HAWAII – Life Goes On
Steve Hammonds
Metal Forces, Issue 10 (1985)
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It’s been a long time since anything has been heard or seen of Hawaii. But now the band are back with the release of a new EP entitled Loud, Wild and Heavy.
You may remember that a couple of years ago the band released an album, One Nation Underground, on Shrapnel Records with an appalling cover, but containing some good songs. Never a classic record, but still a good pointer for the future.
Since then, the band have laid extremely low. Rumours abounded that they had split-up, but these were scuppered when I received a letter from a close friend, and now Hawaii manager, Darryl Amaki, asking me to do an article on them. He explained that since the release of the album the band had been mismanaged by a certain Norm Dale, who would only do interviews for cash! Darryl’s words not mine, but a bit mercenary, especially for a band who are not that famous. He apparently claimed that it was done to build mystique around the group. But it had the opposite effect, and the bands’ popularity plummeted, and the overseas interest disappeared. While this ‘game’ was going on, Hawaii worked on a commercial type sound, leaning towards Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot. These songs are now incorporated into their live set along with some of the older numbers.
Hawaii have always been built around lead guitarist Marty Friedman, a well regarded local guitarist. The band’s full line-up now consists of: Eddie Day (vocals), Marty Friedman and Tom Azevedo (guitars), Joe Galisa (bass) and Jeff Graves (drums). It was this line-up that just missed opening for Rush, Dio and Quiet Riot because of the promoters lack of interest with Norm Dale.
The thing that caused the final break-up with the management was the release of Loud, Wild And Heavy, which was done without the bands’ permission, and a release they are still trying to stop.
So at this moment, Hawaii are in a cooling off period which is apparent in the answers that were given to me by Marty Friedman when I spoke to him recently.
Marty, how far have you progressed in the last few years? “Now that we have new management we’re progressing at a faster rate.”
Do you think all the line-up changes have affected the band in any way? “Of course they have, but now I think we’ve finally got the right line-up.”
What happened with Shrapnel Records? “Not too much, we were hoping for more publicity but maybe we were too early with the album One Nation Underground!”
Any plans to gig outside Hawaii? “Yes, definitely. We want to get off the island and play for everybody in the mainland.”
How did the album go? “We could have sold a lot if we’d released it now!”
Why has there been a delay between records? “Management problems.”
Are you going for a more commercial sound with the new record? “Listen to our new album and decide for yourself.”
Well there you have it. In my opinion they are hardly answers that would comply with the re-promotion of a band who wants to get into the public eye again. I would suggest in the future that if Hawaii wish for promotion that they answer questions more fully, so not only interviewers but fans too have a chance to discover more about the group. Got me? Good!
Interview taken from Metal Forces, Issue 10 (1985)
FOOTNOTE: Following the publication of the above Hawaii interview in Metal Forces issue 10, we were contacted by the band’s former manager, Norm Dale, who asked us to clarify a couple of points arising from the article. “I spent over $4000 on the band,” claims Dale. “I have also never asked for money for interviews”. June 1985
