Hulu Lindsey

Ka’ea:                   KAPA Hawaiian FM 100.3, 99.1 online kaparadio.com. Another beautiful Aloha Friday with us Jaz and Ka’ea.

Jaz:                         Alright and on the phone with us this morning, we been, we been  so waiting to talk story with her of course she is, uh, the Maui, uh OHA Trustee, she is also this years reigning female vocalist of the year. Ladies and Gentlemen joining us on the KAPA Café is Hulu Lindsey. How you Aunty?

Hulu:                     I’m really fine! Good morning!

Ka’ea:                   Good morning!

Jaz:                         E kala mai if I don’t address you as trutee cause I know you as Aunty too, so.

Everyone:           (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   Only when you have to present.

Jaz:                         So, so how you? Was great to see you um, when you, when you guys was on the island, uh, uh last week.

Ka’ea:                   Last week.

Hulu:                     Yes, we had so much, (cough) kala mai, we had so much fun and we enjoyed really ah, talking with the Kona, ah Beneficiaries. Ka’ea was so happy to see you among them.

Ka’ea:                   Oh, same here, Aunty.

Hulu:                     Mahalo for coming.

Ka’ea:                   Yes, yes.

Hulu:                     Wasn’t that an experience for you to?

Ka’ea:                   You know it was, it was a very, it was a huge experience for me actually.

Jaz:                         That was my first time attending one of those.

Hulu:                     Ah, good good.

Jaz:                         Yeah, yeah.

Ka’ea:                   It was awesome. Talk about wanting to spread the word to everybody.

Hulu:                     Yes. You know it’s really important that our Beneficiaries do come to the meetings. So that if they have any voice it doesn’t matter whether it’s positive or negative we need to hear their thoughts and their feelings you know.

Ka’ea:                   Mm, hmm, yes, yes absolutely. I learned so much. I totally learned so much.

Jaz:                         Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hulu:                     Yep, yep.

Jaz:                         So Aunty? So, so tell us, you know you’re uh, uh, you’re you’re a very busy woman. From juggling being a Trustee, to a musician, to being uh, Mama Grandma everything.

Ka’ea:                   Right.

Jaz:                         How do you, how do you fit all of that in and still have time to win the Hoku award for Female Vocalist of the Year? How, how is that done?

Hulu:                     I fit it in very carefully.

Everyone:           (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   You know the last time we talked Aunty, you were talking about doing your meetings and then having to go in the studio, um. How? Since, since the Hoku awards, how is that been managing you know performing and um your busy ah, OHA schedule.

Hulu:                     I don’t accept all um performances ah, request. I do, ah, the special ones because I don’t have time.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        Mm hmm.

Hulu:                     Uh because, I feel that my OHA position has first priority over everything else now.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        Mmm.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah, yeah.

Hulu:                     But, I cannot give up music cause that is so good fun.

Jaz:                         Yeah.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah. (Laugh)

Hulu:                     And that’s a part of us, you know that’s who I am. So, when I can find the time I will kanikapila.

Ka’ea:                   I love it.

Jaz:                         Wow, wow.

Hulu:                     Yeah.

Ka’ea:                   So do you think um, there are, now that you’ve come up with your, your solo CD for this past year and you’ve made um some great accomplishments, um, you are going up, I know that you’re, your kuleana continues uh, for your hana. But, do you uh, plan on perhaps maybe, maybe coming out with another CD.

Hulu:                     No, I don’t plan to do that.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah.

Hulu:                     I will leave that to the next generation.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        (Laugh)

Hulu:                     I think my Napua can take care of that very uh..

Ka’ea:                   Yeah.

Hulu:                     …adequately.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know,  how, how’s that been? Um, You know supporting your daughters are very busy. Now on top of just being a musician and your kuleana with your job.  Supporting the both Kumu Hula.

Hulu:                     Oh, it’s ah, fun. They both have their own direction.

Ka’ea:                   Yes.

Hulu:                     And uh, it’s fun going from one halau to the next.

Ka’ea:                   Awesome.

Hulu:                     You know and I um, I always keep on top, what are you folks doing, whos traveling where? And if I can go I want to be there.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   I love it! I love it! Do you ever have ah, um, you know when you guys are having family gatherings, you know how you always say, do you always pick up the ukulele first? Or somebody else does?

Hulu:                     Do I always what babe?

Ka’ea:                   Pick up the ukulele? You know when you guys having family gatherings, you guys having dinner?

Hulu:                     Oh,yes, yes.

Ka’ea:                   Are you the one that picks up your ukulele first or is it somebody else?

Hulu:                     Well, you know it all depends on how close the ukulele is to who.

Everyone:           (Laugh)

Hulu:                     Sometimes it’ll be Napua.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah.

Hulu:                     And sometimes it’ll be me.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah, awesome.

Hulu:                     Uh, last night we just celebrated Kahulu’s birthday.

Ka’ea:                   Birthday! Yeah!

Jaz:                         Yeah, I saw that on Facebook.

Hulu:                     We didn’t have a big family gathering, quite a big family gathering, but we had so much fun talking story and eating so good food. I mean you know our family gathering’s is all about good food.

Jaz:                         Oh, yeah, yeah!

Ka’ea:                   Right, right, right, yeah.

Jaz:                         And Aunty you must be so proud. You know we always, we always come back to good parenting. Especially with our musicians and watching everybodies keiki grow up and finding their own paths and, and being successful. You must be very proud of the two girls.

Hulu:                     I am very happy with their accomplishments. I really am. I like to know, you know that I might have set a good example for them. So, that they love the music, like I love it.

Jaz:                         Mmm

Ka’ea:                  Mmm hmm, mm hmm.

Hulu:                     And um, they love their hula of course. And, but as a young girl I used to be a hula, a hula dancer.

Ka’ea:                   So, how was that back in the day?

Hulu:                     Oh, was great! You know I lived in Hilo then.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        Mm hmm.

Hulu:                     And we would dance at the Naniloa Hotel, KMC you know that, that was a weekly thing.

Jaz:                         Yeah, yeah.

Hulu:                     And I uh danced for Aunty Mary Keahilihau, who was the niece of Aunty Edith Kanakaole.

Jaz:                         Mmm.

Ka’ea:                   Oh, I see.

Hulu:                     Yes. Um. Mary was the hula teacher during my time. And ah, Pua and Nalani danced in the halau with me.

Ka’ea:                   Beautiful!

Hulu:                     Yeah, so, I mean you know we’re like sisters.

Jaz & Ka’ea:                        Yeah, yeah.

Hulu:                     And then um, Mary moved to the mainland. Then Aunty Edith took over.

Song:                     KAU’IONALANI

Jaz:                         Kau’ionalani, here on KAPA Hawaiian FM at 100.3 99.1 and on-line at kaparadio.com. One of the beautiful mele from our special guest on the KAPA Café today, Hulu Lindsey.

Ka’ea:                   Do you um, recall ah, when you were dancing back in the day how Hawaiian music and hula was received back then?

Hulu:                     Well, you know, we didn’t olelo. That was important, um.

Ka’ea:                   Mm, hmm.

Hulu:                     Important in that we missed out. My generation really missed out. Because it was important that we spoke good English.

Ka’ea:                   Yes!

Jaz:                         Mm, mm.

Hulu:                     Ah, so, but you know tourist were coming to Hawai’I then.

Ka’ea:                   Mm, hm.

Hulu:                     And we had many many military people.

Ka’ea:                   Mm, hm.

Hulu:                     So, uh, therefore we centered on like Naniloa, KMC you know. That’s where the  entertainment was um,  done. There was no Merrie Monarch.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        Mmmm.

Hulu:                     You know. So, uh, there was like no incentive to really push our uh, culture.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        Mm, hm.

Hulu:                     I’m so glad that in latter days, you know this came about. I can’t imagine what it would be like, um, without what we have today.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah, yeah.

Jaz:                         Mmm.

Hulu:                     This is a huge improvement upon the old days, as far as our culture is concerned.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah.

Hulu:                     Yeah. So, I’m really really happy um, those days um, dancing hula was fine but, it wasn’t a really important thing.

Ka’ea:                   Right. It was, it was looked at, it was looked at differently yeah?

Hulu:                     Yeah.

Ka’ea:                   Did you guys do more Hawaiian or you guys did more hapa haole?

Hulu:                     Uh, I would say we did more hapa haole.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah.

Jaz:                         Yeah.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah, that time frame yeah.

Hulu:                     The grass shacks and the Blue Hawai’I, yeah you know.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        Yeah, yeah.

Hulu:                     Ah, but we did our Hawaiian, the traditional stuff.

Ka’ea:                   Mmm hmm, Mmm hmm.

Hulu:                     Um, but there was no um, I cannot, like there was, there was no importance put on, uh, our hula.

Ka’ea:                   Mm hmm.

Hulu:                     Quality, you know except that I think that the, the best kumu on the island of Hawai’i was um,  Mary and Uncle George Naope.

Ka’ea:                  Mmm. Mmm hmm.

Hulu:                     You know.  Um, during those days. But, yeah lots have uh, evolved since.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah.

Hulu:                     Those days.  I am so, so pleased. I totally enjoy going to competitions. Do you know that’s the best entertainment in the World.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   I would…

Jaz:                         Yeah, yea

Hulu:                     Going to those competitions and listen to all this beautiful music.

Ka’ea:                   Mmm hmm.

Hulu:                     And you see how hard the Kumu work on all those hula. You know it’s just wonderful.  I sit there and I, I just marvel because I see how hard, um…

Ka’ea:                   Yeah.

Hulu:                     The Kumu work to prepare their um, students to go to competition.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah, you see the backstage part of it too.

Hulu:                     Oh, yeah.

Jaz:                         And, and it’s been so great nowadays, because uh, many of our  musicians and our kumu are able to make a full time living at it with you know with the ah…

Hulu:                     Yeah.

Jaz:                         Uh, now with it being so big in Japan.

Ka’ea:                   Around the world.

Jaz:                         Some of them are aside from doing music are becoming like talking volcanoes and stuff.

Everyone:           (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   You so rotten. You’re so rotten.

Jaz:                         That’s what we refer to Kuana and, and Napua, as the talking volcanoes.

Everyone:           (Laugh)

Jaz:                         So, so how’s that been Aunty, when you found out that, that Napua’s voice was going be used on the Disney Pixar movie.

Hulu:                     Oh, I thought it was cool. We’re anxiously waiting to see, see what they did with it.

Jaz:                         I know, yeah.

Everyone:           (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   I know. That, that…talk about putting something in your memory book, right.

Hulu:                     Uh huh!

Ka’ea:                   The kids are just going to love that. I mean I go back to going, “I remember the Lion King, I remember Aladdin.”  The kids nowdays goin’ “I, you remember Lava?”

Everyone:           (Laugh)

Hulu:                     Yep, yep!

Ka’ea:                   So, Aunty…

Hulu:                     But, you know that it’s gonna come out on uh, in November at the film festival on Oahu.

Ka’ea:                   Oh, really?

Hulu:                     It’s the same time as, you know the hula competition, competition in Waikoloa?

Ka’ea:                   Yeah, yeah Moku O’ Keawe.

Jaz:                         Yeah, yeah, yeah as Moku.

Hulu:                     Which Napua is a part of. So, she going have to fly back to Honolulu to do the film festival, then fly back to Waikoloa for the competition.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        (Laugh)

Jaz:                         I’m assuming you’re going to have to help with plenty stuff.

Ka’ea:                   (Laugh)

Hulu:                     No.  They don’t depend on me too much for um, to many things anymore. They  giving me a break. They know how busy I am.

Jaz:                         Yeah, yeah.

Ka’ea:                   Isn’t that awesome though?

Hulu:                     (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   So, I, I have, one thing that really stood out to me um, when the, the few Merrie Monarch’s and um, when Napua asked um, Larry Kimura, of course your ohana

Hulu:                     Yes.

Ka’ea:                   To, to redo or to add …

Jaz:                         Add verse.

Ka’ea:                   Add verses to

Jaz & Ka’ea:        To “E Pili Mai”

Hulu:                     Yes.

Ka’ea:                   Um, I was, you know, I was so astonished at the ability for a composer to do that, cause usually you know usually people just add because a composer is no longer with us or they’ll change it to their flavor.

Hulu:                     Uh huh.

Ka’ea:                   But, to see that opportunity where Napua was able to speak to the composer who happens to be your ohana.

Hulu:                     Yes.

Ka’ea:                   And come across with this amazing mele. I was wondering what, what did you think about that, that process and that all unveiling that evening.

Hulu:                     Well, you know, um, if anybody can do it, Larry can do it.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah, yeah.

Jaz:                         Mmm.

Hulu:                     And I remember when she really wanted to use that song. She contemplated because she said, “Ahh, but the song is too short.”

Ka’ea:                   Yeah.

Hulu:                     And then she came up this idea and she said, “Hmm, maybe Uncle Larry can write one more verse?”

Jaz & Ka’ea:        (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   I going just ask!

Hulu:                     Yeah. And she called him and he said, “Sure!”

Jaz & Ka’ea:        Wow!

Hulu:                     Just like that. But not anybody can do it.

Jaz:                         Yeah, yeah.

Hulu:                     Uncle Larry can. You know his, his ability to write uh, poetry is just…

Jaz:                         Of course.

Ka’ea:                   Over the top.

Hulu:                     Phenominal.

Ka’ea:                   Over the top. Over the top.

Hulu:                     Yep, yep.

Ka’ea:                   Wow.

Jaz:                         Aunty, aunty we’re very excited cause you’re also going to be here on the island tonight or this evening, as you’re going to be having um, tell everybody what you’re having uh, coming up this afternoon in Hilo.

Hulu:                     I’m having a friendraiser at Aunty Sally’s, so that I can meet my Hilo friends and ohana. And uh, should they have any questions about my service to OHA, I be, I’d be so happy to answer those questions.

Ka’ea:                   Mmm.

Hulu:                     Talk story you know. We’ll be having music.

Ka’ea:                   Oh nice!

Hulu:                     Napua’s coming over with me. And um, Kahulu will be there, so we’ll have some hula and  music.

Ka’ea:                   I like…

Jaz:                         I heard Keawe Trio’s gonna be playing too yeah?

Hulu:                     Yes! Keawe Trio too!

Jaz:                         Yeah.

Ka’ea:                   Woo, how you bossy, before they drag you along. Now you making come to your things eh?

Everyone:           (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   I love it!

Hulu:                     You know we all have to help each other.

Jaz:                         Roger!

Jaz & Ka’ea:        (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   I love it!

Jaz:                         Aunty, what time is it going on this afternoon?

Hulu:                     Uh, it starts at… ooh, 5:30.

Jaz:                         Okay.

Ka’ea:                   At, at Aunty Sally’s

Hulu:                     Aunty Sally’s, yeah, 5:30

Ka’ea:                   Now, can we just show up or do we have to get tickets or

Hulu:                     Well, we, we’re have a donation, but you can just show up.

Ka’ea:                   Okay.

Jaz:                         Awesome.

Ka’ea:                   Okay.

Hulu:                     If you no more money you can still come in.

Jaz:                         Okay.

Ka’ea:                   Okay, I love that kind.

Everyone:           (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   Awesome.

Jaz:                         We, we just came back from Lanai and we saw your posters everywhere.

Ka’ea:                   Yes!

Jaz:                         We saw your banners everywhere.

Hulu:                     Ooh!

Ka’ea:                   They were everywhere.

Hulu:                     (Laugh) Thank you. Thank you.

Ka’ea:                   Was so awesome.

Hulu:                     Yes. I was on Lanai last… just about three weeks ago.

Ka’ea:                   Mmm.

Hulu:                     We had a board of Trustees meeting there.

Ka’ea:                   That must’ve been amazing. Cause with the population of 3,000. Our first experience.

Hulu:                     Yes. But, we had quite a few people there at the meeting.

Ka’ea:                   That’s awesome.

Jaz:                         That’s awesome.

Hulu:                     Yeah.

Ka’ea:                   That’s awesome.

Hulu:                     You know we do have our Hawaiian Homestead there as well.

Ka’ea:                   Yeah, we drove through it. We had to go look.

Hulu:                     Yeah. Nice, yeah.

Ka’ea:                   Nice Aunty

Jaz:                         Beautiful! Big the house.

Ka’ea:                   Big!

Hulu:                     Yeah! Really nice.

Jaz & Ka’ea:        (Laugh)

Ka’ea:                   Aw Aunty, well we’ll tell everybody of course to join you this evening of course, 5:30 at Aunty Sally’s uh, Luau Hale.

Hulu:                     Yes.

Ka’ea:                   Um, great entertainment with Napua. Kahulu’s coming to join you, along with Keawe Trio.

Hulu:                     Yes.

Jaz:                         Awesome. Well thank you so much for talking story with us Aunty and we wish you all the best in the world for, for all your endeavors and of course good luck for this year’s ah,  elections as well.

Hulu:                     Thank you Jaz and Ka’ea. And thank you for this time that you’ve taken to interview me and uh, let me talk with our people in Hilo, Kona, the island of Hawai’I, which I call my own.

Ka’ea:                   Yes.

Hulu:                     Mahalo nui.

Jaz:                         Love you Aunty.

Hulu:                     Ok, aloha.