Brother Noland: Award-Winning Singer/Songwriter Shares his ‘Less Talk, More Do’ Philosophy

By Karen Rose

Ancient wisdom declares it is best for one to pass their days through song, therefore letting their whole life be a song. Hawaiian recording artist Brother Noland, also known as the “Father of Jawaiian Music,” follows this philosophy and shares his authentically unique sounds with the world. Noland’s songs carry him through life as he influences contemporary Hawaiian music, and inspires local at-risk youth to foster connections within the Hawaiian community.

Brother Noland has won numerous Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards including Best Reggae Album. He is best known for his song “Coconut Girl,” which ultimately created a new genre of music known as “Jawaiian,” a fusion of Reggae and Hawaiian music. While Brother Noland was born and raised on the island of O‘ahu, he remembers special times being with his hanai family in Waimea. Noland still frequents Hawai‘i Island to play music and spend time with his ‘ohana. Like many Hawaiian children, Noland grew up in a musical family surrounded by music.

“My whole family is musical,” said Noland. “It starts from the roots. My mom and my dad were both musicians. My mom was a hula dancer and so was my brother, so music was always around us. I started performing before I even got out of high school. There were a lot of clubs and places for musicians to play back in the 60s and 70s. So as a kid, I would go down to those places and although I couldn’t get inside, I could sit outside and listen.”

His childhood immersion into music paid off, and today Brother Noland and his music are featured in several films, including Snakes on a Plane and Pineapple Express. One of Hawai‘i’s most loved and respected artists, he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement in Music award in 2014 by the State of Hawai‘i. In May of this year, Brother Noland was given the Kī Ho‘alu Foundation Slack Key Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards.

Despite all his awards and achievements, Noland remains steadfast in his commitment to Hawaiian roots and community. One way he gives back to the community is through his philanthropic work with the Ho‘ea Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching children how to live off the ‘āina (land) and the moana (ocean). With nature as the classroom, the Ho‘ea Initiative offers life skills training for children and adults. Skills like wilderness survival tracking and cultural appreciation are just a few of the topics covered in these interactive camps.

“Growing up in the islands where we do a lot of fishing and gathering has helped ground me, that’s why I do these camps for the kids,” said Noland. “There’s a lot of kids that don’t have that kind of upbringing anymore, so they don’t know how to gather from the sea or from the mountain. Because we have such a continuing migration of people that come here, they don’t understand it either. I think we tend to forget that we’re islands and not continents, so we have limited resources. We need to really be conscious. I call it sustainable aloha.”

Through these camps, participants are immersed into nature and taught valuable skills designed to increase self-reliance and instill an appreciation for nature. Lessons focus on recognizing, utilizing, and managing the traditional resources provided by Mother Nature. These skills mimic the ones employed by early Hawaiians who lived in harmony with nature and practiced the spiritual custom of aloha. They lived in a way that sustained life for future generations, not just for themselves. By teaching these indigenous values and knowledge, the Ho‘ea Initiative aims to present a universal understanding of these principals and increase the individual’s connection to nature and their community.

“I was always fascinated with nature and survival from the time I was young,” said Noland. “I actually attended survival school in New Mexico and Arizona and learned some really valuable skills. One of my teachers was John Stokes who lived with the Aboriginals in Australia. To make a long story short, I wanted to come back to Hawai‘i and localize this program for the kids. I wanted to integrate the Hawaiian-ness into the process.”

Brother Noland believes the camp is unique because it is based on wisdom collected from a variety of indigenous cultures, not just exclusively Hawaiian traditions.

“We have a most unique camp in the sense that we’re not full-fledged Hawaiian themed,” he said. “It’s kind of a blend of Native American, Aboriginal, and Native Hawaiian. We took this collection and localized it so you don’t have to be a certain ethnicity, you just gotta be part of mankind. We need to understand how to sustain ourselves in the future with the knowledge of how it was done in the traditional ways.”

A dedicated steward of the land, Brother Noland cares for acreage on Moloka‘i where most of his camps are held. He is passionate about preserving the indigenous plants and animals and shares his message through his music and community spirit. In addition to the main camp on Moloka‘i, Noland also has private camps on Hawai‘i Island, and teaches schoolchildren on O‘ahu and Maui.

“We designed these camps to match the kind of clientele we work with,” said Noland. “For example, on the island of O‘ahu, I have several schools I work with once a month. Often these kids don’t have many opportunities and they’re quite urban. If they work hard and keep their grades up, they get a chance to go out with Uncle Noland for a day, once a month and we do all outdoor classrooms. The main incentive is to attend my open summer camp in June. At this camp, they are able to engage in all the things they learned throughout the school year.”

Brother Noland teaches the students skills like building a fire and throwing a net. However, the lessons go deeper than the practical skills learned. They also teach a connection to oneself and the outside world. For example, he may teach a survival skill like creating fire with sticks, but he adds a spiritual element to the lesson as well.

“We don’t just make a fire to survive and show we can make a fire,” said Noland. “We make a sacred fire. It’s the fire you don’t swear in front of and don’t throw rubbish into. We have conscious thought in everything we do. When we throw a net, we recognize how the net sustains the community. One throw of the net can catch a whole school of fish to feed the whole village. On Moloka‘i, we’ll fish one day with our nets and catch enough fish to feed everybody for the next two or three days. It’s like hukilau. I try to keep it simple so everyone can understand. Less talk, more do.”

At the end of the school year, Brother Noland gifts his students with a copy of the book he authored in 2013, The Hawaiian Survival Handbook. In the book, he shares his knowledge of outdoor skills he developed over his lifetime growing up in the forests and waters of Hawai‘i.

As if the Ho‘ea Initiative doesnʻt keep him busy enough, Brother Noland also has a new collection of songs available.

“The new EP is truly different from the rest of my projects,” he said. “I’ve always been labeled as the father of Jawaiian music. I’m very humbled by the title, but I’m also an explorer of music, so I study and play all other genres too. My new EP is called His Songs, His Story, His Style, and is a mixture of the different genres of music I play. With everything I do, it’s this conglomeration of energy. And actually it sustains me and it fulfills me all the time, too, no matter what kind of music I’m playing.”

Residents of Hawai‘i Island can enjoy Brother Noland’s sound on the fourth Thursday of every month at the Royal Kona Resort.

“I really love that gig at Royal Kona because it’s a blend, yeah,” said Noland. “It’s a blend of tourists and local people, and also of people who live on the Big Island part time, and also live on the mainland part of the year. It’s a good vibe, you know?”

Brother Noland is a unique and talented force of creativity. An author, singer, artist, poet, philanthropist, mentor, and musician, his wish is to inspire others with his talents and open new avenues for musical appreciation and human connection.

Brother Noland feels the most important elements of his songs are the lyrics and the messages within their composition. When he travels to perform his music for others, he does so to share aloha with the world.

“When we come to play, we come to deliver the aloha,” he said. “When we travel and we tour it’s the same expression. We gotta bring the aloha and we gotta share the aloha. And then it will be reciprocal.” ❖

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For more information: BrotherNoland.com