I recently had a short vacation on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Immediately upon getting in our rental car at the airport I dutifully turned the radio to the left end of the dial, where I quickly found KMNO-FM, Mana’o Radio, the local community station.
Mana’o Radio turned out to be a wonderful travel companion for our four days on the island, as we drove the Road to Hana or made our way to Lahaina for whale watching, we kept the car receiver locked to the station. I almost always travel with a radio, so we had no problem listening in the vacation rental, making up for the pitiful wi-fi that was barely sufficient to search for restaurant reviews.
Turning 16 years old on March 18, Mana’o Radio is entirely volunteer run, primarily broadcasting an eclectic music format that always seem to include plenty of local and Hawaiian artists. I particularly enjoyed how many DJs smoothly mix in the occasional more well-known track from both currently popular artists, as well as older cuts, alongside much less mainstream selections.
I’d say that the music mix was just eclectic enough–meaning that there were many pleasant surprises, but almost nothing that tempted me to touch the dial. In fact, I needed to take note of and look up several artists I heard for the first time. Although each show’s personality was distinct, it rarely felt like I was listening to a whole other station during the daypart. It was also clear that the DJs take and play a lot of requests. That’s always a sign that a station is connecting with the audience.
A Saturday journey to Iao Valley State Park took us through Wailuku, where Mana’o has its studios. After a short hike my wife and I took a chance on dropping by, and found the door open. I introduced myself as a radio nerd and was warmly greeted by DJ Gayle Lewis who was preparing for her show, “The Past, Present & Forgotten.” The main room of the station, located in a typical downtown building, looked familiar to this community radio guy, principally adorned with wall-to-wall CD and record shelves.
DJ Birch in the Mana’o Radio studio
In the studio DJ Birch was filling in on “The Time Machine.” Earlier I’d heard him play a fascinating drop-in segment on Hawaiian history. On the air he called it a “cart,” so I was curious to find out if the station was actually using Fidelipac tape carts. (Which I wouldn’t expect at a station that’s only sixteen years old.) Alas, the “cart” was actually a CD, though to my ears the program had those softly rounded-off highs reminiscent of a well-worn PSA or promo spot from an actual cart. (Who knows, maybe it was originally produced on tape?)
Birch told me he’d moved to Maui from the Bay Area not long ago, and the got involved with the station because he became a dedicated listener first. Before joining Mana’o, he’d never done radio.
After my visit I walked down the street to Request Music, one of only three record stores in the entire state of Hawaii. I perused the impressive selection of CDs and vinyl, looking to find some interesting local sounds. I checked out the new CD from the Maui band Kanekoa at the listening station, then asked the guy behind the counter about it.
DJ Jeremy Jarvis at Request Music
The man behind the counter, Jeremy Jarvis, also turned out to be a Mana’o Radio DJ, hosting both the punk and hardcore show on Saturday nights, “Minority Report,” and “Best Day Ever,” which focuses more on funk, soul and R&B, on Mondays. A Maui native, he had high recommendations for the Kanekoa CD. The band says they play “ukulele powered Hawai’ian reggae folk rock.” Jeremy reported that at their live shows they sometimes perform only using ukuleles.
Earlier, I noticed a show promo stuck to the section divider for the punk CDs. Upon learning Jeremy was the host, I told him he was doing a great job spreading the word, and that more community or college radio DJs should see if their local record store would put a small sign up near the genre of music they play.
Minorty Report radio show promo on CD divider at Request Music
We talked with Jeremy a while about community radio, music, and the vagaries of doing a late-night radio show, and then bid adieu so he could tend to other customers. I didn’t venture to the downstairs vault of used vinyl and tapes in order to avoid the temptation, feeling satisfied in my Kanekoa CD purchase.
After the visit I quick Google search revealed that fellow Radio Survivor Matthew Lasar wrote about the station back in 2014 after receiving a status update from engineer John Bruce, who relayed Mana’o’s history. Begun as a low-power station during the first wave of LPFM in the early 2000s, Mana’o Radio later upgraded to a strong 1200 watt signal.
I don’t visit nearly as many radio stations as my colleague Jennifer Waits, but every time I stumble into a community or college station, I leave feeling that warm glow of meeting people who share the same passion for music, culture and sharing that love through the magic of broadcasting. Listening and visiting Mana’o Radio was a fundamental part of my first visit to Maui, and knowing the station is there makes me more eager to return. Who knows, I might just start making radio tours a more established part of my future vacations.
Mana’o Radio is on Radio Free America, so you can listen live or check out the archives.
