Today we’d like to introduce you to Kala’e Camarillo.
Hi Kala’e, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born and raised in Kihei, Maui, and I come from a family of music educators and entertainers. My grandfather, George Camarillo, started the first ʻukulele band in Hawai’i public schools at Waiakea Intermediate, and my father, Rama, followed in his footsteps by becoming an ʻukulele teacher as well. In addition, my mother, Cora, is the sister of multi Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winner (Hawaiian Grammy’s), Lehua Kalima of the group Nā Leo Pilimehana.
At the age of seven, my father taught me to play the ‘ukulele, which led to me picking up other instruments like the guitar, bass, and piano. By the age of 12, I began gigging weekly with my father at the Maui Coast Hotel. While a senior at Kamehameha Schools Maui, my cousin (Dane Lum Ho) and I won the statewide competition, “Band Champ,” a Tom Moffat Production. Upon winning, we were awarded the opportunity to open for two major acts: America and The Stylistics.
In 2009, I moved to O’ahu to attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where I played on the men’s volleyball team and graduated with a degree in Elementary & Special Education. My education and passion for music led me to becoming a third-generation music teacher (Kapalama Elementary) and professional musician. Both my brother (Kamaka) and I entered the local music scene together as the Camarillo brothers but eventually started to focus on our own solo careers.
In 2017, I released my debut album entitled “Working Man,” which garnered me a nomination at the prestigious Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (Hawaii Grammys), recognizing me as one of Hawaii’s “Most Promising Artists.” In 2019, I followed that up with my sophomore album, “Feel at Home,” which was produced by Hawaii’s very own three-time Grammy Award Winning Producer, Dave Tucciarone. “Feel at Home” went on to win me my first ever Na Hoku Hanohano award for Contemporary Acoustic Album of the Year. In 2021, I released a song I wrote for my Mom, “Be Like You,” which garnered nominations for Song of The Year & Single of The Year.
My third and most recent project, a 6 track EP entitled “Child of These Islands,” was engineered and produced by Grammy-nominated producer, Imua Garza (Zeo Music). I am currently still performing live 5 nights a week on top of being a school teacher. I hope to continue to spread my music around the world and start performing out of the state of Hawaii as much as possible.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I didn’t really sing until my senior year of high school. Before that, I was mainly and instrumental ‘ukulele player and occasionally sang backups but never thought of myself as being a natural vocalist. I’ve really grown into my voice over the past five years and can now look at my voice as a strength of mine rather than a weakness. Also, it has been challenging trying to find my niche in the music scene here in Hawaii. I can play Hawaiian music, but I play it in more of a contemporary style rather than the traditional sound. I’ve been learning to embrace it and use this as my strength and have found the venues that are most suitable for my style of music.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have found a passion in songwriting over the past 10 years. I really enjoy to play my originals and consider my stuff to be a mixture of island contemporary music and folky singer/songwriter vibes. I now specialize in live looping, but I keep my loops simple at my gigs. I mainly just loop rhythm guitar, bass, and percussion by tapping on my guitar. What sets me apart from others is that I often loop a song on my guitar and switch over to my ‘ukulele to play over the top of the loop.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I have always been a risk taker. One of my favorite things I’ve always said is “Just Charge.” I’ve always had a “Just Charge” mentality and have always pushed myself to step out of my comfort zone. I’d often commit to do things that I was terrified to do but knew that if I committed, it forced me to have to prepare myself so that I would be ready to perform when the time came. I’m a big sports fan, especially of basketball. When I heard Michael Jordan say “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” that stuck with me and I’ve had that mentality ever since. One risk I took was saying yes to performing the National Anthem at a sold-out University of Hawaii Women’s Volleyball game (which holds 10,000 people), only getting asked one week before the game and never performing that song ever before. It forced me to practice and be prepared and I’m happy that I did because they still ask me back to perform every year ever since doing it that first time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kalaecamarillo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kcamar/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kcmusic808
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Kcamar/videos
