A little Q & eh?
Current mood: awake
Category: Parties and Nightlife

Aloha Joe,

Kawehi Haug here with the Honolulu Advertiser. I'll be at your event tonight at Mercury to check it out for the paper. But before the article runs, I'd also like to blog about it, which I'll do tomorrow morning. Would you be available to to do quick Q+A for my blog? It's just 10 easy questions and there are no rules. I just ask that you be honest and candid. The catch: In order for it to make it onto the blog, I would need your answers ASAP. Like, within the next couple of hours! If you can't manage it, I totally understand!

Here are the questions. You can answer via email.

1. Where are you right now?

I am the "boy about town"

2. What is the last album you bought or downloaded?

heavily listening to... teenage wasteland - "the who" & a bit of "m.i.a."

3. What song always makes you dance?

the song that hits the mood at the moment, that make things right.
however, i do love "tighten up" - archie bell & the drells, "tenderness" - general public,
"temptation" - new order, "damaged goods" - gang of four, & "too much pressure" - selecter,  etc... etc...

4. What is the last book you read?

reading a copy of "slouching toward nirvana" - charles bukowski, given to me by this cool gal named lana

5. What are the most overrated bands of all time?

everyband is overrated. it's like art. the best bands usually surface over the tides of time or
usually after being submerged in the corporate marketing sea of shams.

6. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

inside of somebody

7. You're running for president. Who's your running mate?

charles bukowski

8. What's in your refrigerator?

everything known to man (+ beer)

9. What's your guiltiest pleasure?

meloncholism

10. Complete the sentence: I want _______.

the new "truimph bonneville"

Thanks so much for your help!

Kawehi

Kawehi Haug
Entertainment reporter
The Honolulu Advertiser
605 Kapi'olani Blvd.Honolulu, HI 96813
Call: 808.525.8005
Write: khaug@honoluluadvertiser.com
Surf: honoluluadvertiser.com

6:20 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos

Star Bulletin
Current mood: aroused

I wrote this letteror Jason Genegabus of the Star Bulletin & thought is was amusing enough to blog. It has been edited down to emphisize our goals with our friday night at Mercury Bar. So indulge bitches:

Wow, thanks Jason for bring all this to my attention! I was hoping that email would catch someone's eye. Anyway, it's been hard getting a steady following at the Mercury because our nights are only held on the 2nd, 3rd & 4th friday of each month (first friday is a drum & bass night). Also, the kids that we had coming to Mall Cafe were mostly under 21+ (who are the future of the underground music scene). They are open to 80's styles of music which include electro (electroclash, electrofunk, italo disco & etc.). The older kids who do know about the genre are usually the DJs & tight knit cliques which are... about 25 regulars. jk lol

Anyway, when we do have a night that goes well there's usually about 100+ people. I expect that tonight, so I hope you do swing by. Btw, I appreciate the coverage that you have done & hope that you continue to check it out (http://starbulletin.com/2008/03/28/features/genegabus.html). We actually do get wonderful feedback but with the unsteady fridays, it doesnt give us enough momentum to keep our following. I am hoping to find another 18+ venue because in my opinion, any scene that isn't getting any younger is literally a dying scene.

I'm actually a mod, & I listen to 60's soul & psych/garage music more than anything. However, I like to throw thriving parties where people actually dance & go all off, & that's that's why I like the electro scene. It's sharp & the people are alive!

When we had Mall Cafe as a venue, there would be nights where it seemed dead, due to all the kids being outside making out, doing their vices & what not. However, right about towards the end, like midinightish, they would all start gathering back onto the dance floor! Then we'd have a shit load of these people dancing like it was going off the whole evening. Unfortunately, me & the owner had a falling out. She was worried about the underaged crowd. I never was because I personally knew these kids, & I told them straight not to fuck me. I trusted them, & they respected me. Least I think =)

Sadly, as soon as we established our following, we lost a venue for them. It's a pain in the arse to create a scene out here. There's always something busting our balls. I can't believe we're still going at it lol However, someone's got to keep the party going.

One thing that I have learned recently though is that my presence is necessary. We run a chill operation. If things don't go as scheduled, we try not to worry & just enjoy ourselves. So I was never under the impression that I had to be there from the get go of every night, but I guess it really does make a difference. I though my job was to just throw the party but I learned that sometimes I actually have to physically host it & keep the moral positive. I think that's what makes our nights unique, me & my djs are fun positive people. So when people come to visit, they actually do come to see us.

Anyway, so now days if you come out to our shindigs, you'll see me getting down & getting smashed with everyone. It's what I do best I guess. I'm a 24 hour party person, these are my parties & I reinforce them with my own enthusiasm. I am three decades old! However, I'm just doing what I have always been doing, which is what the younger genreation does when they go out to these parties... which is, enjoy themselves!

These next few weeks are going to make it or break it for us. Although I believe we have a loyal following, I don't want us to be just an option. I want people to want us around. I want those who cant come in to swing by & hang about nearby. They've been doing this lately, stoping by, saying hello & hoping for a new venue to continue the scene that we built at Mall Cafe. However, we can't afford to waste our time with cliquey hipsters who choose us as a last resort. If things don't build up this summer, we will have to shut it all down. Better to go out in a flash than to fade away.

So tonight, we have 9 DJs spinning. I have hopes but nothing too high. However, I do expect it to be more than the 25 people that appeared when you were there. Sorry, my bad. I wasn't event there. Yikes! Well, it's the begining of summer, so hopefully it will kick start our friday nights. I hope you can make it. If you do & I am crunk, trust me, it's a good sign. I'm a functionable alcoholic & I believe I dance better intoxicated. Don't we all? It doesn't matter, really. As long as we think we do =)

Cheers & aloha,

Joe Agogo

(808) 256-0895

smashagogo@yahoo.com

Links to some pics at Mall Cafe:

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=3186628&albumId=2044295

2:43 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Bombshell
Current mood: cynical
Category: Music

I changed the satelite station at this bar, when another patron asked me if I liked R&B/Hip-Hop. I said, "No, I like 60's & 70's soul." So he asked with great amazement, "Why?" So I told him, "Do you know that Blonde Bombshell, you see walking down the corner of the street? She's got beautiful blue eyes & beautiful big breast? Well, what if you took her back to your place & found out that she wears colored contacts, bleaches her hair, recently got some breast implants & when you lifted her skirt you found out that she wasn't even female???" :::pause of silence::: I continued with, "Well, that's how I feel about modern (especially commercial) R&B/Hip-Hop. It's overly augmented through compensations that's beyond the real thing. Dig?'" :::clinks::: "Cheers!"

7:55 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Big Kahuna Karaoke
Current mood: dirty
Category: Parties and Nightlife

I went to Big Kahunas the other evening for a night cap. It was 2am & they had karaoke going on. I was pretty warmed up with a bottle of wine & a few beers, so I selected a few songs to sing & turned them in. There were a few good singers, one was a japanese Michael Jackson impersonator! Well, he didn't really sing, he just did a lot of these "heee hees & woo hoos", which I believe is a part of their language anyway... Anyway, another one was a tita-ish diva, probably from Waianae. Like it aint over until SHE sings. Yes, "the fat lady." Anyway, I sang a song by the Jam & another one from the Cure. It was fun cause these poor bastards at the bar watching were like, what the hell is he singing? :::clapping akwardly::: Sounds almost like some sorta limey accent (I was dedicating songs in character). "My heart always breaks, when I hear this tune. That's why I'd like to dedicate this number to all the byrds... because without you ladies, this wouldn't be possible." :::obnoxiously::: "Can you hear that???" :::silence::: "It's the sound of my heart breaking!!!" :::staggering::: "Cheers!"

6:20 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

DIY
Current mood: fascinated
Category: News and Politics

We used to chase after the girls who had Stiff Little Fingers patches sewn somewhere onto their ensemble. We would go crazy over that sort of thing. Punk was still very underground. You had to mail order everything from DIY catalogs, such as "Angry, Young & Poor" & "Two Tone" (who are all now online), although these nifty little booklets were often poorly illustrated.

8:00 AM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

WHY I AM PIMP
Current mood: chill
Category: Fashion, Style, Shopping

Where does my wrath begin? When this ghetto bastard stole my cellular from my club & strolled down chinatown (downtown Honolulu), while Douggie & I were fixing the sound system at the club for our 80’s night. What the fuck? This ugly two fifty plus local cunt mug snagged my cell phone, after harassing us in our stressful hour. ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I ain’t no Sherlock Holmes, but when I used Dallas’ Nokia to find my Blackberry (yeah yeah pretentious brand name dropping, so what?)... anyway, I heard micronesian chatter in a bar background & it blew my fucking mind! Some illiterate whore was even talking shit in the background, saying "no try for get your phone, dis guy one big fucka brah" (good luck recovering your phone, this thief is massive brother).

So I blew off the handle & stormed down Hotel Street! In my mind, I imagined a few places where they could possibly be. I looked into a few bars & repeatedly called my cell, hoping to see a fool slip & look at it while I dialed. However, 6 bars down & still nothing... I was frustrated. Then Douggie appears & says the magic words, "I think I saw him". No fucking way, no mother fucking way...

So Douglas pointed me towards this gnarly dive bar & I started dialing away. Sure enough, this idiot is looking at the caller id on the lcd screen, illest part about this is that he’s right in front of me by 2 feet.. Outraged, I take a step forward & swatted my phone back into my left hand. Then I spoke the kind words, "What the fuck are you doing with my fucking phone?" He says, "Wot brah, get problem?" (wanna dance?). Now I have two phones in both hands, so I use theatrics & wave in display of them in good viewing range, & say, "Are you fucking stupid? This is mine, you fucking thief! You stole my mother fucking phone! You should fucking be arrested! Don’t you ever steal any of my mother fucking shit again!"

At this time I noticed Douggie was still next to me witnessing, there’s a couple of his boys surrounding the cunt, all confused & bewildered at this moment of him being punked by someone 5’9" & 150 pounds of pure P-I-M-P! We walked back with no slack from anyone. Ladies & gentlemen, street cred in downtown Honolulu.  Amen.

Currently listening : Love By Arthur Lee Release date: 15 July, 1999

10:08 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

SIN CITY All-nighter - MODS vs. RAWKERS @ Beauty Bar - June 23
Current mood: bouncy
Category: Parties and Nightlife

Incase this isn’t on your calendars: Saturday, JUNE 23rd, 2007 (11pm-???) - Las Vegas’ first & original mod all-nighter - "Mods vs. Rawkers"! Presented by me, in association with OZZY & JOHNNY ROX @ the Beauty Bar in Sin City - Las Vegas, NV!!!

Featuring: The NEW FIDELITY (Long Beach-powerpop/soul),  Thee SWANK BASTARDS (surf/garage), DJs REX DART (sincity-mod soul/reggae/ska), JOHNNY ROX (sin city-postpunk/modern rock), RICK BARZELL (Hollywood-mod/garage)!!!

"

3:14 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

A city filled with empty souls

In a city filled with empty souls
we lose our minds, & self control.
Calloused by the memories
of broken hearts & broken dreams,
but nothing’s what it ever seems..
the glitz, the glam, the tricks, the treats.
the deception & lies are within ourselves
This may be sin city, but we create our own "hell"

I’ve searched this town of it’s cheap tricks,
& nearly lost my soul, searching for these kicks.
While the emptiness kept it’s pour,
I swallowed it all, searching for the cure.
Then an angel came & gave me a gift.
She whispered, the "present" is a life to live.
I fell in love again that day,
with life itself including me.

6:06 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Manic
Current mood: melancholy
Category: Writing and Poetry

I'm diagnosed with abbreviations of a special brew. ADHD, OCD, GAD & other complexities that I'm still without a clue.
There's only so much, with such a caliber, that I can really do. Relax with a certain pill, or maybe even two..
My thoughts are explosive, my heart is throbbing, while my head lays gently against the floor...
Shivering in the darkness, infulenced by substances. Now my head is pressed up against the door,
searching for an answer... but my anxiety increases, as I search to explore.
My thoughts consumed, shattered again, once more... I breathe in deeply & breathe out unsure.
Life is short, with a destiny for sure, for me & the world, as my head lays upon on the floor..

I am manic! What can I do? Relax with another certain pill, or maybe even two? Or three or four? I can't take any of this, anymore.
The pains keep aching, my mind is breaking down, my pulse raises higher to each & every sound..
Tears bled from my heart, & through my eyes,  stream onto the floor.. While again, my head is pressed up against the door,
searching for the answers... my anxiety increases, as I continue searching to explore.
A flourished life it seems to some, but the emptiness has never surged it's poor. I lived & learned life, only to endure.
My mind is racing, my heart is pacing, my breathe is taken again, once more... I breathe in deeply & breathe out unsure.
Life is short, with a destiny for sure, for me & the world.. as our heads lay upon on the floor..

- Joe Agogo

Currently listening : Heart and Soul By Joy Division Release date: 28 August, 2001

7:49 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Lu'au-au-go-go Weekender - Honolulu, Hawaii - Oct. 13th-15th, 2006
Current mood: anxious

Hosted By: Joe Agogo
Starts: Friday Oct 13, 2006 at 7:00 PM
Where: Anna Bananas & Thirtyninehotel
39 N. Hotel Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
US
Description:
Weekend-long party!

Click Here To View Event



October 13th-15th, 2006

Friday:

7pm - Meet & greet at the Hideaway Bar

9pm-2am - Anna Bananas. Live mainland bands! The Power Chords from San Diego, The Stateside Saints from Los Angeles, & the Dolls Till Daylight from Honolulu. Special appearances DJs spinning skinhead reggae & mod soul (12:30-2am). All Ages!

Saturday:

9:30am - South Shore Rally, starts at Like-Like Drive Inn & around the south shore.

3-7pm - Modern lu'au on Cycle City's roof top, with DJs spinning ska & rocksteady reggae, a raffle will be held there for scootering items & possibly a VESPA!

9pm-2am - Anna Bananas. Live mainland bands! World reknowned Oi! band - the Templars from NYC, the Stateside Saints for LA, Extra Stout from Honolulu & again international DJs till 2am. All ages!

Sunday:

9:30am - North Shore Rally, starts at Cycle City & passes north shore.

4pm-7pm - BBQ/bonfire at Mokuleia.

9pm - Mod Nighter held at ThirtyNineHotel downtown (mod, soul, garage, britpop, indie, powerpop, & new wave). Featuring DJ Frank Popp (from the Frank Popp Ensemble - Germany), Shing-A-Ling (NYC), Phil Templar (NYC), Kevin Jones (Emerald City Soul Club - Seattle) & Shane Vagina (Honolulu). All ages!

For more 411 contact:

Joe Agogo

cellular: (808)990-MODS
email: smashagogo@yahoo.com
http://www.myspace.com/smashagogo




Friday, October 13th (9pm-2am) @ Anna Bananas



Sunday, October 15th (9pm-2am) @ 39hotel



2 years ago, I was a regular at the Hideaway. I watched my 5 year relationship fall into shambles, as I struggled with substances & alcoholism. I was all about riding my Vespa, going to punk shows & getting smashed with my friends. They were fun times but it was all a fallacy. I was drowning myself everyday in self destruction. One day, it all collapsed. I found myself at the rock bottom of my sham. So I did what thousands of hawaiians have done, I moved to the "city of sin" Las Vegas. The cost of living is about half of Hawaii standards. Now I have twice as much in my pocket & enough spare change for an annual event.

When I was living in Hawaii, I'd often "fly the friendly skies". I'd check out many other stateside cities & hang about their underground. I went to many shows, clubs, parties & scooter rallys. The mainland music scenes are unlike Hawaii's, they're thriving & progressive. Massive festivals are created in conjunction with certain genre related scenes, like weekenders. So I'd be at these events, having loads of fun, networking & broadening my horizons. However, it always seemed like there was something missing. When I finally moved away, I realized it was "aloha spirit". So I decided to throw my own shindig "hawaiian style". I named it, "Lu'au-au-go-go".

What is a weekender? It's a mod thing. It's a weekend long party that leaves you weak at the end. It's especially common in England & Europe. There's usually lots of events coinciding, like a scooter rally, an allnighter (night-long till the break of dawn party), live bands & etc. It started out in the 60's with the mods (the first teenage subculture) & has been going on out there until today. The "Isle of Wight" in England is known to draw tens of thousands, but the largest in the US is the "High Rollers" & usually has an attendance of about a thousand.

What is a mod? A modernist who bases their lifestyle around an unconventional counterculture that developed in England between the late 50's & early 60's. Their interest in "race music" (R&B/Soul, Ska & Jazz) gave them a unique identity & brought in the basic fundamentals of rock & roll. They obsessed with italian & french movies for their fashion in both clothing (fitted suits, boots & dresses) & transportation (mainly scooters). At the time, during this post war era, it was still unheard of for youth popculture to have any of these influences. It gave birth to the "teenager".

What is "Lu-au-au-go-go"? A hawaiian style mod weekender high lighting the millenium mod culture of arts, music & performance. It will have lots of media coverage & promotions. Visitors from all around the world will be joining us, as we are welcoming everyone. So check it out! It's all ages. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact me over the phone. No worries. *Rally route itinerary will be available at the meet & greet.

More to read...


I am a "mod", a modernist. It's the core of all youth subcultures. I got into it through my youth listening to punk rock in the 80's & 90's. When I was teen, punk seemed to appeal very well with me & my friends. We were argry displaced youth searching ourselves & found it through embracing our individuality. Though punk portrays rebellion, it emerged out of an era where society was between conservative & revolutionary. So essentially, they were revolting against society itself. Anyway, as I grew as an enthusiast of this genre, I explored it's ideology. There were many progressive phases that I had undergone that eventually led me to modernism.


Aesthetically, with my Lu'au-au-go-go weekender, I'm trying to bring music, art & culture to the Hawaii underground scene. It often seems that because us locals are so far away from the mainland, that being stuck on a rock jades us. Even if the internet has open many door ways & minds, no one can really know how things are until they have actually experience it.


I have a friend named Ian & he's on my myspace "top 8" (which is actually a top 32 or so). Anyway, he's 16 years old & has been into all this for about 2 years. His parent were both models who seemed to have been very exposed to the UK punk & mod scene (80's revival). His mother's family is from Amsterdam & father is from the islands. So through travel & exposure they have influenced him beyond their own comprehension, as he is now a part of the "millenium mod movement". Though he grew up in Hawaii, his myspace profile seems as if he were a teen in the UK or europe. He's an individual. He stands alone on the island, in his age group. He's "the boy about town"- the Jam. (He's also the cat on the Vespa, on the flyer)


Anyway, these people are my motivation. Out of place individuals who seem to be or feel out of touch, when in actuallity they are more intune with the rest of the world. These type of individuals are beyond their environment, they're the true indie or "independent" kids. They are the millenium modernists. So it's my pleasure really, to bring an event like this to my home state of Hawaii. It's for the youth who are the future.


This October 13th-15th, I'm throwing a 2nd annual "Lu'au-au-go-go weekender". It's a weekend long cellebration of youth, with many daytime & evening festivities to accomodate every individualist of the punk rock genre. There's 2 evening punk shows (friday/saturday) with bands from the mainland playing indie, powerpop, & oi! They will be spinning reggae & soul in between sets, & on sunday there will be a mod all-nighter (DJs spinning modern music such as britpop, soul, freakbeat & garage). During the daytime on saturday & sunday, there will be a scooter rally around the island with vintage italian Vespa & Lambretta scooters. On saturday, at the end of the ride, there's a lu'au on the rooftop of Cycle City with hawaiian food + a hula/burlesque show! At the end of the ride on sunday, there's a BBQ/bonfire on the northshore. All events are all ages & everyone is invited!


Strangely, once again, the HOG (Harley Owner's Group) rally (Hawaii's biggest motorcycle rally) is being held during the same days & both of our rallies will surround their events around Cycle City.


We are inviting everyone to come out & join us, as dozens of visitors from all over the world will be joining us at our special weekender here on O'ahu... "the gathering place". - JA

7:11 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment