It may take a Hollister native to bring the obscure Hawaiian Ska
music scene to the mainland.
Hollister – It may take a Hollister native to bring the obscure Hawaiian Ska music scene to the mainland.
Nathan Pierce, 27, has just launched his own record label in an effort to promote the ska music with “a touch of island flavor” he said thrives in Hawaii, but is virtually unknown in the continental United States.
“(Hawaiian Ska bands) are pretty popular over there, but no one on the main land probably knows about it,” said Pierce. “There’s kind of a whole music industry in Hawaii, but it really caters to the local scene.”
Pierce became involved in the ska scene shortly after he moved to Hawaii two years ago. Before then, he said, he wasn’t even a huge fan of ska, the genre of music made popular in the mid-’90s by bands like Sublime and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
“I probably wasn’t even that into ska back then,” said Pierce, an environmental specialist who does mostly air-quality monitoring in Hawaii. “But as soon as I got over there I noticed a couple of bands right away.”
One day, Pierce saw a Christian punk-ska band called Battle Royale perform at a show a friend of his was also in, and heard the band didn’t have a manager. Even though he had a college degree in environmental studies, Pierce decided he wanted to give the music business a try, and signed on as Battle Royale’s manager.
In late 2004, Pierce started Gardenia Lane records, named after the street he grew up on in Hollister. He hopes to help music fans from coast to coast and around the world discover the ska music that’s been a Hawaiian secret until now.
The first release on Gardenia Lane, Send Ska!, features seven bands and 14 tracks of “Everything from punk ska, to mellow ska to traditional stuff,” Pierce said. Battle Royale also has two tracks on the CD, although he said the rest of the bands represented are not religious.
“My main goal is to get the bands some exposure, because none of them are necessarily very well-known,” said Pierce, who compiled the album with previously recorded tracks from each of the bands. The album will be available on www.InterPunk.com, which sells independent label albums on consignment, he said.
Part of the proceeds from Send Ska! will go to the O’ahu chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit group that works to preserve beaches and oceans, according to Pierce, an avid surfer and environmentalist.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at jquandt @freelancenews.com.
