Chang Dynasty

SECOND ALBUM DELAYED BY IRAQ WAR

2007-03-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

Play music not war. Make loud banging noises on drums, strum guitars, sing your head off...better than shooting each other. Apparently shooting each other is a priority at the moment.

Kupa'aina's second album has been delayed a month because the market in drum cymbals is at low inventory. Apparently the same metal used to make cymbals are also being used to make weapons....my guess: its used for bullet casings.

We can't record until Jay's drum kit is up to par.

OUR GIRLAS IN JACK JOHNSONS' KOKUA FESTIVAL 2007

2007-03-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Kototama Ohana Girlas Featured at Kokua Festival

Kupa'aina's sister band from Kototama Productions will be playing along with our bruddah Ernie Cruz Jr. at Jack Johnson's Kokua festival this year.

Please support and check um out!!!

www.thegirlas.com
www.myspace.com/thegirlas
www.myspace.com/erniecruzjr

FREE STICKERS

2007-03-06T18:25:00.000-08:00

KUPA'AINA STICKERS FOR FREE

KUPA'AINA BUMPER STICKER IS FREE FOR LIMITED TIME. Lots of people been asking for it and places to get it our limited. If you want to support and sport our "Kupa'aina: Simple Island People" sticker (on your car, folder, books, bikes etc) we are giving them out free for a limited time, ask us at our gigs, pick one up at Na Mea Hawai'i (Ward Warehouse) or Diamond Head Cove (3045 Monsarrat) or if you are off island send us a self addressed stamped envelope requesting "the sticker" and we will drop you a free sticker in the mail ASAP. Send requests to: Kototama Productions, Kupa'aina Sticker Request, PO BOX 2273, Honolulu, Hawaii 96804. Make sure you include the self adressed and stamped envelope as we cannot afford to pay postage. Mahalo!

SIMPLE ISLAND PEOPLE DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE

2007-03-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

SIMPLE ISLAND PEOPLE acoustic version download now available

Aloha gang,

We have now made available the simple acoustic version of our song SIMPLE ISLAND PEOPLE available as a download on our website. To download go to our homepage WWW.KUPAAINA.COM and click on THE MUSIC link scroll down and you will find that song among a few others as free downloads. As soon as I can figure out how to put it on here I will do that too.

The song has been featured on national TV on NBC's "Hawaii", ESPN and PBS's Polynesian Power: Polynesians in the NFL and is getting play on Maui thanks to our friends at KPOA.

Originally the track was first aired on NBC's Hawaii then placed on the "Roots, Rock, Reggae" compilation benefitting Jack Johnson's Kokua Foundation. We still encourage you to purchase this version to benefit the foundation.

Please tell your friends and pass it along. We hope you enjoy it.

Aloha

Mr Chang

www.kupaaina.com

KUPA'AINA STUFF 7-20-06

2006-07-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

ALOHA 'OE....UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

Aloha Auntie Petra Tibayan. Wife of member Uncle Stanley Tibayan. She
passed away on the morning of July 16, 2006. Loving wife, mother,
grandmother and daughter. Auntie Petra will be missed she was a mother of
the band and rarely missed a moment to support us. Few were the moments
when she was not nearby our performances in her chair watching with her
sweet smile, encouragement and loving words.

GIGS:

Sunday July 30, 2006 instead of our usual practice we will be doing two kokua
concerts:

La Ho’iho’i Ea at Thomas Square across from the Blaisdell Center at 10:30
am. La Ho’iho’i Ea is a day recognizing Admiral Thomas of Britain and the
day he restored the Nation of Hawai’i. The park is across from Neil
Blaisdell Concert hall. Good stuff: John Osorio, Ernie Cruz Jr., Paula
Fuga, Liko Martin and Skippy Ioane.

Save Kaka’ako Park Ho’olaulea 3:00 pm if you want you can drive down and
follow us after the festivities at Thomas Square to Kaka’ako Park. The
community successfully defeated current attempts to develop the waterfront
area near Kewalo and is wanting thank all of its supporters.

The Girlas (www.thegirlas.com), Inner Session
(www.myspace.com/innersession) and the Nono Boys (thenonoboys.com) are
doing a special gig on July 22d at Anna Bananas (flyer is attached top
this e-mail) 2240 Beretania St starting at 9 pm. Please come and check out
a different kind of music scene.

IF YOU ARE IN LOS ANGELES PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK OUT MY LITTLE SISTERS CD
RELEASE PARTY (WWW.ELINAMUSIC.COM) AT THE PLUSH CAFÉ THURSDAY JULY 27,
2006, 207 NORTH HARBOR, FULLERTON CA. STARTS AT 7:30 PM WITH MY BROTHER IN
LAW TYRONE WELLS AND SPECIAL GUESTS.

I have my usual solo gig with WSUP (whoever shows up) on every third
Thursday. That would be the July 20, 2006 at Diamond Head Cove 3045
Monsarrat Ave. I usually get there at 8:30pm and start at 9 pm. Please
stop by and enjoy the food…..very good food…healthy too.

I also play every fourth Tuesday of the month at O’Tooles Irish Pub at 902
Nu’uanu Avenue on July 25, 2006. I usually go from 9pm to 10pm doing my
basic yelling and ukulele thrashing. Every now and then I have a special
guest and the occasional enthusiastic drunk or crackhead will come in and
join me for a tune.

STUDENT STORY

DJ Bam of San Francisco was recently visiting as a member of the Asian
American Journalist Association Conference committee. He introduced to too
student journalist who have become good friends. Belinda Yu (superb
violinist and Stanford journalism school student) and Mengly Taing
(intense philosopher and rising critical fashion guru) did a fly by the
cuffs story about our music. I think they did a good job especially given
they that they really could not get outside of Waikiki. The story
essentially is a journey into trying to figure out what the hell I am
talking about. Given the subject its amazing that they came up with
something.

http://www.aajalink.com/2006/news.php?news_id=85

CYCLES OF LIFE AND DEATH

The past two months have been an interesting one for me in the ceremony of
life. Music often accompanies our universal rights of passage in many
ways. As much as I sometimes get burnt out on it I know it is also a
privilege that I have been given.

I have played music at the birthing of two baby girls in the past month. I
got to play music once in the afternoon for the mother of Gabriella
Virardi with her “deer in head lights” father about an hour before she
entered the world. Two days later I played music for the mother of Ko’iahi
Punua through great intensity up until about 4 am. Both baby girls easily
fall asleep on my shoulder.

Music has also brought the ability to memorialize someone, comfort the
living and to reach out and connect to people I know or may never know.

One of our friends Teri Waimarie Maxwell a young woman whom we all met
while playing music on Moloka’i died in a car crash in June. She was an
exchange student from New Zealand and a member of the immersion program at
Moloka’i High School that we did a fundraiser for.
(www.molokaitimes.com/articles/667162350.asp). Last time we saw her she
was dancing to our music.

The murder trial of our friend Percy “Pomaika’i” Kipapa was concluded
finding the defendant guilty of second degree murder with life with the
possibility of parole. Sitting through the trial was intensely emotional.
Percy’s grandmother sat next to me weeping often. The courtroom was packed
with former sumotori and family members. I am honored to say that Percy
lives on with many through our song: Pomaika’i.

For some reason along with birth there was an abundance of funerals and
the loss of lives of very kind hearted and giving people. Ferd Borsch the
Baseball guru of the Honolulu Advertiser and my childhood friends father
passed away. He will be interred close to Alexander Cartwright (the father
of modern day baseball and advisor to the Hawaiian Kingdom). My Uncle
Solomon Cornelio also left unexpectedly. Uncle Sol though I have recently
only gotten to know him would show up mysteriously at some of our gigs and
wave at me onstage. He was a very quiet, tough and humble man…a great
surfer too.

Finally Uncle Eddie Ka’anana. I did not know Uncle Eddie well but knew he
had a great heart. He was always very kind to me. Uncle Eddie is most know
as a Kupuna who is a fountain of wisdom and teachings in the Hawaiian
language and culture that many young people have taken upon themselves to
learn.

For music with soul I would recommend this month that you pick up Johnny
Cash’s posthumous album “Cash V: A Hundred Highways.” I like track 4 now
“If You Could Read My Mind.” Art is in many ways the articulation of
strife and pain, love and happiness and the confused bundle we struggle to
put our finger on. You can hear the his soul pressed into each track in
the rasp, waxing and waning of his deep well like voice.

MY LOVE LIFE

Recently I have been trying out new pick up lines and the latest one I got
was taken from a Japanese stationary a short poem entitled “Happy Days of
Young Sheep.” When I meet a woman I start off with this:

“I’m a sheep, young handsome sheep. They say every sheep looks like me
very much. But look at them carefully. Their faces are a little bit
difference. So I’m lonesome sheep. Would you date me?”

You think that one will work?

FINALLY

If you haven’t checked the new and updated website please do. We will
continually be adding new material as it is created. Mark Lutwak our
keyboardist/accordian player has been updating it. Please let us know what
you think.

WWW.KUPAAINA.COM

Aloha

Mr Chang

New 2-28-06

2006-02-28T23:41:00.000-08:00

Latest goings on:

“Religion began when man discerned the sun’s compassion on the seeds which he sowed in the earth.
Art began when man glorified the sun with a hymn of gratitude.
Philosophy began when man ate the produce of the earth and suffered indigestion.”

Kahlil Gibran

KUPA’AINA GIGS

FRIDAY MARCH 3: (edited from PR) “Live from the Lawn —“Maoli” music offers innovation. Hawaii State Art Museum opens public arts retrospective: “Maoli” music - at the Hawai‘i State Art Museum (HiSAM) on First Friday, March 3 from 5-9 pm. The museum’s ongoing Live from the Lawn series will feature four innovative bands hailed as “the next wave of Hawaiian music”: Kupa‘aina, Paula Fuga and the One Love ‘Ohana Band, slack key magician Makana, and Kamau. Kupa’aina plays at 8 pm.

FRIDAY MARCH 24, 2006. Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai’I Nei Fund-raiser: March 24, 2006 at University of Hawai’i’s Andrew Amphitheater.

APRIL 29, 2006 on Maui 3rd District Little League Carnival. Evening gig at HAPA’s bar and grill also.

GIRLAS PREMIERE GIG AND CD ARRIVAL!

I spoke to the manufacturer today who told me the CDs have been pressed, were posted today and should be in my hands by Thursday. Those of you who pre-ordered CD’s we hope to be sending them to you, calling you and/or meeting up with you soon.

The Girlas also have a major gig the same night as we do across downtown closer to Mark’s Garage and Chinatown in the new rRed Elephant a live stage and studio experience:

March, 3 2006 at rRed Elephant
1144 Bethel Street, Honolulu, HI 96801
Cost: $15 presale, $17 at the door

The March 3rd performance are part of the monthly First Friday event where art galleries and restaurants in downtown Honolulu (especially Chinatown) open the doors for music, pupus and art showcasing and sales. It ios becoming a very popular event. Furthermore 11 of 24 down town galleries have opened their doors to Native Hawaiian Artists including Solomon Enos check it out at: www.maoliartsmonth.org

“ A singer cannot delight you with his singing unless he himself delights to sing”

Kahlil Gibran

It is possible to get burnt out doing something you love and have a passion for. Anything repetitive, I repeat can become to feel repetitive, repeatedly repeating itself over and over. I have cut my weekly solo gigs down to a monthly thing on every third Thursday. My next solo gig will be at Diamond Head Cove (3045 Monsarrat: www.diamondheacove.com ) on the 16th of March at 8:30 pm please come by if you can. I usually do an every third Tuesday of the month at 9 pm at O’Tooles Pub at the end of Nu’uanu Avenue in Honolulu. Where I usually play to a crowd of one.

The band actually seems to be at a good place right now, new ideas and energy. I hope we can start creating even more. There has even been talk of working toward a second album. Some of it would you believe has already been laid out…

DOCTOR TREY PODCAST SHOW #20

Kupa’aina good friend and avid t-shirt wearer, producer and musician extraordinaire features us on the 20th episode of his podcast show hosted by himself and Jen Wright of Kanalo. His show has been ranked in the top ten in the nation by Podcast Alley.com. He also featured The Girlas ion a past episode. There is an archive and you can load any show at anytime. The 20th show features an interview with Stan, Mark, Kalama and myself and an unplugged version of two of our songs check it out at:

http://www.doctortrey.com/blog/feed/

HONOLULU WEEKLY ARTICLE

Despite our small scale and inability to fund any major marketing campaigns we continue to get good press. Lesa Griffith formerly of the Honolulu Weekly (now of the Honolulu Advertiser) did a major front cover article in the weekly publication featuring ourselves and our friends Paula Fuga and Kamau. Though this was in the first week of the year I thought it was significant for those of you across the sea if you are interested.

Check it out at: http://honoluluweekly.com/cover/2006/01/the-new-face-of-hawaiian-music/

HAWAII MUSIC AWARDS

Kupa’aina’s song “Overload on Automation” is part of the soundtrack for Joyboy Productions short film HO’OKIPA which won the Hawaii Music Awards soundtrack of the year award. We are very proud to be the only Oahu band featured on this album. The song is the introduction song to the film itself…mahalo to the boys in Maui. Hope to see you on April 29th.

ERIN AND TYRONE WELLS

My brother-in-law and my little sister(who is touring with him when she can) continue to kick ass from the west coast to the east. He did a 20+ tour of the northwest and is about too book approximately 100+ gigs on the east coast….pause… holy-crappa-moly. Plus his songs continue to be featured on national televisions shows. Check out his website: tyronewells.com

Aloha

Mr Chang

A word from George Bush The President of the USA

“I want to thank my friend Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today…He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me.”

THE KUPA'AINA T-SHIRT (If can, can. If no can, no can)

2005-08-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

The famous Kupa’aina t-shirt is available now at two stores here in Hawaii: Na Mea Hawaii (aka “Native Books and Things”) and Diamond Head Cove Health Bar. We have yet to make a buck on this and are hoping at some point to give some back to our designer Mike Lum. There has been a recent t-shirt citing is Las Vegas and our manager recently got a call from Florida from someone who claimed they had to get the shirt right away. Our t-shirt has been worn by the likes of The Rock, Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Morgan Freeman, Cameron Diaz, Sean Astin, Tanoai Reed, Tyrone Wells, Barry Flanagan of Hapa, Ernie Cruz Jr, Guy Cruz, Micky Huihui and members of Ooklah the Moc, members of Natural Vibes, Johnny Helm, the Girlas, students of Halau Ku Mana New Century Public Charter School, a local chicken fighting outfit, members of the local mafia, goons and debt collectors with baseball bats, politicians, legislative and judiciary representatives, as well as nice people with a generally happy demeanor, idealists, community and environmental activists, leaders and misleaders alike, scholars, psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers and counselors, pundits, generally opinionated members of our society as well as the apathetic, prisoners and prison guards, the guy who directed X-men, Kelly HU, Lopaka Colon, Oshen, Chris Lee, Michael Franti, many babies, mommies, daddies, uncles, aunties, grand parents and great grand parents and one turtle. This is all true. We do take mail orders as well and that can be done by calling Jamie at (808)387-9854 or e-mailing her at sales@kupaaina.com.

Ode to a Familiar Stench

2005-08-29T18:03:00.000-07:00

Alas JUNK studio has finally become a junk pile. First its neighboring buildings burst into flames underneath the highway a few months ago and soon thereafter it was run roughshod by tractors and who knows whats. It is now a pile of rubble. It was where Kupa’aina and Kototama (among many other well known and unknown musical and metaphysical artists) initially got much of its start in the record industry. It was first at the old Kodak Building on Kapiolani which was then decimated it then moved to its home on Old Waialae road underneath the highway where it again has been destroyed. Its proprietor Babatunji Heath a former member of Kototama and Kupa’aina sit in drummer and his wife Maggie Chang have since moved to Hong Kong. Memories of Monday night Junk Jams will forever be a part of the musical memory of members and former members of Kototama. Junk Music will also be part of my career as an entertainment attorney for it was part of my first actual and successful trial based won on the general premise that junk is junk its has no objective monetary value it is only what you do with it and what it does to your heart that matters. In the rubble you can probably find signs of every type of drug and drug paraphernalia (natural and synthetic) in existence as well as every type of bodily fluid that could be secreted, smashed, stabbed, punched or pounded out of a human body including your soul. I would not be surprised if there was a body buried somewhere on the lot. Along with the drug paraphernalia and bodily fluids went the wonderful business of the door to door Hoover sales office, a combination football-basketball-ultimate-fighting ring, various kung fu and punching bag apparatus, punk, metal and reggae symbols, name stickers, badges, trashed music hardware, dead rats and various and sundry carcasses, typhoid and plague infested couches, some natural healing store?, and an international porn shop. The only remaining thing I have is the key which still sits under my car seat along with the roaches that have moved off that lot and into my car. Long live the legacy of Junk Music. As I drive past this place I think fondly of those good times for they will forever play a part in my own personal mythology, I roll down my window and spit in salutation.

The Bullshit Sutra

2005-07-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

I discovered the lost text of the Dhamapada:

There is an old story told of a young man on a journey for "what is true" who while in a drunken state fell walking through a field. His head hit a stone upon falling and he knocked out. Unbeknownst to this man when he fell a cow came over and took a shit in his pocket. When he awoke from his stupor without knowledge of the dung in his pocket, though heavy, he carried this stink burden and wandered around following every religion possible, making millions upon millions of money earning every material or physical pleasure, power or recognition a man could want all in search of "what is true." But it did not come and he had become old, his pocket heavy his back became bent and stiff. Still displeased and depressed he felt limited with the happiness he thought he had and felt bereft of what is true and burdened by a weight he could not fathom so he left the material world behind again to find "what is true." He came upon a religion that worshipped cows. Upon coming to the temple the leader said to him "go out to that field (pointing) and ask the sacred cow for the truth!" He walked for days and nights through the fields searching for the sacred cow. On the 99^th day of his journey he found the sacred cow and asked "dear sacred cow please show me ‘what is true’ in this life?"

The sacred cow in all its great wisdom and depth said…."ahem….in your youth slept in my field while you searched for what is true and ever since it has burdened you…old man check your pocket."

Moral: you cannot search for the truth if the search is founded on or weighed down by bullshit from the start……or spending your time wrapped up in bullshit is not going to offer you what you need…yet identifying the bullshit is one step towards the truth….this is the truth. Bullshit.

Alternative: just when you think you stepped in dogshit you may later come to find it was all bullshit.

The First Blog

2005-07-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog. I am creating to speak about and exorcise the BS in this life.

I also plan to integrate stuff regarding the band Kupa'aina (www.kupaaina.com) of which I am a member. Also news and thoughts about Hawaii's culture and arts scene when I have any and to promote the propoganda of my choice.

I will also promote my personal agenda as it develops and talk shit about various and sundry random topics that cross or resonate in my eyes, ears, pallate, touch or emotional/spiritual stream.

Thanks eh.

Mr Chang