Singer-songwriter Chardonnay grew up listening to her grandmother playing the ukulele for relaxation and singing around the house. As she grew older, her grandmother introduced her to karaoke; she also sang in school. It was the start of a love affair with music that continued through St. Francis High School and then at Chaminade University, where she received her bachelor’s degree and then an MBA in 2015.
In 2018, already a veteran nightclub singer, Chardonnay wrote, recorded and self-produced her first single, “Stranger,” a seductive story of love at first sight. The autobiographical song chronicles the story of her meeting the woman who would become her wife. The recording caught the ear of Sua Tuala at Hawaii’s Finest, a local apparel and music company. Tuala introduced Chardonnay to a larger audience with another original song, “Hey,” in 2019. It was her first single for Hawaii’s Finest’s record label and was recorded as a duet with PeniDean Puaauli, formerly of Natural Vibrations. Several singles on Tuala’s label followed.
On July 21, the 30-year-old musician who uses only her first name celebrated with a capacity crowd the release of her first EP, “Sweet Island Music,” at the HB Social Club. The collection of five original songs was inspired by her experiences as an entertainer, a business person and a Native Hawaiian woman. For more, visit Chardonnaymusic.com.
What brought you into the recording side of the music business and now to your first EP?
I’ve always loved music, and it’s been a dream of mine. I started with performing live, I would just entertain and do gigs, but I wanted to take it a step further and make art and make my own music. So I started writing and then next step was recording. It was really scary, but the song “Stranger” ended up doing really well, which was amazing. From there I got some attention from Hawaii’s Finest, and it was through Hawaii’s Finest that I got connected with PeniDean. Now, after several singles, I felt like it was time to release a full project and take myself a little more seriously as an artist.
The title song, “Sweet Island Music,” has already done well as a single, but the song “Mrs. Two Face” will certainly get a lot of people talking. I’m not asking for names, but will your close friends know who the song is about?
It’s actually about multiple experiences that I’ve had, turned into a (single) character, but my friends know about the experiences.
What’s next on your to-do list?
I plan to follow up with some music videos and collaborate with some of the icons that I look up to — like Fiji — and keep making music, and I want to keep making moves for females in this industry. They’re out there, but we need to get them onstage more, and I’m going to try to do that. When I get hired to do one of the big shows, I actually prioritize female musicians. I try to bring an all-female band out to my bigger shows, but I don’t like to limit myself to just females because I do have a lot of respect for the men in this industry who are super down to support female artists. Everyone that I have onstage is down for that vision. So I’m super grateful.
What might surprise people who know you only as the recording artist they see onstage — in addition to the fact that you have an MBA?
I’m a pig farmer. I was raised on a hog farm that my grandfather started from as far back as I can remember, and the hog farm helped to put me through college, so I’m there. My wife, Chantelle, owns a food truck and catering company, Kapakahi Grindz, and I definitely help with the catering and food truck events too. And big shoutout to my support group, the Chardonnaytion. This wouldn’t be possible without all of the wonderful people I’m surrounded with.
