Compilation Highlights Local Punk, Rock, Indie

on March 7, 2016 at 10:40 am

Failed Orbit Records created a compilation featuring works from 17 local artists
FAILED ORBIT RECORDS PHOTO

A couple of weeks ago, a sassy girl I met on Tinder told me that she was so over Hawaii and wanted to move away. I was disappointed, but not surprised. It’s something I’ve heard before.

Before I judge someone’s desire to depart, I always ask where they are hoping to move and what they expect will be better somewhere else. I understand and can relate to someone wanting to experience winter, learn how to snowboard, or pursue academic or career opportunities. I also understand the idea of simply wanting to explore other places to see what life is like off-island. However, when someone tells me that it’s because there isn’t any good music out here, unless they have been to a ton of shows or have a very particular interest in a regional sub-genre, I know that he or she doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

One of the biggest complaints that I hear is that there aren’t any good bands except for Jawaiian/island bands, but usually whoever complains about this hasn’t spent any energy going out to try to find any bands. If you feel like you’re in this boat, then lucky for you, local DIY label Failed Orbit Records has been putting a lot of work into rounding up some of Honolulu’s best underground artists for a compilation release of 17 local bands/musicians.

Failed Orbit has been supporting the local scene by organizing shows since 2014.

Compilation albums like this are a good way to document our island’s creative culture, and the release features The Even Odders, THANKS, The Anime Club, Aura Bora, T.v. Microwave, Jay, Fracture HI, Nothing Follows, Smoked Solid Dairy, Titty, , Eroica, Alive And Swell, The Bougies, Beaman, Poncho and Earl Grey.

I spoke with Jhune Liwanag, one of Failed Orbit’s founders, about the origins of the label/collective. It started, she told me, when local punk band Beaman began putting it on their DIY releases. At first it was just a fun name to put on their releases, but a collective formed around it. Eventually, Ray Farias, Kevin Tit, Rob Cunningham, Eduard Panen, Will Adair, Joey Green and Erik Oseto began to organize things further and teamed up with visual artists Micah McDermott, Alyssa Guzman, Caleb Hartsfield, Mai Oseto and Katrina Guillermo. They initially started fundraising through throwing shows to bring in visiting bands, but later expanded to be an ever-changing collective of indie, rock and punk groups working together to enhance the music scene in Honolulu.

To celebrate the release of the compilation, Failed Orbit is hosting a free, all-ages show presented by Mori by Art + Flea at the Art + Flea Hide Out in Ward Warehouse from 6 to 10 p.m. March 5. The compilation will be available on CD and cassette, and a limited-edition T-shirt will be for sale.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CHECK OUT FAILED ORBIT ON BANDCAMP (FAILEDORBITRECORDS.BANDCAMP.COM) AND FIND THEM ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM.

FACEBOOK.COM/ANTONGLAMBMUSIC