HAWAII: So much has changed for you. When we talked back in 1995, you told me that to finance your first album, Kawaipunahele, your halau had to hold bake sales.

REICHEL: Yes, we did. We sold shortbread cookies, which we still do to raise money for costumes and travel. That’s because when we asked record companies for money, they literally laughed us out of their office.

That was a blessing in disguise because then we weren’t beholden to anybody but ourselves. We recorded half the first album at a Honolulu studio. When started to get low on funds, we recorded a good half of it on Maui, in a friend’s house. “Wanting Memories” was recorded in the bathroom.

We finished it in two weeks. We just wanted to break even, sell maybe 2,000 CDs and 1,000 cassette tapes. We filled the initial order, and we were getting reports that stores were running out the first day. There were waiting lists. It took us six months to get caught up with the backorders.

HAWAII: You went from holding bake sales to international Hawaiian music stardom in about three or four weeks. I can’t imagine what that would be like to live through.

REICHEL: Everything happened so fast and unexpectedly. I think back on it, and it seems like a blur. It was helpful it happened later in my life. Had I been in my early twenties, I don’t know. I was 32, so I’d gotten most of my young stuff out of the way.

HAWAII: What were you like in your twenties?

REICHEL: I was your typical twenty-something year old. Not concerned about tomorrow, you live day to day, night to night, paycheck to paycheck, house to house. What did change for me in my twenties was when I got into trouble with the law.

HAWAII: Serious trouble?

REICHEL: It could have been. Grand theft. I should have gone to prison. When I was arrested, Maui’s a small island so everybody knew who I was. I went in, got fingerprinted, took picture and they said, “Okay, we know where you live, don’t go anywhere.” They knew I lived with my grandmother; she never knew anything about this because they knew she would go ballistic.

The judge cut me a huge break because he’d seen our halau perform. He realized that perhaps it would be better if I stayed out of prison. He put restrictions on me for five years and said, “It’s because of your work in the Hawaiian community. You’re more valuable outside than inside.” That was a huge turning point for me. That absolutely set my path into Hawaiian culture.

HAWAII: You were already doing hula, though.

REICHEL: From when I was very young I had always been fascinated with hula. I didn’t understand what they were doing. When I saw it, I found myself riveted and couldn’t figure out why. When the opportunity came to study hula at Lahainaluna High School, I jumped at the chance.

HAWAII: So your course was already set.

REICHEL: A little bit. There were lots of bumps along the way. I wasn’t a very good dancer. In fact, I was really bad. Same with the singing. I was in chorus in high school and we’re getting ready for our spring concert. The advisor pulled me on the side and said, “You’re throwing everybody off. Can you mouth the words instead?” I’m like, “Okay, not a problem.”

Same thing with the hula. They would forget my outfits on purpose so that I wouldn’t go onstage. And look now.




Check out these related HawaiiMagazine.com posts:
What’s really “essential” on iTunes' Hawaiian Music Essentials playlist?
Merrie Monarch Festival hula competition begins this week. Watch it live online.
2009 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards spread the wealth