Kamuela Kahoano is streaming dreams

HONOLULU—It would be easy to characterize singer-songwriter Kamuela Kahoano as a musical chameleon, but it would also be inaccurate. His ability to assume and express a pastiche of genres with melody, harmony and texture are not a disguise. And he’s hungry for the opportunity. With his full length, independently released CD Stream Dreams and a packed performance schedule of steady Rumfire and Moana Surfrider and special engagement gigs, his are not attempts at misdirection.

Tucking into a slice of pizza in Downtown (and between gigs), Kahoano’s comportment smacks of talent and desire. Speaking of his new record, he says, “I wanted this thing to be the most crossover thing you can find.” His colloquial superlative notwithstanding, Stream Dreams visits a variety of musical landscapes, often blending milieu that make for unlikely but, ultimately, fulfilling combinations.

To make Stream Dreams, Kahoano immersed himself in the songwriting process. That’s hard to do when you are your own financier and producer. “I don’t know,” he says. “It just comes out.” 

Comfortable with the demands of time and energy such an endeavor makes, Kahoano is just embarking on a planned four-album journey.

Speaking breezily about his experiences performing in Colorado and at South By Southwest in Austin, he has been clearly inspired by the caliber of the performers, and of the audiences, he encountered during his travels. “I don’t know. Why not?,” he chuckles, recalling some of the idiosynchratic instrumental combinations he encountered on the streets of Austin.

Kahoano’s commitment to the craft, indeed, to the art, of penning original music comes to the fore as he describes the “modes” of songwriting that he has identified and continues to develop. These modes range from a go-with-it, see-what-happens approach to locking yourself in a room until it’s done mission.

He’s also aware of the need to collaborate with others similarly obsessed with the pursuit of writing and producing original material. Chris Athens, who has worked with Coldplay and P. Diddy, mastered the record. Kahoano brought in Johnny Helm for some vocals on the track “Life Goes On.”

“Actually,” Kahoano confides, “I wrote it for him to sing.”

There are songs on Stream Dreams that were crafted specifically for local and national markets. Kahoano is confident that “She’s Grumpy (it’s my fault),” a song that combines Do-Wop, Jawaiian, and So-Cal cheekiness, has what he calls “national legs.” The instrumental songs on the record, like “Loliana,” reflect a similar, internalized homage to multiple influences.

Kahoano is a performer that seems to approach songwriting from both sides of the song. He has the exacting scrutiny of an artist and technician who agonizes over each measure and note, as well as the simple gratitude of a listener who loves it from the first time they hear a song that rings true.

Stream Dreams
By Kamuela Kahoano
? 2010 Catapult