Video from the RecycleAThon...

Hey everyone,

We recently just finished up our 6th performance of the year, one of which was at the 1st Annual RecycleAThon and Sustainability Fair held at the Lab School. We played a couple of short sets and here's one of the highlights - another song from Haiti...





As usual, you can find more of our music on our YouTube channel. Last week-end we played at the Waikiki Shack to a packed and crowded house. It was our last scheduled performance of the year...

Until next time,
The Lab School Funk Band

Video from Alu Like...

Here are a couple of the videos from our recent Alu Like performance...

The World is New (Save Ferris)



Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)



You can find more on our YouTube channel:

Also, here's a heads up - we'll be playing again in January for the Lab School homecoming festivities. We'll have special alumni guests joining us and we'll be joined again by Thee Laborettes singing some cool new songs... mark your calendars for Saturday afternoon/evening on the 23rd of January!

See you soon,
The Funk Band

The Big Day...

Pride. Relief. Accomplishment. Excitement. Hunger. Achievement. In addition to wanting to do the whole thing all over again, these were just a few of the feelings we had as we sat down to share our celebratory meal after last Saturday's Alu Like performance. Like all things, after 3 months of anticipation, the big day came and went - and faster than we expected. Our performance included a mixture of nerves and excitement, aloha attire, nice black shoes and polished instruments, all contributing to make it a fun day for everyone.

Our hard work and practice over the course of 3 months helped to create Funk Band history. Not only was it the first time we've ever performed with freshman members, it was also the fastest we've ever compiled a full-length, 45-minute set list (9 songs!). However, as with all accomplishments, we couldn't have done it all on our own. We have to thank our friends and family and all the great folks at Alu Like (especially Auntie Lani and Kalehua) for helping and supporting us. Not only did we get the opportunity to perform for a great cause, but Kalehua even got us on the radio the day before to promote the event, play some of our music and hang out in the radio station - how cool is that? And not to mention Mr. Jeremiah for supporting and believing in us (and making sure we had a place to rehearse!) and the other Lab School faculty members who came to watch us play. And of course, there's always Mr. Agena who was there with his 3 video cameras documenting our show - be sure to check out our YouTube channel for the some new video posts! And of course, we had lots of special guests sharing the stage with us and filling out our sound and even taking over the lead vocals for our hana hou, I'm Yours. Thee Laborettes (we missed you Alexis!) lent us their beautiful voices on most of our songs, as did our ubiquitous and distinguished alumnus, William Pascua, who always seems to be there when we need him. And Marc James Uy (with help from The Laborettes) in addition to helping Melissa on Time After Time, sang a beautiful version of Jason Mraz's superhit, I'm Yours. They all worked hard and our performance would not have been the same without them.

Now that we've got the ball rolling, we're all looking forward to more upcoming performances. Next week, Tuesday and Wednesday, we'll be performing for the ULS Japanese sister schools. It'll be a chance to do a number of mini-performances in a short amount of time and work out more of the kinks in our set list. Farther ahead, the Funk Band will also perform for the Homecoming festivities in the latter part of January and our school's recyclathon in February. Be sure to check back for more details and more performance dates!

Of course for now, after the Thanksgiving holiday, we'll be heading back into the woodshed to continue practicing. We have some new songs we'll be doing with Thee Laborettes, more funk, more world music and more surprise guests in the works. And we promise to try and keep up with our blog posts!

So we're looking forward to seeing you in our audience soon, but in the meantime, keep groovin' green!

The ULS Funk Band

Funky Status...

Greetings Funk Band Fans!

Well, we're only a few weeks away from our first performance and we're really stoked. We've all been practicing hard. We have revamped some old songs from last year with the help of our new players and, even though it's been a challenge to balance school, music and sports, the band and the music are most definitely starting to gel.

From our rocking percussion section to our smooth saxes, we're developing a brand new sound for the band. This new sonic territory includes some surprises that will leave you wanting more. Now, not to worry, even though our blog posts are sporadic, our music practice is not.

We're also continuing to learn about the big picture including relating important messages (like about grooving green!) and positive vibes with our music. We're like a pebble in the big pond, sending out ripples of green funky positive vibes.

Speaking of good causes, we'll be playing for Alu Like's Literacy Fair (see the cool poster above) which supports their Native Hawaiian library. The fair starts at 10 a.m. and goes 'til 3 p.m. and you can catch us on-stage at 1:00 p.m. With the performance just a few weeks away, mark your calendars for November 21st for the funk band's debut in the local community performance circuit. We hope to see you there (458 Keawe Street in Kaka'ako). In addition to hearing us, a bunch of other great local performers will be on hand (check out the poster!), including Natalie Ai Kamauu, Danny Carvalho and the Lab School's own 4th and 5th grade ukulele wizards (catch them at 10 am).

But we've get back into the woodshed and polish our repertoire, so...

...'til next time,

The Funk Band

Meet Shawn...

Dear Funk Band Fans/Readers:

Some of you may not know me yet. My name is Shawn V. - I play drums and I have been playing and taking lessons for 3 years. I am in the 9th grade and playing drums is my passion and my favorite hobby.

I'm going to start off by talking a bit about practice. Practice is essential! I try to practice everyday, but with school, homework and sports, it is tough. When I practice, I try very hard not to make mistakes, because if you keep playing wrong notes, your body and mind will adapt to that and you will think you are playing it right when you're not. I think that you should always practice on your own when you can, so when you practice with the band, you know what it sound like and you know your part.

On November 21st, we will perform for the first time this school year, so mark your calendars. We have a really good set list and we'll be playing a variety of songs. I can't wait to play, and I'm sure that everyone who shows up to hear us play won't be disappointed.

I am glad that I joined the Funk Band and I have no regrets. The whole band is amazing and everyone sounds really good. If you did not know already, this is the first year of 9th graders and Funk Band is no longer an elective for grades 10-12. I am thankful that I have been given the opportunity to be in the Funk Band.

Shawn

And We're Back!!

Greetings Funk Fans...

It's great to be back in school and in the funk groove. This year even though things are different, we're feeling the potential to be better than ever, so we're all extremely excited. Although we lost two people from last year, we have gained some amazing new players who will definitely spice things up for us. We're stoked to start playing again, but we know it will take hard work and discipline to get us ready to hit the stage.

As always we have a diverse repertoire that we're developing and guess what? We have horns again! Not only that, for the first time ever, freshman are now in the band and will most certainly bring a few new dishes to the table. For all our devoted fans who've been following us over the years, don't worry - we have a few surprises waiting in the wings.

We're looking at our first performance being on November 21st. Check back soon for all the details and don't forget to Groove Green...

Mahalo for keeping in touch,
The ULS Funk Band

First Day Playing!!!

Hey Funkband Fans!

Today was our first day playing instruments together as a group. It was a lot of fun, but we still have a long way to go before we can starting performing. We are working on a really fast upbeat ska song with awesome horn solos and a very classic ballad which I'm sure most of you have heard before. I'm not going to say the names of the songs just yet. You'll just have to come and see our performances in order to find out. :)

This year, we moved all our equipment from the band room over to the orchestra portable. At first, we were all a little worried it would sound terrible in there, but it actually wasn't bad. We didn't get a single bit of feedback :)...yet. I hope it stays that way.

As far as how we did on our first actual rehearsal day, I think we did okay. I was happy that most everyone sort of knew their parts - the new funk band members are getting off to a good start. I am proud of them.

I hope we can all keep up the hard work and that our rehearsals will continue to get better and better. Come visit the funk band website soon for new updates. We'll be posting more information about our upcoming performance on November 21st. (Mark your calendars!)

Much love,
Melissa

Ala Moana CenterStage

Friday was our performance at Ala Moana CenterStage. It was amazing! I had so much fun and everything went so well. Setting up the stage took a while. It is really hard transporting all our equipment from school to Ala Moana and I really want to thank the parents who helped and the siblings and friends who helped as well.

After the stage was all set up and we were back stage, I felt so jittery and nervous. I don't remember being as nervous last year as I was this year. The whole week before Friday I kept trying to imagine the performance and it went better than I could have hoped for.

Iris was so good! The one song I was so extremely nervous about went as best as it could. I actually got compliments on my singing and it felt so good because I was afraid my voice would sound bad. And I also want to thank the orchestra for not sounding too bad either!

Once the performance was over I couldn't stop smiling. I just couldn't believe it was over - all our hard work for the year was done. When I think about it, it's pretty amazing how we went from the horrible performance on Friday Funk on the Lawn to an amazing performance at Ala Moana. I couldn't be happier.

Though this year is over for Funk Band, it certainly has been a year of ups and downs. And we'll be back next year, so don't forget about us - the Funk Band.

Have a good summer,
Melissa

Performance '09

This year's Ala Moana performance was a TRIP. I literally felt like I was onstage for a total of 5 minutes. All our preparation and stress was over in what felt like a matter of minutes.

I don't know about anyone else, but I was extremely nervous. Again, right as we were about to go onstage, I started getting the shakes and the sweats. Trust me on this one, it wasn't my best look. Anyway, we went onstage and everyone who loves us was out in the audience smiling and excited. That was what made me feel at least a tad bit better, and as soon as we started playing I felt like we were back in the band room, only with a lot of people watching us.

I know I didn't play everything perfectly, and even though that is what I was striving for I still feel that I did the best that I could and I am happy with it. I know it wasn't a perfect performance, but afterward everyone said they loved it, which made me feel good. I was part of something that made others happy and I did it through music. Which is pretty awesome if you ask me.

All in all, I would say this year's performance was a success in that we made others happy through our music. Not to mention we were able to come together as a band and as friends.

Claire

P.S. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO CAME AND SUPPORTED!

P.P.S. I still have t-shirts (a limited amount) if anyone is interested.

Performance...

The performance was amazing! I had so much fun! I had a voice problem but I think I pulled through. I had a fever the day before and I ate well and drank a lot of water and I got it down for the performance. The only problem was I had a bad cough. While I was performing I lost my voice mid-singing, but I made it sound like part of the song (I tried) and I tried to keep my voice steady but it faltered only sometimes. I think my over all performance was good.

I also learned how my nerves work. I don't get nervous until 30 seconds before we go on. But it goes away during the first song. I feel that the more I perform, the easier it gets, and the more fun it gets!

I also learned that honey helps a hurt throat so much! I was so surprised when I ate raw honey, my throat was all better, but then halfway through, my voice gave out and I had to recover quickly but the honey was amazing.

Well, thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the show!

Max

Ala Moana Concert...

Dear Readers,

We just finished our Ala Moana Concert and it was awesome. The whole day was crazy. The whole day I was freaking out and getting nervous as the performance came closer. We packed up at 3:30 and went to Ala Moana to perform. We had 6 cars carrying musical instruments and gear for the concert. It felt like we were a real rock band.

When we got there, I felt like the adrenalin came to me. We set up and sound checked and headed back stage to get ready for the big show. When we started to play, the concert went by so fast. It felt like as soon as we played Tighten Up (our first song) we played Breakdown (which was our last song).

My favorite songs that we played were Sweet Darlin' and Iris. Our harmony in Sweet Darlin' was so tight. Also, I loved how the accompaniment of the orchestra filled the song Iris.

I want to perform again. Readers, if you are wondering if I am coming back next year, I am proud to say I am going to be in Funk Band next year (if we have one). So this will be my last blog. I will catch you next year. Don't worry, Mr. Zorn, I will practice during the summer OK?

Catch you later,
Micah G

Final 2 Weeks...

Dear Readers,

The final two week are coming by fast and I am pressuring out. I have two weeks to be confident and ready for the big day when we play at Ala Moana Center Stage. I am more pumped to play than nervous. Well, that will probably change as the performance comes closer and closer.

I hope we will kill it in all the songs. I hope Claire starts it up with a kickin' groove on Tighten Up! I also hope our harmony in Kouman Sa Ta Ye is spotless. I hope Spirits in the Material World will have a great upbeat tempo for the crowd to love. I hope Max makes everyone have a beautiful day when sings Beautiful Day. I hope I don't screw up in Sweet Darlin'. I believe that Melissa is going to make Iris great with the accompaniment of the orchestra.

Hopefully we will rock it and see you there at Center Stage!

Catch you Ala Moana,
Micah

Nervous Nelly...

I don't know when it happened, but someone definitely pressed the fast forward button on time. All of a sudden it is only a couple of days before our first Friday Funk on the Lawn, which will take place this upcoming Friday, (April 17th) right after school around 2:50 p.m. I have been practicing, but I am still very nervous. My palms definitely sweat whenever I think about it.

I don't exactly know where my nervous anxiety is coming from, but I think it could be a number of things. It could be from the fact that I might have to emcee again this year. Talking to a crowd and trying to motivate them is definitely not as easy as it looks. Especially for me, because when I get nervous I start talking faster and faster, and then words start coming out before I've even thought of them yet. A can of paint becomes a pan of caint. Great will become grood because I started off saying great and ended up saying good. Almost... Hopefully, this year those things won't happen. I just need to remember to breathe. Breathing is good. :)

I could also be nervous from the lack of a long productive practice this past weekend. During school days we only have about 30 minutes together, tops and that really isn't enough to put some changes in effect, or do anything other than run through songs or perfect sections we already know. Maybe I could talk to the principal and ask to have a day when funk band is excused from classes, so we can prepare for this Friday. I think he would say yes...don't you think? Perhaps not then, but I know that if we can just practice really productively at home, and put forth a lot of positive energy on Friday, we can do it. I know we can, I just hope my mouth does us justice.

That's all for now -
Claire

Ala Moana Rescheduled...

So recently we have found out that we have to cancel our big funk band performance on the last day of school. The reason is because we have to go to the Senior Aloha to help out. But don't worry everyone, because we have rescheduled. May 8th is now the big day. It is the Friday before school is over. So please, all of you, come to our Ala Moana performance.

We currently have a lot of work to do in one month. I really want to be able to play the new songs we are working on - they are all so awesome, but we all really need to get all of our parts down. It's a lot of work getting a single song down - I really hope we get all of them together for you guys.

Oh, and don't forget that this Friday is our first Friday Funk on the Lawn. We will be playing a lot of songs for you guys. So after school, just come out and dance and have fun listening to us.

Melissa

Recycling and Rehearsals...

Hey funk band fans!

Today we are recycling at school to make money for the funk band. Pretty much what happens is we get all the recycling trash cans from the whole school and we dump out all the bottles and cans into a big pile. Besides all the bottles and cans from around the school, we bring all of our own cans and bottles that we've saved up at home. And all together that is a lot of cans and bottles. So after everything is in one big pile we separate the aluminum cans, the plastic bottles and glass bottles. Sometimes it is really gross because people throw some pretty reandom and disgusting things into the recycling cans. Ewww! There were orange peels, pancake on a stick and lots of bugs. Thank goodness we had plastic gloves - it would really suck if we had to pick up everything without them. Anyway, at least for everything we recycle today we will get cash in return!

Tomorrow (Sunday) we are coming in to start rehearsing again. We have six more weeks 'til the end of school, which means five more weeks until our big performance at Ala Moana Center Stage! (Friday, May 8th) I'm scared but excited. Last year, it went really well. I just hope it's at least as good as last year. Maybe, hopefully even better. Besides preparing ourselves for our big Ala Moana performance, we are rehearsing for our Friday Funk on the Lab School Lawn, which is the same thing we did last year where we play five or six songs outside the MPB for all you guys.

We are working on a few new songs besides the ones we played for Homecoming. We have Sweet Darling by Fiji, Molde Canticle (jazz/funk by Jan Garbarek), and Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. They are all really good songs. I hope that you all come out and support us at our Friday Funk on the Lawn and just have fun. We might even be selling our CDs of recordings by then.

Oh, and don't forget about our funk band t-shirts for sale! They are going fast and they might be gone soon, so make sure you talk to one of the funk band members to get one. So be here or be square on April 17th (our first Friday performance)!

Thanks!
Melissa

Recording & Performing

Hey Everyone...

We had a very productive week-end. We got pretty much everything recorded. My favorite song we recorded was Watchtower, but I also loved our versions of Beautiful Day and Waiting on the World to Change. I can't wait to hear the final mixes because at the moment we only have rough mixes. Hopefully we get to do another one of these sessions so we can record all of the new songs we are learning. I got a lot of practice done during the weekend. I think that the best part of our mini-chilla was watching everybody nail their parts for the recordings. I loved hearing the numerous solos we recorded.

Well, from here on out all we have to work toward is our Friday Funk on the Lawn shows and our Ala Moana performance. I hope that we can get enough practice in so our live versions are as good as the recordings we did. Getting the right tone for our instruments live will be another huge challenge for us. I worked out a lot of my settings during the chilla. I got the tones all set but the sound will be very different at Ala Moana. I am super excited for our performance. The chilla gave us a good idea of how we are capable of sounding. I think we definitely are going to learn a lot from our Friday Funk on the Lawn performances. There is really no way to simulate playing live so we are going to have to make some adjustments when we get down there.

The guitar sound running through the computer sounded so awesome through the recording headphones. I think that Micah deserves the biggest high five ever for his Watchtower solo. It's my favorite one. We did such a good job on that weekend and got our stuff, but you have to remember that the classical musicians (in India) do what we did at a higher level and for 40 DAYS. I don't think anyone that I know could handle something like that. I hope we get to have another recording date because we got so much done during this one.

I want to nail all my parts at our performance. Our Ala Moana performance will be the culmination of everything we have done during the year. With a lot more practice we could put on an amazing show. We have worked so hard toward this so there is no way we are going to be unprepared at the time. The Ala Moana performance last year was awesome and I was a spectator because I wasn't in the funk band yet. I think we have even more potential this year because we have a huge set list. I am really excited for the final mix of our recordings. Gotta go practice!


Groove Green,
Tem

Well-Rehearsed is VERY Important

To be well-rehearsed means that you have practiced so much that you know everything about what you are performing. It means you have formed good habits, and you don't have to think about what you're playing anymore. When you are well-rehearsed enough that you don't have to think about your part you can start to listen to the rest of the band and hear how each part fits together. Being able to play and listen to the rest of the band can help show you your proper purpose in the song.

If the whole band is well-rehearsed, then the performance comes off sounding professional and groovy - if the band doesn't have to worry about their own parts, they can just groove! And then the audience will feed off that energy and it will exponentially grow into a fantastic performance.

That's my theory anyway...

Claire

The Energy of Music Performance...

Why do we perform?



An age old question that brews in the back of our mind. Through my life at least, I have been asking myself that question. Taking funk band as my elective class has given me the opportunity to slowly find the answer to my life long question.

What knowledge I have gained is that people are attracted to energy. Whether it be positive or negative energy people are drawn to it and, what's more, there are many forms of getting energy from outside sources. Music, no matter what kind, will give off a certain energy. The reason people are attracted to music is that they enjoy feeling the energy of the music running through their bodies. My theory on why people love live music and why it makes thousands of people flock to one certain area is that there are two exchanges of energy. With recorded music, there is only one flow of energy, which is to you from the source of the music. With the live music, the energy is exchanged between both the audience and the performers. The emotion and feeling of the music is given to the audience by the performers and the audience gives the energy back to the performers. That is why live music is loved by everyone - there is an exchange between everyone and everyone feels it.



Thanks for reading!
Max

Performing in a Band...

Being in a band is a lot harder than people think.

Most people think that you have to practice a lot and rehearse, but that's not all there is to it. You have to focus while you practice. This is my first experience in a band. We have performed for the visiting Japanese students and also for the Homecoming concert after the games. Both times I was very nervous and my foot on the high hat kept shaking. And that made it hard to keep the high hat down.

It is different on stage compared to being in the audience. It feels really different because everyone is watching what you do, so you don't want to do anything stupid or mess up your part.



But it is all worth it in the end. To be able to be in a band - that is a good experience.

Kule'a

I want to tell you a secret...

Hey you... Yah you!

I want to tell you a secret. You think you can handle it? Well, I am going to tell you anyway.

The UH Lab School Funk Band is playing new songs. I didn't believe it at first either, because this is some big news - one of the new songs we are playing is Sweet Darlin' by Fiji! It is such a fun and cool song to play. Another new song we are playing is by Archie Bell and the Drells called Tighten Up. It is also a fun song to play - we even have a dance for it. Maybe you'll see our dance moves at a performance. These songs will go great with our already unique repertoire.

I'm hoping we'll get to rock out and jam to these songs at a performance soon. But don't tell anyone I told you this. Say it was Max who told you. He is the man.

I'll catch you later! Bye!
Micah