Open Mic with Mahalo!

DjWhtDaHek (00:18):
Hey guys. What’s up? It’s DJWhtDaHek here and I got another edition of Open Mic. And today my guest
is Mahalo, thanks for coming on the show, man.
Mahalo (00:27):
You bet, bro. Thanks for having me.
DjWhtDaHek (00:29):
What’s going on where you’re at right now?
Mahalo (00:31):
Oh, just hanging in there, man. It’s another sunny day in Santa Monica, California, and probably going to
get some lunch after this.This transcript was exported on Nov 02, 2021 – view latest version here.
Open Mic with Mahalo _September 29th_ 2021_ (Completed 10/15/21)
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DjWhtDaHek (00:41):
Nice. What’s your go-to lunch place around there?
Mahalo (00:45):
Italian food, man. Italian food. My family’s Italian so I’m all about pastas, that’s the jam. I got some pasta
that I’m about to prepare after this interview.
DjWhtDaHek (00:59):
I am a huge fan of Italian food and I love me some pasta. What would be your favorite pasta dish?
Mahalo (01:07):
That’s a good question, man. I do like a good bolognese. Just keeping it standard. But I’ve been getting
big on the pesto tip lately, man, throwing some pesto in there and that’s just, it’s good. It’s good.
DjWhtDaHek (01:24):
I’ve tried pesto many a time and it’s like, okay, pesto sauce over pasta. I think I’m going to like it. But
then it’s just, I don’t know. Something just doesn’t quite do it for me.
Mahalo (01:33):
Some people, it’s really hit or miss. Some people hate it, some people love it. For me, I think there was a
time when I was kind of iffy on it, but it’s grown on me man, it’s grown on me.
DjWhtDaHek (01:45):
Well, if you ever come to Raleigh and do a show, I’ll have to start researching some seriously good pasta
joints to hit up.
Mahalo (01:52):
I’m going to hold you to that, bro.
DjWhtDaHek (01:55):
I’ll work on it then. Well, you’re based in LA, but you grew up in Hawaii, which is very interesting. What
was it like growing up in Hawaii?
Mahalo (02:04):
Hawaii’s great, man. It’s a cool place. It’s very different there in terms of living there versus the standard
vacation and stuff like that. Living on an island comes with certain benefits and certain ways of life that
as I got a little bit older, with music and stuff like that, had to transition out of there and first thing that
came to mind was coming to music school in LA. LA is the epicenter I feel like of the music world. And I
came here for college and went to music school and have never left.
DjWhtDaHek (02:48):
I see, you must really enjoy LA.
Mahalo (02:50):This transcript was exported on Nov 02, 2021 – view latest version here.
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I do, I do. 11 years now, man. So, it’s my home.
DjWhtDaHek (02:58):
Let’s see, you grew up in Hawaii and if you had to recommend one thing to do there, what would it be?
Mahalo (03:04):
Ooh, that’s a good question, man. Depends on what you’re into, but you got to go and try some of the
local food. For me some of the local food there is still my favorite. Next to Italian, of course. Loco moco,
got to get down with one of those or some musubi, that’s the vibe out there, dude.
DjWhtDaHek (03:34):
I like the sound of that. Maybe you do one day like a Mahalo bar out there and you open up your own
joint.
Mahalo (03:40):
That could be cool, dude. A luau every day, get some hula dancers.
DjWhtDaHek (03:46):
And maybe a little pinch of Italian food, as well.
Mahalo (03:52):
Yeah, a rotating dish. You know what I mean?
DjWhtDaHek (03:55):
Exactly. That’d be solid. Well you mentioned it, the kind of epicenter of this EDM side of things you think
LA and you think maybe New York as well, maybe not so much Hawaii. What got you into the EDM
scene?
Mahalo (04:10):
My dad, actually. My dad and my uncle were involved in some like promotion stuff and radio things on
the dam side when I was a kid. So I grew up listening to a lot of mix tapes and albums and stuff from
people like Christopher Lawrence and DJ Dan, Groove Armada, a lot of the electronica stuff and trance
and all sorts of different vibes like that, that I just loved it when I was a kid, man. It really grabbed my
attention and it wasn’t until I went to my first event that I was like, “damn, all right. That’s really what I
want to do.”
Mahalo (04:58):
But I dabbled with it before that even. I remember when I was a little kid, not a little kid, but like a 13
year old kid, I bought Sony ACID, which was, I think it might still be around, but it’s a DAW. And I was
making little edits and stuff like that well before I knew anything about production or music theory or
anything. So it’s been something that I’ve been interested in for a very, very long time. I’d say my dad
and my uncle really deserve the credit for getting me into it.
DjWhtDaHek (05:36):This transcript was exported on Nov 02, 2021 – view latest version here.
Open Mic with Mahalo _September 29th_ 2021_ (Completed 10/15/21)
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Was there a time where you might’ve thought doing a different genre of music or meddled in a different
genre of music?
Mahalo (05:43):
Well, funny enough when I first started deejaying, I started deejaying when I was like 16 and I didn’t
really do too much production at the time and I DJ’ed hardstyle music. I was a little raver man.
DjWhtDaHek (06:03):
Big Showtek fan, maybe?
Mahalo (06:04):
Yeah, dude, actually, I traveled to Showtek’s first American show ever here in California. It was in San
Bernardino and this must’ve been like 2009 or something like that. I went to their first American show
ever. I loved hard style dude, but as I got a little bit older, I got a club residency and in a club you don’t
really drop hardstyle. So I started, I had to build up a collection of house music and stuff like that. And
that was when I really started getting into that. House music really started to grab my attention once I
got that club residency and just got bit by the bug and love it, loved it ever since.
DjWhtDaHek (07:02):
That’s good. House music, hardstyle, trying to think of like maybe even some trap in there, as well. It’s
always, that’s a vibe.
DjWhtDaHek (07:35):
Let’s talk about some of your tracks now. I think a good starting point would be your track “So Cold”
which was dance radio number one in 2019. Just tell me, how did that track come about?
Mahalo (07:49):
That track came about. So DLMT and I met at Miami Music Week, I think in 2019, it might’ve been, no,
maybe it was 2018. It was 2018. We met in Miami Music Week and we’re like, “yo, let’s work on a track
together.” And at the time my managers were in the UK and they put us in touch with this girl, Lily
Denning. And that track came together real quick. So it was a collaboration between all three of us and
it really took off. It was really cool to see what happened with that song. It really kind of sparked a
bunch of stuff for the Mahalo project, which was still, it’s still going, that track. I still get people talking
about it and asking me about it. And you know, we’re talking about it right now, multiple years later. So
it’s been a really monumental track for the Mahalo project and we love to see it.
DjWhtDaHek (09:01):
Yeah. One of our favorites here on the station, as well. So we love it. We love it.
DjWhtDaHek (09:41):
Another one that was a kind of big one was “Not Watching Anymore”. It was number two on dance
radio in April and actually, well. Here’s a spoiler alert, we do a year-end countdown every year on our
station. And if the year ended right now, it’s sitting number one on our charts, so maybe it’ll be there.
It’s got to hold for another three months and the way I play it on my shift, it might just be there.This transcript was exported on Nov 02, 2021 – view latest version here.
Open Mic with Mahalo _September 29th_ 2021_ (Completed 10/15/21)
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Mahalo (10:04):
Well, that’s awesome to hear, man. It’s got number one somewhere.
DjWhtDaHek (10:10):
It’s got to be somewhere, but just tell me about making that track.
Mahalo (10:15):
That one was cool. The vocalist’s name is Sissy Smith and she’s fantastic. That track is more of, sort of a
breakup song and is a high energy song that I wanted to do something a little different, which was, a lot
of the music that I make is a little more edgy and deeper and that one’s very high energy and wanted to
do something in that lane and that was the result. I’m really happy with how it turned out. It was
amazing to see what it did. Number two is still nothing to bat an eye at. I was happy to see that and still
love that track. Just listening to it a minute ago, actually.
DjWhtDaHek (11:11):
I think the cool thing I saw [inaudible 00:11:15] was on one of your Instagram posts, you were standing
in some car dealership and you were just standing there and then all of a sudden that track comes on
and you’re like, “oh, I need to buy from these guys now.”
Mahalo (11:25):
Right. I remember that, man. That was really cool. I didn’t buy a car there, though.
DjWhtDaHek (11:34):
Aw.
Mahalo (11:37):
It was a tough call, them playing the track, that’s a good way to get me to buy a car, but didn’t work.
DjWhtDaHek (11:46):
What’s that feeling like when you hear some of your tracks on all these different places or just on radio.
Mahalo (11:52):
It’s really cool to hear it when it’s totally unexpected, you know what I mean? You’re doing some day-to-
day, monotonous task and suddenly your song comes on the speakers overhead and you’re just, it’s a
good feeling, man. It’s a good feeling. It sort of makes you feel as if all the hard work is definitely worth
it, you know what I mean? If it’s making its way into day to day life like that and not just on your own
Spotify playlist or your friends, stuff like that. So it’s great, man. It’s a great feeling.
DjWhtDaHek (12:32):
Well maybe before too long, this next one’s really going to start being heard everywhere because I’m
loving it. Your latest track, “Nothing Matters”. Tell me about making this one, man.
Mahalo (13:01):This transcript was exported on Nov 02, 2021 – view latest version here.
Open Mic with Mahalo _September 29th_ 2021_ (Completed 10/15/21)
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So that one collaboration with these guys, Bloodline, who are fantastic vocalists. They’ve got a really
moody sound on that vocal there. It’s a track about the addiction of a person and the feeling that you
have for somebody outweighs everything else. So that was a special sort of memento that we wanted to
capture in the song. And I think it’s encapsulated pretty well through the vibe of the song and the vocals.
I’m really excited about the release of that one and how it’s doing.
DjWhtDaHek (13:51):
We love it, as well. And I’d be willing to bet that all these tracks we just discussed, so-called “Nothing
Matters” and “Not Watching Anymore”, you can catch on The Mahalo Show.
Mahalo (14:04):
You can, you can. Each and every one has been aired on there at least once and probably will continue
to be over the years. The Mahalo show is something that we, or I, I guess, with the help of my team
started earlier this year and we launched it with Insomniac and it’s my monthly radio show. And that’s
something that I’ve wanted to do for a really long time. Didn’t really know how or where to begin
previously, but after a lot of hard work we got it done and I’m loving doing it every month, man. It’s a
real great way to spend your time and showcase tracks that you’re loving and just get the vibes out
there, you know what I mean?
DjWhtDaHek (15:03):
Yeah. Where can people go to listen to this?
Mahalo (15:07):
You can find it pretty much everywhere. We air it on Insomniac, Insomniac Radio, and then it’s uploaded
into Apple podcasts and SoundCloud and Spotify too, but from what I remember, Spotify takes it down
every week. So you got to re upload it. We learned this from another artist about how to get, because
they don’t want music podcasts on Spotify for whatever reason, so they take it down. So you got to re
upload it every week, but you can find it there too, if you’re quick.
DjWhtDaHek (15:52):
Gotcha. Well, let’s talk about some of your upcoming shows and it’s actually hard to believe it’s going to
be October in less than a week or a week and change [crosstalk 00:16:01]Mahalo (16:03):
This year has flown by, huh?
DjWhtDaHek (16:05):
I guess kind of make it up for last year dragging. Well, you’re going to be in Chicago October 2nd at the
Spring Awakening festival.
Mahalo (16:16):
Yes, sir.
DjWhtDaHek (16:17):This transcript was exported on Nov 02, 2021 – view latest version here.
Open Mic with Mahalo _September 29th_ 2021_ (Completed 10/15/21)
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And then also this Freaky Deaky festival, what a name, October 30th in Houston. Just kind of curious, do
you have like a pre-show routine you do?
Mahalo (16:30):
Eat pasta.
DjWhtDaHek (16:33):
Eat pasta, I love it.
Mahalo (16:35):
I got to get those carbs in, man. It depends in terms of the pre-show routines. I try to do a little bit of
mindfulness and stuff at the hotel or in the green room sometimes before I go on. But for the most part,
just winging it, dude. Most of the time we’re coming in hot. You get in there, into the city and then
checking into the hotel and then going right to the venue. So a lot of the time it’s just minimizing all the
stress of the traveling and stuff like that and just trying to get in the right head space to go up there and
perform. But it’s what I signed up for and I love it, so.
DjWhtDaHek (17:25):
Is there a, how do you know when you have, the crowd is really into what you’re up there doing?
Mahalo (17:35):
In layman’s terms, man, when they start going, “whoop whoop!” That’s when you know you got them. I
try to read the crowd and see what everyone’s feeling. That definitely helps in terms of knowing which
tracks work and which ones are maybe not the best live. But it’s great to, it’s the best feeling in the
world when you’re testing out a new record that you haven’t dropped yet that maybe you’re even still
working on and the crowd reacts great. That’s a fantastic feeling.
DjWhtDaHek (18:11):
Right. Well, you got those shows coming up and other than those shows, for all of the Mahalo fans out
there, is there anything else maybe in the works going on or is their main focus on those shows for right
now?
Mahalo (18:25):
There’s a couple more shows. Got another show in Indianapolis coming up October 9 or 8. Sorry, I
should know the date, but it’s the Friday after Chicago, I think it’s the eighth. And that’s with Steve Aoki.
And then I’m in Gainesville, Florida on Halloween, so that should be cool. I always love a good Florida
show. They know how to get wild.
DjWhtDaHek (19:00):
When you’re with Steve, try maybe not to get pied or something, he’s known for that.
Mahalo (19:05):
Yeah, the cake? We’ll see, man. I’m not too big on getting caked. So might have to sit that one out and
let the fans take the hit for me.This transcript was exported on Nov 02, 2021 – view latest version here.
Open Mic with Mahalo _September 29th_ 2021_ (Completed 10/15/21)
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DjWhtDaHek (19:20):
But now if he gets up there with a bowl of pasta, now that’s a different story.
Mahalo (19:23):
Dude, I’ll get pasta-ed any day, man. Any day.
DjWhtDaHek (19:28):
I love it. I love it. Well, Mahalo, this was awesome, man. And again, thanks for doing this. This was great.
Mahalo (19:35):
Yeah, dude. Thank you for having me. And once again, thanks for all the support on WolfBytes. Love the
station and I’ll keep listening.
DjWhtDaHek (19:46):
Awesome. We love it. Well, thanks for doing this and it’s DjWhtDaHek once again for another edition of
Open Mic and I’ll see you guys next time on Open Mic!