Hema Watson: How to Pave the New Sound of Mele Hawaiʻi as We Know It.
Becoming a Pillar of Hawaiian Music and a new, profound voice of Hawaiʻi is no easy feat, yet, it is one that singer/songwriter Hema Watson aims to/is tackling in his career.
With a powerful outlook on Hawaiʻi & himself, watch how Hema infuses all of this into a unique modern sound of Mele Hawaiʻi that the upcoming Singer/Songwriter is paving as we speak.
Who are you?
Aloha, my name is Hema Kealohanui Kaiama Watson. I’m from Kuliʻouʻou, I currently live in Kaimukī and I’m 20 years old (surprisingly) *laughs*, and I’m going to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
And how did you get into your craft and passion we’re here to talk about today? Music.
The reason I got into music… if you wanna go back to my Kūpuna, my Tutu Kāne nui (my Great Grandpa) on my Mom’s side, he played piano and that kinda stuff. There’s been people in my family that’ve done music, I’m actually related to Ana Vee!
For me personally, I really got into it during middle school I wanna say around 7th grade? I met my music mentor Candy Diaz, and she was super instrumental in giving me music identity, giving me music like teaching, and basically building this passion of music with me, and she PUSHED me to be a better musician…
I wouldn’t be here without her.
Would you say you’ve always wanted to do music?
Since I was younger, I’d say like when I was a REAL little kid, mhm I don’t think so. I don’t think I ever really thought of music like that. But I think the changing point was in middle school when I had that summer class with my mentor. We made a song on Soundcloud, I played bass on it, I didn’t sing, I didn’t play ukulele back then, I played bass *laughs*.
That song was ‘Waiting In Vain’ by Bob Marley. It was posted on Soundcloud by one of the people that was part of that program and uh, I sounded like a baby back then… (Or my brother does, I wasn’t on the mic). Making that, like having that piece like “Oh my God we FINALLY made it” it was like well produced and everything, made me feel like wow… Music is something I can actually do, it’s something I can actually move forward in, and treat as like a passion, as a career pathway.
And that summer I wrote my first song. First song I ever wrote it was called ‘Sway’, I never really released it. I feel like somebody stole it but that’s fine *laughs*. It was a crooner-style song that I wrote back then, and my music mentor Aunty Candy really PUSHED me to perform my songs and get out there. I remember she organized our first like Jam Sesh at Waiwai Collective and *laughs*, I was the only one that showed up. It was me and Aunty Candy, and there was 10 people in the back and… I was scared OUT of my mind.
Pūʻiwa NUI I was like nervous as hell. And as I got up there, I played and I must have messed it up… But it didn’t matter cause I was just a kid! And after I finished my song, I heard like the 10 dudes in the back, couldn’t even see their faces they were like in the dark they went like “whooo yeah!” and then they went on their way, and that was it *laughs*.
AND THAT WAS LIKE THE BIGGEST THING EVER. I was like “holy shit they didn’t boo me” or whatever *laughs*. I wasn’t like ‘bad bad bad’ and since then I just kind of progressed into more things, I’ve played at Kapiʻolani Band Stand, I’ve actually played at The Stadium, I’ve played at a couple other places - Hawaiian Brian’s etc.
I’ve played with some pretty cool people and I’ve jammed with some pretty cool people, but I feel like music is a way that I can express how I feel, who I am, and even like tell stories - stuff that’s never happened to me but I can WRITE about it and make a story up, and it’s able to tell: A way of being, a way of doing that I think is really hard to communicate in other formats.
You mentioned originally starting playing bass, although most of your music nowadays is mainly played with ukulele. How many instruments total do you know how to play, which ones did you start out with and get into next?
I know how to play the bass (Rudimentary kine), I know how to play the ukulele for sure, I know how to play the guitar small kine, *laughs* I can jump on the cajón if anybody needs me to. DO NOT ask me to go on drums, I am dog shit *laughs*.
You know the sound’s gonna be hewa nui right? It’s gonna be fuckin REAL bad if I jump on drums. But mostly strings I know how to play! I know how to use my voice, I know how to use my hands, I know a couple C chords on piano too if that’s like any use *laughs*.
LMAO literally just the one C Chord and the piano stops there for you ah?
*Laughs* I KNOW HOW TO PLAY THE C CHORD, I know ‘A B C D E F G’ *laughs* I know how to ‘C C G G’ on one piano so-
If any Jawaiian bands wanna hire me or something, right hea *laughs*.
*Laughs* and how exactly did you get into playing each instrument?
Well I got into Ukulele cause, you know we live in Hawaiʻi, but the first instrument I had a PASSION for was the bass. That was because it was the first one I decided to use. My brother was on electric guitar and singing, and I was bass. And that’s the first instrument I like recorded on, on that Soundcloud ‘Waiting In Vain’ song.
I actually played it so much in that summer, I had blisters on my fingers. It was like a ‘Rite of Passage’ for me cause ALL the other musicians were like “YEAH THAT MEANS YOU BE PLAYING HARDCOREE” they’re like telling me fuckin horror stories about people popping their blisters they put glue on it, they keep playing and I was like “yeah I’m so fuckin cool I’m just like that I’m just like that”.
And yeah after I played the bass with my blistered fingers I hopped on Aunty Candy’s Steel String Guitar and ended up slicing off those blisters *laughs* which I think was like the ‘coolest’ “Oh I’m a Musician” kinda story I’ve had when it comes to like injuries “I’m so Gnarly” you know *laughs*.
So now, I play Plastic String Ukuleles and I do have a Metal String Guitar, but no slicing of fingers *laughs*. Those were mainly the instruments - I started with the Bass, and then I got into Ukulele because that’s what I HAD right I had this Ukulele that was passed to me from my grandpa, to his granddaughter and then to me.
Sadly that cracked so I couldn’t keep playing it, I didn’t have money to fix it so I ended up saving enough money to get my own Ukulele, I got a Guitar Center Ukulele, and then I went to Maui and I got this guy *holds up ukulele* from Maui Ukulele Company, and I loved it ever since. But yeah, I got into Ukulele, I got into Guitar and those were the 2 instruments I’d always use cause that’s what I always had with me. I didn’t have electric ANYTHING. I didn’t have no amps, I STILL don’t have no amp *laughs*.
Where did your singing come from? Starting with Bass and moving into Ukulele and Guitar, did you have to branch out and PUSH yourself to sing, and kind of found out that singing worked for you there? Or since playing Ukulele and singing are usually kind of paired, did you start out doing both and it came natural?
Me singing, came with the territory right. Because I was learning how to play music I had to learn how to sing songs. But also right I didn’t have a band, it was just me - still just me, and so I HAD to basically be all the members, so I learned how to sing just by like constantly singing *laughs* and my brothers can assess to this:
They were SUPER fucking annoyed with me. Super super pissed with me. They didn’t like the fact that I was singing every day and night, they were annoyed of hearing my voice they were like “oh my god can you shut UP”… but you know it ended up paying off actually.
People are like “ohh I gotta learn this super magic technique to learn how to sing”. HELL no.
If you sing every day for a couple months straight… your voice will just be better. It just WILL be better. You’ll get better naturally. And as you keep singing and singing with other people, singing to yourself and out loud, without an instrument, etc. you’ll be able to critique yourself and get yourself to a point where you’re like “you sound good!”
And it’s hard to judge that by yourself, but I luckily had a music mentor and everything I did with her was for free, except for a couple little things, and she’s the best ever.
She was able to like REALLY push me into a direction where I was able to take charge of my OWN music career, and write songs for myself, and sing for myself, and write for myself, so then when I went up on stage at like The Kapiʻolani Bandstand and I played at May Day in front of you know, 200 people… it’s whatever! It’s good, it’s fun. And I’m NOT like sitting there you know crying or like shivering in my pants. It’s because of people like that I was actually able to get to where I am now, you know.
What genres of music do you play, and how did you get into each one?
When I first started my music career, I used to sing like REAL crooner heavy songs: Frank Sinatra, Old Hapa Haole Hawaiian songs, and it was a vibe, I loved it! I would say it really helped my voice develop cause I had to hold out big notes and have a loud voice. I couldn’t be super quiet, I had to like REALLY push my voice to sing those kinds of songs, and I think that helped me have a stronger voice in the end... From that crooner, I then kind of started to shift more into like R&B and Hawaiian songs and Local songs, and I essentially just started writing my own music.
Some people, they just know like every cover, and that’s not me *laughs*. I love writing songs for other people, I love making original music. I love being able to be with other people and sing and jam! But when I’m on my own too is when we express how I feel. I ended up writing and writing and writing like, I would write these 7-minute songs. But as time went on I was able to refine myself and basically kind put myself in this own little genre: elements of R&B, elements of crooner, elements of island, elements of Hawaiian kind of into how I sing…
What artists and bands do you personally look up to that have influenced your music and personal sound?
Yeah, I do have some favorite artists I’ll be honest - The GOAT of Hawaiian Music (for me) is Gabby Pahinui. I don’t know how else to say it. He’s awesome. I LOVE his style, I love what he has to say. One thing that he says in this interview when he’s asked:
“Oh how do you feel about your people, how do you feel about Hawaiian music?” whatever and he’s like “you know, it’s everything to me, it’s my people, it’s my nation it means alot.” Even though it was really simple, the WAY he said it had so much power.
That music and the WAY he does things I think really affected me in terms of how I sing, the kind of songs I like so I would say he’s a big like Hawaiian music kinda person that kind of changed my life.
Another person that I really like that I used to sing a lot was like Frank Sinatra songs. I don’t really do that anymore but I think he kind of impacted me in the way of like - The songs that I would sing in the beginning, that was a huge part of it. Him and lot of those other guys as well as like kind of haole music influence in Hawaiʻi mixed with Hawaiian was a big one for me.
Bob Marley was a big one as well. I used to have one of those like Bob Marley paintings in my room, he was like my favorite artists for the longest time I used to listen to ALOT of his songs… Rat Race was one that I really really enjoyed, and of course, one of the first songs I recorded too was Waiting In Vain.
And yeah I feel like those would be some BIG time people that influenced my music styles. Even if it doesn’t show super hard (like I’m not singing with no reggae accent) those people were influential in the way that I view music, and the way that I think about writing music.
There’s other people too like there’s Country Comfort, Dennis Pavao, Liko Martin other people that kind of influenced the way that I think about music, the way that I write about music from here. Kalapana too, Olomana those would be like kind of the names I could toss out that might have influenced my kind of writing style and the way I kind of sing or play music.
Are there tinges of those artists and bands that inspire you within the sound of your music?
Yeah, in my music you can hear some of those things (I think). It’s hard for me to self-critique because I know that I’ll look at it and be like “ohh well I don’t know if it sounds like that” but from an outsider’s perspective, I’m sure there’s LOTS of those elements that you can definitely see. Maybe the way I strum, the way that I pronounce certain things, things that I kind of talk about I think those elements are there for sure.
Would you say music is your dream job and profession?
I have so many dreams, I think music is one of my highest dreams, and I would say that music is something that speaks to my emotional and spiritual, self fulfillment side.
I have kuleana to my people and to my nation, you know my lāhui. But I think music is something that I find so much peace in, and SO much satisfaction in, and so much connection in. Without music, I think I WOULD be a different kind of person.
I would say it is one of my highest dreams… I mean when you’re playing in front of a crowd of like I don’t know, 300 PEOPLE and you’re SINGING this message to them like “KUʻĒ KANAKA!” right like ‘BE those people that rise up’ that protest, that PUSH against the evils whatnot, they throw it right back at you.
In perfect timing. And you HEAR them yell it. And THEY’RE jumping and YOU’RE jumping…
You CAN’T tell me that’s not impactful. How could that not make you delusional?
What does it FEEL like to play music? To be in that realm whether you’re telling a story, or just jamming and putting out those vibes for people to try and catch, and be the source of that… what is that ‘feeling of music’?
When I pick up an instrument, it is an expression of me. It’s an extension of me. This instrument allows me to voice things I wouldn’t be able to otherwise voice. I’m able to say things I wouldn’t otherwise be able to say.
I can tell stories that… I mean how ELSE are you going to accept that into yourself? Sometimes music is the only way.
Being a Poly Science Hawaiian Studies Major, right, you learn very early on that the REVIVAL of Hawaiian Music, and the use of Hawaiian Music… changed the game, and the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement.
So, if music can inspire political change, music can also inspire SPIRITUAL change. It can do all of those things.
And what does that music… make YOU do?
What music does for me, I think it allows me to talk to myself.
And it allows me to SAY things that are hard to say or are scary to say, or I don’t feel brave enough to do sometimes. It’s like when people put on a hat right? They put on a hat. The music is like my hat. The music is a way for me to say things that ARE hard to do…
Can you give us an example from your own music?
I’ve written, many many songs. But a whole bunch of em have been quite sad *laughs*, and the reason being is because you know, it’s hard for me to talk about my feelings and my emotions and that kind of stuff… But through music, it’s just so easy. You’re able to like say these things and NOONE looks at you like “oh, look at this guy over here” no one’s gonna judge the person, they’re gonna hear the music and be like “Wow, I understand that…” and it just flows out.
Easy. And you can say it, and it’s done. And it still FEELS like you said it.
For like more happier ones too like eh. Sometimes it’s hard for people to hear a political message, sometimes it’s hard for someone to get behind something. But when you put it in a song, it almost feels… accepting, right?
Sometimes people feel like “Oh I can’t be a part of this movement, I can’t be a part of all these Hawaiian things”, and I tell em “Oh? Repeat after me: Kūʻe Kanaka.” And they say “Kūʻe Kanaka”…
Boom, right there you’re a part of it yeah? You’re a part of this hui. You’re a part of this group here. That’s the power of music.
It ALLOWS people to feel accepting of these things otherwise they wouldn’t be able to feel accepted in. It allows for myself to speak about the things that I FEEL, without feeling like I’m scared to say it, because it’s a song. It IS removed from me, but it’s also from me.
So it still wields that same importance… you know.
What is your routine like as a musician?
My routine, I have to get into a space where I’m by myself, and I have my things with me. I have my lyric sheet, I have my chords, and that kind of stuff, and I’m able to just play and repeat and play and repeat and play and repeat. It can get tedious, I can get tired of it sometimes too! But if it’s just me performing, sitting down with myself and running through it, and running through it.
Once I feel good enough inside, be like “alright, enough” I’m always gonna feel shaky when I go up, you’re ALWAYS gonna feel shaky. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have the things with you that you KNOW you’ll need.
If I’m doing it with a group though, I like to do it with them! Everyone together. We’re not HERE… separate, right? It’s not "you, you, you and you” it’s we. So when we do this, we do it as a team. We do it as a unit, and I really DO love playing as a group because you’re able to get so much MORE out of it than if itʻs just yourself... Like I love those videos of those guys with like the fuckin trombone on their hat and the bass drum on their back and like the harmonica in their mouth and the guitar in their hands, but to get the full human experience, you HAVE to have more than just you.
And that’s something that I’ve always loved about music, is it’s a way for us to come together, so if Iʻm performing as a group, WE’RE performing as a group, we’re practicing as a group, we’re doing this altogether - because thatʻs whatʻs important, right? You’re BUILDING this communal muscle where you know: When I sing this part, it’s your turn to go… And when it’s your turn to go, it’s their turn to go, and we all come together, and it sounds *snaps* perfect. And that’s something I value a lot: group play and just being a team. We’re all jamming together, we’re all doing this together as a unit. I think it’s really important youʻre playing as a group.
I think it feels amazing. Doesn’t it feel amazing when you’re AT the end of the song, you’re playing, everyone hits that frickin 3-part harmony… DONʻT EVEN GET ME STARTED *laughs*. It’s solid, right? You’re hitting the melodies, someone’s hitting the harmonies, someone’s hitting the lower harmony. Someone’s hitting the higher harmony, someone’s hitting a HIGHER harmony than that… The bass is going, the drums playing, mmm! You can’t get better than that.
That, I think for me, is fulfillment right there... And that’s very important in music.
Give us a crazy time you’ve had performing on stage, practicing, just jamming, etc.
*Laughs* crazy times? I’ve had a couple…
There’s been one time I was mid-performance and it started to pour and ALL the electronic equipment was out we were like “what is FUCKING GOING ON!?” and we had to like cover everything, cover mics and our sound tech was like going insane.
I used to set up for Kailua Music School Punk shows (in Kailua of course), and there was one time… It was like 300 people in a back alley and it was crazy. TOO many people.
I’ve had some shows where “I DON’T KNOW THE LYRICS” we’re like “WHAT” and we’re literally about to go on and we’re tryna figure it out *laughs*.
Do you ever forget any lyrics on stage?
*Laughs* YEAH, yeah yeah. I FORGOT a whole verse one time, on stage… I played it off like it never happened. I skipped the whole verse and I was like “Okay, well that just happened.”
LMAO Did you see anybody notice or like catch that you forgot that part at all?
Something that I think I can leave with a lot of people, especially like JUST coming into the music industry just like they wanna become a musician, they wanna perform - Aye do it with enough confidence, they’ll know nothing went wrong.
Do it with enough confidence? You didn’t mess up, you CHOSE that. It’s funny right? “OH THEY MISSED THAT VERSE!” Nah I didn’t miss that verse, I just didn’t want to play it *laughs*!
Same thing with hula: You do it confident enough, ain’t nobody gonna tell you you’re wrong… And again, same thing with music: Ain’t NOBODY gonna tell you youʻre wrong! If it SOUNDS good and you KNOW you got it going good… Don’t say it.
Don’t act like you messed up. Cause you didn’t. No one knows. Even if it’s a song everyone knows, it’s fine. You’re just ‘messing around with them’ right? You were like “Ope, I thought I was gonna take a verse out! I’m just messin with you guys…”
Act like you WANTED it to happen the whole time. Because if you acted like you wanted it to happen the whole time “Oh my God I messed up” you messed up. If you act like “Oh my God, what am I doing?” they’ll know something went wrong, right?
You wanna give a sense of confidence and a sense of assurance to the crowd that “No, things are good!”
You’re here to LISTEN to me, and that’s what’s gonna happen.
Can I ask what happens when you don’t do that?
If you don’t do that, people will know.
If you don’t do that, people will be like “Oh this guy’s shaky.”
I’ve seen it happen. Luckily, I’ve had enough small events before big ones to know that THAT’S like, how to act.
I’ve seen people mid-song like whip out their phone and be like “Ahhhhh uhhh uhhh” and just full on, basically facepalm. And um, I mean it sucks… It's shitty. But it is a learning experience right? Like “oh you wrote that a day ago? Where’s your lyric sheet then cause you probably didn’t memorize it,” “oh I don’t have one.”
I mean what are you gonna do? But, the thing is, you always have next time.
Music doesn’t stop when the performance ends. Music is at home, music is in your life, music is when you’re walking to school, when you’re listening on the bus. So, if you mess up one time that’s okay. The most important part is you don’t stop. The most important part is you DON’T put down the instrument and say “alright that’s enough.” You keep going.
You know I’ve seen people that’ve done that, and then move on to be incredible musicians! And they’ve recorded songs with people like Paniolo Prince or whateva! Like, that’s how EVERYONE bombs… Everyone, has a bad take.
It’s gonna happen. I’ve had it. It’s happened to me. I’m like “fuck that sucked that was a bad set.” “Oh, we really didn’t put our most into that” and I can tell. But that’s what you gotta do! You just gotta keep going cause if you stop you tell yourself “Oh my God that sucked that’s it”… then you’re gonna what?
You’re gonna leave, when it sucked? You’re going to leave the impression that… you sucked?
No. You keep going.
Cause then at some point, you’re gonna get better, and you’re gonna leave the impression that you’re good.
And that’s what matters.
Are there any hard times in music for you? If the negative or distraught feelings ever pop up, do you transfer that into your art and kind of turn it into a positive for you - As an Artist?
Yeah, I mean there are bad times in music. Sometimes you DO get burnout. Sometimes you’re sitting there like, I NEED to write a song, I WANT to write a song, and… Kaput. Like nothing comes up, and you’re sitting there like “Holy crap. I just want to write a song, I just want to get this thing out” and you can’t think of anything! You’re like having massive writer’s block, or nothing feels good…
You’ve been playing music for SO long, and now every chord progression just sounds bad to you. “Oh it doesn’t sound right” or “Oh it’s too bland” or “overplayed” whatever right? Those things add up, and you’re like “Oh my God I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I WANT to do it.”
Even like other people, it could be tough! If you’re in a band, people’s ego’s can get inflamed. You don’t like the way they did it, they take it personally. I mean sometimes it’s how it is. People are flawed. We’re all flawed. And so when it comes to that, you can GET writer’s block, you can get impatient and be like “GOD it doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t sound like how I want the sound.”
But you just gotta keep going. It doesn’t mean you ‘gotta keep going’ in that moment, but maybe take a break? Maybe lie down, maybe go out and get something to eat. Come back later. Come back later, and look at it again.
You writing something “ah this FUCKIN SHIT SUCCCCKKS” you know close the book, walk off, come back, “Wow, it wasn’t actually that bad, I mean” you look back on it “Oh I can just change this, yeah okay AH now it’s good.” And you’re like “Okay, why was I so heated? Why did it take SO much for me to get there?” but sometimes, you do just gotta take a step back. And just stop looking at it, be like “you know what? Maybe I have to breathe for a second now. It’ll get better later.” And it will! It will at some point.
That’s what I like to say, is there ARE bad times. You will have times where you don’t wanna play music. You’re like “fuck that, lemme just go play a videogame” “Let me go, I don’t know… talk to somebody!” “My hands fuckin hurt, I’m getting blisters!”
Like, let me slow down for a sec! And yeah that’s what you gotta do. It’s a natural thing… Everyone. Gets. Burnout. Everyone. Has. Hard times... It’s just about… what are you going to do afterwards. What are you going to do with it, next?
What do you do outside of music? Do you have any hobbies or crafts that keep you busy outside of it?
I also make Traditional Hawaiian crafts (as well as playing music). And the reason why is because back in 10th grade, a man by the name of Wesley Sen, he was our Cultural Practitioner for that grade. He taught us how to make kapa, how to like weave fans and do braids and all that kine stuff and it inspired something in me to practice the kinds of things that my Kupuna used to do.
Because it IS a dying art… well, it was a dying art. It’s coming back now, but there’s still so little people that actually do it! And for him, he learned from Kupuna, that’s the reason why I wanted to reconnect with him. So in my 1st year of college I reconnected back with him, I said “Kumu I got this Lauhala, I wanna learn how to make this kine stuff! Can you help me?” He said “Yes, come by my house, I teach you.”
No charge, nothing - I come by his house, he’s teaching how to do these things and you know, give it a year and suddenly I’m with HIM! I’m teaching at workshops, I’m weaving baskets with him, I’m making lei’s, I’m DOING workshops with him instead of him and… you know now this is the 2nd time I’m going to go to Merrie Monarch with him!
Last year, I went to Merrie Monarch with him and I did Fans and Kapa and NOW I’m gonna do Fans, Kapa and Earrings ALL KINE stuff, and I think these 2 things: The Music, and the Traditional Crafts… work together.
It’s a lot right? When my traditional crafts are a lot, I do music. When my music is a lot, I go to my traditional crafts. And they’re both aspects of me. One side, is my emotional side, the other side is my cultural side. And they influence each other correctly, they INFLUENCE each other, positively.
Do you do both activities as your profession? Are both more of a side job for you to give yourself another avenue of kālā on top of your regular work? Or is everything in music and crafts just more of a hobby for you in an overall sense?
I do crafts because it’s a part of who I am as a Hawaiian. That’s me… In my blood.
I do music because that’s who I am as a person. That’s me emotionally, spiritually. Crafts, Hawaiian Traditional Arts (Mea Hana Noʻeau) that’s a part of my koko, thatʻs a part of my blood, and that’s honoring my Kupuna. My Music, that’s honoring ME.
And so, I’m able to connect the presence and the past. The Future’s ALWAYS up for debate… but by ensuring that the parts of my people and culture that were from before, aren’t forgotten. I’m ensuring that they are coming here, now, to where I am. To the present.
My Music allows me to express myself, allows me to express my views and those things NOW, so I’m not stuck in the past. Not just, you know thinking about that. So I’m able to center myself through those. It brings pono, balance.
Would you say both keep you grounded in your culture? And if so, how?
Both crafts and music keep me grounded to my culture, because they’re both super important right? By giving me an opportunity to the exact same work that my Kupuna did hundreds of years ago, I’m using the SAME techniques… the SAME materials… I’m harvesting the SAME plants in the SAME way, I can create this pilina - this connection with them, that I don’t think I would be able to otherwise.
On the flipside: my music, I’m able to do things in a NEW way, in my way, in a way that hasn’t been done before. Maybe it has! But I haven’t heard it. And so, I’m able to explore my new self in that way. And that’s the kinda beauty of having both at the same time, right? Because 1 is good, and 2 is great. And I think doing both allows me to have a greater insight into what’s important.
The’re all connected. Even if it seems just by thin strings, they HAVE a purpose and they serve an internal/an emotional purpose for me, but also a cultural and an outwards purpose for me for the rest of the people. I write my own Hawaiian songs! And that’s a direct connection to my Kupuna. My Kupuna are able to speak through me, and TO me, by creating these crafts that I’m able to make.
*Holds lauhala fan* Yeah I mean stuff like this, right? It may seem simple, but the ACT of me making this… it is me doing my Kupuna’s work. I am doing the same work THEY did. And in a way, that helps me be closer to them.
When you talk about “Grounding yourself to your culture”, to you personally, why does it matter to keep your culture alive? For someone who’s NOT attached to their culture, who doesn’t know what it’s like to have that connection, and feels like they can’t say the same thing within something they do, how would you explain this ‘belonging’ to them?
“Why does it matter to keep your culture alive?”
I think that’s a privileged question… People have the “privilege” to forget who they are. Because somebody else will carry the burden for them. Or they feel like it doesn’t matter. Them forgetting who they are is unimportant, because there’s things that they can supplement themselves with that matter JUST as much…
I-I don’t know how else to say it: You can’t do that with people like us. My Kupuna didn’t live, for me to kill them.
And, I think some people have the luxury to be able to say “Oh, the culture’s not as important.” It’s a luxury, for people to not care about their culture, and for them to not feel like they HAVE to. It shows that you’re ‘safe’.
If you don’t have to care about your culture, there’s no one PUSHING you to be a part of it- Say we’re talking about American people right, people not being connected with their Scottish roots or their Irish roots they don’t HAVE to. There’s no one shaming them there’s no LOSS - There’s people on the other side of the world that are doing it for you.
There’s nowhere else, that Hawaiian Culture is present like this. We come from an island, in the middle of an ocean. And we’re CONNECTED by that ocean to our brothers and sisters, but we are in an ocean. And we’re, all alone. Together, but we’re all alone.
For us to forget who we are, would be, to jump off the cliff.
Because, if I don’t know who I am, what does it matter? I’m just a haole then. NOT saying that haoles are bad *laughs*, but… I’m not a Hawaiian then. And it’s not to say! “If you don’t know your culture, you’re not a Hawaiian then.” That’s not what I’m saying. But what I’m saying is letting it DIE, and ALLOWING yourself to be someone to say that “it doesn’t matter”, is rejecting who you are.
It doesn’t mean that you have to be good at it. It doesn’t mean that you have to be the best. It doesn’t mean you have to know everything! It doesn’t mean that you have to be a hula dancer! You CAN be a hula dancer you don’t HAVE to be though! But, it’s about at least putting in enough effort to KNOW who you are in relation to who was there before you.
Who you are is up to you, but what happened before is not. And it’s important knowing those things, because they allow you to DISCOVER who you are.
Not everyone is going to be good at ʻOli. Not everyone is gonna be good at Mea Hana Noʻeau. Not everyoneʻs gonna be good at music! Thatʻs fine. No one’s saying you HAVE to be… Maybe it’s just speaking Hawaiian, maybe it’s just planting a plant in your backyard.
Maybe it’s just learning a moʻolelo and telling it to your friends. But, if you don’t do it, no one else will. And, people are too reliant on the fact that somebody else is in college studying it.
But as we know, from like the times that we’re in now… the regime that’s over us now: Those THINGS, those RIGHTS that you have of like being able to learn what you want, and speak what language you want, those can disappear, those can be taken away from you, as quickly as sand falls through your fingers.
If you aren’t the one to at least take on some of that, then you’re throwing MORE of that on someone else.
And maybe they won’t be enough to catch that weight.
Wow. Mahalo for sharing this. Reminds me of almost like if you have a KID that you don’t wanna take care of, but it’s STILL your duty you know to take care of that keiki or children…
No EXACTLY like that. Someone explained it to me one time: “Kuleana, you don’t CHOOSE. It’s not a ‘Mea Koho’ it’s not a thing that’s chosen, it is a thing that is given, and it is a thing that is had.” Kuleana is not a ‘choice’… it is a responsibility.
When someone says ʻAuamo Kuleana…
Theyʻre not asking you to CHOOSE what thing you want to do and carry it.
They’re saying “Pick up your Responsibility.”
And what that is, is dependent on who you are. What it is, is what you are SUPPOSED to carry.
It’s not a choice. It is something. You. Are.
And everyone’s Kuleana is a little different. But THAT’S what it is, it’s a Kuleana! And people go about that differently in life, some people write songs, some people make crafts, (I’m kinda both). Some people protest (I’m kinda lidat), some people have kids! Some people they speak Hawaiian! Right? I think EVERYBODY can try and do that one.
But again right? This Kuleana you have as a Hawaiian, doesn’t mean - You NEED to be Superman. It doesn’t mean you need to be A ‘Kamakau’ or a ‘David Malo.’ But it means you gotta know something it means you gotta TRY do something, whether it’s like filmmaking, whether it’s whatever you do, you carry that with you.
Someone said one time *laughs*, “I don’t want EVERY Hawaiian Studies Major to just be one teacher, teaching Hawaiian Studies.” He said “Be A Hawaiian Studies Major, and go into engineering. Be A Hawaiian Studies Major, and go into law. And go into Marine Management. And go into Veterinary.”
Because The Culture is NOT DEFINED to ʻOli, and Hula, and Mele.
The Culture is a lifestyle.
It’s a way of BEING. It’s an ideology. It’s a way of thinking. It’s a way of “being kanaka.” And that is applicable to ALL walks of life. And if we try to pigeonhole it into just being some ‘white man’s hula’, or SOME narrow category that is only for ‘Cultural Practitioners’, then we failed. We failed our Kupuna, because *laughs* not every Kupuna was one GODDAMN KAHUNA! *Laughs*.
That wasn’t real! People were farmers! People were planters! People were weavers! People were politicians! And whateva whatever whateva whateva! I’m SURE there woulda been plumbers if we had gotten that far… In fact THERE WAS! We had some plumbing.
We cannot relegate those things to just, ‘Mystical Arts', cause we aren’t just some ‘Magical People’, we Hawaiian. We Kanaka Maoli more appropriately, and that’s something to be felt. That’s something to be done, and experienced - not something to be looked at.
What makes you Delusional in what you do, Hema? Whether as a Musician, as A Craftsman working on Hana Noʻeau, what makes you believe to the point of no other in what you’re doing, to the extent you’re taking everything now?
What makes me Delusional, is knowing deep in my Naʻau, *holds up Lauhala Fan and Ukulele* that these 2 things, they’ll work.
And I know, deep inside of me, that I’m gonna make them work… No matter what happens, no matter what comes at me, you’ll see me one day coming in with my OWN Pāpale, and my own Ukulele on stage, and that they will always be a part of me, no matter where I go.
Whether I’m a Professional Musician, and a Part Time Craftsmaker. Or I’m a Full Time Craftsmaker and a Part Time Musician, or I’m the Governor of Hawaiʻi *laughs* and a Part Time Musician and a Part Time Craftsmaker… those things will ALWAYS be with me, no matter what. I ain’t gonna let ANY of those things go. And I think that, knowing that I’ll always have it, and that I’ll always make it something that I WILL have, IS what makes me Delusional.
That “Yeah it’s 2 big things, Yeah it’s a lot of work, that’s what’s good about it!” That’s what makes me strive so hard to make it something a part of my life, you know. I’m gonna make it work, in music or in crafts.
Talking about challenges, are there any that you come across in Hana Noʻeau?
Oh God there’s too many.
There’d be times where, I’ll have made a weave SIX weaves down in my basket, and it’s wrong. And I have to UNWEAVE HALF THE BASKET just to GET to that, and then go back up. And I just wasted half an hour’s work.
But that’s the practice. You CAN’T forget about it. You HAVE to go to the source of the problem and fix it. If you don’t, everything else is messed up. One thing that teaches me is: I have to be CONSISTENT, and I have to be PERSISTENT.
Even if I mess up, that’s okay you mess up! What are you gonna do about it now? Are you gonna take away that weave and redo it or you gonna cry yourself to sleep, you be like “Oh my God I can’t do it.” You’re gonna TAKE apart that weave and you’re gonna redo it.
Because if you don’t fix that problem, everything else’s gonna fall apart. So yeah I come across a lot of pilikia, a lot of issues inside of weaving, in kapa, in crafts and stuff like that.
But I do my best to try and learn from them, and make it something that I can use, make it something important.
Have you ever given up crafts or playing music when the struggle became too much for a certain time?
No yeah I have.
I hadn’t picked up my Ukulele for like 2 months, it was just sitting for like 2 months. I was SO distracted with so many other things. And I mean there’s been times where I haven’t had a gig, or haven’t played or anything like that for a LONG time… I think look back at it and I’m like “Wow, I should’ve been playing throughout this whole time” because even if I’m not having gigs, even if I’m not making money, music is STILL important.”
Music still helps me find myself, and still helps me center myself, and still helps me express things and so even if I’m not doing anything… it’s ALWAYS important to have music. I think those times where I don’t do any of that, it’s most apparent after the fact. I look back and I’m like “Okay well I probably could’ve sang that out, I probably could’ve wrote a song about this”. And there’s moments where I probably could have REALLY used that emotion that I WAS having, to express something in song.
But now that it’s gone, it’s gone. And I think the same thing with crafts too. Like there’s been times where I haven’t picked up anything - No Lauhala, no Kapa for whatever, and then when I get back into it I’m like “this is so much fulfilling, this is so much fun, this is what I like to do… Wow I should’ve been doing more of this!” Yeah, there’s been times where life has taken over and I didn’t have time to get into those things, but RECONNECTING with reinforcers to me the importance that they have in my life.
First starting out and talking early on, how it was for you to go up on stage for the first time and sing while you were very nervous and mess up, or just experience what it was like “learning music” for the first time, for anyone just starting out in music like you did back then, what advice would you give to them?
Just give em.
I mean EVERYONE always says “JUST DO IT”, “DO IT”, “YOU’LL GET BETTER” but REALLY I mean fuck I would’ve never gotten this far if it wasn’t for the fact that Aunty Candy pushed me. If Aunty Candy had not PUSHED me to be a better musician, and not ENSURING that I performed IN FRONT OF people, ENSURING that I wrote songs, ensuring that I put my message out there and giving me the space to be creative… then I woulda never gotten as far as I have now.
I mean there’s no way. If you don’t do it, you’re not GONNA do it... I think that’s really apparent in music. People can tell when you haven’t sung. People can tell when you haven’t practiced. People can tell when you know aren’t doing ‘XYZ’, because it shows in your work. And the same thing can be true for my Hana Noʻeau! If you’re getting into it, doesn’t matter if it looks ugly, JUST keep doing it, just KEEP TRYING. Look at what you’re doing, and then YOU do it on your own.
Look at what the person you wanna be like is doing, and THEN try and do some of those things. If you SEE them playing the guitar, learn the guitar! If you see them singing, try sing, if you see them weaving, try weave! It’s only gonna get better by you DOING it. It’s not gonna magically BE better the next morning. You HAVE to put in the work. But don’t be afraid to mess up. Everyone messes up.
Everyone EXPECTS you to mess up. So, don’t feel like you can only be perfect, because you’re not gonna be. The Beauty in life, is that there’s flaws. The Beauty in crafts, is that it’s different every time you make it. No one wants the same thing. And that’s the same thing in life: You’re never gonna get the same result…
Who do you want to give mahalos to that made you/ makes you the person that you are today?
There’s plenty people that I wanna mahalo: Aunty Candy Diaz for being my music mentor! Since I was in 7th grade (Oh my God how many years is that?) Well over 6, I would probably say 8 years now being my music mentor (Jesus Christ since I was 12 or 13).
I want to mahalo Wesley Sen, for bringing me in and deciding to teach me FREE of charge, and bringing me along to Merrie Monarch and every workshop he does, it’s been an AMAZING journey with him, and I’m super glad that I could be one of his haumana.
Mahalo to the Mea Kanu that I take from, mahalo to the Mea Pila I play on… I wanna thank my Kupuna, for giving me the tools and the skills that I NEED to do the things that I’m doing now, and those being like in specifics, but generally, mahalo nō!
To the people that listen to me, to the people that help me along the way, to the lāhui for being there. And for being something in my life. I wouldn’t be the same person I was if it wasn’t for any of those things.
How’s life in general going for Hema? How’s life looking outside of Mele and Hana Noʻeau for you?
Yeah I’m still in school, I’m gonna (hopefully) graduate Spring of 2026 with a DOUBLE Major in Hawaiian Studies and Political Science! I’m looking to record one of my songs “Kūʻē Kanaka” and hopefully many more, I’ll be at Merrie Monarch (you’ll probably see this video after the fact) I’ll be selling crafts, and I’ll be making Kapa and Lauhala and plenty of that kine stuff!
So You going plug da socials or?
Plug in da socials! My personal is @lord_hemaboiz!
For my crafts, as of right now, I don’t have a website… BUT you can dm me through any of my socials, not Facebook, just do Instagram, but you CAN also email me at hema.watson808@gmail.com. And when I do have an official page, it’ll be linked right here.
ALSO for my music @hemawatsonmusic Hopefully we can turn that into something nice, and hopefully you’ll hear me on Spotify one day or on YouTube whateva! *Laughs*. SUPER big Mahalos to Grayson “GK” Kostron for filming me, Thank you Liliʻuokalani Trust for having us meet, thank you Landon for being the best boss eva.
Super big mahalos, super big UPS to all these people, come check me out, come support me, come support GK, and mahalo nui!
STOP DEFLECTING HEMA DROP YOUR MUSIC, Everyone reading this and watching please tell Hema Watson to put out his music! Like ACTUALLY put em out there brah, we NEED it we NEED them original songs and Hema covers.
*Laughs* YEAH I need to put out my music! Yeah too many songs, too little recordings *laughs*.
What is your final message to everyone in the palace?
E Hoʻomau kākou, ʻo hoʻo kanaka paha, i nā ʻaʻole ʻoe hana, nā ʻaʻole mea, mea mai kēlā.
If you don’t work, nothing from that... I NEED to learn this myself, record my goddamn music, but if you don’t do it, it’s not gonna happen. Make it happen. Do it. Fuck it. Take as many chances as you want. Be Delusional, be Delusional in what you DO, be Delusional in what you want… Aim for the stars, and you’ll go far. Shoot for the pond, you know where you’re going.
Be aspirational in what you want, be realistic in what you get… but don’t stop dreaming, and ALWAYS:
Be Delusional.
follow hema watson here.
Hema Watson:
“You take care of all the plants because they're all connected. Down to The Mycelium; the mushroom roots that connect all of it, the big roots of the plant itself, ALL of it's connected…”
- Hema Watson
