Bruddah Kuz’ Family Album—Maunakea Family Productions: Music, Family, and Youth Advocacy
By Hadley Catalano
The story of Iopa Maunakea’s community dedication is woven like a melodic theme through his life’s work, beginning with his grandmother, Katherine Maunakea. His story is not complete without hers. As a community organizer in the district of Puna, Maunakea (maybe better-known as the musician “Bruddah Kuz”) embodies the legacy of his ancestor through his compassion, leadership, and dedication to the men, women and children of the island’s east side.
The Maunakea tradition of helping others has effortlessly taken up residence in the blood of Maunakea’s wife, Donnie, and daughter, Kyla, 20, where the family’s musical adherence and humanitarian efforts have begun to bring about positive community change.
A brief list of their accomplishments would include forming the Bruddah Kuz Band and producing one of the first contemporary Hawaiian music CDs; selection by Hawai‘i County to be “Ambassadors of Aloha” to Mainland Aloha Festivals; producing radio programs and the Bruddah Kuz Youth Jamm, a positive project for Hawai‘i Island youth; and forming a group, Men of PA`A, which helps Puna men recover from drug and alcohol abuse and rehabilitate their lives.
“Iopa’s grandmother was devoted to community service,” Donnie Maunakea explained about the family of her husband of 21 years. “She instilled in him a sense of service, family values, the importance of the Hawaiian language and music.”
Katherine Maunakea wanted to better her community of Nãnãkuli on O‘ahu when she settled in the homestead in the 1930s. “There was nothing there at the time but kiawe trees,” said Iopa, whose nickname “Bruddah Kuz” was given to him as a young surfer by his Caucasian friends who had a hard time pronouncing his name. “
My grandmother served her community to make it what it is today. She also played the piano, sung, wrote Hawaiian language songs, sewed wedding dresses, wrote poetry, published books of Hawaiian prayers and chants and won numerous awards. She did this all without the use of her right arm (which became paralyzed after a fall).”
While growing up, Maunakea says, “I was young. I just wanted to surf. It wasn’t until after she passed (in 1994) that I realized how important she was to this world and what she had instilled in us.”
In the years following the matriarch’s passing, Maunakea—now living on the Big Island—began to tap into his musical roots. With his father, Alexander Auna, he began singing his original songs for visitors at backyard luau in Kapoho. This led to a small group, consisting of Maunakea, his wife and friends recording a CD under the name “The Bruddah Kuz Band” as a way to share his music with his family. “Talkin’ Da Kine,” was released in 2000 and was produced by Phillip Soto.
Unaware of its potential commercial success, the CD was one of the first samplings of contemporary Hawaiian music before the influx and saturation of “Jawaiian” music. The album’s tracks, “Pāhoa Town,” described as a drive-home song, and the title song, “Talkin’ Da Kine,” became hits on Internet radio with mainland audiences and local Big Island radio stations.
The group’s musical popularity soon led Iopa and Donnie Maunakea to be officially selected by the Hawai‘i County Council under former Mayor Harry Kim as the Aloha Ambassadors to mainland Aloha Festivals.
The experience was inspiring to Kuz. “We were playing music and promoting the Big Island by giving away island products. We were also bringing Hawai`i to the Hawaiian transplants on the Mainland and they missed it. There were tears in their eyes. It was amazing. I knew I wanted to do more. I wanted to share the aloha.”
Aloha materialized in the creation of more music for Kuz and his family and the introduction of various organizations blossoming out of the family band, which featured Donnie (also known as Sistah Kuz) on hand percussion and vocals, and then 14-year old Kyla (once known as Baby Kuz, now Miss Killa) on bass.
In 2005, inherently talented Miss Killa (at age 15) decided to bring her passion for the alternative music genres of punk, rock and metal to the community and the university Internet radio scene. She hosted a concert called “Endless Summer” in Pāhoa for up-and-coming youth bands at Maku‘u Farmer’s Market and for five years has been hosting “Rock the Big Rock” a radio show available on Sunday nights from 6-8pm.
“I started it to promote local bands,” said Kyla Maunakea of her radio show, who currently plays in the family band as well as her own band—Electric Meat Pieces. “I wanted to give them a chance to be heard on the radio and I hosted band interviews.”
Kyla took her cues from her father, who at the time had been handed the reigns of the Battle of the Bands annual contest, originally hosted by the North Hawai‘i Youth Coalition. As a family oriented toward youth bands, the Maunakeas were the perfect fit to continue the popular event, which Iopa brought to Hilo and transformed into the Bruddah Kuz Youth Jamm.
“I took the ‘battle’ out of it,” he said. “I didn’t want it to be about the contest. I wanted to get all the youth involved, give them a project that they had to work on, coordinate, facilitate and perform.”
Kuz sees the Youth Jamm, which is completely free to all performers, vendors and the public, as a positive outlet for area youth to create their own music scene, bring commerce to the area and promote local businesses. The most recent Youth Jamm held in Pāhoa on March 12, 2011, featured 16 youth performances and drew an audience of close to 1,000.
From the production of the Youth Jamm emerged yet another powerful organization, the Men of PA‘A. Originally a group of men organized to help with the manual labor of the music event, the group morphed under Maunakea’s direction into a community men’s group in 2006. The word pa‘a means solid and strong and stands as an acronym for Positive Action Alliance.
“We are a community-oriented group that helps in any way you need help,” Kuz explained, saying the men do anything from security, manual labor and serving food, and all are Red-Cross-trained in CPR and first aid. “However, I also created this group to help men recover from drug and alcohol abuse.”
After seeing many men struggle within his community, Maunakea took ideas from other self-help clubs and with the guidance of his sister, who runs a successful non-profit organic farm on O`ahu, he formulated rules, regulations and guidelines to help men become clean and sober. In return, the men’s commitment to themselves translated into commitment to community.
“These men want to be here,” Maunakea said of the 20-50 men who are currently active at any point in the program. “We help these men learn from their mistakes. In turn they regain self-dignity and go back into the community and serve with no expectations of being paid back.”
The pay-off has been the rehabilitation of many men in the Puna district, said Maunakea, which in turns benefits the men’s families and the community at large. PA‘A’s membership is based on attraction rather than promotion and fluctuates depending on the success of the men in the program.
The community service continues. Iopa is in the process of applying for non-profit recognition for a newly-developed umbrella entity called Kanaka O Puna for his various organizations. The proposed 501(c)(3) will be focused on promoting youth advocacy, continuing service work, social projects, PA‘A, a Kupuna Respite Program, and stimulating and creating economic opportunities.
“It’s a blessing to watch,” Maunakea said of the fruits of his labors, a harvest of outcomes which serve many others. “Our music has become the glue that holds it all together. It’s all worthwhile, and I hope to pass that on. It’s all very rewarding; especially when my daughter tells me what I am doing is pono. It’s right.”
It could be Maunakea’s warmth and compassion that make his mission easier. His positivity is contagious—just being around him makes people want to help. Beyond his words and ambitious ideas is the undeniable truth that he and his family lead by example.
From Katherine Maunakea to Kyla Maunakea and beyond, the legacy of generosity is woven into the family album, evident in spirit and in body for generations to come.
What’s Up?
For more information and the up-to-date happenings of Bruddah Kuz and the Bruddah Kuz Youth Jamm, search for Bruddah Kuz on Facebook (he has two sites), on Myspace and second Myspace.
To purchase or listen to the Bruddah Kuz album “Talkin’ Da Kine,” visit Amazon, CdBaby, CdUniverse or any number of online music stores. Kuz is also featured on the three-volume, award-winning compilation CD titled “A Place Called Hawai‘i.” The Bruddah Kuz tracks and entire album (first released in 2003) can also be found at any of the online stores mentioned.
