Kapali Long

Our WorldArts Spotlight Artist of the Month is Kapali Long! This Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter hails from the island of Oahu and has just released a new live EP. Check out our exclusive Q&A with this multi-talented artist to learn more!

1) Tell us about how you got started in music?

Aloha Y’all! Been playing piano since I was three, to my first harmonica and Ukulele at five. I grew up in a musical family from my Papa, Mom, Aunts, Uncle Buddy being on A&M and Capitol, I moved to Hollywood from my home of Honolulu, HI the day after I turned 18. Being apart of a few bands along the way to touring & finding who I am as a crossover solo artist at 26. I started in L.A. being in Post-Hardcore and Rock bands opening for artists like Memphis May Fire, to becoming my own solo artist opening for artists like Howie Day, Ron Pope, which then lead me to booking tours all around the U.S. & jumping in my car a lot of the times by myself and driving all around. Eventually leading me to playing at festivals like Florida Music Festival, Lancaster Roots & Blues (Pa), SXSW (5 years in a row) which led to me opening for Americana Legend Robert Earl Keen down in Texas for his 4th of July. I’ve also had a few dances with major label writing sessions for producers and my own artistry, as well as being a part of two seasons of The Voice, and contacted for other incredible once in a lifetime opportunities, but here I am, a Guy with a Guitar tryin’ to change the world….one door always leads to another.

2) What inspiration(s) do you draw on when you create music?

Well, music is my therapy. I write the music that I want to hear or that I don’t hear on the radio. We listen to music to help ease our troubled hearts & soothe our worried souls! I have GAD which can lead to severe anxiety attacks & some depression, but writing the music (alongside working out and a healthy diet) helps me be free of my daily pains & I only hope that music can do that same for y’all!

3) What was the music scene like in your hometown of Honolulu when you were growing up?

The music scene in Honolulu, Hawaii is amazing & was AMAZING when I was growing up! Being born & raised in Honolulu, being native Hawaiian, not only was there Hawaiian Music but Punk, Rock, Blues, Jazz & always Reggae. What people kind of don’t realize or at least at the time of growing up, WE HAVE & HAD AN AWESOME PUNK SCENE & Rock Metal scene, which really instilled a sense of UNITY when it came to loving music in Honolulu. I’ll never forget the days of playing punk shows in a small coffee shop named COFFEE TALK & circle pits with friends when you’re 13. Everyone in the scene is so supportive & no matter if you leave or come home….Hawaii has always been there, supporting me & my endeavors.

4) If you could go on tour with any artist (past or present) who would it be?

It would probably be between Ryan Adams & John Mayer. John would just understand the different sides of music I am as well as Ryan. Both could have heavy blues jams, as well as sweet symphonic acoustic jams on the road. I also know that their fans would love where I’m trying to go with music as well!

5) What’s your ‘go-to’ karaoke song?

WONDERWALL.



6) WorldArts is all about giving tools and opportunities to artists. What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?

That you should NEVER GIVE UP! If YOU BELIEVE in yourself, others will too! As much as you believe the sky is blue is how much you need to believe that you can make your dreams com true! Only those that never give up, make IT Happen.

7) If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?

The way the industry & suits nowadays only look at numbers…..or if you’re sexy enough. It’s all about RAW QUALITY, and the days of fake are soon coming to an end. There have got to be better deals for real artists so that there can be a true transcendence & elevation for our generation’s music scene & the future of music.

8) What is the best way you’ve found to market yourself as an artist?

First you must know who you are as an artist. Selling what you believe in is the easiest way to making sales. What I’ve found the easiest is making every project or post FUN, memorable, short and concise. Knowing who you are and being true to that original product & YOUR truth will help the audience and listeners feel and believe you too!

9) Tell us about your latest singles, Ruined (live) and Routines (live) and the inspiration behind them?

Well, my most recent releases Ruined (live) and Routines (live) are off of my Kapali Long: Live At Sofar Sounds Los Angeles! EP. It was a magical night in front of an incredible audience, and it was the audience that got me to where I needed to be in my mind that night! (**see download information below**)

10) What next on the horizon for you?

I’m sooo excited to finally have plans to be on the road finalizing dates from the East Coast to the West Coast with plans to be in Austin, TX for SXSW, but I’ve got two new singles off of a BRAND NEW original EP that I’m in the studio working on now, along with very special two-part blues EP I’ll be releasing this year as well!

Come out and see Kapali and his band live at The Love Song Bar in Los Angeles on Tuesday, February 20th at 9PM. Tickets are only $5 so don’t miss your chance! - WorldArts, Feb2018

Performed in Sofar Los Angeles, Dallas / Fort Worth and Honolulu! - Sofar Sounds

Keepin’ On

Kapali Long grew up surrounded by music. His grandfather, Oliver Crowell, was a well-known musician within Hawaiian musical circles. (He met his grandmother, a hula dancer, at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York while he was touring). His grandmother’s brother, Buddy Fo, was an internationally known Hawaiian musician, and his mother played bass.

“I was born into Hawaiian music,” he said.

Long rebelled against it early on. At the age of 4, his grandpa showed him the word “ukulele” and demanded he read it immediately, and thumped him over the head for emphasis. For a couple years after, Long refused to have anything to do with music. Finally, he learned the ukulele, then piano, then drums, and finally, just to mess with his brother, an aspiring guitarist, he picked up the guitar.. He threw himself fully into music, and eventually learned banjo, harmonica, mandolin, and singing.

But his rebellion continued, in one sense. He played heavy metal music. The day after his 18th birthday, in September, 2009, he left Hawaii and came to Hollywood. He lived on his bass player’s floor and for a few years, lived the rock musician’s life.

But two things began happening that surprised him. He tired of the Hollywood scene, and he missed both Hawaii and its music. Kapali moved to the Beach Cities, partly because it felt closer to Hawaii.

“It’s closer than Hollywood,” he said. “I am so over Hollywood. I just love being near the beach. It’s near home. I like the vibe more.”

His music took a turn for the mellower. He started playing open mics with an acoustic guitar, and writing poppy soul songs, ranging from ruminations on love gone right and wrong, to a hook-heavy and oddly poetic tune called “Double Tall Non-Fat Latte,” inspired by his day job as a barista at the Hermosa Beach Starbucks by the windmill on Pacific Coast Highway. In March, he released his first album, a sweetly tuneful affair titled Mountains That Beckon. The album, and its title, represents a benchmark for the young songwriter — his name, in Hawaii, means “mountains that beckon,” and with the release this music, he has certainly began an ascent.

Kapali said he finds himself more and more gravitating to the music he grew up around.

“I strayed away from straight Hawaiian,” he said. “I still have these tattoos left over from being in metal bands." - Easy Reader News

A day after his 18th birthday, Kapali Long left his beautiful island home of Oahu and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the music business. The singer/songwriter, with an indie acoustic soul vibe, recently released his first album, "Mountains that Beckon," on iTunes.

While pursuing that career, he's worked at Starbucks in Hermosa Beach, so its probably appropriate that his first single is "Double Tall Nonfat Latte," which is one of the songs he will be performing at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach on Saturday, March 31.

"Mountains that Beckon," which is his Hawaiian name, is a very personal album, a "tale of the heart," he said.

"With this album, I feel drained every time after I listen to it," Long said. "I just lay down because I'm so tired. It's everything that's in my soul. It's weird. I couldn't even sleep the night before the album release because I was wondering what people were going to think. This is really who I am. I never really have shown anybody who I am. When people started emailing and calling me saying, 'That's really good.' 'Are you saying this or do you really mean it?' It's a foreign concept having so much of you out there in the world."

Long said people have told him he should write happier songs, but he said they reflect the emotional rollercoaster ride he's been on in recent years.

"I'm kind of a happy person and I think I am a happy person because I write sad songs because I get it out of me," Long said. "If I write happy songs I wonder if I would be sad. I realized I'm growing. I'm maturing. Living at your own at 20 does that I guess."

In songs like "Sorry, Pt. 1," he reflects on the "one that got away."

"It's probably the hardest song to sing because it's about a relationship that goes back three years," Long said. "She's the one that got away. People are like, 'How do you know, you're 17?' But you kind of know. People think I'm crazy. I'm a songwriter, I'm automatically crazy."

Long comes from a musical family. His mother plays bass, his grandfather is a singer and plays guitar and ukulele and his uncle is an award-winning musician. While there is a nod to traditional Hawaiian music on his new album, Long was first attracted to hard rock music and was in a metal band as a teen. When he moved to Los Angeles, he slept on his bandmate's floor for three months. Since he's gone solo, he changed the vibe of his music.

"I went straight to rock. I didn't want to play any acoustic music because I felt it wasn't me," Long said. "Now this album starts off with a ukulele."

Being homesick on occasion, Long also surrounded himself with the island's vibe, bringing in a Hawaiian producer when making "Mountains that Beckon."

"It's kind of nice to have a family vibe because I kind of think music should be family," Long said. "If you listen to my music, you're in the family ... I get kind of anxious sometimes, so feeling comfortable is always a plus." - The Beach Reporter

Singer/songwriter Kapali Long has been touring and recording music for several years as a solo artist until he recently formed a new band. Kapali Long & The Society, which came to fruition less than two months ago, has already recorded “The Different EP,” which will be released on Oct. 28.

Long went back home to Hawaii to celebrate his birthday on Sept. 27 and to launch the EP in Honolulu. Long will next appear locally Saturday, Oct. 4, at a fundraiser, “Make Noise for Natalie Motorcycle Ride,” at Suzy's in Hermosa Beach for a friend who recently was diagnosed with Lyme disease.

“The Different EP” was recorded at Studio 637 in Hermosa Beach. The four songs on the EP range from jazz alt rock to indie country, and every song has a “soulful, folk vibe.”

“I missed the days when, as an artist, you could listen to music and no song was really one genre, but every song was different,” Long said.

Long said he knew it was time to form a band again when he met bassist Chris Kosacki at the Guitar Center. He had also been jamming on occasion with Luke Denney, who joined the band to play percussion.

“I finally met a bass player that I vibe with perfectly; there's a synergy,” said Long.

Long began performing when he was 3 years old, later learning to play multiple instruments in his native Oahu. After he turned 18, he left to pursue his dream of a music career. He slept on his bandmate's floor for months when he arrived in Los Angeles, but that didn't stop him from pursuing his path. He worked at Starbucks in Hermosa Beach and recorded his first music, the 2012 album “Mountains that Beckon,” which reflected an emotional roller coaster he was on at the time, and “The Mahalo EP” in 2013. He released the second full-length album, "Kapali Long," as a solo artist earlier this year on SoundCloud to "lighten my emotional load for more songwriting."

While recording and touring with his new band, Long continues to teach bass guitar and ukelele. He currently has a dozen students ranging from 6 to 75 years old. He hopes one day to open his own music school.

“It's a blessing, I love being a teacher,” Long said. “It's a bummer that music is not in as many schools as it used to be. Music is a gift and it needs to be given by someone. That's why I keep on doing it.”

The first single from “The Different EP,” called “Between Then & Now,” is currently available on iTunes, Spotify, and other digital formats.

Kapali Long & The Society will also be performing at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach on Friday, Oct. 10, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., and The Power of the Ocean: O2H movie premiere of “H2Mexico,” which is a benefit for the Sarcoma Alliance, at the Hermosa Beach Community Theatre on Friday, Nov. 14.

For more information about the tour, visit kapalilong.com. - Beach Reporter, Michael Hixon