Hoku winner Taimane brings her ukulele to Maui May 15 at Mulligan’s
One of Hawaii’s most exciting artists, ukulele virtuoso Taimane just released the new single “Gotta Get It,” with an accompanying dreamy video, that one fan on YouTube described as “so far beyond what anyone else does with an ukulele.”
Known for mixing influences from rock, classical music, fiery flamenco, and bossa nova into her original songs, Taimane’s latest endeavor finds her venturing into chilled out electronica, or uke-tronica, as someone termed it.
“I call it electronic ukulele,” Taimane explained. “I’ve been delving more into songwriting and trying new things. My inspiration for this one was more about the direction we’re going into regarding technology and AI. As an Aquarian just the inventive innovation of technology and where it’s going. Hence the electronic beats, as well as this being the very first single I’ve done in Dolby Atmos.”
This novel sound technique involves spatial audio technology that removes the limitations of stereo to immerse the listener in music. “You can actually be immersed in 11 speakers to really get a surrounding experience,” she said. “I think it’s the future of how we’ll be able to really have a truly immersive experience. So this song was kind of an ex periment with that as well.”
A two-time Favorite Entertainer of the Year Hōkū Award winner, Taimane will play Mulligan’s on the Blue on May 15.
Forging ahead in 2024, she continued, “I’m trying to focus more on my songwriting and doing more singles rather than a full album because I really just want to experiment with different genres.”
Which means we will next hear her interpretation of Bach’s sublime “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major” on ukulele. “I will probably get that out in a couple of month,” she noted. “I have a lot of songs that that I haven’t recorded yet. I want to focus on trying out different genres, maybe trying out some pop stuff. I’ve really let go of the anxiety of what people will think to a certain extent. I’m 35 now and I’m at that age where you really want to be fully in yourself as a person. And so all of these weird things that I’ve been a little bit too afraid to showcase as an artist, I’ve kind of let go. ‘Gotta Get It’ is just really me as an Aquarius and me as an artist and fully just being okay 100% of being a weirdo. The ukulele is the instrument I was given and grown up with, and it so happens that I have been taking it with me on my weird, weird path.”
Proclaimed a “goddess of the ukulele,” Taimane was the first musician from Hawaii to perform on NPR’s “Tiny Desk” live show, and she was booked to play the legendary Glastonbury Festival in England in 2022. “It was the biggest festival I’ve ever played,” she marveled. “It was almost overwhelming because there’s so much going on.”
In 2023, she debuted the brilliant multimedia show “Hawaiki: A Musical & Theatrical Odyssey” at the Hawaii Theatre. “That was probably the biggest show of my life,” she explained. “It was really a show dedicated to my late mother. It was very meaningful, a mythical Polynesian show with aerialists and Polynesian dancers. I pulled out all of the stops and created a story of a woman who journeys to Hawaiki, which in Polynesian mythology is where people come from and where we go when we pass on. So she journeys to this island, I call it Polynesian Olympus, where she talks with the gods and goddesses and she finds her inner strength and her mana. It was a very spiritual and meaningful show.”
Taimane’s “Hawaiki” album won three Hōkū Awards in 2023, including Instrumental Album of the Year and Instrumental Composition of the Year, for “Pipeline’s Daughter.”
Last playing on Maui in 2019, Taimane is looking forward to returning. “I’m very excited to be back on Maui. I have my guitarist and cajon player with me, so we’ve got a trio. We’re going to have a fun party and celebrate being back on Maui.”
Taimane plays Mulligan’s on the Blue on May 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, $30 and $40, available at https://aloha.ticketspice.com/ taimane.