Meet Mr. Grammy
No, he’s not related to that other famous musical Ho, but with his third Grammy win, Daniel Ho is creating his own legend in Island music. In fact, the two never met. “I can’t tell you how many
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to be released this year.
Besides pumping out another slack key album, Ho has even more exciting things going on.
For starters, he is one of the featured artists in the soon-to-be-released movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It hits theaters this Friday (April 18).
Filmed and set in Hawaii, the movie shares the same producers as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. The plot is centered around a devastated Peter who takes a Hawaii vacation in order to deal with the recent breakup with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know Sarah’s traveling to the same resort that he is - and she’s bringing along her new boyfriend.
“The song in the movie that I sing is Nothing Compares 2 You,” says Ho. “And it’s in Hawaiian. The other song I’m singing, which isn’t in the movie but it’s on the soundtrack, is Everybody Hurts by REM. That’s in Hawaiian as well.”
Another familiar voice on the soundtrack is the Hawaii-born talent Faith Rivera singing the old Nancy Sinatra hit These Boots Are Made For Walking - in Hawaiian.
“I think the songs work, and Amy (Ku’uleialoha Stillman) did a really nice job interpreting the lyrics,” says Ho. “Nothing Compares 2 You is one of my favorite songs of all time. The version that Sinead O’Conner did is just a heart-wrenching piece that strikes a chord with many people because I don’t know anyone who hasn’t had their heart broken. So I can really feel her emotion in her presentation, and I tried to capture that as best that I could in the Hawaiian version.”
But don’t get frazzled if you can’t find their names in the credits or the CD. As Ho laughingly explains, “We are listed on the album as The Coconuts. Faith and I are listed as part of that group. They came up with the name and that’s how they presented it in the movie. I just found out a couple days ago that we’re The Coconuts.”
Stillman, who did all the Hawaiian lyrics for the sound-track, was also born and raised in Hawaii. She has a Harvard Ph.D. in ethnomusicology and is a professor at the University of Michigan. Stillman is currently working with Ho on the lyrics for a new album due out sometime in September. The album, which will include all original Hawaiian songs, features Ho and his long-time friend Tia Carrere (another Hawaii-born girl) on vocals.
Also on the brink of release is Ho’s solo album Sunny Spaces. Scheduled for an April 22 release, the album is an intimate and artistic piece with all but one song written by Ho himself.
“What I really love is to do projects like Sunny Spaces,” says Ho. “Those are what I consider my solo projects. They are original songs, and the songs are about life experiences and things that I’ve been through in recent years.”
The album is as musically diverse as his own personality and lifestyle, with Island flavor and hints of classical, jazz and pop elements. And it holds true to some of the simple philosophies that Ho lives by: Surround yourself with good people, keep things simple and never stop learning.
“I think the minute someone thinks they are an expert, then there’s nothing left to learn,” says Ho. “I certainly do not consider myself an expert (on music). I know a little bit about one small style of music. I spent a lot of time learning various aspects of music, but you are always turning over stones. There’s always another song to learn, another technique. It is sort of a work in progress, but for me, I don’t only look at music that way, but life.”
Speaking of life, also in the plans for Ho this calendar year is a wedding. Daniel and his fiancee of three years, Lydia Miyashiro, hope to make it official sometime this year.
“The past couple years have been kind of a whirlwind for Lydia and I,” says Ho. “We work together. She does the photography, graphics and handles a lot of the business. We’ve been so busy producing and traveling.”
Having produced eight albums last year and with eight more albums releasing this year, we believe him. The upside is that there’s no plan to expand the label, which means the workload is not likely to increase.
“One thing that I’m realizing through all of this is I really want to keep life simple,” says Ho. “I don’t want to have a huge record company with a bunch of employees and responsibilities. I really enjoy the small group of people I work with because it’s kind of like friends getting together to do stuff. It’s comfortable and nice.”
Now if only he could increase his visits back home for a few dips in the ocean and fresh ahi limu poke, life would be near perfect. But as life will have it, great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice.
At least that’s what Napoleon Hill, widely recognized founder of modern personal success literature once wrote - and Daniel Ho is proof positive that such an idea is true.
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