Club Scene
Mixing it up for hometown fans
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer
| • | Superstar DJ Keoki
At "Supa Luv II"; with Gearwhore, DJ Koa, DJ Quiksilva, G-Spot 9 p.m. Saturday Laniakea YWCA, 1040 Richards St. $15-$20 591-3500 |
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"I have an album with Bjork and her original band from Iceland, where she's singing everything in Icelandic," boasts Keoki, via telephone from his newly-occupied Bronx apartment. "I've got 50 copies of 'Saturday Night Fever' just because every time I see a copy I want to buy it. It's the first record I ever bought."
Wait a minute, though, interrupts the proudly defiant music collector working days as a newspaper staff writer. A pre-Sugarcubes Bjork on vinyl?
"Yeah," says Keoki, this sudden interest raising the obvious pride in his voice several notches higher. "She autographed it for me in New York years ago. It was very cool. She couldn't believe I had it. She was like, 'Where did you find this?'"
Long distance high-fives are exchanged.
One of the most recognized and talented DJs on the '90s electronic dance scene, Keoki is also a former Hawai'i resident — raised in Kihei, graduated from Kailua High School and a former teenage Wave slave.
"I was 16 or 17," remembers Keoki, of mid-1980s high school evenings spent hanging outside the venerable Waikiki nightclub. "Sometimes I would get in. Sometimes I wouldn't."
Looking to travel the world, Keoki moved to New York after graduation, pursuing a job and free airline travel with TWA. A part-time job as a busboy at Manhattan's Danceteria nightclub to support his no-frills jet-set lifestyle led to several in-house substitute DJ gigs where Keoki and the rest of the club's resident deviants discovered that the kid from Hawai'i with the crazy record collection was a natural born mixer.
Dubbing himself "Superstar DJ Keoki," the former Keoki Franconi soon became one of the most sought-after New York DJs in the country, working himself in and out of 1990s club and rave culture via constant gigging and a growing collection of well-received mix-albums and original works such as 1997's "Ego Trip" and 2001's "Jealousy."
Of late, Keoki has been trying to make a habit of returning to Hawai'i at least twice a year to unwind in Kailua with his family, tend to his two beloved custom-built Harley Davidsons, and spin the best of his vinyl vault at a local gig or two (such as Saturday's "Supa Luv II" event downtown).
"It's really exciting when I come back and there's a line around the block," admits Keoki. "When I come to Hawai'i, I always try to bring the best of everything that I'm doing and try different things. I really go through my set, the records I'm going to play, the stuff that I've done, to bring a package that says, 'This is what's happening right now in the world.'"
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| On The Edge at John Dominis
Late-night club denizens have another new-ish spot to turn to, now that John Dominis Restaurant has changed its Friday night event from Spy Bar to The Edge. Now there are multiple DJs spinning out the music and weekly themes that might include a charity benefit, fashion shows and costume contests. Last Friday's grand opening theme was White Knights, in which attendees whose attire was at least half white got in for free. It's happening 9:30 p.m.-3 a.m. on Fridays. 523-0955. LEFT: Percussionist Bobo Butires, right, and Miguel Kegel, left, provided live drumming to the music at The Edge at John Dominis on a recent Friday evening. RIGHT: Club DJ Andrew "Chill" Bulatao entertains the crowd at The Edge. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser |
