forth theirlanguage, their instruments,
their dress and worship God withwhat he gave them in the first
place, and that's the platformwe were running on.
So we met a bunch of us forlike eight days.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
And then a bunch of music came out of that, and Oeo
is one of them.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And interesting.
You bring that up with Aotearoaand the Hawaii connection is
New Zealand.
Between New Zealand and Hawaii,we now know, according to
Daniel Kikawa, there was almost,if you could call it, a
railroad express, but it was thevaas right.
It was the canoes that would goback and forth and I bring this
up for you, listening orwatching, that our god is the
(12:30):
one true god of polynesia, ofhawaii, aotearoa, tonga right,
and that we worshipped him notas yesu but as e yo.
That was the name of the onetrue god.
Is that correct?
Correct, kahup?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah.
So the musician that touredwith Dave and Dale you know we
all would share, we'd worship,eat breakfast in the morning,
then break out into differentyou know cells, and so he come
back one day and he and Dalecome.
We have this song, they wroteit in.
Maori says Koko'i'o, you aresupreme.
In Maori says Koko'i'o, you aresupreme.
(13:04):
Matu'ate kore, one withoutparent.
You know it's interesting, allthe metaphor and kauna
Polynesian Jews to describe, andso they started singing and
sharing it with us, and TimariBoyd and Moses Crabb wrote the
Hawaiian version.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Wow, and can you play a sample for us, klazen?
As we're talking about it, it'ssurging through my brain, but I
want all of our listeners andviewers.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
So it's interesting, Kavaiola Living Water.
So anyway.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
O'oio I'm a kua lani O'o e I o ka I o la O'o e I o e
(14:13):
kumu o la Ka mea hale I la meapahu he kuuhaku Ka mauna kie kie
O'o e iu Ko koe I o mātua tekōrei Kō koe I o te mai ora Kō
(14:57):
koe I o te pūkenga Te kaihanga ongā mea katoa Te maunga te te
kō koe I o.
You are supreme, everlastingFather, king of kings, living
(15:42):
water, emmanuel, the source oflife, the one who has made all
things, my only master At highmountain.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
O Prince of Peace.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
O Iyo E makualani.
Oh, I know and I'm not going to.
Oh, I know, I know, oh, I knowand I'm not going to.
(16:43):
O'o e iu e kumu ola Ka mea hala, ila mea pahu E ku'u haku Ka
maunga kie kie.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
(17:06):
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Mahalo Nahe nahe Sweet to the soul, to the marrow
of the jones of your bones.
I know you could feel it,cousin.
I love that you point to thesource when I ask you where the
music comes from.
And can you just be real clearon who the source is?
And I often hear you, minister,when we're out and we do a lot
(17:48):
of gigs.
Thank you for that.
I feel like we are always inpassing, but you always take the
time to aloha to say hello, totalk story, but you also talk of
the source of aloha.
Can you share that with ourlisteners and viewers?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
the source, you know the e, uh, yahweh, genesis, one
from nothingness.
God spoke, so I always pondered, I thought, in the expanse of
just the universe, he decidesand starts to speak.
And when we speak, speak, weexude breath, right, so it says
(18:22):
in Genesis.
He spoke and started formingthe earth.
After a few days, it's like howbeautiful it was, and at some
point he had formed a garden.
You know separation of thewater, the ocean, the light, the
dark, and he needed someone tomalama the garden, this
(18:44):
beautiful thing that he created.
And so that whole idea of firstknowing, out of an act of love,
an act of aloha, he was going tocreate and form a being.
Of this creation, in a sort ofsequential moment, what he
(19:05):
created, the minerals and thecataclysmic culmination of all
of it to come together.
Then, from the level, from thedirt, he forms the first man,
adam Forms Adam, and Allahbreathes into Adam's nostrils
(19:29):
and sets into motion the intentof every human being on the
planet, planet, every humanbeing to receive or have an
opportunity to at least come tothe point of acknowledging what
the source is, why he spoke, whyhe created and why he put us on
(19:50):
the earth to manage, to takecare to be embodied and
empowered by that spirit.
So he breathes into Adam the ha,the divine breath.
Alo, proximity of ha, divinebreath sets into motion and, I
think, when we all can justsimply be in awe of the fact
(20:14):
that that moment, just thinkfrom the most mundane what's the
word?
Lifeless thing, the dirt, thelepo he forms and out of the
most lowly thing he creates thisbeing in his image.
And our mandate, I think, is toknow the source as we become
(20:44):
Christians, as we come intofaith, as we put into practice
the lifestyle.
It really is that, first of all, acknowledging he's the one
that breathed life into us, he'sthe one that can empower us,
inspire us, motivate us, heal us.
(21:04):
That's good.
So, at that point of beingtransformed, we know what it is
to seek him as a source is toseek Him as a source to receive,
to practice and to be aninstrument of His, to just live
(21:28):
and breathe and coming to everysituation with aloha first.
So, like you know, corinthians,you can speak with the tongue of
men and angels, but withoutlove.
So love is the greatest, alohais the greatest.
And I think guys like us, likeme, kelly Boy, all the musicians
, we feel like that's what ablessing to have a platform to
(21:48):
be able to sing and tomanipulate and put words into a
song that will convey somethingthat's of the aina, of the
people, of the culture, but morespecifically, for us to know
that it all goes like this rightback back up.
That way, I'm blessed to beable to receive, reciprocate and
(22:13):
put it out there.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yes, thank you for that, for aloha.
And aloha, once again, is toface or be in proximity.
As you said, kahu, as a nativeHawaiian, and ha is to exchange
breath.
And it's interesting to me thatduring, you know, during the
lockdown and when we were allseparate, you know we might talk
about our cell phones and saywe have connection, but we don't
(22:38):
and we did what we could right,we had screens, we did live
streams, but this is the alohato be in proximity with another
human and to connect heart toheart.
In fact, neuroscience showseven that our hearts project a
rhythm and you can feel thatfive feet out, that you know,
when I walk into a room and ifI'm not feeling quite well and
(23:00):
I'm kind of sad and I'm actuallykind of mad at certain things,
people usually can feel that youcan feel another person's honor
, their spirit, and you werejust saying that that's a
critical thing for having all ofthat connection.
I love that.
Thank you for the source ofaloha.
I've heard you share it manytimes and it really does impact
and even if I've heard it before, it's refreshing to recover the
(23:22):
basics Always.
The podcast is called AlohaAlive and part of my.
I'm not a singer.
I don't play music.
You know, I always joke and saythe only instrument I've ever
played is the radio and I gotfired from that.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
So never too late.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Maybe I even took a class from Kelly Boy.
But what I can do is I sure canflap my gums and I can talk and
I can share the word of God andso I love hearing that because
part of our cultures and I grewup part of my youth in Tonga
where I was born part of ourPolynesian culture is the olelo,
or to have mo olelo to sharethe word, to speak.
(23:59):
It's an oral history cultureright.
And when we reshare storiesvery similar to the Jewish
culture or the Jesus culture, itwas always sharing stories.
He was a prophet who sharedparables, stories all the time.
When we share these storiesabout aloha, it perpetuates the
aloha u'amau right.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Is that and that was my next question coming back to
you, cousin, as we're startingto bring this in for a landing
is what is one thing about thehawaiian culture?
Because you're a hawaiian, youget culture.
But what is one thing becausethey say aloha seems like the
aloha spirit is kind of fading.
I think it's changing would bea better word right as we have a
lot of new people moving in.
(24:40):
What's one part, part of ourAloha culture that you miss and
would like to breathe fresh lifeinto?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I think we're all distracted.
There's so much static in lifetoday and I think it's kind of
almost by design that there'smost things that can distract us
and all the static that can getus off point Again, the
practice, right, where to begin,where to start.
(25:09):
If someone could just identifylike, so, like the breath, the
divine breath.
The word Yahweh literally isYahweh.
So my wife and I were prayingyesterday and we do that, we do
watch this.
It's an action Cannot be spokenBecause you cannot breathe in
(25:32):
and say the word Yah, it'sliterally so.
Yah literally means breathe in,weh means breathe out.
Culturally, culturally,historically, that's literally
what it means.
So when you do, we're born, themoment we're born, the doctor,
(25:55):
the moment we start breathing,every human being on the planet
instinctively is almostconstantly proclaiming but the
key is at that point of when thelight goes on and you start to
identify for all of us who arebelievers, identify he is, he
(26:18):
was and always is, will neverchange, and every breath we take
is again to just sit back andgo.
It's like and that sets thetone, the spirit, the ano, the
moment when you can come intoevery situation you encounter
(26:44):
with that, with that approach.
I think that that sets the tone, that opens the door for the
lord to to show up, basically,and then we can function and
operate and it makes everythingwe do sacred.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
If we're constantly mindful and thinking that, when
I'm breathing, yeah, that he puthis imprint, almost like his
thumbprint, on every single oneof us, and when we come and we
encounter in the holiness and inthe breath of god, it makes
life tapu sacred, right?
Speaker 2 (27:15):
wow, cousin, that is quite a gift and it costs
nothing right it's presence andinstinctively, we don't have to
like oh prayer closet, oh, Igotta make, oh I gotta stop
doing it.
It's like every moment,wherever you at yes on the
highway brought a cut in frontof you.
I gotta do that more often, butanyway with two fingers, not
(27:39):
one but, but, but again,everywhere, everyone, every
moment, it's an opportunity forus to like if we want that yeah
it's accessible it's directlyaccessible, it's free and it's
already imprinted.
It's innate and we're toodistracted with all the static
around us.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
But that's a make time, take time and be present,
and that's what I think Imentioned earlier with you,
cousin kavika.
When we and when I encounteryou, and you know, usually on
the mc there's a lot of stressgoing on, on whatever stage it
is.
Artists are coming and going,I'm introducing people, but when
I encounter you, cousin, it'syou always practice the presence
(28:18):
, I am fully present.
100.
So mahalo to you forperpetuating the culture of
aloha Yahweh, the source.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yes, what's the last question for you?
And I don't know if you want todo one more song, but I always
ask a last word what is aloha toyou?
You've explained that, but canyou capture that maybe in an
experience, a memory, a smell ormaybe a taste, like for me I
shared with kelly boy.
Them, I said, and they were onhim and leo, I said for me was
(28:50):
guava fight, brah down by.
You know, you go south point.
Big island was queen's pond.
It's been run over by lava, butwe used guava fight and you get
the more rotten that guava youcould smack somebody really good
and they stink, stink for days.
What was?
Speaker 2 (29:10):
one of your favorite things.
Growing up, hawaii Went withKaneohe.
We used to literally eight, tenof us in one day go find all
the swimming holes.
There's one place that comesthrough Kaneohe Library.
We would start at Keaapuka,behind Burger King.
Kaneohe yeah, go through theriver all the way through, jump
(29:33):
in a pond, keep coming down,come through where the library
is.
This other place we used tocall Green Lake or Green Pond by
Bayview Golf Course, and thenthere's a historic waterfall
pond in Crown Terrace, kaneohe.
Wow, all of Kaneohe knows it,it's Makawili.
(29:55):
Really, my dad used to swimthere when he was a kid, not,
but there's these little pocketswhere, if you know, you know
where to go would do that.
We would go hunt for theswimming holes, go swim, same
thing pick guavas, pick mangoes,guava fight, mango fight.
But uh, those were the daysthose were the days.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
That's a song right there.
Those were the days because Iknow even sam Kapu III he goes
no, don was the cow doodle fight.
And you put rocks inside and Igo brother, just shut your mouth
.
Right now I don't want to hearthe rest of the story.
You can get diseased from that.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Not all of us had access to.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Kapu, Right, he was down down.
Well, thank you, KahukavikaKahiyapo, for bringing your
mana'o, your music and themessage of Iyo Yawe that was
seriously so deep.
And thank you for that memoryof going swimming Big Island.
We used to do the same thing,Starting from all the way from
Mountain right.
We go from Mauka to Makai andyou find all those little places
(30:56):
and you ride all the way down,Whether it's waterfalls or
little slides.
Bro, those were the days, Anylast one Na'o, you wanted to
share.
Brother on your heart, we'regood.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Aloha from the source every day.
As we reciprocate, receivingfrom him right back, then we can
just start to go horizontalAgain.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
this is Kahu Kavika Kahiapo, on Aloha Alive, and I'm
Auntie Dawn.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
Aloha, aloha.
Aloha mai kakou aloha .
Welcome to Aloha Live Podcast.
I'm Auntie Dawn O'Brien andtoday I'm with one of my most
favorite ever slack key guitarartists and Kahu, but I call him
cousin.
It's Kahu Kavika Kahiapo.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
How's it everybody so happy to be here, cousin?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Thank you for having us Thank you for making time.
He even had to bus the trafficcoming over the Pali and you
know how it goes when Hawaii.
Get traffic, get traffic.
So today I wanted to catch usall up.
You're a busy K kahu, you're amusician, you're a board member
on the north shore and in kokoHawaii with Jack Johnson.
You're also a family man.
(00:53):
What's new with one of Hawaii'smost favorite, most highly
awarded slack key guitar artists?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
what's new?
Not much.
I'm in the studio with BobbyMadero working on a Slacky album
.
My everyday, weekly, normalgigs in Waikiki.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
You are a busy man.
I was looking at your website.
I'm going to throw it right outthere in case anybody's tuning
in now that might have to leavelater, but it's kavikakahiaponet
, so I noticed that you've got alot going on, cousin,
especially on your website.
I love the calendars because Ican catch where you're playing
live music.
Thank you so, kavikakahiyaponet, but you lately have been doing
(01:35):
a lot in studio over 130 plusprojects with lots of different
artists.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But catch us up on what you're doing right now and
you said you're just playingwith bobby madero yeah, bobby
and I in the studio and, uh,trying to fix up an album that
we we started a couple years ago.
Um, that's the only thing I goton on on as far as pending,
yeah, but recently I read Ireleased the uh anthology album
(02:03):
talk to us about that.
Of some of the music I've eitherwritten or co-written with
other artists for the past Ican't remember how many years
1996.
Yeah, almost 29 years, exactly,yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Almost 30 years Fuzzen Pretty good for one
21-year-old guy.
I mean no joke.
You just walked in and I askedyou about the family.
You said you have fourgrandbabies already and I went
what?
Where did time go?
Crazy, it's crazy, crazy.
But talk to us about the latestanthology album and thank you
(02:37):
for putting it all together,because you do have several
albums.
I really do love your music.
Thank you for playing onlinelive during the pandemic.
Sorry, during lockdown time youkept us all entertained.
But, kavika, you have theKu'uma Na'o out and it's a
collection.
Where can we get that at?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Online.
I think you can stream it too,but go to my website and we can
make it available.
We've been just packing it andmailing it out to whoever orders
it.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Thank you so much.
Now, one of the things I loveabout you, cousin, other than
your great music, and it reallydoes have that nahe nahe
anointing which in Hawaiian,nahe nahe means very sweet to
the soul, sweet to the spirit.
But it's almost like and I knowyou're going to rebuke me as
(03:30):
soon as I say it, but it'salmost like brother Israel Cause
when we still hear brother ismusic right.
We just, everybody goes there.
I remember being on a certainradio station and the we only
had three Hawaiian songs weplayed.
It was Mainland SyndicatedRadio Station and one was Brada
Is, and he had already passedaway.
I think it was at that point 10years.
(03:50):
I said Brada was already right.
Can we play other Hawaiianmusic?
We have great Hawaiian talentand artists.
But the reason why I bring thatup is that Brada Israel, kamaka
Vivo, ole has such an anointingon his music, and you do too.
So my question is where doesthat music come from?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
It comes from the source, it comes from God.
We acknowledge that and when weget to the point.
I was kind of like a couple ofyears behind him when he was at
Macassans, like in the 77, 78.
They had already been running acouple of years but, Makah Sons
(04:29):
, they're rooted and grounded intheir church.
You know and I was still sortof on my wayward way and I got
born again in 1983.
What I realized, the traditionand the legacy of what our
kupuna, what our ohana taught us, was just being grounded,
(04:51):
Grounded in the word, groundedin aloha, grounded in just
serving, serving others andmusic was a way for us to sort
of bring all of that into focusand help us deliver that, that's
good and what I appreciate,what you just said, cousin, is
many of our Hawaiians,especially when we look at,
(05:12):
let's say, brada Is or MakahaSons, they were grounded in
church.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
We're not saying they're perfect, they weren't
necessarily perfect human beings, but they were solid in the
church.
In fact, lately let's talkabout that we were both at a gig
.
I was emceeing, you wereplaying music and you started to
introduce a song called Uwamau,and that's where, if those of
you watching listening, we getour state motto, which is Uwamau
ke ea o ka aina I ka pono thelife of this land is perpetuated
(05:40):
in righteousness.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Can you tell us the background of that song?
Oh, interesting, about then1996, I was having a phone
conversation with Brother Israel.
It's funny we knew him asIsrael or some would call him
Izzy, but then the whole Izthing came along and I'm like,
okay, we know him as.
Israel.
Anyway, he told me this storyabout their tutu man, moses
Keale I hear different versionsof the story.
He lived in Iha'au came toKaua'i.
(06:13):
Apparently he was in Kalalauhunting a goat, chasing a goat
up the mountain.
Somehow he, his dog and thegoat ended up going off a cliff
and on the way, in the air, heprayed like in the middle of it
he prayed Lord, if you save me,I will serve you.
(06:35):
He hit a hollow tree landed ina pond and apparently his dog
actually kind of like grabbedhim and pulled him to the.
That's kind of like how thestory goes and they got the goat
(06:57):
, I guess.
But then anyway, he started achurch after that, started to
serve the Lord on Niihau well,niihau, and apparently he was
kahua at a church.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
After that, started to serve the.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Lord On Niihau, Well, Niihau, and apparently he was
kahua at a church in Waimea too.
On Kaua'i.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Which is west side Kaua'i for those of you who
don't know and understand, andit's literally right across a
small channel.
You can see each other Niihau,west Kaua'i.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
You can swim across.
It be that brave, but anyway.
So that was an influential, Ithink, turning point, I think
God moment for people of NiihauKiali family and, you know,
ohanas in Kauai and theirtradition carries to today.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
That's amazing to hear, cousin, because and I was
sharing with you that night Iknow Kumuhula, lena ala jardine,
and she is right up there onkawaii and she has ohana from
niihau, which is largely achristian island, right, I once
met I think it was like eightwomen came to a women's
conference from the ihao wasover half the island came and I
was like, yeah, you, but uh, andthat's the niihau shell
earrings I'm wearing was fromthat lady.
I was signing her a book, right, my book Spirit Speak, and I
(08:09):
looked up and I didn't mean todo this, but I.
What I didn't mean was for herto give me her earrings.
But I looked up and they arevery nice, right, and I made the
mistake as one Polynesian toanother, I said, oh so, oi, your
earrings so lovely.
And I looked down to finishautographing the book for her.
And when I looked back up and Igave her my humble little book,
(08:29):
she had taken off theseearrings and these are worth a
good amount of money, these arelong ones.
And she said this for you.
And what moved me in thatmoment is our Polynesian people.
That's how, if you complimentsomeone, then you give it over.
So I've told that story a fewtimes and other women are like
oh nice, your earrings then Ialmost said that I got a similar
(08:55):
thing.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
You know, over the years I get sponsored
instruments, I get giveninstruments.
I mean my wife will tell youfor every one guitar I give away
I get given to.
Like I mean my wife will tellyou, for every one guitar I give
away I get given two, likewhat's it?
I'll come home, she goeswhere's those from now?
And it's like it's just PoorLori, that giving spirit.
I feel like when we can beliberal with what he gives us,
(09:18):
it's like he'll open up doors,he'll make things happen, you
know.
So I'm blessed in that regard.
Yes, the conversation withBrother Iz was like he's like I
don't know why I'm telling youthese Kaviks and he told me the
story and I'm like then, overthe years, that was probably 96.
And I think he passed in 97,like a year later.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
And then that was the inspiration for Uwamau you said
the song came out of that so.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
So tutu man went back , started the church, wrote the
song ua mau, you know powerfulyou know, it's like we are
gathered in the goodness,goodness of god, and uh, yeah,
it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Now you can sing the songs and tell the story and now
when we hear that music we canhear the entire I I've always
been a fan, even as a radio DJplaying music.
I love the backstory, I lovethe mana'o behind the message
and that's where it comes from.
Another song that I want tobring up right in the front of
this is O'oio, of the most oftenheard worship songs that I hear
(10:22):
when I go around and I see allof my friends, right the kohine,
they dance hula, the worshipwith kanani, mai ole right Some
of the people we mutually knowhere in Hawaii.
But it's gone around the worldand again it's got an anointing
and an appointing on it.
Cousin, where did O'oio comefrom and can you sample for us?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah, we did a songwriting workshop retreat,
white male, hawaii island withdavid and dale garrett and those
in it in the christian circle.
That been running 40, 50 years.
They know david and dalebecause they were the founders
of scripture and song back inthe day.
So I gotta say every church outof the 70s and 80s was probably
(11:05):
singing music out of theirChristian catalog, hallelujah,
and at some point he felt calledto the indigenous people.
So it was at Lauren Cunningham,when Lauren was literally after
25 years I think, they werehonoring him at an event and
David and Dale were going to goon stage to share their thing
(11:25):
and they felt the Lord speak tohim because he lives in Aotearoa
, new Zealand.
He said I'm going to move youinto a new direction and that
was David started traveling theworld and getting with
non-western indigenous people intheir raw sort of moments of
their history, their legacy,their sound, that he encouraged
(11:47):
them to bring forth theirlanguage, their instruments,
their dress and worship God withwhat he gave them in the first
place, and that's the platformwe were running on.
So we met a bunch of us forlike eight days.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
And then a bunch of music came out of that, and Oeo
is one of them.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
And interesting.
You bring that up with Aotearoaand the Hawaii connection is
New Zealand.
Between New Zealand and Hawaii,we now know, according to
Daniel Kikawa, there was almost,if you could call it, a
railroad express, but it was thevaas right.
It was the canoes that would goback and forth and I bring this
up for you, listening orwatching, that our god is the
(12:30):
one true god of polynesia, ofhawaii, aotearoa, tonga right,
and that we worshipped him notas yesu but as e yo.
That was the name of the onetrue god.
Is that correct?
Correct, kahup?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Yeah.
So the musician that touredwith Dave and Dale you know we
all would share, we'd worship,eat breakfast in the morning,
then break out into differentyou know cells, and so he come
back one day and he and Dalecome.
We have this song, they wroteit in.
Maori says Koko'i'o, you aresupreme.
In Maori says Koko'i'o, you aresupreme.
(13:04):
Matu'ate kore, one withoutparent.
You know it's interesting, allthe metaphor and kauna
Polynesian Jews to describe, andso they started singing and
sharing it with us, and TimariBoyd and Moses Crabb wrote the
Hawaiian version.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Wow, and can you play a sample for us, klazen?
As we're talking about it, it'ssurging through my brain, but I
want all of our listeners andviewers.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
So it's interesting, Kavaiola Living Water.
So anyway.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
O'oio I'm a kua lani O'o e I o ka I o la O'o e I o e
(14:13):
kumu o la Ka mea hale I la meapahu he kuuhaku Ka mauna kie kie
O'o e iu Ko koe I o mātua tekōrei Kō koe I o te mai ora Kō
(14:57):
koe I o te pūkenga Te kaihanga ongā mea katoa Te maunga te te
kō koe I o.
You are supreme, everlastingFather, king of kings, living
(15:42):
water, emmanuel, the source oflife, the one who has made all
things, my only master At highmountain.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
O Prince of Peace.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
O Iyo E makualani.
Oh, I know and I'm not going to.
Oh, I know, I know, oh, I knowand I'm not going to.
(16:43):
O'o e iu e kumu ola Ka mea hala, ila mea pahu E ku'u haku Ka
maunga kie kie.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
(17:06):
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh, oh, oh,oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Mahalo Nahe nahe Sweet to the soul, to the marrow
of the jones of your bones.
I know you could feel it,cousin.
I love that you point to thesource when I ask you where the
music comes from.
And can you just be real clearon who the source is?
And I often hear you, minister,when we're out and we do a lot
(17:48):
of gigs.
Thank you for that.
I feel like we are always inpassing, but you always take the
time to aloha to say hello, totalk story, but you also talk of
the source of aloha.
Can you share that with ourlisteners and viewers?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
the source, you know the e, uh, yahweh, genesis, one
from nothingness.
God spoke, so I always pondered, I thought, in the expanse of
just the universe, he decidesand starts to speak.
And when we speak, speak, weexude breath, right, so it says
(18:22):
in Genesis.
He spoke and started formingthe earth.
After a few days, it's like howbeautiful it was, and at some
point he had formed a garden.
You know separation of thewater, the ocean, the light, the
dark, and he needed someone tomalama the garden, this
(18:44):
beautiful thing that he created.
And so that whole idea of firstknowing, out of an act of love,
an act of aloha, he was going tocreate and form a being.
Of this creation, in a sort ofsequential moment, what he
(19:05):
created, the minerals and thecataclysmic culmination of all
of it to come together.
Then, from the level, from thedirt, he forms the first man,
adam Forms Adam, and Allahbreathes into Adam's nostrils
(19:29):
and sets into motion the intentof every human being on the
planet, planet, every humanbeing to receive or have an
opportunity to at least come tothe point of acknowledging what
the source is, why he spoke, whyhe created and why he put us on
(19:50):
the earth to manage, to takecare to be embodied and
empowered by that spirit.
So he breathes into Adam the ha,the divine breath.
Alo, proximity of ha, divinebreath sets into motion and, I
think, when we all can justsimply be in awe of the fact
(20:14):
that that moment, just thinkfrom the most mundane what's the
word?
Lifeless thing, the dirt, thelepo he forms and out of the
most lowly thing he creates thisbeing in his image.
And our mandate, I think, is toknow the source as we become
(20:44):
Christians, as we come intofaith, as we put into practice
the lifestyle.
It really is that, first of all, acknowledging he's the one
that breathed life into us, he'sthe one that can empower us,
inspire us, motivate us, heal us.
(21:04):
That's good.
So, at that point of beingtransformed, we know what it is
to seek him as a source is toseek Him as a source to receive,
to practice and to be aninstrument of His, to just live
(21:28):
and breathe and coming to everysituation with aloha first.
So, like you know, corinthians,you can speak with the tongue of
men and angels, but withoutlove.
So love is the greatest, alohais the greatest.
And I think guys like us, likeme, kelly Boy, all the musicians
, we feel like that's what ablessing to have a platform to
(21:48):
be able to sing and tomanipulate and put words into a
song that will convey somethingthat's of the aina, of the
people, of the culture, but morespecifically, for us to know
that it all goes like this rightback back up.
That way, I'm blessed to beable to receive, reciprocate and
(22:13):
put it out there.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yes, thank you for that, for aloha.
And aloha, once again, is toface or be in proximity.
As you said, kahu, as a nativeHawaiian, and ha is to exchange
breath.
And it's interesting to me thatduring, you know, during the
lockdown and when we were allseparate, you know we might talk
about our cell phones and saywe have connection, but we don't
(22:38):
and we did what we could right,we had screens, we did live
streams, but this is the alohato be in proximity with another
human and to connect heart toheart.
In fact, neuroscience showseven that our hearts project a
rhythm and you can feel thatfive feet out, that you know,
when I walk into a room and ifI'm not feeling quite well and
(23:00):
I'm kind of sad and I'm actuallykind of mad at certain things,
people usually can feel that youcan feel another person's honor
, their spirit, and you werejust saying that that's a
critical thing for having all ofthat connection.
I love that.
Thank you for the source ofaloha.
I've heard you share it manytimes and it really does impact
and even if I've heard it before, it's refreshing to recover the
(23:22):
basics Always.
The podcast is called AlohaAlive and part of my.
I'm not a singer.
I don't play music.
You know, I always joke and saythe only instrument I've ever
played is the radio and I gotfired from that.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
So never too late.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Maybe I even took a class from Kelly Boy.
But what I can do is I sure canflap my gums and I can talk and
I can share the word of God andso I love hearing that because
part of our cultures and I grewup part of my youth in Tonga
where I was born part of ourPolynesian culture is the olelo,
or to have mo olelo to sharethe word, to speak.
(23:59):
It's an oral history cultureright.
And when we reshare storiesvery similar to the Jewish
culture or the Jesus culture, itwas always sharing stories.
He was a prophet who sharedparables, stories all the time.
When we share these storiesabout aloha, it perpetuates the
aloha u'amau right.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Is that and that was my next question coming back to
you, cousin, as we're startingto bring this in for a landing
is what is one thing about thehawaiian culture?
Because you're a hawaiian, youget culture.
But what is one thing becausethey say aloha seems like the
aloha spirit is kind of fading.
I think it's changing would bea better word right as we have a
lot of new people moving in.
(24:40):
What's one part, part of ourAloha culture that you miss and
would like to breathe fresh lifeinto?
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I think we're all distracted.
There's so much static in lifetoday and I think it's kind of
almost by design that there'smost things that can distract us
and all the static that can getus off point Again, the
practice, right, where to begin,where to start.
(25:09):
If someone could just identifylike, so, like the breath, the
divine breath.
The word Yahweh literally isYahweh.
So my wife and I were prayingyesterday and we do that, we do
watch this.
It's an action Cannot be spokenBecause you cannot breathe in
(25:32):
and say the word Yah, it'sliterally so.
Yah literally means breathe in,weh means breathe out.
Culturally, culturally,historically, that's literally
what it means.
So when you do, we're born, themoment we're born, the doctor,
(25:55):
the moment we start breathing,every human being on the planet
instinctively is almostconstantly proclaiming but the
key is at that point of when thelight goes on and you start to
identify for all of us who arebelievers, identify he is, he
(26:18):
was and always is, will neverchange, and every breath we take
is again to just sit back andgo.
It's like and that sets thetone, the spirit, the ano, the
moment when you can come intoevery situation you encounter
(26:44):
with that, with that approach.
I think that that sets the tone, that opens the door for the
lord to to show up, basically,and then we can function and
operate and it makes everythingwe do sacred.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
If we're constantly mindful and thinking that, when
I'm breathing, yeah, that he puthis imprint, almost like his
thumbprint, on every single oneof us, and when we come and we
encounter in the holiness and inthe breath of god, it makes
life tapu sacred, right?
Speaker 2 (27:15):
wow, cousin, that is quite a gift and it costs
nothing right it's presence andinstinctively, we don't have to
like oh prayer closet, oh, Igotta make, oh I gotta stop
doing it.
It's like every moment,wherever you at yes on the
highway brought a cut in frontof you.
I gotta do that more often, butanyway with two fingers, not
(27:39):
one but, but, but again,everywhere, everyone, every
moment, it's an opportunity forus to like if we want that yeah
it's accessible it's directlyaccessible, it's free and it's
already imprinted.
It's innate and we're toodistracted with all the static
around us.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
But that's a make time, take time and be present,
and that's what I think Imentioned earlier with you,
cousin kavika.
When we and when I encounteryou, and you know, usually on
the mc there's a lot of stressgoing on, on whatever stage it
is.
Artists are coming and going,I'm introducing people, but when
I encounter you, cousin, it'syou always practice the presence
(28:18):
, I am fully present.
100.
So mahalo to you forperpetuating the culture of
aloha Yahweh, the source.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yes, what's the last question for you?
And I don't know if you want todo one more song, but I always
ask a last word what is aloha toyou?
You've explained that, but canyou capture that maybe in an
experience, a memory, a smell ormaybe a taste, like for me I
shared with kelly boy.
Them, I said, and they were onhim and leo, I said for me was
(28:50):
guava fight, brah down by.
You know, you go south point.
Big island was queen's pond.
It's been run over by lava, butwe used guava fight and you get
the more rotten that guava youcould smack somebody really good
and they stink, stink for days.
What was?
Speaker 2 (29:10):
one of your favorite things.
Growing up, hawaii Went withKaneohe.
We used to literally eight, tenof us in one day go find all
the swimming holes.
There's one place that comesthrough Kaneohe Library.
We would start at Keaapuka,behind Burger King.
Kaneohe yeah, go through theriver all the way through, jump
(29:33):
in a pond, keep coming down,come through where the library
is.
This other place we used tocall Green Lake or Green Pond by
Bayview Golf Course, and thenthere's a historic waterfall
pond in Crown Terrace, kaneohe.
Wow, all of Kaneohe knows it,it's Makawili.
(29:55):
Really, my dad used to swimthere when he was a kid, not,
but there's these little pocketswhere, if you know, you know
where to go would do that.
We would go hunt for theswimming holes, go swim, same
thing pick guavas, pick mangoes,guava fight, mango fight.
But uh, those were the daysthose were the days.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
That's a song right there.
Those were the days because Iknow even sam Kapu III he goes
no, don was the cow doodle fight.
And you put rocks inside and Igo brother, just shut your mouth
.
Right now I don't want to hearthe rest of the story.
You can get diseased from that.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Not all of us had access to.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Kapu, Right, he was down down.
Well, thank you, KahukavikaKahiyapo, for bringing your
mana'o, your music and themessage of Iyo Yawe that was
seriously so deep.
And thank you for that memoryof going swimming Big Island.
We used to do the same thing,Starting from all the way from
Mountain right.
We go from Mauka to Makai andyou find all those little places
(30:56):
and you ride all the way down,Whether it's waterfalls or
little slides.
Bro, those were the days, Anylast one Na'o, you wanted to
share.
Brother on your heart, we'regood.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Aloha from the source every day.
As we reciprocate, receivingfrom him right back, then we can
just start to go horizontalAgain.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
this is Kahu Kavika Kahiapo, on Aloha Alive, and I'm
Auntie Dawn.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
Aloha, aloha.
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