Musician 'pays it forward' with fund-raising concert
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
 |
|
Malia Concepcion Fund-raiser 7 p.m.-1:45 a.m. Saturday Kapono's, Aloha Tower Marketplace $10 at the door, $8 in advance at Volcano Joe's, 941-8449; All Access Communications, 488-0020, 671-1118 Featuring: Solanna, O-shen, Hot Rain, Cross Point, Ghost Band, Night Life and others |
For seven years, Effects, who's from Jamaica and has toured with acts such as Ziggy Marley and Yellow Man, was consumed by ice and cocaine.
"I was depressed, suicidal. The addiction completely ruined my life and I ended up homeless and stayed at IHS (the Institute for Human Services)," said Effects, 33, who moved to Hawai'i.
Happily, he met Augie T. and Lanai, the morning deejays at KDNN-FM, who enlisted him to become part of their Get Your Life Together program. He was sent to a rehab center, got a stint doing raps on the radio show, found a place to live. A valuable helping hand means he's turned his life around.
"Right away, I said to myself, I'm so talented; why should I waste my life on drugs?" said Effects.
Then he saw the Kevin Spacey movie, "Pay It Forward," about strangers doing good deeds for other strangers after benefitting from a helpful nudge.
"Since I was able to turn my life around, I felt like I had to do the same to help another person."
Effects, who runs One Stop Entertainment, also is a member of a band, Hot Rain, which practices in Wai'anae.
"I saw this sweet little girl, Malia (Concepcion), running in the street, with this thing (a protective mask) over her mouth. I met her parents, who lived in the same building my band does, and they told me about her disease."
Malia, 3, has a blood disorder called severe chronic autoimmune neutropenia, a life-threatening condition that diminishes her ability to fight bacterial infection because her immune system mistakenly decreases the function of her white blood cells.
Effects is staging a fundiraising benefit for the little girl Saturday at Kapono's at Aloha Tower Marketplace.
"She's going to be there," said Crystal Concepcion, Malia's mom. "We're grateful for what Maxx is doing. Malia has been in and out of hospitals since she was 4 months old; the longest was 27 days. She's had treatment and so far, it hasn't worked yet."
"If you can do one thing good for one person, or, in Malia's case, make her feel better, that's the whole point," said Effects. "I wanted to experience the feeling of giving someone something without the expectation of getting something in return. If more people do that in the world, we'd remove pain and provide hope, and it will be a much better world for everyone."
He earlier presented a benefit at the Ocean Club, raising $8,000 toward a $30,000 goal. "If we have to do a third show, we will," said Effects.
