3 Days at the 2014 Pow Wow
Festival
by David Kupferberg
Living on Maui, my girlfriend &
I had been looking for an excuse to come to Oahu for a while. We had heard about the Pow Wow Festival
at Tedx Maui 2013, and when my old friend James from NY contacted me and told
me he was performing at Pow Wow, it sealed the deal. We boarded a small 10-seater plane, not realizing we were
about to have one of the most fun and exciting weekends of our lives.
The festival had already been going
on for almost a week (opened Feb. 7) when we got there on Thursday, February
13, 2014. As we made our way to
the Lana Lane studio to meet my friend, we passed dozens of finished and
unfinished murals, all painted on the sides of buildings and large vehicles,
more than I’d ever seen in one place.
The color and beauty of the murals transformed the neighborhood from a
drab, industrial, city-type area to a vibrant museum of creative
collaboration. We made our way to
the original Queen St. Fresh Café, admiring the murals along the way.
(Lana Lane Studios)
Fresh Café is one of the festival hubs, and they built a pop up art gallery in the back, displaying and selling the works of many of the featured artists.
We made sure to arrive in time for
the Music panel discussion of which James was a featured speaker. James a.k.a. JPatt of the disco DJ/Producing
duo The Knocks, and super Aussie genre killing producer Ta-ku headlined a panel
of artists and industry execs that addressed what you need to do to take your
music or art career to the next level.
Ta-ku spoke about his recent transition from a “bedroom producer” to a
full-time musician. JPatt shared
insights on what it’s like to be signed to a record label, and the ups and
downs based on freedom of creativity, and satisfaction in your work. They were talking about music careers,
but may of the lessons hit home with me; a photographer and artist who’s still
trying to make it big. Even though
I benefitted immensely from the panels encouraging and frank words, they were
there for the kids. Oh yeah I
forgot to mention the group of super-talented young musicians who were part of
the Pow Wow School of Music.
Pow Wow is an arts and music
festival that highlights mural painting by gathering artists from all over the
world to paint over 50 giant murals around Honolulu. It’s also a music school that invites talented musicians to
come and help teach some very dedicated local youth musicians, a.k.a. the Pow
Wow kids. Earlier in the festival
the kids were broken up into bands, and instructed by their mentors who helped
them produce two original songs that they performed at the closing block
party. JPatt was one of the
teachers, along with local DJ/Musician jack-of-all-trades Anton Glamb, and his
band.
(Fresh Cafe on Queen St.)
What do you do after an enriching
panel of music discussion? Have a
party at the new hotspot Fresh Café in Chinatown with JPatt, Ta-ku, & Anton
Glamb accompanied by live musicians.
JPatt ripped a phat disco set that my Maui ears sorely needed. By the time his set was over the dance
floor was full, and Ta-ku came out.
We had no idea what to expect, but what we got was one of the most
powerful live DJ performances we’d ever seen. We were totally blown away, and felt super lucky as Ta-ku
explained in the music panel; he only does 4 or 5 shows a year. We felt special for sure.
(James @ Fresh Cafe Chinatown)
(Ta-ku & James)
Friday was Valentine’s Day, and we
took it easy and ate well at some Honolulu hot spots. We made it over to the Queen St. Fresh Café to meet up with
James, and kick it before his set at Asylum. Emily & I had the privilege of getting real with Pow Wow Festival organizer Christa
Wittmier, and What the Festival organizer Tia Vanich. It was great to chill with two people who have their
festival game so locked in, and hear some interesting insights from
behind-the-scenes. But, it was
time to dance, and the dance floor was waiting. We cruised across the street to the after hours members-only
club Asylum where James wowed us again, this time with a punchy, vocal, deep
house set. The party crowd at
Asylum was into it.
(James @ Asylum)
It was Saturday, the big day of the
block party, the Pow Wow grand finale.
We were leaving early Sunday morning, so we made our way to the main
Festival area to take photos of all the murals. One of the coolest things about Pow Wow was that not all the
murals were painted at the same time.
Some were done by the time we arrived on Thursday; others hadn’t even
been started yet. In this way,
people can come to the Festival just about any time over the length of the
festival, and see live mural painting.
It made for an interactive final day, as several of the artists were
feverishly finishing their work to the live music, and bustling sounds of the
block party.
We arrived at the block party early
as the thirty or so food vendors were setting up. Everywhere you looked, artists were painting away as the
streets filled, and the music began.
Anton Glamb played a short DJ set that preceded a wonderful performance
by Paula Fuga. Sam, one of the Pow
Wow music kids, a truly amazing young percussionist, accompanied her as well.
(Chillin' with James at the Lana Lane Pow Wow Music Studio)
(A little karaoke before the main performances.)
(Anton DJ's for the block party crowd.)
(Paula Fuga & Sam)
Up next were the rest of the
sensational Pow Wow kids, Sam included, from the Pow Wow music school. James and the other mentors were beaming
with pride, as they saw their students perform the songs they helped them
perfect, and perfect they did. The
kids amazed everyone in the audience with their high energy level and raw
talent. Their music was well
crafted, sometimes funny, and often times deep, but most importantly very
entertaining.
(They are The Seasick Elephants…)
The sights, sounds, and smells of
the Pow Wow block party were invigorating. The energy level was as high as I’ve ever felt in Hawaii,
and if all that wasn’t good enough along came an intimate performance with my
favorite Hawaiian reggae band The Green.
They played for over an hour, highlighting many songs from their new
album. As I said to a new friend
during their show, “I will never get tired of seeing these guys play.”
I was on cloud nine, buzzing from a
stimulating long weekend of inspiration, music & art. I looked around as several Pow Wow
people swiftly, and expertly broke down the stage, and removed all the
instruments, all except the DJ booth, some speakers, and a pop up white
wall. JPatt was setting up, as
fifteen or so graffiti artists stormed the stage. James played some groovy disco music, as the artists mauled
the stage with their tags. At one
point one of the taggers was up on the shoulders of one of his graffiti
brethren, making his mark all the way at the top of the wall. Once we realized what was going on, it
was one of the coolest things we’d ever seen. We were smack in the middle of the artist paint jam! The
synchronization of sight and sound was truly awe inspiring, and all we could do
was step back, try not to inhale too many fumes, and dance our faces off. It was a monumentally fitting end to
one of the best festivals, and most interesting and coolest events I’ve ever
attended. We even capped off our
trip with another sweet deep house set from James at Bevy, a well-known
cocktail bar that serves elevated drinks with super fresh, primo ingredients.
(James & the artists in full effect at the artist paint Jam.)
(Em & Christa @ Bevy)
(James @ Bevy) (James Played a whole bunch at Pow Wow, it was awesome.)
It was a fulfilling Valentine’s Day
trip to say the least. There were
so many astounding things at Pow Wow Hawaii 2014, but most special for me was
being able to connect with my girlfriend Emily, and my old friend James. Emily & I talked the whole plane
ride about how wonderful it was, how we needed to come back next year, and how
great it would be to bring a group of Maui artists with us.
(Me, Em, Tia, & James)
