INhonolulu Magazine Issue #14 - February 2014 | Page 28

From page 27
EM: On a personal level, what continues to motivate you, and what advice would you have for young entrepreneurs and promoters looking to
further themselves?
CP: What motivates me is being able
to bring out the acts that I really
love…you would know if I brought
something out here just to try and
get paid; it would be pretty obvious.
[Laughs] As far as trying to get into it,
I would say to try and attach yourself
to someone thats already done it and
learn from them instead of trying to
jump right in. There’s a lot more to it
than most people think.
EM: Work your way up, essentially.
CP: That’s definitely the case, and
it’s always works better working with
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others. I’m sure you’ve seen that a
bunch of us have been partnering up
to bring events.
EM: Speaking of events, we’ve got Hot
Mouth and Lady Faith this Friday for
“Crossroads” at Hawaiian Brian’s, in
light of that, what do you see as the
future of Odin Works and where
would you like to take it from here?
CP: I’m pretty sure Lady Faith was
the first hardstyle DJ to ever be
flown in to play in Hawai‘i back in
2010. It’s really cool to be able to
have her back again. Hot Mouth has
been here before as part of LA Riots,
but it’s great to have him back here
returning to his roots as far as what
he likes to produce.
As far as the future goes, I don’t
really know…I want to keep going
the same route as well as expanding.
You’re probably going to see some

new genre stuff popping up—a lot
of stuff with vocalists and live dance
music acts coming up. I like the idea
of having actual guitars onstage and
a guy drumming and everything else.

JAI: The band
and the music

EM: Being able to capture that live
feel on top of the existing EDM atmosphere.

R

CP: Exactly. We’ve got a lot of shows
coming up featuring vocalists and pianists, we’ve got Emma Hewitt coming up in April.
EM: Definitely looking forward to
that one, personally.
CP: A lot of people are, with that one.
[Laughs].
EM: Thank you Cameron.
CP: It was my pleasure. ■

Evan Morgan
ising from the ashes of Breath
of Fire, JAI the Band aims to
fuse musical textures and sensibility from the Big Apple with the
solid foundation of Hawaiian Roots
Reggae. The result is a sound profile
that incorporates a wide range of influences while staying true to classic
island vibes.
Comprised of three founding Breath
of Fire members (Jai Rodgers—lead
vocals, guitar; Daniel Rodgers—vocals, keyboards; Shaun Maddaloni—
vocals, bass) and Chris Llarenas on
drums, JAI seems to have won over the
local reggae scene in a very short time.
With a surplus of high-energy, layered

harmony and a pop sensibility, and
their first studio album in the works,
JAI is definitely a band to watch.
The Thursday before Chinese New
Year, I caught up with them at their
practice studio. After polishing their
setlist and re-working material, they
sat down with me for a Q+A session.
Evan Morgan (EM): For starters, introduce yourselves to our readers and
talk about your role in the band.
Jai Rodgers (JR): I’m Jai; lead vocals
and I play guitar
Shaun Maddaloni (SM): I’m Shaun; I
play bass; also a vocalist; and I create
swag [laughs].
Daniel Rodgers (DR): I’m Danny;
keyboardist and also a vocalist. I love
music—doing it for the love and the
passion.

Chris Llarenas (CL): I’m Chris, I like
to bang drums. If you don’t believe
me, come watch me [laughs].
EM: Given your history with Breath
of Fire, what was your inspiration for
this new project?
JR: I was chilling on the Waikīkī strip
when I first ran into Shaun and we
just started jamming. With JAI, we
created a new thing.
SM: It was kind of a joke at first. But
once we found out what Jai actually
meant—Jai means victory in Hindi—
we decided to run with that.
JR: It’s what we’re striving for, you
know? Everyone strives for victory
and triumph in life.

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