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Music
Better than All Right
"When we were in Iraq, we used 'LaLea' as a greeting. It was our way of saying, it's okay or it's alright," said Jose Villa, a member of the Army Reserve's 100th Battalion.
Four of the members in LaLea are Army Reservists in the 100th Battalion, deployed to Ballad, Iraq in August 2004. While stationed at Camp Anaconda, Villa and Tachibana discovered that they had something in common with two others serving in their unit, Kekoa Wong and Alfonso "Bruce" Scanlan. Villa, Tachibana, Wong, and Scanlan struck up a lasting friendship, and the four new friends made a pact to return to Hawaii to pursue a career in music. Once they returned home, the reservists aligned themselves with a group of mutual friends who were also aspiring to make a name in the local music industry.
While in Iraq, music served as a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Miles away from home, playing the ukulele eased Jarrett Tachibana into his comfort zone. "It was a good life experience. It wasn't easy being in a foreign country, but playing music would put me in a dreamland. When I was playing it was like I was in a dream, and once the music stopped, it was right back to war," said Tachibana, a 2004 graduate of McKinley High School.
In January 2006, Tachibana, Villa, Wong, and Scanlan returned home to unite with Brandon Luamanu, Puka Tatupu, Salesi Fifita-Atkins, and Kawaia Chung. Each individual in the eight-member group brings something specific to the table, and collectively the guys are better than just all right or okay.
The one commonality that these local boys share is their consensus that music is an escape from all the negativity that the world can conjure up. "We all have personal stuff off the stage, but once the music starts we become one. I don't know how we all got here, but it seems like destiny," said Brandon Luamanu. "This is better than winning the lottery because it's something I can enjoy everyday for the rest of my life."