We love LA’s streaming radio station Dublab. The DJs are all LA, they play what they want with the sole mission to share beautiful music with the world. You’ll hear world-class Djs, musicians, and artists including Daedelus, Andres Renteria, Carlos Nino, The Gaslamp Killer, Kutmah, and Kozyndan- these are just a handful of folks that are part of the Dublab crew.

Our friend Frosty is one of the founders of this truly eclectic radio station. He started this in 1999 and it’s been going strong and getting stronger since day one. Dublab is about bringing community together for the arts, film, and of course, music. Every time I run into Frosty, there is always something new… it could be a film project that is touring the nation, Friday night music events at the Natural History Museum, Djing at the TED conference, or producing and making records by some of LA’s finest. Frosty and Dublab have got their hands in everything…and, it wouldn’t be what it is without the support of Dublab’s global listeners and fans.

Introducing Creative Cultivation 2012, a dinner-music-party fundraiser for Dublab radio. Frosty has lined up Cut Chemist, Julia Holter, Anenon & Yvette Holzwarth, Carlos Niño, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson & Dexter Story. Drinks from Lagunitas Beer, DRY Soda Co., and food from one of our favorite restaurants, Starry Kitchen!

You can support and be part of this event, by buying tickets here. Dublab is a 501(c)(3) creative non profit, so the proceeds go directly to funding their mission and operation…. and of course purchasing a ticket is 100% tax deductible.

More info on the event at Dublab.

This is brand new on Poketo… plays both your favorite radio station and even your playlist on your Ipod/Iphone, just hook it up, you’re ready to go. It’s been getting a lot of play on our Tumblr… have you visited our Tumblr? We have lots of different news and images from the Poketo world on there too!

You already know Portugal. The Man by now, whether it’s from us, the radio, or the world, no doubt you know them because they are certifiably huge. Sometimes, we get fans emailing us, sending pics, reminiscing about our free concert we hosted with them a couple years back. I remember that night vividly… the hundreds of people, the art show, and how Portugal blew everyone away with their set. It was an epic night.

I hung out with John and Zach from Portugal, just chilled out over wine and caught up on life. They told me about their tour with the Black Keys, their non-stop globe trotting, and their excitement to step into the studio for their next album. The raddest was that John and Zach actually told me, as we finished the second bottle of red, that the show they played at Poketo was a different vibe, a special one, and personally one of their most memorable. True or not, I’ll take that compliment anytime.

Peep their tour dates coming up for April and May. They are coming to LA! Most likely, they’ll be coming to your city too.

We met Scott Kitano of the band, Hearios some years back. A huge Poketo fan, whenever we’d see Scott at one of our events, he would grace us with a killer mix cd or even a demo of some of the music he was working on. It’s safe to say that his mix cds have been on heavy rotation here at the studio. One of the tracks he gave us some time ago was a really catchy tune with featured vocals from Aloe Blacc. I loved it, it was a song that made you tap your feet and want to dance. Well, some time has passed and Scott has just released a full length album… a mix of hip hop, soul, and folk… it’s love, fun, sweat, and dedication in this album and you hear it from beginning to end. One thing you should know, Scott’s passion is music, but, he’s also a full time educator. Making music, collaborating with artists, and recording… that’s a full time thing in itself.

Props to our friend Scott for making this album, for making art and getting it done! We love supporting our friends and fans, here is a short interview with Scott of Hearios, he takes us through the album and shows us, the feel of the music. Go to esomusicart.blogspot.com, you can hear snippets.

You worked with a lot of different collaborators on this album. Tell me about them.

This album has some special guest appearances as well as new additions to the band. Hearios started off with me and Seann Carroll, the best drummer in Hawaii, and I would fill in the gaps with multiple instruments. Now we added James on bass, RaE is singing more solo songs, Anné adding soulful hooks and a very important addition Navid, a very dope emcee with a great flow and voice. Jae-Mi (also from Hawaii) is featured on the title track and it was great working with her style. I am also playing more electric guitar and keys.

It was an honor to have some of my mentors on the album too. DJ Cheapshot is responsible for me getting turntables, a 4-track and sampler way back in the late 90′s. He added some of his trademark scratches to a song on the new album. Aloe Blacc has been a major influence on my music and he’s on the sentimental and catchy song “Hello (It’s Me Again)”. Both of these artists, as well as Exile, have been the reason why I keep making music. I’m never going to give up because they never gave up and I feel like my music has grown so much because of them.

Aloe Blacc, love his work, how did that relationship form?

I met Aloe Blacc when I was down at UC Irvine frequently visiting the Hip Hop college radio show hosted by DJ Cheapshot. Aloe went to USC and I transferred to LMU and we worked on some music for fun. But for me it was more of a learning experience and sharpening my production skills. Then I moved to Hawaii and he came out for a visit and we worked on a few songs for Hearios. I kept on making my music with Hearios while Aloe started to dominate the music scene with his “Good Things” album. It is so great to see his music received all over the world and that gives me motivation to keep on playing.

You’ve been working on this album for some time, tell us about the process, the sweat, the love…

This album took four years to do!! All my songs are very personal and the soundtrack to what’s going on during that year. The songwriting process takes the longest. It took about two years while I was still living in Hawaii to get all the content, write the music and record with the musicians. I moved to Los Angeles, absorbed all the new indie music and then finished editing and engineering the album. That took another two years. The title sums up the theme of the album, “Feelings Are Not Fact”. What you feel one day will change the next so there’s no use to stress out over feelings. I found myself feeling something about the music, or about a girl, and then waking up the next day feeling different. This album is very eclectic not only with the music but with the subject matter. It’s supposed to soundtrack any day, any feeling, anywhere. Lots of time, love and emotion is on this album and when you listen you can hear it.

Any plans on live shows for this album?

We had a tour in Honolulu with the full band and it was very cool to play the songs live. I am trying to make another tour out there sometime this year. For Los Angeles, I am working on getting some shows soon. I am also working on a solo set and then producing an indie-soul record for my friend Kapali Long. Check my blog for tour dates and news and all that good stuff.

BTW, that song “siren song of the city” has a Poketo shoutout!! listen to it carefully (3rd verse).

To hear the album and find out more, go to esomusicart.blogspot.com
Here is another interview we did with Scott last year, prior to this album release.