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A supergroup is created when superstar recording artists partner with peers to create a new constellation of musical talent.
Everyday Local — Mark Yamanaka, above at left, and Kellen Paik — is Hawaii’s newest one.
With almost three decades of experience in the business between them, the music industry veterans certainly have the chops. Paik is one-half of the multi- Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning duo Kupaoa; Yamanaka is a multi-Hoku Award-winning solo artist.
Now the new group is up for its own Hokus on Wednesday. Its self-titled debut album, “Everyday Local,” is a 2022 Hoku Award finalist for group of the year and island music album of the year.
Born and raised on Kauai, Paik, 41, graduated from Kapaa High School and studied Hawaiian at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In 2006, he met Lihau Hannahs through some friends on Oahu. When Paik was asked to play at a wedding, he asked her if she would play with him. She agreed. From there, Kupaoa was born. The couple married in 2010 — the same year the second Kupaoa album was released. To date, Kupaoa has won seven Hokus.
Yamanaka, 42, grew up in Hilo and graduated from Hilo High School. In 2011, he became the third person in the history of the Hoku Awards to win album of the year, male vocalist of the year and most promising artist for a debut album. He has 14 Hokus.
Paik and Yamanaka will find out if they are adding more to their cache when winners are announced Wednesday at the 45th Annual Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. The televised part of the program begins at 7 p.m. at harahawaii.com and on Hawaii News Now.
For more information about Everyday Local, visit everydaylocalmusic.com.
Congratulations to both of you on a debut album that is Hoku Award-worthy in all respects. Not to jinx it, but how and why did two artists with successful parallel careers become Everyday Local?
Paik: We have our fan base, and we have our styles of music that we play, and that our fans kind of expect from us. We wanted to do something different — no rules — that we could do kind of whatever we felt like we wanted to do.
Yamanaka: The funny part of it is that originally, somehow we wanted to remain anonymous. No names, just send it out to the radio stations.
Three of the songs on the album were written or translated by the late James Kaholokula Sr. Is he one of your favorite songwriters?
Paik: I was asked during this past COVID time by the Kaholokula family to digitize the family’s record collection. It was a project that took me a while because of the quality of the (original vinyl) records, but I pieced together parts of songs to make clean versions of them. We made a four-disc CD set of the four Kaholokula family albums for the family. Working on the music and listening to it, I really fell in love with the songs, and with the blessing of the family we got to record them.
One of the Kaholokula songs, “Lio Kiwi,” is actually the Irish Rovers’ 1968 hit, “The Unicorn,” with Hawaiian lyrics that are not actually translations — like changing “green alligators and long-necked geese” to “ugly lizards and long-necked water buffalo.” Did you find any explanation why he did that?
Paik: When Lihau was working on the liner notes she mentioned that. The liner notes come directly from the LP jacket, so the lyrics are what the lyrics are. So, no.
The Yamanaka family is a now two-generation family of recording artists with Jorden Kealoha Yamanaka and his group, Crossing Rain, also Hoku Award finalists this year. Kellen, I know your children are a little young to be making decisions, but do you think your children will become musicians?
Paik: I feel like they really like music. Like when we start playing music, they start dancing around, any kind of music that has a beat, they dance around. I don’t know if they’re going to be on the music side or off on the dancing side, but I know they like music, and they like to move.
What is next for Everyday Local, Kupaoa and Mark Yamanaka as a solo artist?
Yamanaka: The cool part about it is that we’re so close off the stage as well that it’s a lot of fun to do anything with Kellen and Lihau. It’s like we’re an extended family. So if Lihau is not able to make certain dates, we may have Everyday Local cover for her.
Paik: We’ve been doing joint things more often these days when we go out onstage together from the beginning and play the whole night and play each other’s songs. It’s two different names on the bill, but we play together anyway.
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