HB 038: Legendary Hawaiian Band Kapena – Talk Story with Kelly Boy DeLima

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 0:00

I would enter the surf contest and on the brakes China asked me Hey Kelly, where can you get your ukulele in? No microphone setup would you would you mind jamming in between the you know, the sessions and stuff and it was oh shoot so I'll go surf my heat. And I come back under the banyan tree and start playing McClellan start singing and then I soon realized that singing was a thing I would get a little bit more further in like

my ukulele and singing that I was that I was a surfer you know?

Bryan Murphy 0:31

Well, that's a clip from today's interview with Kelly boy De Lima from the band cabana and on today's episode, we talked about all about how this amazing band started on the beaches of Waikiki. He talks about what life was like growing up on the west side and how he met his wife from the east side as a great story to hear and also just about what life was like growing up on Oahu. He offers some great tips for people visiting the islands as well. He brings us up to speed on what life is currently like living on the islands during this covid pandemic, and how he and his family have adapted and continuing to bring Capella music to the masses. So you don't want to miss this one. Let's go ahead and let's jump right on here.

Hawaii's Best 1:21

Welcome to Hawaii's Best travel podcast where we help you prepare for your next trip to Hawaii. Discover the experiences businesses and stories that make Hawaii the Aloha state. And now your host, Brian Murphy.

Bryan Murphy 1:36

Hello and welcome to Episode 38 of Hawaii's Best, where we help prepare you for your next trip to Hawaii. And that still is on pause. Hawaii is closed right now. As I'm sure you're well aware, we're hopeful that sometime in September, Trans Pacific travel will open up again but we will have to wait and see just how this whole thing plays out. So continue to You know, be optimistic, stay hopeful. It's our joy to bring you a slice of Hawaii to you during the week. And we do that on our blog. And on this podcast. We also offer guides and tips to get the most out of your stay on the islands. And I just want to say thank you so much for tuning in. If you have been listening for a while, I just want to say thank you, I mean the world if you would go ahead and just take five seconds and leave a review in a reading if you are listening on Apple podcasts right now that would be super helpful and I would be so appreciated that well today like I mentioned, we are talking with Kelly boy dilema from the island of Oahu and he is the founder and leader of the group cup henna. His musical journey began in 1984 when he competed with his two Tongan brothers in brown bags. And we talked about what that is. It's such a cool story behind that and and how it cabana has been such an incredible presence on the islands, but also how their music has reached across the globe. Kelly boy has toured all over the world spreading that competitive music that fans first fell in love with. Kelly boy has been bringing that feel good Island music to the world for over 30 years. His genuine personality, captivating stage presence and timeless music has made him one of the hardest working musicians in the business. We impact all of that and more in today's interview. And before we dive in, we talked about how Capella is doing these live casts in lieu of not playing in Waikiki every night of the week. So on every Wednesday and Sunday at 5pm, Hawaii Standard Time, you can tune in on Facebook or YouTube, competitor music and you can catch their live stream right there. They're playing for about an hour and it's just great to take a break from the world. Whatever going on right now just listen to some amazing music. So go ahead and do that. So go ahead and just put that on your calendar. We'll also link it in the show notes. Hawaii's Best travel comm slash Episode 38. But enough Mike and let's go ahead and we're going to talk story with Kelly boy, Lima.

Kelly boy, I just want to say, thank you so much for coming on Hawaii's Best today. How are you doing?

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 4:30

I'm doing great, Brian. Thank you. And yes, things are beautiful today in Hawaii. We got a little bit of rain over here on the Kaneohe Bay side. But it's in the 80s and

Bryan Murphy 4:44

you know all is well. That's amazing. Have you always lived on the east side.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 4:49

I'm originally from y nine makaha. Those beautiful beaches up there in makaha. I grew up out there surfing and macaws surfing beach and there's a place that Recall on cabanas or Turtle Beach. We use the body surf there and so I grew up all along along that that coast on the west side. My dad's family are all from there. Had a great time growing up on the on the west side. It's beautiful. And you know, we used to camp down there from like, there's a beach called pray for sex. There's a pool and there's just all these different beautiful areas. There's Yokohama down all the way towards the end as you're going to kind of point and as kids we would go all the way around kind of point on my dad's old docks in truck would wind up on the opposite side on McCullough year and Holly Eva, on the North Shore. So it was it was a great time out there and in makaha, NY, NY growing up and then I met my wife and my 1920 years old and we got married and she's from Waimanalo. Now she's from the east side. Oh over the call. The Capulets and the montagues. Right, right. East meets West, you know, and she said on moving that far away from my family and Waimanalo and so we kind of compromise and I've been hearing carnelian now for about 30 years now.

Bryan Murphy 6:18

Okay. Yeah, you explain a little bit what life was like growing up on Hawaii boat, maybe a little bit more story about just kind of growing up running around, you

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 6:26

know, you know, the visitors and and, you know, those that come to the islands here in Hawaii, you know, Surfing is like, we're all culture thing. Music is a culture thing. It's stuff that have been passed down. You know, we've seen our parents and our grandparents, you know, I mean, either be fisherman or Waterman, or, you know, all sorts of, you know, things that we do here in Hawaii. A lot of kids you know, play sports, baseball, basketball and stuff, but there's all most of our local kids especially, you'll find it on our islands, more coffee. Maui, the Big Island, you know, the Big Island kids, they grew up picking OPI, which is a little, you know, shells of love, that grow on the sides of our rocks and really a delicacy. I mean, you gotta, you gotta be very experienced, very watchful when you're doing that kind of thing. But, you know, those kinds of things. So I grew up just like that, you know, going to around monopoly year like I was seeing, and in my dad's Datsun truck from Wayne, and we would go to Mongolia and go right into the point of kind of point where there's a big lighthouse out there, and we would pick Varna Varna is like this car chain. It's a sea urchin with, you know, the pricklies. And in the vineis, Ah, that's, it's like a delicacy, too, so that as kids, we go fishing, we would camp down there at no point and locally on the monopoly side of a Dillingham field. It's actually where the gliders take off, or they're on dealing now. Right. I remember as a kid growing up out there with my grandpa and grandma and mom and dad would leave us for the whole three months, that's when all schools would get off during summertime. And every school would be off for three months. There was no you know, year round school or you go back to school, this, you know, after a couple of nights was all but you get off at the same time. And I remember my father in law, and my grandfather was pure Portuguese. My grandmother was pure Hawaiian. So I would get two sides of the food, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah, the food, them shipping it up down at the beach and, and mum and dad would actually come to the beach and then they would leave all the kids what are you know, all the cousins and they would go to work and then after work, they come back to the beach and we would camp for three months. You know, so we would be fishing would be crabbing. And I remember my dad them coming, and they would go night diving quite a bit and I remembered him going out one Time and night diving and my dad bringing back this big. I mean, this big white deal. I mean that that was the, you know, it was about as big as like my league I you know, huge deal and I was like what the heck are we gonna do with this? You know, and, and my grandfather cooked it in his vinegar style. His Portuguese were called in English. Okay. And you know, I mean in Hawaii we get all these different cultures and flavors and yeah there's it's just you know yeah it's just one big melting pot you know, Brian right you know, yeah. And so my grandfather could Addis was the best I still get these I was a kid you know, and I still tasted in my mouth but that's the kind of stuff that we do you know, start at back. Yeah, yeah, it takes me back surfing and diving and watching my father then go diving and just growing up, you know, that life and it's great times in Hawaii and You know, you know local people who love to share their culture they love to. I know we have plenty family that come from the mainland and stuff and they're just so they just want to soak in everything you know? Yeah, yeah. Is that in the so it's a it's a good life here.

Bryan Murphy 10:15

Yeah. Now what about music? Was that model growing up as well? Like, where did that come from?

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 10:20

Well, you know, the whole music thing started in Intermediate School, okay. And it kind of was linked to my surfing and you know, I, um, I thought I was going to be a pro surfer. When I was growing up, I was a skinny little kid that was, you know, after I left wine I, I moved to the kind of key area and it was an intermediate high school time and I grew up on Waikiki Beach I became a Waikiki Beach while I would run for all uncle's if you needed coffee or needed a drink. I Was Your Man, you know. Anyway, I you know, I gave surf lessons and took people out on a canoe outrigger, you know, in Waikiki Beach and I live that life and that's pretty much how I learned you know, I had a beach boy Friends kids that were all growing up with me James Willis was a dear friend from the Big Island and another kid that I grew up with Kunio kodaira who was a grandson of our legendary Gabby, but he knew he from the Plainview family. He was one that really inspired me and his abilities on that ukulele but it was during that time running around on the beach, I would take my ukulele or give them to one of the Beach Boys on Waikiki Beach like I'm putting in my in my colony young he had a group called intangibles here. It did four part the four part Hawaiian harmonies and the beautiful whole that old surfers style you know, and I was just you know, solid people might ukulele and I'd be watching the cord cool. So anyway, on China, we Mora, who organized these big China's surfboard meets longboard meets. We put on the surf contest down in Waikiki. I would enter the surf contest. And on the brakes China asked me in California Can you get McClellan going microphones set up? would you would you mind jamming in between the you know, the sessions and stuff and it was Oh shoot, so go surf my heat. And I come back under the banyan tree and start playing McClellan start singing and then I soon realized that singing was a

Bryan Murphy 12:17

thing I would get

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 12:18

a little bit more further in life

than I was then I was a surfer, you know?

So I like what year was was this around? Oh, that was in the 80s 80s Yeah, yeah, definitely early 80s.

Bryan Murphy 12:33

So things were really starting to kind of build up

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 12:36

in 84. So yeah, that was that was on the intermediate and the guide in that in the 80s definitely.

Bryan Murphy 12:43

And it was a it was 85 you started cabana?

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 12:47

I'm at 85 I started the cabana then I would go on for the next 20 years with

Bryan Murphy 12:53

Oh, okay. Yeah, maybe unpack that a little bit. How'd that start?

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 12:56

So in 84, I entered the brown bags to stardom which was equivalent to like American Idol or the voice, the Hawaiian version of American Idol and it was high schools that competed against each other and the finalists will compete at the Waikiki shell. Okay. I tell you what, Brian, this thing was loaded. It was. We never had the internet. We didn't have any money. We couldn't download somebody's song or, you know, you go to Tower Records, and you buy your

Bryan Murphy 13:27

I'm sorry, cuz I said, Yeah.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 13:30

But I'm not as old as a truck. So you get your question. And man, I tell you, it was just phenomenal. It was a phenomenal turnout, that Waikiki show. I mean, you'd have 10,000 people in the Waikiki shell, and another 4000 outside and just listening and hanging out and tailgating and potluck eating and doing all of that stuff. And it was huge. And I entered with a couple of friends of mine from school in 84. And we were on a against that year, the guys that one was an LLP mahana Jolla, three girls. They did their original and they just blew everybody else apart. And it was it was awesome. But that was my first time entering the brown bags. And then the next year I entered with my group with the two Tongan brothers, Kiva, Kiva and T Okay, now was in 85, but the elimination process, which was before we got to the shell, before you just went for your school, and you go, you go straight, you add women at your school, and then you go straight to the shell, but the next year, we won for the school. And then the top three from our school would compete another high school top three, and they called it Hawaii high. And we didn't make it out of that round to go to the Waikiki show, but we went other places after that in our career. A lot of you know stuff, you know, the groundwork and, and then we went on and traveled and won us, you know, countless Na Hoku hanohano, which is equivalent To the Hawaiian Grammys, for those of you guys that don't know, and I got a couple in the back, they're all in my see that the point of the logo in the back there, you know, just the contemporary Group of the Year Album of the Year and on different, you know, years and stuff. And, you know, it was just, it's just been a wonderful journey. You know, the music has been a wonderful, of course, then when for about 20 years, so for the past, I would say 10 to 15 years now, I've been performing with my children, which has been another, you know, like, another season and another chapter in my life, you know, which has been, I think, the biggest blessing for me, I've been, you know, like I was telling you earlier, you guys about culture here in Hawaii. Culture is really important. You know, it's stuff that you know, the language is what is passed on. Our language is not something that we just, you know, figure it out. Let's you know, I mean, it's a it's a cultural thing, just like the music So, my dad taught me I'm teaching My kids and now my grandkids are performing to with us, you know, it's just the circle of life, you know, and, and to Hawaiians, you know, is very important. It's a very, it's our culture, like, sort of music, surfing, everything to do that is, you know, is to do it ohana and I guess the ohana is you know, the family unit is the biggest, you know, on here in the islands, as you well know. So yeah, the kids are carrying on the carrying on the legacy. And you know what a beautiful thing is I get to sit back and still breathe in and on. I'm alive and I'm enjoying every moment of this. That's incredible. You hit it on the head as you're talking the word this legacy just kept popping into my to my head and it just must be super cool seeing you know, your family carrying this on and seeing some of the fruits right you know, out of these, you know how many years you know yeah, that's that's incredible, is it's one thing to pick up the ukulele any instrument and like, Hey, I think I have this talent. I've been getting And I should, I should, you know, refine it and and press into it. But then on the other side, there's this whole songwriting journey. And maybe talk a little bit about that. When did you discover or what was the songwriting process like for you? or What is it like for you currently? Well, I'll talk about a song that I wrote. It's called collina. Cool. I wrote this for my daughter. I kind of shot myself in the foot writing this one because now the other two kids are like, Wow,

Bryan Murphy 17:28

she thinks that we know his favorite.

Unknown Speaker 17:31

Favorite.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 17:34

It's just you know, what this, you know, a lot of people think that you just sit down at a table and you just start writing and normally that's what it is, you know, it's about experiences and it's about, you know, things that you've been through through life and and, you know, basically music is like, I mean, I'm sure I can answer for everybody. It's like the soundtrack of our life right. Now. I mean, you can remember when shoot I remember when rock the boat don't rock the boat. That was in the 70s. I was in blind. I mean, you know that. That's the kind of songs that come up and it's like, boom, you just, you're right back to exactly is like,

I remember

where I was walking and where I was in. Anyway, so it was like that. But in this song in particular, you know, well, that's the process of songwriting, I presume, but in this particular, I dreamt, I was dreaming and I drove the melody and I woke up from a sleep and I came to the table over here that I'm sitting on same living wrong, but I've been here for Atlanta was three months old when we moved into this house, she's 28 Now she was nine months old when I wrote the song collina cool. So it was right here came to this table. And I started writing the lyrics and it just came the melody everything just coming funny faces as you try it, you know, and, and, and that was like a very unique process. I guess I'm the songwriting for me with that one. And that team became, you know, I mean, honest to God, Brian. Yeah, we just did a BB party. You know, in Hawaii. We celebrate baby parties. Oh, yeah. Baby loo owls

Bryan Murphy 19:14

are very, very the thing.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 19:17

Yeah, it's a thing. You know, it's a huge thing. Everybody has a baby lol. And it's because of, you know, another cultural thing. If the kids in old thought you would make it for a year was a celebration, you know, because anyway, I won't get you know.

Unknown Speaker 19:30

Sure. Yeah, you fill in the blank. Yeah.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 19:32

Anyway, so the BB laws are very important to local people. So I want to say maybe a year or two ago, I wrote this song 20 years ago, guys, you know, I mean, so they hired us to come and play for their baby luau. And the baby's name was kuleana cool, you know, I mean, and there's so many colonists named after you know, the song after all of these years. And I'm like, what a timeless thing. Yeah, songwriting is, you know, it's like, you know, I mean I couldn't I wrote that song 28 years ago, and people are still naming their kids Kalana. And they want to, you know, I mean, they want to, you know, hire us so that they can play for their brand new babies, you know, birthday party. collina, you know, and yeah, it just blows me away. How much effect music has on our lives and everybody's life in general?

Bryan Murphy 20:24

Yeah, it definitely speaks to the soul in ways that words can't sometimes. Yeah, I totally agree with that.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 20:30

Yeah. And, you know, I tell the kids that we have a responsibility, you know, when we're up there performing, that's why it always comes from from a good place, you know, when we perform, because we have a responsibility because, you know, I mean, we are the soundtrack for a lot of people's lives in you know, I mean, I mean, I get it all the time, but this one kid told me bruh chili boy, I remember he he sent me a message on Facebook. He said, I remember when the first Capella cassette Kimo, me and my friend, we heard about this group on KCC in radio and we caught the bus from Holly Eva all the way to all in one a shopping center just so that we could get the penta cassette tape and bro we had on them and we carried it all the way back on the bus back and pop it in. And, you know, countless stories and I'm like, brah Thank you. I just I said, Brian, I'm forever indebted. You know, thank you. I, you know, and you don't realize how much the music touches people, you know, like I tell the kids all the time we you know, we have a responsibility to, to keep it up, keep going and keep singing from the heart, you know, totally.

Bryan Murphy 21:44

Now Playing with the kids maybe going back even a little further. What was that transition like, you know, doing the family band.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 21:51

It was like a change of duty is like like, you know, things kind of fell into place. There was no animosity, we never ever broke up with you. Wouldn't my original group it's just you know, people moved on, you know? Yeah, you know, life goes on, you know, even with my kids, they're all grown up, they're getting married and I have grandkids now and it's like, their life has moved on, you know, I'm trying to pull them back you know, life moves on and that's what happened with the two brothers you know? Yeah. When he motiva you know, in Tonga on even the Tongans united Polynesians, too, so they have a heavy culture, which is heavily placed on the oldest child is missing tongue and families. You know, when the kupuna or or the parents get older, their responsibility is to take care of that and kind of saw TiVo when it happened was he just kind of moved into that, you know, that place in life where he had to take care of mom and dad and move into that responsibility, and they're heavy in the church, Tongan church as well. He just had to step up, you know and the music you know, he couldn't really keep keep going. However you know we're going about things and it kind of just worked out really cool because cabana joined in as our keyboard player and then Timo got married and he moved back to Tonga to go help the parents out to which was a guitar player and and clinical came in, she jumped on keyboards, but then moved back to drums. And then you know what i thought only these kids during this time, you know, it was the drum lessons, saxophone lessons, trumpet lessons, drumming piano lessons, they took piano classical piano since they were five years old. So they all right, yeah, they all can drum kolento into drum lessons through so kalenna jumps on the drums to I don't know, it was just I like to see divine appointment for them to be in that office that they're they're holding, always carrying on the next generation of cabana. And it's just been such a great I cannot believe it, you know? Yeah, you know, like the piano teacher would be coming up soon as you know, Kelly boy, there are families that come to me and they have multiple children too. And maybe one of them, you know, got some talent, maybe tool but all of your kids, you know, she's like, all of these kids just really mean great. There could have been, you know, to be honest, Brian, I, I it was a grueling time because I was like this drill sergeant, you know, and he's like, yeah, General Daddy, you know, they mean like, get on your lessons and while other kids were outside playing kickball and playing, you know, whatever you're doing outside these guys was in the house, you know, practicing. Okay, you got 45 minutes 45 minutes and then when you guys are done with your 45 everybody switch? No. So, you know, they worked hard for it. They really did. And when the time came, like he said, Yeah, he transition. It was all you know, as we say in the islands corner, it was all good. You know? Like when One hand just slipping into one glove and you know, the kids in Hawaii and I and I stress the culture thing and the ohana thing if I chose any other group members to fill the shoes of my original group cabana, cabana wouldn't be here today. But the locals look at you and he says, Oh my gosh, that's Kelly boy and all of his kids right there you can get because it's all about ohana. Like I told you here and I'll let you know. Right yet so charged. You know, people come up to me daily. And you know, we have these live streams that we do every Wednesdays and Sundays that I do with the kids on Facebook since you know, we haven't been working for the past, you know, five months. So we go online and do these concerts and every day I get a I get some kind of and it's like what what a blessing to perform with your children and to you know, to do this with it with with the kids and I really believe that that's what thinking is, you know From the 80s and now we're here in 2020. And we're still continuing on you know,

Bryan Murphy 26:06

because each one of them in their own right is an amazing and accomplished musician. Totally. Yeah, obviously yeah these huge shoes of you know, cabana. right but not to fill right and but they're amazing musicians in their own I mean they work you can definitely tell they're not they worked really hard for it and it might be scarred a little bit that scars are okay.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 26:33

But they're okay they're good. They're good at being citizens in the community. So

Bryan Murphy 26:40

you mentioned the live streams and and even if take us back you know, even a six months ago, you know, pretty COVID the whole thing and you guys were performing or you perform that was it like six nights a week? Most of the time sorry. Oh seven Okay. Wow.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 26:57

Yeah, um, the Sundays normally we take off you No for church and stuff but if you get we're also praise and worship leaders for our in our church. So we have that responsibility too. It's not really a responsibility is a joy to get into church into to do that. But uh yeah, that's that's one of our other jobs is to do that but um, you know my father in law is a pastor, I'm married a pastor's daughter and my father in law always used to say, you know, something, if you're working and you have work, it's a blessing. And as you get work, especially as an entertainer, please, we'll take do your job. God is wants to bless you, you know. And so we wouldn't shy away from your work on the Christian. We don't work on Sundays and I would encourage it, and he says, You got one job, it's a blessing, recognize it, you know,

Unknown Speaker 27:47

that'll preach.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 27:49

Some of the times, you know, we would we would, a lot of times we get gigs on the sun on a Sunday evening. But yeah, so we worked in Waikiki. We work in Waikiki pre COVID To answer your question, Mondays, we're at the Halekulani hotel. Tuesdays we're at the Royal Hawaiian hotel. Wednesdays I'm at I do a solo thing but all of my kids remember now during the week, we all kind of please the grand piano and the one on Wednesdays I do a solo at the surf jack. Kolenda does a solo piano gig at Maji Manji. amo some Italian restaurant. And then Thursday's the Royal I think, I think anyway, I got it off. That's how long I've been out of work. Yeah. Thursday's I think the Milan beach. Okay. Yeah, the beach bar. Yeah. And the Mwana so that was our steadies we're doing the Sheraton Waikiki on Fridays, but then we kind of changed the times on that. So about maybe a year or two now, we've been on an Ellen on Fridays, but we get casuals you know like at parties or a wedding or something on a Friday or or even we perform at the different restaurants or club Might sidebar at a mall. I know. Yeah, you know, different venues. And then we do just this huge bunch of like baby party from baby parties to weddings to birthday parties, anniversary parties and stuff. So our weekends are just, you know, most of the time, just you know, and this was pre COVID. All right, right. From debt to

credit from hero to zero.

So, no, we're not we're not, you know, we haven't been performing for the past five months. You know, we're very optimistic and we have a great attitude. And, you know, good lord has been really providing for all of us, you know, I choose not to, you know, kind of sit back and feel sorry for the situation or myself and what I don't have, but I'm thankful for the things that I do have, you know, I'm still breathing in I'm still alive, you know. And, you know, I mean, in this whole pandemic, I mean, one leaf loss is too many, you know, Sitting here and talking with you, brother. I am so what I will be known about what I write, right? I mean, I'm not going to join, you know, they need that club. You know, I don't I don't feel like, I want to do that. And you know, I want to give a positive message to everybody, you know, we're going to get through this, you know, and regardless of what you how you view it, whether you think that we're getting through it together or whatnot. I mean, I mean, we're all in it together. And, you know, I look around and I think it's not just the musicians or the entertainers that are hurting, it's the whole world, you know what I mean? It's everybody. I mean, look, we get cut backs on Hawaiian hair now, and, you know, people are losing their jobs. The tourism industry is just zero, you know, I mean, and it's just not only the musicians or the entertainers is everybody that's taken up. You know, I told my wife said, I keep waking up every day and I pinch myself and I think rice he said, You dream You

know, this is going away and I wake up every day with no deal, buddy.

Bryan Murphy 31:08

What is it? What is good? I mean, you guys are still reaching and touching people, which is amazing, you know, through technology, you know, how are those sessions been going those live sessions. It's been really awesome.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 31:19

You know, on ever since we started we started the week of we

Bryan Murphy 31:23

did our level, I didn't realize that you jumped out in

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 31:26

it. Oh, wow. We just jumped right in it from March. I've done the numbers on Well, my our video my son in law who does all the videotape, we've played to over a million and a half people. That's incredible already since March, you know? Yeah. With the views and the likes and stuff. Well over a million and a half. Right. I don't think I would play to that many people in a lifetime was Garth Brooks or something? A little group from Hawaii. So it's been the reach has been unbelievable last night. Yeah, we had guys from Fiji. From endure like requesting our Fijian song My sissy and

you know jumping up and down

oh we you know and we get a heating we get them from all over the one Dhabi or any sun we get troops that tune in from all over you don't wait and or all these different places and it's just mind boggling you know that when we go live it just the feed is going so fast I cannot read it all you know it's this bam bam bam and it's like you know the outpouring you can feel the love but what I really say most is on for us it's medicine, you know, because we haven't been playing for five months for us. This is a two way a two way Avenue you know people are ready to me. Thank you for sharing your music. No, thank you. Thank you because we need this you need the you don't need this interaction. You know, you know it is what it is nowadays. And I tell you What we the whole learning curve is like, something that I've never experienced, you know, in my life. I mean, I know how to hook up a sound system, do a mixer board and have my speakers and it sounded good and perform for an audience. But when you go live streaming like this, it's a different world, you know, we had to, we're mixing our audio while we're going, you know, life eating and, and it's saying, okay, it's coming out, and then all of a sudden, boom, you drop out and it's like, what is like what's going on? You know, and anyway, anyways, just but we got it down, you know, went to that learning curve, and it's coming around real good, and we're getting it down. So learn something new in life.

Bryan Murphy 33:47

I mean, can you imagine Okay, so the skills you're learning right now, I have learned five months, you know, take those into a post COVID environment where you're doing what that is like, that's incredible, though, you know, right. Right. You probably never will would have stopped and like, Hey, I'm gonna learn how to livestream right now like no, I gotta go to the Surfrider. And

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 34:06

so it's so intricate. I mean, it's I mean, it's so accessible for people that it's so cool. I don't know, I don't know what we're gonna, you know, I don't know what we're gonna return to when this is when we get this is gonna be definitely you know, like how 911 and I just changed the course for, you know, how we live and how we, you know, check into airports is I think this right here what's happening is we're living in a, we definitely got pointed in a different direction and, you know, is definitely, right, a different way that we're going to be living

Bryan Murphy 34:41

definitely. So from the humble environment of your living room and streaming to, you know, millions of people to playing at the show. I'm just super curious, planning across the world and even in Waikiki is there like one experience, one performance that you go back to and you're like that Is that one night that was just magical? Is there one performance or is there like a season or multiple performances that does kind of flood your mind?

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 35:09

You know there's so many when you when you say that there's so many things that come up emotions and feelings and stuff that come up in my mind in so many wonderful experiences, you know? Yeah, I remember a lot of them were at the Waikiki shell it was Fm 100 birthday bash. And you know, we started that off with with the old school guys Capella Israel Kamikaze will only really care. And you know, Willie Kay just passed away Israel is has passed and I remember standing up on stage rolling cousin Meryl. It was me really rolling and Israel. Were on the stage and I had this old, sketchy little video that I still have of the four of us up there on stage at the Waikiki shell. You know, those are high points. Definitely. Yeah. And look, all three of them have very We've gone on home and they're all jamming in heaven. No. There was one year at the Waikiki shell when Fm 100, which was a radio station here for those of you visitors out there tuning in Fm 100 was the radio station that posted these big called birthday bash in and they lasted for, I think, 20 to 23 years. And we played for everyone, all 22 of them, or 23 of them, but one year, in particular, it was before cell phones and before Well, it was the days when people only had lighters, and you know, no cell phone lines and stuff. They were giving away these flashlights, these little flashlights that, you know, you turn on and you know, you know, hanging the end of your key and Okay, the last year okay, so I think they gave like the first 5000 people that came to the gate and this is talking about 10,000 people that would attend these concerts, you know, so the first month I was thinking I'm backstage and I'm like, man, all these people got these lights. And it's like, What? What do I do? Then I would say maybe six years into the birthday bash movie. I did six of them already. I thought to myself, what could I do to incorporate these lights and stuff? So I sang Danny song which is recorded and also but it was a Loggins and Messina tune. Even though we ain't got money. I'm so in love. And you know, and everybody knows that song. Right? So I started off this thing. And when we came to a chorus, even though we ain't got money, I yelled on the mic for the technician to shut down the whole house, you know, the light. And Brad Ryan,

who these guys is flashing their lights. And the whole Waikiki show was, man, and you know what, long story short after that, every year, we had to do Danny

And you know, and then evolved, evolved from the those lights to lighters. And then it evolved to cell phones, you know, boy crazy that was that was one of many just so many 35 years I've been, you know, doing this and it's been a wonderful journey, you know, to say the least.

Bryan Murphy 38:21

That's incredible. Yeah. All those years and you've seen Waikiki transform and revolve and you've seen many people, you know, come and go. Yeah, if someone's coming to the islands, this is something I just love asking everyone who comes on the show. If someone's coming to the islands, maybe for the first time or, or year after year, visiting. Well, this will be something that you'd want them to know coming to the islands just kind of being prepared

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 38:46

to come wanting to learn something about the islands and our culture. Because it's very rich in our culture is very rich. You have it right there in Waikiki. You know, Surfing is a is something thing that I would always suggest, you know, because it's not I mean, who kahanamoku and our kupuna you know, that was their life, you know, I mean surfing in the Waikiki Beach life and, and then you know, especially going around the island and getting the experiences of everything, culturally ilani Palace is a good one, you know, yeah, to learn about, you know, history and you know, our queen liliuokalani. And, you know, it's just a lot of rich heritage. So dive into it, you know, even like the Arizona Memorial in on that is a lot of history to you know, my father in law, who just passed away last year when he would sit, I would sit with him I was married to I'm married to his daughter for 30 years. And I knew him from my 20s and he was a little boy when Pearl Harbor happened, you know, and he actually waved at the planes going over he lived where the Honolulu airport is. And little fun fact for you guys, that not too many people know but That area was called Damian track and it was track homes that they and it was great rent a Honolulu Honolulu International or Daniel Katie noi airport I stand corrected is it was main tracks are right next to the Honolulu airport is Pearl Harbor right next door. So he was a little boy he was about six, seven years old and he remembers those zeros you know, coming over, you know, coming right over their house and they were low. He said they were low and all of a sudden you know, these bombs went off in fire. He said he saw fire Mama, you know, just going you know, and just chaos and you know, sirens blowing in your brain makes me You know, it takes me like to another place when these old timers you know, they tell you so, like I said getting back to my my point Ilana history over there and you know it, it even has a deeper respect for me when you hear it from the mouth of somebody That experience they like my father in law, you know that kind of stuff and more around and enjoy even the ex President Obama comes here and vacations here and definitely tries out our loves to eat our favorite shave is vice and maximum models on Holly and Holly Eva and just you know what what is unreal about Hawaii and I like people to know especially visitors is the food. The food is just incredible because we have this you know this mix you know pot of different cultures that are infused in our food here in Hawaii brought that is you know us locals, um, you know, we all know this pandemic is the corona virus. We have a word here in Hawaii, called mo mahna. mahna means kind of heavy you know, like big guy like me, you know, kind of and most of us local people because the food are so good. We're not catching so much Coronavirus, but more in a moment. I would say you know what I mean? I know a lot of people want to get on to that beach and it's like, let me get some suntan let me get into that water and then that's all good no no get into go to I'm Waimea by Mill Valley. Oh yeah, that's nice. So much.

Bryan Murphy 42:17

Yeah. rich history.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 42:19

Yeah. So, you know, take the time to kinda, you know, go over your game plan, you know, even as locals relatable to believe it or not the Polynesian Cultural Center to Okay, yeah, to spend the day sometimes we go, you know, maybe won't go for a year and then we go and we go visit all the villages and then you get that real quick injection of one. You know what I mean? What all the different Polynesian islands are, you know, and how there are brothers and sisters and how we are all kind of connected. You know,

Bryan Murphy 42:50

that perspective. Good. luck,

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 42:52

good luck and stop by one of those stands on the side of the road that sells ice cold coconut or pine Apples forget

Unknown Speaker 43:06

even the locals. So you know,

Bryan Murphy 43:09

Kelly boy this oh man we could I could keep talking forever man

Unknown Speaker 43:14

this is great

Bryan Murphy 43:19

family who are Portuguese as well? Yes. Yeah. No How can people you mentioned you in the live streaming right now as at the time of this recording will be released. How can people you know get onto the live stream watch you guys um

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 43:31

right on our live stream on our Facebook page at cabana? Okay, just type in cabana. Music easy. It's easy and we go on Hawaii Standard Time 5pm 5pm on Wednesdays and 5pm on Sundays. And we're we're doing that because Hawaii is probably one of the only last states and we have a Korean team here. So 14 day quarantine. So if you're coming from the mainland and stuff and you get quarantined, I mean, you gotta you don't want to waste 14 days. They're not in a hotel room. But you know, because of COVID kind of making a little surge here in Hawaii as well. The governor is thinking about shutting it down again, you know, and shutting everything down. And they opened up inter island on travel without the 14 day quarantine island to island but looks like that. With that said, not to be humdrum about the situation, but on the optimistic side on if you have to stay at home and most you know, Hawaii, people have been indoors. So it's a great time to tune in for some concerts. And that's one hour that it takes away from you watching the news and getting so depressed. Like you know, yeah, just a little bit of sunshine in there to the music. I mean, like I said, it's medicine for us too. So tune in

Bryan Murphy 44:48

love that. What else online and Instagram. How can we find you

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 44:52

on Instagram? We're at Capella music as well, but you actually go live on Facebook Live and we go live on YouTube. So you can go At our station, so we do those two, we hook up two feeds one going to live feeding to Facebook and one to YouTube. So for those of you guys that are listening you guys are not to Facebook savvy like I am, you know, that's why I got a couple of good millennials under my, my jacket over here. Yeah, YouTube is on all your smart TVs or your little Roku players, whatever is and it's free and you can catch us every Sundays and Wednesdays bring a little bit of aloha into you guys, you know, and you guys can make requests and stuff like that we do the white sandy beach bra for people in Vermont.

Bryan Murphy 45:38

Boy, this has been real I truly appreciate you and everything that you've you've done Oh, thank you, Brian.

Kelly "Boy" De Lima 45:45

Anytime. Anytime you need me anytime. I'm good. I got time now Brian.

Bryan Murphy 45:53

Well dig Mahalo to Kelly boy for his time and coming on today. My biggest key takeaway was Not only is cabana, an amazing band, you can tell that they're so genuine the heart behind cabana is so real, the perspective no matter what we go through, we always have music and to always do our best to look on the bright side of things. And I just love that outlook that Kelly boy and his whole family just portray. So to catch Capella on their next live stream, go to Capella music on Facebook, or YouTube. And they are live every Wednesday and Sunday as of right now at 5pm Hawaii Standard Time, or just go to our show notes. Hawaii's Best traveled comm slash Episode 38 and we'll link all that in there for you. Well, I just want to say thank you so much for joining me today. If you enjoyed this conversation with Kelly boy, I would just love to hear your feedback to drop a rating and review on Apple podcasts. And I just totally appreciate that. But until next time, be well Hello.

Hawaii's Best 47:02

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