Malani Bilyeu was a 26-year-old Vietnam vet when he and three like-minded friends — Mackey Feary, D.J. Pratt and Kirk Thompson — formed Kalapana. The quartet became second only to Cecilio & Kapono as the biggest contemporary local music group of the 1970s.

Kalapana drifted apart by 1980, but the success of a reunion concert in 1982 was followed by a reboot — Bilyeu, Feary, Pratt and Gaylord Holomalia — in 1986. Kalapana, minus Feary, who died in 1999, has been performing and recording ever since.

Home for Bilyeu, 68, these days is Kauai: He is the foreman of William Mowry’s Hanalei Gardens & Farms and oversees a herd of about 150 bison.

JOHN BERGER: Hawaiians have been cattle ranching for 180 years, but bison ranching is a relatively new thing. Tell me about it.

MALANI BILYEU: They are grass-fed out in the pasture by themselves — not in a corral — so the meat is very lean and there’s a certain sweetness to it. I work five days a week at the ranch. I get totally exhausted but it’s a good feeling.

JB: Drugs were the downfall of Mackey Feary, and you’ve said that if you had stayed on Oahu you would have died too. Was it difficult to leave?

MB: No it wasn’t. It’s not like the bad things look for you; you look for the bad things. Basically I had to make my mind up about what I’m going to do to break away from it, so I looked into a church on Kauai and moved to Kauai. I’m still affiliated with U-Turn for Christ, a Christian rehabilitation program on Kauai, helping other people.

JB: In 1983, when you wrote and recorded “Molokai Sweet Home,” in honor of the late George Helm, some people assumed you were from Molokai. You’re not, but are you related to the Helm ohana?’

MB: No, I was just a huge fan. Before Kalapana, I got a gig out in Hawaii Kai and he was playing downstairs at a steakhouse. I went down to listen to him play and I couldn’t believe how talented he was. He had something that connected his voice to Hawaii — real deep stuff. It was amazing for me. I used to follow him around like a groupie.

JB: “Naturally,” one of the songs you wrote for Kalapana’s first album, has been one of the group’s biggest hits for more than 40 years. What were your feelings when you heard the final mix for the first time?

MB: When I presented it to the group, it was just with an acoustic guitar. The final product was like the USC orchestra. I couldn’t believe it, but it sounded good to me.

JB: Is there something you know now that you wish you’d known when you were 30?

MB: Eventually drugs will kill you. I’m fortunate that I had a chance to get hooked into U-Turn for Christ and clean myself up spiritually and outwardly.

“On the Scene” appears weekly in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Sunday Magazine. Reach John Berger at jberger@staradvertiser.com.