JookBox City

The band (from left) Rawnie Lovely, Kahnma K and Aaron Friedman

In 2012, it seemed that local reggae band JookBox City was right on the cusp of blowing up. The trio — comprised of lead singer Kahnma K, keyboardist/vocalist Rawnie Lovely and bassist Aaron “Dubalator” Friedman — had a single, Wishing Well, that was getting some serious radio play, they were earning high praises from other local musicians for their live performances, and they were working on putting together an album.

But in the intervening years, between K and Lovely, a married couple, having a daughter, and then the band dealing with a string of management issues, they’d had to delay their album.

Now, they’re set to release their debut album, Kill ‘Em With Love, comprised of 11 tracks, complete with radio darling Wishing Well (as well as other singles you might recognize: Shadows and The Kind of Here I Am), all displaying the kind of upbeat pop-reggae that first garnered the band attention. Taking things into their own hands, the album’s been self-produced, made inside K and Lovely’s home studio via Yucky Apple Studios, Lovely’s recording production company.

“We have been sitting on (the album) for two years, waiting for the right situation to put it out,” says K. “So at this point … we said we really just need to do it on our own and just create our own lane, be our own manager for now.”

Kill ‘Em With Love comes out Feb. 6, marked by a release party at Crossroads at Hawaiian Brian’s starting at 9 p.m. JookBox City will perform backed by a 10-piece band comprised of other local musicians. Backwards Shaka and J-Wizdom will open, and DJ Coop D’ville will perform throughout the night.

The band inside their home studio, aka Yucky Apple Studios, where they recorded ‘Kill ‘Em With Love’

JookBox City formed in 2012, but its origins go back further than that — all the way back to MySpace. K and Lovely first connected on the site in 2007 — “I was creeping on her page and listening to all the tracks that she recorded,” Lovely recalls — and later happened to bump into each other. In 2010, K and Friedman played together in a band called Family Dinner. One night Friedman, who also knew Lovely separately through another musician friend, ran into the pair playing an acoustic set together. So it only seemed natural for all three of them to team up.

Although their album release hasn’t happened as soon as they’d planned, JookBox City has been pursuing other avenues of getting their music out. In addition to live performances, they also have made their own music videos, and now produce weekly live sessions from their studio. It’s a way to drum up attention online, creating an audience, even if the traditional radio route does not pan out. The approach, it seems, is working. According to their streaming data, Friedman reports, their songs have been played in far-reaching corners of the world — Argentina, Italy and Japan, to name a few.

“I had a guy from Guam outside The Republik not too long ago, and I said something about JookBox City,” Lovely says. “And he was like, ‘You’re JookBox City?’ Wishing Well?’ And then he shook my hand. It was a weird feeling.”

Metro recently got a chance to chat with JookBox City in Yucky Apple Studios.

You’ve stated that Wishing Well was based on an experience you had with an angry neighbor. Is that indicative of your typical creative process — do you tend to draw on your own experiences?

RAWNIE LOVELY: We are always making music, so when something is happening … then those kinds of feelings start coming out.

KAHNMA K: For me, experiences are always good to pull from — even other people’s experiences, not necessarily my own. A friend may tell me about a relationship or something, and I can always find something to write about.

What is the level of collaboration like among the three of you?

AARON FRIEDMAN: A lot of the choruses, K usually comes up with.

(from left) Kahnma K, Rawnie Lovely and Aaron Friedman AMANDA HAMILTON PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC. PHOTO

KK: I write a lot. It’s usually 3 o’clock in the morning when everybody is sleeping, and I’m sitting over here with headphones writing a song. Usually, I will have a concept or an idea, and I will throw it at Rawnie and he will help develop it. I have a little focused idea, and then once he hears that, then he comes in and puts his part in there. And then we call Aaron and lay down some bass.

Why did you decide to produce your album independently?

RL: We’re broke. (They all laugh.)

AF: We have always wanted to produce it on our own because we both (he and Rawnie) come from production and recording backgrounds … We have just been trying to build this totally self-sufficient machine where we can make our own videos, we can do our own recording, we can do whatever we gotta do … Independence is a big part of it. If you’re on a record label, you’re really controlled as far as what you can and can’t do.

RL: We just want family — we want people who work with us that we know are ride or die.

KK: Another reason, too, is because we can. The talent in this room is tremendous. We have the manpower to do these things — so why not do it? It is a lot, especially doing these weekly videos, it takes a lot out of us, but we are able to do it.

What is Kill ‘Em With Love about to you?

AF: I do think (the title) says a lot of it. “Kill ‘em with love” is part of the song Wishing Well. There are various songs — songs about forgiveness, there are love songs, there are also protest songs. It’s about family, community, making the world a better place, and trying to, you know, spread a little bit of happiness.

KK: For me, the album is fun and happy. I have children, and I have done music in other bands that I can’t let my family listen to because there are all these explicit lyrics. JookBox City for me is something that I can share with everybody. It’s music to make people feel good — every song on there, even the songs where we are doing some kind of protest, there are some moments where you can still feel the peace and feel happiness.

That is interesting that even the songs that address weighty issues can still be perceived as happy. Why approach songwriting like that?

AF: From the beginning, that is part of what drew me into reggae was how the songs and lyrics can be sad, or it can be angry and it can be this and that, but the music can still make you feel good.

KK: You can still get your message across — eventually those lyrics will sink in — but it will still feel good.

RL: (The album) will hopefully infect listeners with our lyrics, give them some positive subliminal lyrics — you will help your neighbor; you will plant flowers in his garden.

What is next for JookBox City?

KK: Record another album.

RL: We are working on one right now.

AF: Ideally, where we want to take this is to be touring the world. It seems like that would be a pretty amazing life — if you could travel the world and play music and come back, and Hawaii is always home.

JOOKBOX CITY’S ‘KILL ‘EM WITH LOVE’ ALBUM RELEASE PARTY TAKES PLACE AT 9 P.M. FEB. 6 AT CROSSROADS AT HAWAIIAN BRIAN’S. TICKETS COST $10 PRE-SALE AND $15 AT THE DOOR. PRE-SALE TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT JAWAIIAN IRIE JERK RESTAURANT OR VIA EVENTBRITE.COM. ATTENDEES WILL RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF THE ALBUM. ‘KILL ‘EM WITH LOVE’ ALSO CAN BE PURCHASED VIA THE BAND’S WEBSITE, ITUNES, CD BABY, AMAZON AND OTHER ONLINE OUTLETS. THOSE WHO SIGN UP FOR THE JOOKBOX CITY EMAIL LIST GET TO DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM FOR FREE. FOR MORE, VISIT JOOKBOXCITY.COM.