Transcript - Playing Guitar for the Love and the Money ... - Playin… · Green Day guitar tone as...

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IM 001: Playing Guitar for the Love and the Money Followed | Jim Kimo West

September 5th, 2017

Andy Wang: [00:00:00] Today on Inspired Money.

Jim Kimo West: [0:00:02.6] You know, it is a real basic rule, I think. If you do what you

love, and you really have your heart in it, you just really love doing it, you know, unless

it's like robbing banks or something like that. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [0:00:16.5] [laughter] You’ve got to be careful what you love. Hopefully,

you love something legal. [laughter]

Jim Kimo West: [0:00:18.9] [laughter] Yes, yes, right. Yeah, right!

Andy Wang: [0:00:23.8] This is Episode 1 with longtime guitarist for Weird Al Yankovic,

Jim Kimo West. [background music] Welcome to Inspired Money. My name is Andy

Wang, a Managing Partner at Runnymede Capital Management. Each week we bring

you an interesting person to help you get inspired, shift your perspectives on money and

achieve incredible things. From making it to giving it away, Inspired Money means

making a difference, creating something bigger than oneself and maybe, just maybe,

making the world a better place. Thank you for joining me.

Andy Wang: [00:01:04] Today, I'm speaking with guitarist Jim Kimo West. Now, I grew

up watching “Late Night with David Letterman” in the early 90s. I've always had this

understanding that the best musicians were those like “Paul Shaffer & The World's Most

Dangerous Band” because they could perform at the highest level with any guest

covering all genres. It's in the same light that I have such high regard for Kimo. He's

great at what he does and he plays from the heart. If you don't know him, he's played

alongside the king of parody Weird Al Yankovic for over 35 years. He can pull off an

Eddie Van Halen guitar solo with ease as heard in “Eat It” then followed by a spot on

Green Day guitar tone as heard in “Canadian Idiot.” If that weren't enough, he's just as

proficient covering the Backstreet Boys, Lady Gaga and Don McLean. I've even seen


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him rap in the style of Chamillionaire on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” As a

guitarist myself, I'm kind of a sucker for listening to creatives talk about their work,

partially, because it's so different from my desk job. I also appreciate sitting down with

Kimo because of his very unique career path to success. His band is truly like no other.

His band has sold more than 12 million albums, recorded more than 150 parody and

original songs and they've performed more than 1,000 live shows around the world.

Kimo is also a prolific and respected Hawaiian slack key guitarist. If you've seen the

Oscar winning film, “The Descendants,” you've experienced this great acoustic guitar

tradition. He's a two-time winner of the L.A. Treasures Award. In this interview, we talk

about money, music, taking risks and what motivates him to be the best musician he

can be. Now, let's get inspired with Jim Kimo West. [background music]

Andy Wang: [00:03:05] Well, Kimo, thank you for being on the show. Let's jump right in.

What's your earliest childhood memory of money?

Jim Kimo West: [00:03:14] Well, you know, what I do remember when I was a little kid,

whenever my grandmother would come to visit and this would really delight myself and

my younger brother, she would collect a lot of change, you know, like, just loose

change. Like, saving quarters, nickels and dimes. And she would save it all and she

would come and just bring it in a little purse or something. Just dump this big pile of

coins out in front of us. We would just go nuts. OMG! We’d count it all out and of course,

it was good for learning math. We’d count it all out and divide it, you know. So, it was

like the most thrilling thing, you know. Just all of a sudden, oh my God! Look at all that

money! [laughter]

Andy Wang: [00:03:53] Well, yeah. It was in a tangible form since… it's all credit cards

and electronic these days.

Jim Kimo West: [00:03:59] Right, exactly. So, it was quite a thrill. I remember our eyes

would just light up and we're, oh my God! We have this big pile of coins to divvy up. And

after that I think it was probably when I actually first started earning money which was

probably as a kid. I think I was mowing lawns for you know, $3 or something and I


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was… I think I might have done a little babysitting too, when I was a teenager, but you

know, those are my first actual jobs to actually making money.

Andy Wang: [00:04:38] When did you start playing guitar? Is there a story behind that?

Jim Kimo West: [00:04:43] Well, yeah there is more or less. My older brother, I have a

brother who's 10 years older than me and he was a big folkie. He wasn't a professional

musician, but he loved folk music and I used to see him play guitar. He had a guitar,

and he’d play songs, and sing songs, and he was gone for a while. I remember, and he

was in school and his guitar was in the closet and I think it had like, two strings on it. I

think I was about 12 years old and of course this was a time when there was a lot of

rock n’ roll on the radio and everything, and the Beatles, and things like that. And I

remember picking that guitar up. It had like, two strings on it. Just really getting

interested in this guitar and then when he came home he saw I was interested in the

guitar so, he went out and bought a new set of strings and he bought me a little book

and a capo. I remember there was a capo. [laughter] He bought a book, and a capo,

and a new set of strings and you know, and I was just completely just absorbed by

music from that point on. It was just like, I couldn't get enough. And I immediately went

to that book and learned everything in the book and started even writing my own songs.

I was just… that was it. I was just guitar, guitar all the time. I was locked in my room

playing guitar. I'm self-taught so I never took any lessons from anybody, but I would

listen to records and of course, any chance I would get to see, of course, this was

before YouTube and stuff like that. Since I really didn't know any guitar players, any

time there’d be somebody on TV like a great guitar player on TV, I’d just be glued to the

TV just trying to see what they were doing. So, that's kind of how I started. And I started

off on acoustic and once I had that guitar in my hands, it was pretty much all over.

[laughter]

Andy Wang: [00:06:44] Yeah, that's really cool. It's nice that you had an older brother

who fostered that interest.

Jim Kimo West: [00:06:49] Yeah, yeah, exactly.


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Andy Wang: [0:06:51.1] He gave you that capo so that you could play in any key.

[laughter]

Jim Kimo West: [0:06:55.2] Right. That’s right. That was really sweet. He showed me a

few chords and he got me the book and I was off to a good start.

Andy Wang: [00:07:06] Now, was that in Florida?

Jim Kimo West: [00:07:09] Yes. I grew up in Florida. I was born in Canada and my

family moved to Florida when I was quite young. I was like, nine years old and I was

probably around 12 when I picked the guitar. It’s a common story, too. A lot of people I

know started playing music right around that age. By time I was 16, I actually started to

play some gigs actually. So, the first time I made money playing music was, I think, I

was 16 years old and I was playing at this Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Florida with

this band. And we had this band. It was a… I think it was a three-piece band with three

singers and we, basically, rehearsed for this one gig and played this show and it was

like a little grandstand of people and I think I remember I made $40 and I was like, wow!

This is amazing. I can play music, have fun, and make money, too. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [00:08:09] After playing Strawberry Festival, you must have been in high

school then still, did you go onto college?

Jim Kim West: [00:08:17] You know, I did for a short time, but I was in the art world.

That was my major, and I was really kind of big into art, and graphics and that kind of

thing. So, there was a point where I was going to college, studying art but playing

music, too. And at a certain point it's like, you know what? This music thing is way more

fun. I can see this being a career whereas the art thing was sort of, something that had

been in me for a long time, but I was starting to look at it less and less as the career

possibilities. I don't know. What are your choices? Being a famous artist would be a very

tough thing to count on. I didn't really want to be a teacher. This music thing just… it just

seemed like a no brainer. I was having fun. I really enjoyed music and my heart was in

it. I told my parents. I got to follow the music thing and they were supportive.


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Andy Wang: [0:09:25.3] I was going to say, what did they say?

Jim Kimo West: [00:09:28] Well, they were initially a little disappointed, you know, but

they knew that I really loved music and they supported me. It was all good. I pretty

much have done music my entire life -- when I was quite young up until my early 20s, I

did have some day-jobs, of course.

Andy Wang: [0:09:50.4] In that time when you were ready to embark down that path of

embracing music as a profession, did you have the sense of confidence and conviction

like, I am going all in and this is the path I'm going to take or was it more, I'm going to

give this a go and see what happens?

Jim Kimo West: [00:10:13] You know, luckily for me it was something that I had no

qualms about. I completely knew that that's what I was going to do and I know it’s

unusual especially at that young an age. I would say from the time I was 18 I was

completely convinced that that was going to be my life. And I know a lot of people

struggle with that all their lives, with finding the right calling but I was really lucky in that

respect. And I really, like I say, from the age 18 on I was completely convinced that that

was what I was going to be doing and I didn't have to worry about that anymore. I was

like, okay. This is what I'm doing. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [00:11:01] Yeah. Do you think there was a source for that confidence or

was that just something that you had and it was almost like, predestined?

Jim Kimo West: [0:11:10.9] Yeah. You know, I can't even put a finger on it. I mean, I

don't know. It almost does seem it was predestined. I didn't really come from a family of

musicians. I mean, I think my grandmother played a little piano, but you know, none of

them were certainly professional musicians or anything like that so, I didn't really have

that in my family background. I was just completely confident about it and that was like,

okay. It was it. There was just no question. That was what I was going to do.


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Andy Wang: [0:11:41.2] Right. Now, was it at that point in time that you decided to

relocate? How did that come about that you ended up on the west coast?

Jim Kimo West: [00:11:50] Oh, yeah. Well, what it was is I played in a number of rock

bands and at a certain point, I got a chance to play at this big club in Tampa; that's

where I was living. It was called Robiconti’s. It was a big… I guess it started off as a

disco club, but it was kind of like, you know, Tampa's version of Studio 54, you know. It

started off, I think, as a disco in the disco era then it became just a big club with you

know, and they have a live band which was sort of, put together by the club owner, but it

was you know, essentially, was the best gig in town. And it was a house gig so you

didn't have to park your gear around. You could just leave it there, you know. And I

worked there for almost two years and it was the place where all the musical celebrities

would come when they'd had a night off and they wanted to go out to a big club, you

know. You know, Frank Zappa would come in there. I met Don Henley and Glenn Fry

there and I mean, all kinds of people who wrote rock. Rock n’ roll people would come in.

It was the you know, the big happening place in town.

Andy Wang: [00:12:49] Sounds like an amazing training ground.

Jim Kimo West: [0:12:52.0] Yeah. And you know, it was a professional system. We

had a sound guy and a lighting guy, and you know, it was very professional. And in fact,

Frank Zappa told us that we were the… you know, we were doing mostly covers of

course, current real contemporary covers but he said, “This is the best cover band I've

ever seen.” It's quite a compliment from Frank's Zappa. So, what happened was you

know, I was there for two years and actually, Frank Zappa had talked to the bass player

and took our phone numbers which was quite a thrill, and he actually did call the bass

player, Steve, about auditioning. And Steve came out to L.A. - relocated to L.A.

Andy Wang: [0:13:40.3] So, Steve went first?

Jim Kimo West: [0:13:42.4] Yeah. He went out there and probably, well, you know, he

would go audition for Zappa. He didn't get the gig but he ended up relocating. And then


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he ended up meeting some other guys, another band who was looking for a guitarist

and they were working band and he called me and said, “Hey, you know, if you want to

come out here these guys are looking for a guitar player and you could probably be

working right away.” So I did some back and forth back in those days before the

internet. Of course, we were like exchanging cassettes and things like that by the mail,

you know. [laughter] It sounds ridiculous now but that's how we did it. So, I ended up

relocating basically, because I had work. I could go there and basically, we had like,

three days of rehearsals and I was already playing gigs three days after I came to Los

Angeles. I had known for a while in my heart that it was, you know, where I was in

Tampa, I had the best gig in town and I was partners with some friends in a recording

studio and it was kind of like, well. I don't know if we can really take it any farther here,

you know. I mean, it was this, kind of like, got the best situation I could ever have there.

I've got to go to a big city and it's got to either be New York or L.A. so having a job right

away really helps. It was sad to leave it; but I quit my, you know, steady job where I had

a guaranteed paycheck and I took a chance, you know. [laughter] But every once and a

while, you’ve got to take chances and that's what it was about. You know, I was still

pretty young so it’s like, why not? I’ve got give it a shot, you know.

Andy Wang: [00:15:17] Well, you’ve got to be in a special club of people who moved to

L.A. and started getting paid for what you moved out there for. You were never waiting

tables.

Jim Kimo West: [00:15:28] Yeah, I know. I was very lucky I tell you. You know, I did

have one day job when I first came to L.A. and it was about I think, I probably worked

there for maybe eight months. It was a post-production place, you know. And I was

playing at night in, I think, this was maybe after this other band. The band that I was

originally came out to join. They eventually sort of fell apart and so, I got a day job

working at this post-production place in Hollywood and just kind of not doing anything

really important. I had a day job for a short time. That was the only day job I ever had in

California. But then I met – then I went and hooked up playing with Weird Al. Then there

was a tour and I was like, okay. Well, I got to quit my day job and then I did and then it

was the end of my day job. [laughter]


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Andy Wang: [00:16:26] That was a really quick segue. Was there any bigger story to

that since it really launched a career for you.

Jim Kimo West: [00:16:38] Yeah. Well, you know, but Steve who’s onto this day –

Steve Jay is the bass player for Weird Al. He's you know, my longtime friend and he had

met Al first. He, I think, got called to play bass on Al's very first record, the first record

from his record deal. And Al was looking to play some gigs and needed a guitar player

and I got recommended for it. I think, I actually auditioned. I think, he was auditioning a

few different people, but you know, that time I was playing with a number of different

bands. I was playing in a punk band. I was playing, you know, various band. You know,

whatever I could do, you know. And so, it was like, what!? Some guy with an accordion?

And you know, I said, “Well, he's got gigs, you know, and they're paying gigs.” I’m like,

sure! I'll play. Whatever, you know.

Andy Wang: [0:17:27.1] I want to know what you were thinking? What were you

thinking when you went to go audition for a guy playing accordion?

Jim Kimo West: [0:17:35.0] Yeah. Well, you know. I met him, and he was like,

obviously, a really nice guy. So, I had to learn a bunch of songs and as I'm learning the

songs I listened to the lyrics and it's like, you know, these are very well crafted. I

immediately gained a lot of respect for them. So anyway, you know, what originally was

just a few gigs turned into of course, a much bigger thing because, you know, this whole

thing was happening at the beginning of MTV era, and Al started doing videos which got

played on MTV a lot and you know, and then one thing led to another. And he had you

know, pretty much a hit record there early on and the tours started getting bigger.

Andy Wang: [0:18:14.2] So did that all happen pretty quickly?

Jim Kimo West: [00:18:15] Yeah, it did, you know. It happened within just a few years -

a couple of years of meeting him. When I met him, he was finishing up his very first

album for Scotti Brothers and that was one just called, “Weird Al Yankovic” and it was…

I think, the big song was, to get a couple, “I love Rocky Road.” And then he had one


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called, “Ricky.” which was basically, a cover parody of “Oh Mickey” which was a Toni

Basil. Oh, Mickey you’re so fine… that was it. So, Al did a Rick and Lucy thing and that

was the first video that played on MTV. That played quite a bit on MTV, you know. It

was a low-budget black and white video, but it was very well done. So, I wasn't really

involved on that record per se but the next record was the one that had the Michael

Jackson parody of “Beat It.” You know, he did “Eat It” and that record, it went to a whole

other level of success and became very, very popular. And then the tours got bigger

and we were getting limo rides and got treated treated better. You know, it’s a sort of

snowball. You know, a very slow, I wouldn't say snowball but over the years his career

has gradually, slowly gotten bigger, and bigger, and bigger and amazingly enough, it’s

been so many years.

Andy Wang: [0:19:51.3] It's totally amazing.

Jim Kimo West: [0:19:54.0] Yeah. It's not really your typical arc of a successful band

where they usually have this big spurt where they just blow up and then all of a sudden

they slow fade out. With Al, it’s like a slow uphill ticking, slow uphill rise over the years.

[laughter]

Andy Wang: [00:20:11] Well, I think that… yeah, definitely. You are in an elite group of

bands that have been together for 35 plus years and…

Jim Kimo West: [0:20:19.5] I know. It's crazy. I mean, there's not many of us. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [0:20:22.4] When you talk about arc it's like, your group has stayed on top

of pop culture and you guys have changed with the times. While many artists that you

parodied have lost the spotlight.

Jim Kimo West: [00:20:36] Yup. Well, I think the beauty of what Al does I mean, not

that he’d ever planned it this way, but he's always commenting on what’s new in current

music and pop culture. That never goes out of style. That's always a completely

regenerating thing. It's always fres, because he's always commenting on what's popular


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so what he does is always fresh. And the other thing which is an interesting thing

demographically is because he's always commenting on what's current he's always

regenerating his audience. When we play shows the demographic is like no other show.

You've got grandparents out there. You've got 4-year old kids, that are jumping up and

down. I love what…

Andy Wang: [0:21:22.5] I think I’ve been to four of your shows and…

Jim Kimo West: [0:21:26.2] Yeah and you've seen [inaudible] [laughter].

Andy Wang: [0:21:28.3] I think Al describes it best. I read somewhere where he called

your live performances a rock and comedy multimedia extravaganza and that the

audience ranges from toddlers to geriatrics. [laughter]

Jim Kimo West: [0:21:44.0] Yeah, it’s true. [laughter] It's pretty amazing. There really is

something for everybody in the show, you know. It's a show you can take your kids to

because I mean, there are some edgy humor but there's not anything that's going to

really embarrass a parent, you know.

Andy Wang: [0:21:58.7] It is a real experience. You guys sold out Radio City Music Hall

and my 9-year old and now 7-year old, they are now counted among the Weird Al

Yankovic and band huge fans so we'll be back. I mean, the funny thing is when I tell

people that I'm going to a Weird Al show it's either like, I get two reactions. One is Weird

Al is a genius or they say Weird Al is still around? I can't believe. I didn't know that

Weird Al is still around. So, it's kind of funny because you guys have been together for

so long. I feel like I admire you because you're doing your thing. I go to your shows and

the audience is decked out in costume. People are singing along word for word lyrics. I

mean, it really is an experience. And for those who have not followed Weird Al’s career,

your accomplishments are huge. I got this online so I don't know if it's up to date or

accurate, but I'll run it by you. 11 Grammy nominations, four Grammy Awards, four Gold

Records, six Platinum Records in the United States. You had a Top Ten Billboard album


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with “Straight Outta Lynwood.” “White and Nerdy” was a number one single and the

latest album, “Mandatory Fun” was a number one album during its debut week so…

Jim Kimo West: [0:23:34.7] Yeah that's true. I guess so. Yeah.

Andy Wang: [0:23:36.8] I mean, you guys have and amazing record. Like, when you

look back, I mean, the success is there. When you look back like, how much of that is

due to goal setting and planning versus adjusting and letting things happen organically?

Jim Kimo West: [00:24:00] Well, you know. I really have to defer. I mean, it's really,

you know, Al is really the guy who is the brains behind it all. And you know, as a band

we're you know, we support him but he's the one that's really running the show and he's

you know, not only creatively the leader but he also comes up with a lot of the marketing

ideas.

For this last record, you know, it was his idea to - I mean, he had lots of help, you know.

He has a manager and he has, a lot of people working on it but the idea for marketing

for this last record, “Mandatory Fun” was that he wanted to create videos of course, and

the record company, Sony was… nowadays, it's not like the old days where they were

making a lot of money and so they're not going to shell out a few $100,000 per video to

make videos, you know. So, basically, they said, “Well, you're on your own.” If you want

to make videos, you know, you gotta pay for them. So what Al did was, it was very

brilliant. He partnered with various different websites like the Nerdist channel, and

College Humor and you know, Wall Street's entertainment page and various

entertainment websites. He would partner with them so that if they funded the

production of the video then - and some of them were not that expensive, you know.

Some of them were quite inexpensive to do. If, you know, if they funded the video then

the video would be exclusively on their site for the first, you know, couple of weeks.

Then on top of that – so, he was able to get eight videos funded by eight different

websites and when it was all said and done then he released the videos one day at a

time. Eight videos in eight days. So, the first video comes out then everybody is like,


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next morning, what’s the next one going to be? And people started anticipating it.

What's the next one going to be? So, they would be released in the morning.

Andy Wang: [0:25:53.6] I was there. I loved it.

Jim Kimo West: [0:25:54.7] He'd blast it out on his Twitter. He has a lot, you know,

millions of Twitter followers and he blasted out and you know, and he’d show everybody

where we're it was - where the link was. And of course, web providers who financed the

videos of course, they have their own publicity so they're pumping it out to all their fans.

And so, it was just, you know, then it was a massive snowball. So, by the end of the

eight days it was just crazy. He was, all of a sudden he was on every national news

channel and I think it was like, 6,000 articles written about him.

Andy Wang: [00:26:26] Yeah, I was going to say. It was totally brilliant and I’m sure

case studies for business school’s studying marketing, right, in the 21st century.

Jim Kimo West: [0:26:37.9] Absolutely. It was really a brilliant thing and it was mostly

him and his manager, but you know, he's really the brains behind it. And you know, as a

band, you know, we know we support what we can, you know. I mean, obviously, we're

mostly there for the you know, with the musical part of it and that part but yeah, it was

quite an amazing marketing campaign.

Andy Wang: [0:27:05.2] Now, you and I spoke once about trends in the industry

because the Internet in many ways has not been kind to the music industry. For the past

16 years, revenues have declined I think, 4% a year and that rate of decline - this is

talking about album sales, CD sales, but I saw a figure, Mary Meeker at Kleiner Perkins.

She does an internet trends study every year and just a couple of weeks ago she had a

report. It's like, 335 slides with a lot of information but one of her headlines there was

that last year the overall music revenue grew by 11% and that's the highest figure since

2009. So, I just wanted to ask you, yeah, what's going on and what do you see?


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Jim Kimo West: [00:27:58] What I see with my own career and my Hawaiian slack key

stuff, I've been - my music has been out there and you know, through the you know,

when it was just CDs and then it was - it's been out there since the beginning of

streaming and all that so, I've watched the trends. So, basically, what's happening is

that CDs of course, are declining in sales. It makes sense because you know, it's very

easy to stream stuff or have MP3s, you know. Who needs to have things sitting on your

shelf taking up space. It's very easy to… it's easy to buy. You don't have to go to a

store. You know, it's very easy. It's instant gratification, you know. So, I mean, it makes

sense. From a consumer point of view that the new technology especially, streaming,

you know, if you can pay a little bit per month and basically, hear anything you want to

hear any time I mean, that’s pretty hard to beat.

Andy Wang: [00:28:51] Now, I hear you speaking from a consumer's perspective but

how about from the artist's perspective? I've seen you post on social media about your

streaming checks that you’ve received. So, how does it make you feel?

Jim Kimo West: [00:29:05] The technology moves so fast that there was an initial

shock of the CD going out of popularity. Even MP3s downloads is going, you know,

they're sinking, too. Downloads are sinking because streaming is much more popular

so, there was a shockwave, basically, have changed and it's taken the music industry a

while to adapt, and feel, and figure out how to, you know, how to monetize the new

technology which is streaming, you know. Either Pandora style which is like a radio or

on-demand like Spotify. So, there was this, you know, I think what we what we saw in

the last number of years is this shock, you know. Shockwave where everything was

topsy-turvy and that's why the revenues were just in steep decline. And of course, CD

revenues are always going to be in steep decline. They're not going to be coming back

anytime soon, you know. They're going to keep going down. We just have to embrace

the new technology. But as we do, there also are opportunities that have opened up.

Typically, streaming revenue is very low but now, if you're lucky enough to… I mean, it's

very minute per stream. I mean, I don't know. It’s like, .007 cents per stream or

something. I mean, it's very minute. Now, that being said, if you happen to - what I'm

starting to see now I think, as of maybe, since a couple of years ago or so I've had


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some of my stuff on some very big playlists. Now, playlists are sort of, curated programs

where people you know, pick a certain - there's a certain mood and people will tune into

sort of, let's say you know, a relaxing mood, or acoustic music vibe, or you know, any

kind of musical mood or vibe there's a playlist for. So, if you happen to get your music in

enough playlists that are very popular worldwide then you actually can you know, make

some money and I've seen a steady rise in the last two years. Pretty marked rise

actually now because I think all of my music is on a number of very popular playlists.

And I guess that's probably because I’ve, you know, have my music out there in the

streaming platform since the beginning.

Andy Wang: [00:31:24] Do you have to actively pursue getting your music on those

playlists or does it happen more passively because people find your music?

Jim Kimo West: [00:31:33] Yeah. Mine is all but passive. I used CD Baby as my

distributor so they basically, put it out there to all the streaming networks including

iTunes, and downloads, and everything like that so I never really did anything. It was

passive, but I have heard you know, I've been reading articles about how you can

supposedly find the people who are curating the playlist, and talk to them, and shoot

them emails, and things like that. I haven't done any of that. I'm sure you know, a lot of

people are probably trying now.

Andy Wang: [0:32:03.2] You and I met because of a common passion for Hawaiian

Slack key guitar. You've recorded a lot of albums. I think you've recorded 11 slack key

albums.

Jim Kimo West: [0:32:12.9] Probably. I mean, counting, you know, counting the ones

that I've done as commissions I haven't even counted. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [00:32:18] That's going to be a true passion for you, right? Because even

though you say you're making some streaming money, but your Hawaiian slack key

doesn't pay as well as your, “day job.”


15 | P a g e

Jim Kimo West: [00:32:31] Yeah, right. But you know, it is getting better and better.

You know, we do you know, you count it. Because you count in your live performances

and you know, in live performances people still like to buy CDs because they're just you

know, they're a tangible thing and a souvenir. So, you know, I still do pretty well. I still do

pretty well with CDs sales at shows you know, and that's a pretty good, you know, that's

pretty good income, too. So, but what I was going to say was that my first record was

called “Coconut Hat” and I didn't get into… well, slack key was just something I loved

when I first heard it. I went to Hawaii first in 1985 to Hana Maui and I heard slack key

records, Gabby Pahinui and all these great records. I just really love the sound and I

just thought it sounds like, the place is, you know. The place and the music just go

together so beautifully. And you know, for many years I just listened to - I just like to

listen to slack key. I’d have them in my car, on the [inaudible] or whatever. And then it

just gradually crept into my, you know, all of a sudden I started writing some slack key

tunes. I didn't really study. I didn't sit down and go, oh. I'm going to learn all these riffs

and I'm going to learn you know, all the song writing. I just started kind of writing my

own slack key songs. And I wrote this one. It was actually a piece dedicated to a good

friend of mine who - we used to be roommates back in Florida. He was a chef who

passed away. It was really kind of, unfortunate. He was a young guy, but I was kind of

very emotionally, you know, just a wreck and I just you know, used to paint and sat

down and played my guitar to kind of comfort myself. All of a sudden I came up with this

slack key song and I called it, “Lay for James.” His name is James. I remember playing

it for a few people and they were like, wow! That's really good. You should do some

more of those. You know, a couple of friends in Hawaii, Hawaiian people and they were

like, you know. That's really nice. And so, I got inspired to start writing more slack key

songs and every time I’d write one I would record it just mostly so I wouldn't forget it.

And it was strictly you know, just for the love of doing it. I had no thought about making

money with it. It was just something I just like to do. And at some point, somebody said,

“Jim, you've got 12 or 13 songs. You should put out a CD.” And I hadn't even

considered it. It hadn't even crossed my mind. I was like, really? And my friend who's -

one of my friends who suggested that was a graphic artist. He said, “Well, yeah. Man, I'll

do the packaging. I’ll do the cover and you know, you can get these things I’ll put

together and you can have a CD.” I was like, wow! A CD! I could’ve… you know, it just


16 | P a g e

blew my mind. I'll never forget the day he came over with the prototype package and

showed me the thing in my hand. I had it in my hands. You know, the prototype, not the

manufactured product. It was like, oh my God! I said, “I can't believe it. I'm going to have

my own CD.” And so, as soon as I had it manufactured and you know, it was really just

for the love. I really wasn't looking to make, you know, have the money. Making money

with slack key wasn't something I had even considered. I never played a slack key gig,

you know. Just play for myself, you know. And you know, that's how slack key always

was. It was never performed, you know. It was something people played around the

house for the family and that’s what…

Andy Wang: [0:35:45.8] Right. It was backyard music.

Jim Kimo West: [0:35:48.5] Yeah, and that's what I had been doing. I hadn't been out,

performing or trying to make money with it. So, anyway. Finally, I had a CD and I got

somebody in Hawaii who was a publicist to help me do some, you know, a couple of

record released parties. And you know, I got to meet all the people and got invited to the

Slack Key Festival, and I met a bunch of Slack Key players, and all of a sudden I was

sort of, in that world, you know. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [00:36:14] It's funny because you sort of, have - it's almost like you have

this dual life where back in the day it's like, you're taking the limo and you’re on MTV

and then you've been touring all these years with Weird Al then you’re also a Hawaiian

Slack Key where I'm sure, you drive yourself to the gig and you carry your, what is it?

You carry your Hendrickson amp in and play like a small club.

Jim Kimo West: [0:36:37.8] Yeah. [laughter] Yes.

Andy Wang: [0:36:39.4] Tell me about some of the dates that you're doing right now

with Ken Emerson and the “Slackers in Paradise.”

Jim Kimo West: [00:36:46] Yeah. Well, Ken Emerson, you know, I met Ken years ago,

but he's been in Hawaiian music for years. He grew up in Oahu and he played – he


17 | P a g e

used to play with Moe Keale and you know, as you know he is an expert at the old, old

Hawaiian steel guitar, playing the acoustic steel guitar playing from way back and he -

which nobody even in the 70s it had already been kind of lost and so, a lot of the old

timers like Gabby and people like that love to have Ken play because he was bringing

back this old, old, old sound that hadn't been around since their fathers or grandfathers

around. So, you know, he's kind of a legend in many ways and in fact, there's really

nobody else that does that like he does. So anyway, we had met years ago and a few

years ago we ended up – by this point he'd moved back to the mainland. It was up near

Napa Valley and we decided to start playing some shows together and we made this

record “Slackers in Paradise.” So, essentially, it came out last year and we figured we

would play you know, last fall and then into this year and maybe a little bit into next year

because I'm not touring with Al this year so we're, you know, it's a good chance to

promote the record. So, we're doing shows. We started off in Hawaii. We played George

Kahumoku’s Masters of Slack Key show two weeks in a row. It was funny. The way

we've been doing it lately there and it just happened by chance the first time, but I had a

show on I think, was May 17th. We went to the shows every Wednesday. So, the way

we worked there was I have a show on May 17th and Ken was my special guest and

then Ken had a show a week later on May 24th and I was his special guest. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [0:38:38.8] Very tricky Kimo. Very tricky. [laughter]

Jim Kimo West: [0:38:40.9] Yeah, yeah. Because we were not sure how to do it you

know, but that's how we did it and the we use that you know, as an opportunity to play,

to promote our record and play songs from the record. And we ended up staying there

at the beautiful Napili Kai Resort where the show is. We ended up staying there the

whole week and we were looking you know, thinking, we like this work schedule. Like,

it’s one day on and six days off. [laughter] Ken is like, Kimo, I think we need to refine

this work ethic. This is good. One day on and six days off. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [0:39:17.3] Well, from what I've heard what you guys are doing as a duo is

really magical because the Slack key guitar and then the Hawaiian steel complement


18 | P a g e

each other so beautifully and then like, the musicality of what you guys are doing, you

know, it's really beautiful music.

Jim Kimo West: [00:39:37] And we have a lot of fun you know, because we were the

first - we try and keep some spontaneity in the show, too so we're almost always

learning to put something out we've never played before and you know, that adds a little

bit of an excitement and different edge as opposed to something that's you know, we

keep a lot of the arrangements. We have a lot of open stuff in there where they can

change from night and day, you know. We have stuff that's very together and worked

out. I mean, we have stuff that's very free and open and I think it goes back to our very

first gig. I remember Ken and I never played together and Mitch Chang, who runs the

Southern California's Slack Key Festival…

Andy Wang: [0:40:18.0] Yeah, sure. I know Mitch.

Jim Kimo West: [0:40:19.3] Yeah. I did mention to Mitch that you know, well, Ken

Emerson is living here on the mainland now. You know, you should really get him down

here to be part of the festival one year because he's you know, he's great and he's

played with everybody. Moe Keale, and Gabby, and all these legends. And so, he said,

“Well, why don't you two guys do a set?” I said, “Well, we've never played together.” So,

I called Ken up and he said, “Yeah! Let's do it. Let's try it.” So, I thought, well. We need

to book a show before the festival just so we can you know, have you know, at least

have one show under our belt, yeah!

Andy Wang: [0:40:52.8] Have one paid rehearsal. [laughter]

Jim Kimo West: [0:40:54.1] So, I booked a show in Santa Barbara, nice place called

Soho and so you know, I said, “Well, sound check is at 6:30.” And so, we both get there

at 6:30 and we just sort of, talk about what we could do and didn't even plan anything.

We’re just like, well. We could do this song. What key we’d do that in and you know, just

sort of, talked about it. And meanwhile you know, people are filing in and eventually

there's like, you know, 75 people in there waiting to be entertained and we've never


19 | P a g e

played a note together before. [laughter] But you know what? It ended up being great.

We had the greatest time and there was a lot of course, a lot of great spontaneous

because we were just on the fly by the seat of our pants, you know. But after the end of

the night everybody was like, people loved it. We had you know, a big hana hou encore.

And also, with the Hawaiian repertoire. There's a lot of songs that people know. It’s like,

oh yeah. I know that song. What key we’d do it in and you sort of, already know a lot of

the songs. And so, anyway, by the end and it was like, well, Kimo. I guess we got it.

We're okay and sure enough you know, we played the festival. Everything was great,

and we had a great time, and it was all… it all worked out fine. And you know, from that

point on we've always tried to keep some of that spontaneity in the show, you know.

Andy Wang: [0:42:16.6] Yeah. And the videos that I've seen I can see that you guys

are having fun and playing off of each other. That energy is there.

Jim Kimo West: [00:42:22] Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. We have a cracked up. We’re doing

crazy stuff sometimes. [laughter] Oh, my God.

Andy Wang: [00:42:29] Kimo, you've had some crazy musical adventures. What do you

think the future holds or what future goals do you have for music and career?

Jim Kimo West: [00:42:41] Well, you know. I do love playing with Weird Al. I mean,it’s

a musically challenging gig. In a lot of ways, it's fun. You get to play all these different

styles so, you know. I don't know how much longer Al is going to want to keep touring

but as long as I'm able to, I like doing that, you know. And you know, financially, it's a

good thing. Obviously, when I'm touring I get a steady paycheck and that's nice. So, we

will be touring next year, and you know. So, I look forward to that but then I also look

forward to the times when we're not on tour because it gives me a chance to do my

slack key shows. I mean, with slack key, you know like, getting back to the fact that we

just do it really for love. I mean, even if it came down the point where I wasn't playing

many slack key gigs or you know, it wouldn't bother me because I just love playing, you

know. And I would just be sitting around on my couch playing anyway if I wasn't out

playing shows, you know. I do it for the enjoyment, you know. And I always mention that


20 | P a g e

to people like, people ask me about you know, musicians. Ask me about advice about

you know, getting into the music business and my advice is always like, with music and

just probably with any art you know, it's like, you don't get into it for the business. You

get into it for the love and then if you make money then it's icing on the cake, you know.

I mean, unless you're doing like, engineering, or production, or something where it's a

tangible craft that you know, service type of thing. With music, you're creating and

playing. It's like, you know, you do it for the love of doing it. You do it because you love

it and then if making money becomes part of it then that's just an extra bonus really, you

know.

Andy Wang: [0:44:19.8] Well, I think you've hit the lesson for today, right? Inspired

Money. You're saying that it's not really the money that you're chasing. You're just doing

what you love and then the money is a byproduct.

Jim Kimo West: [0:44:33.2] Will follow. Exactly, yeah. If you do… you know, it is a real

basic rule, I think. If you do what you love and you really have your heart in it, you just

really love doing it. Unless, it's like, robbing banks or something like that. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [0:44:48.8] [laughter] You got to be careful what you love. Hopefully, you’ll

love something legal.

Jim Kimo West: [0:44:51.3] Yes, yes. Right. [laughter] Yeah, right. [laughter]

Andy Wang: [00:44:55] Well, thank you, Kimo. I want to thank you for your friendship

and spending time with me today.

Jim Kimo West: [00:45:04] Well, thank you Andy. It was an honor to be invited and it's

always fun to chat, you know. No matter what… well, if it's you know, sitting on the tour

bus, or if it’s backstage, or over the phone it's always fun.

Andy Wang: [00:45:15] I forgot to ask where people can find you?


21 | P a g e

Jim Kimo West: [00:45:17] Well, my website is www.jimkimowest.com and that’s

generally, the easiest place to find me. Of course, but I'm on Facebook and I'm on

Instagram. Look for Jim Kimo West. I'm out there in the social media.

Andy Wang: [0:45:41.7] Right on. Right on. All right Kimo, lots of aloha. Look forward to

seeing you soon.

Jim Kimo West: [0:45:47.2] All right. Mahalo, my friend.

Andy Wang: [0:45:48.3] Mahalo nui.

Jim Kimo West: [0:45:49.1] Yeah. Okay, aloha.

Andy Wang: [00:45:53] [background music] Thanks for listening. What were your

favorite Inspired Money moments? I'm impressed that Kimo knew with such conviction

what he wanted to do at just 18 years old. He took a chance, leaving his steady

nightclub job. He felt that he had done all he could there and yearned for something

bigger. And then he found it with longtime friend Steve Jay, partnering with Weird Al

Yankovic. Thirty-five years later, it's amazing how their success is not the typical arc of

the successful band. They just keep gradually moving up. Finally, set like a true artist.

You've got to do what you love and then the money will follow. If that's not an Inspired

Money, I don't know what is. If you have a chance to check out Kimo’s slack key guitar

or catch him on tour with Weird Al, you're in store for a great show. Weird Al shows are

funny, energetic and really musical. Not to mention the show features videos, costumes

and a true all ages crowd.

Andy Wang: [00:46:54] Coming up next on Inspired Money.

Gret Glyer: [0:46:57.7] I mean, like, every day it's like I could tell you there’s these

amazing things happening in Donorsee. We provide clean water for people. Like one,

we’re recording this podcast with you. I'm watching donations come into this water

project that we have on our site and we have stuff like this all the time.


22 | P a g e

Andy Wang: [00:47:12] That's 27-year old Gret Glyer, Founder of Donorsee, an app

that you can download and help the poorest people in the world. Not only that, but you'll

get videos so, you can see the impact of how your donation is making someone's life

better. Thanks for tuning in. If you like today's show the best thing you can do is

subscribe, rate and review us. Go to inspiredmoney.fm right now where there's a link for

you to leave an iTunes review. You'll also find show notes and guest links. Inspired

Money is brought to you by my company Runnymede Capital Management, a fiduciary

investment adviser to businesses, individuals and families. Educate yourself for free by

subscribing to our blog at blog.runnymede.com. All the music on today's show is by Jim

Kimo West. Aloha Kimo. Want to be an inspired moneymaker? Do something that

scares you. Do something that's going to make you better. Do something to give back in

a bigger way to the world. Tweet me what you're up to. Until next time. Find your

inspiration and run with it.

Links:

http://www.jimkimowest.com

Connect with Kimo at Facebook and Twitter

Buy Kimo's music at cdbaby

http://weirdal.com/

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Transcript of Transcript - Playing Guitar for the Love and the Money ... - Playin… · Green Day guitar tone as...