Andrew Molina ON: Overcoming Fear

Aloha, Andrew. Thank you so much for taking the time to join me, brother.

Hey, James, thanks for having me, man. It's good to talk to you again.

Yeah, it's good to connect, man. What's been happening there over in Hawaii? It's.

It's all right. I mean, things are starting to slowly open again, I think. I mean, I haven't done a show since maybe January 2020, but I think we're gonna finally have a live performance socially. Distance tables and like, they have like a blast shields may. So it's. It's interesting, but I've been keeping myself busy with, you know, teaching ukulele and. Yeah, just trying to not to go too crazy in here. Just been stuck on the island for the longest I've ever been here, the consecutive days, so. But other than that, I'm doing pretty good. How about you?

Good. All going well this end, man. It's. It's New Zealand. We've been very fortunate, I guess, in some ways with how the. Our country has handled it. So there's been somewhat normality to certain degree. But honestly, I want to say a massive thank you because you in the ukulele world are a huge deal. And I know you're very humble and I know you don't like blowing your own trumpet or blowing your own ukulele, but I'm here to do that for you because I remember the day I came across one of your YouTube performances. And for anybody listening out there, this. When you think of traditional ukulele, Andrew takes it to a whole new world. And for me brings in like, dance, pop, jazz, blues, everything. It's incredible. So I'm excited to talk about what started you off on that journey. So where did this passion for ukulele begin?

Well, honestly, it's like, you know, growing up in Hawaii, the ukulele is just. It's actually like, you know, it's very, very common. So think of it like as if every. Every house had an ukulele in it. And it's just. But people just see it as kind of like an item that, you know, be on the. A shelf or on a wall, you know, it's kind of like. Oh, it's just, you know, it's like a lamp. Oh, they have an ukulele. It's nothing special or it's just like. It's kind of just. You see so much of it that it's just like. It's kind of a thing. And then from when I was small, you know, it's like people who did, like, the luau shows, they. They played ukulele and some of the, you know, really local stuff. And that was just my perception of the ukulele. It's like, that's an accompanying instrument, and you've seen Hawaiian music. And.

When I was about 13 years old, I remember my friend used to come over every Friday. And just one Friday, he brought his ukulele over because he was taking it in school. And my grandma had this old vintage ukulele from the 1960s, and she said, oh, why don't you go play with him? So I said, okay. So he taught me my first couple strumming songs. And I remember I was really just, like, kind of happy and excited. I was like, oh, I can find. You know, you feel really accomplished when you play, like, you know, your first song. And the fact that, you know, ukulele is just. The learning curve is very quick, so you have that instant gratification on day one. And I was just like, wow, this is pretty. This is fun. And then he said, oh, I'll come back next Friday and we can learn some more. And within that one week, I remember my mom showed me some stuff on ukulele. My cousin, who was. Who was playing it for a few years, he would come and teach me some picking, which was new to me. And, yeah, that just kind of started the foundation of this. This ukulele hobby of mine. And, yeah, that. That was my. Kind of how I first started on it.

I love it. And when you think about. Because now you do it as a career, so to get it to the point where I would say, I would call you a master of ukulele. To get it to that point of mastery. What was like, the journey? Was it like, hey, I got to practice a little bit, or did you become quite, like, fanatical about practicing and developing and improving?

Oh, I love this part. It's actually. So after that whole beginning of, you know, playing a little bit Hawaiian music, I discovered a guy named Jake Shimabukuro, which now he's just, like. He's world renowned, and he just was a guy who put the ukulele on the map. But back in the day, I mean, he was. He was still growing, but, man, I was just so amazed of what he could do on the ukulele. And I just remember I had. I got a DVD for my dad. He gave it to me for Christmas, and I would watch that thing, like, so often. I'm like, I was just amazed because it was something that I've never heard before. And on top of it. My dad's like, okay, I got tickets. Let's go see him. So within that one month of me watching that dvd, I became, like, a huge fan. I would wear his T shirt to school. You know, he was like my hero. And I just remember the first concert he played, and I was just the energy that he gave to the crowd. And when I met him after, and the way he made me feel, he's like, hey, what's up, man? And, you know, when a hero does that, that's just like, there's no greater feeling that. And I just remember going home and telling myself, when I grow up, I want to do that. And so, like, that, that little vision of, you know, possibly performing when I grew up, it started at that young age, and I just wanted to learn all his songs. And going to school, I just. It made me relentless in practicing because I wanted to just get better and better. And there was. It was. It became an obsession, and that's why I became obsessed. And I think me and you both agree that obsessed is a. Is a positive word. You know, when you. When it's something you're passionate about, you have to be obsessed to be successful.

I believe 100%. I think that is the key starting point. We have chatted about that quite a bit before. When you're setting out to do something, it's having a really clear vision of that future and being obsessively passionate about following through. You talk about Jake. So in my mind, Hawaii has the big three, and it's yourself, it's Jake, and it's Kali, and you guys.

I appreciate it, man. Thanks, you guys.

Yeah, man. You're leading the way, and you really are innovating what the ukulele can do, and you're taking it all over the world. So you've not only performed around your own island and country, but you've been overseas, right?

Oh, yeah. So that all started. Yeah, it is funny. It all started from busking under the banyan tree here in Lahaina. Like, pretty much no pay, just tips. And selling my very. My debut cd. And from that point, it's like you don't know where that can take you. And we just kept pushing. And within a couple years, you know, I hit the west coast and then. Yeah, sorry, 2017, that's when things started picking up. And then we did Tahiti, we did the UK twice. We had, like, one of the ukulele festivals in. In the UK. We just did Austria in 2019, and then I went to China in 2018. And 2019. So it's been a very incredible journey, for sure.

That's amazing. And for people listening out here, say, some of the younger generation who are thinking, you know what? I want to follow my passion, and I want to take. Whether it's music or art or anything creative, if they want to take it and make it a career, what does it take to do that, to take that leap of faith?

First, it takes a burning desire. And don't let anyone tell you not. And this is something that. It's crazy because we talk about this all the time, but it's something that I understood at the age of 13. Even though I didn't know how to, like, write it out, I didn't really quite understand. I knew within, like, subconsciously, because I just remember I'll be learning these. These Hard Jake songs. And then I would try to get my friends to do it, and they'd be like, oh, it's. It's too hard. And I'd be like, oh, come on, you guys. You know, it's just so much fun. And then. And then it got to the point, you know, after like, maybe the first year of playing, I was just like. I would tell my friends, oh, you know, one day I'm gonna be just like, jake, I'm gonna go traveling. And they'd be like, yeah, right. Good luck with that. Like, everyone never took me seriously, once doubted myself. And I feel like I'm. I kind of jumped this into reality because I would really. I would obsess and daydream in class. Like, we'd be. We'd be in English class or, like, math class. I'm not a math guy. It just. It doesn't click with me. So we'd be in math class, and, you know, they'd be going over algebra, and I'm just like, I can't wait to practice that song so one day I can play it in front of an audience. So it was just like, I had a desire, and I never. Yeah, I never let anyone discourage me from going and achieving that goal. And it's a process, you know, like, even from the design of my ukulele to the people I'm, you know, I'm kind of, like, hanging out with now. Like, a lot of the people that I dreamt about, like, oh, you know, want to hang with these people because, you know, they're just the elites of the ukale world. Like, they're all good friends of mine now, and it's just like, it wasn't a mistake. I really. I truly. For the Young ones out there, if you can really see it up here and you really believe in yourself and you don't let anyone discourage you from that goal, you can achieve anything you want. And I can tell you firsthand that it really is possible. And just that gratification of achieving that, there's no greater feeling than that.

That's amazing. And when I hear you say that, I can relate that to, say, an elite sports person to. To a multimillionaire entrepreneur, to a father who's felt like he's done a great job bringing up his child. Those same ingredients, I think, apply across all areas. So for anyone listening, they can apply that to whatever they do. I love that.

100%. 100%. Yeah, it's. And, you know, don't let those. Don't let your aspirations don't be satisfied, you know, keep. Keep striving for goal, you know, so I'm always. Whenever I achieve something, I always. And I know you probably do the same thing, but always set something higher to always keep you going. Cause you have to be excited. You have to create goals that you get stoked and obsessed about.

I love it. And so when we think about that, you've got, like this, I would say, a success formula. You've got a formula that's worked for you to become incredibly good at the ukulele, which you could take now, and you could apply it to business, you could apply it to anything that you wanted to do. So for everybody out there, what would you say are some of the key ingredients to be successful? And what's your formula that helped you? You mentioned burning desire. You mentioned a really clear vision of the future. What else are some key ingredients that people have got to commit to if they want to follow through?

Oh, that's a good one. Hard work. You have to put the time in, and you have to. And it wasn't an easy journey by far. And a lot of people don't see that side. You know, they just see the results. But, yeah, there's countless days where. I mean, there was. There was a point where I quit ukulele and my senior year because I couldn't. I was so frustrated. I wasn't able to write my own music and I could only play covers. So I became very insecure to the point where my dad would find me, like a gig to play it at the fair. And I'd tell him no, because I would be ashamed. You know, I was like, oh, that's not my music. You know, I'm still playing these songs. I was playing When I was, you know, 14 years old and I was almost 18, and I became very insecure about that. So it's just after putting in lots of hard work, I started having the ability to songwrite and even arrange. And it's gotten easier over the years. And right now, it's just, like, one of my favorite things to do is songwriting, and that's really hard to do. So put in the hard work. If it's music theory or whatever your craft is, you have to put in the hard work because that's a very important component to achieving your goal.

That's amazing. And it's interesting when you get to that stage where you didn't want to go and perform and there was that, like, embarrassment or that shame or that, you know, I'm not enough. So the hard work helped you, the actual physical side of it. What about from the psychological side of it? What work did you have to do up there as well as learning the new skills?

Oh, yeah, definitely. You have to let go of the fear. The fear of criticism, the fear of failure. You know, like, enough thinking, what if? Because it's really. That's the reason why, like, it. We hesitate, you know, like, and I. And for the first couple years when I was touring with my dad, he would always say something after the show, like, oh, did you think that was good? I mean, sometimes it was brutal. And I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, because you put yourself out there and you play and you play hard, and when, you know, when someone says something like that, it's just like, oh, dang, that's brutal. So it got to the point where every time there would be that hard section of the song, I would get nervous and I would mess up every single time because I would be thinking, what happens if I don't pull it off? Or instead of verses, like, let me just do it, and let's see what happens. So once I shifted my mentality, which was 2018, I noticed that I started messing up less because I didn't have that fear. So, yeah, we have to try to let go of the fear of what people think. So fear of criticism and also the fear of failure. And I think once we can get rid of those fears, then it'll help, you know, the vision, it'll help the hardware, it will help all the other components. But that might be the first biggest obstacle, actually. I think of it because even some of my peers, that I encourage them to even, like, pursue the dream of music, and they say, oh, I don't know what my parents will think or like, you know, and just right there that could have changed someone's future just because of their parents opinion even though they felt inside that that's what they were meant to do. And a good friend of mine actually said I wish I had listened to you and I didn't listen and that's very unfortunate. So I'm not, you know, I give her guidance when, when I can. But yeah, that's, that's, that's. One more advice I would say is just like, you know, just focus on you and don't, don't focus what anyone else says.

Great advice. And you talked about your dad there. So that's actually the first video I ever came across on YouTube was you and your dad jamming out A Sweet Child of Mine. It was epic. So this is something you get to enjoy with your dad, right?

Oh yeah. And my dad is, it's. I kind of come from a musical family so like my, my grandpa and his eight brothers. Eight? Yeah, eight brothers. They were in a big band orchestra from like the 1930s to the 1980s and they were well known here on Maui and all like my, my cousins and like uncles. Everyone like was. Everyone just kind of picked up instruments. It was just like a. In the genes you could say. And my dad was a lifelong musician since he was a teenager. You know, right out of high school he formed the band, went to Oahu and just started performing. And that was just his livelihood as a kid. You know, I'd see him take his bass to the luau every night and that was like his thing, that was dad's thing was playing music. And we never really, even the first years of ukulele, we never did play with each other up until I think only up until 2013 once we started doing the Banding Tree gig. Then he just like, oh, I'll accompany you. And he, and he's a bass player. But he started. We started doing guitar ukulele which was very, which is very interesting. And we didn't add the bass until 2016. But then that's when we started putting you know, the ukulele and. Or just that's when we started working together musically and it's just. Yeah, kind of started this new bond I guess.

It's a beautiful bond when father and son can do that.

Yeah, we're very, we're very, very fortunate and everyone loves that whole dynamic and you know, it's just cool to be able to like you know, tour with your dad and, and play music and just share that moment. It's yeah, it's pretty undescribable, you know, But I'm very, very lucky that, you know, he. He donates his time to practice and to help me achieve these goals that I've had for half my life already. So I feel very, very blessed.

I'm sure he's very proud of you. And when we think about Hawaii, I mean, I remember the first time I started thinking about Hawaii as a youngster. I remember seeing a photo of my granddad standing on the beach there at Waikiki. Thought, wow, I need to go there one day. So eventually I got there and fell in love with Hawaii and what I fell in love with. Yes, it's got beautiful beaches, but so does Australia, New Zealand. California. Wasn't the beaches. The beaches were cool, but it was actually like, there's something in the air and whether we call it the aloha spirit, but there's something really magical about the Hawaiian Islands. And I had the good fortune. It was really by chance actually sitting down in Waikiki at this restaurant to watch the sunset. I'd sat in the same seat. I'm a person of routine, right? I'd sat in the same seat every night for, like, six nights. And this night, the sun's about to come down, the server comes over and goes, hey, there's actually a person that sits at this table every week on this night. We forgot to put a reserve sign. Would you mind if he comes and joins you and your partner? I was like, yeah, sure. Sounds good. Like, of course, no problem. We can move. She's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. He would probably enjoy your company. Sounds great. This elderly gentleman sits down and he's very charming, you know, very handsome face. He's probably in his late 70s or 80s. So we get chatting away and all the band. When the band stops playing, they come over and they're like, oh, Unc, see you. I'm like, this. This guy's well known. So I said to one of the band folk, I was like, hey, who is this guy? Like, how do you know him? And they're like, oh, his name's Eddie. Uncle Eddie. I said, oh, so what? What did Eddie do? Or what? You know what? Why do you all know him? So everybody seems to know, well, that's Eddie Kamae. He was a really, really good ukulele player. And so I went to the bathroom, got my phone out as you do, Googled Eddie Kumae. And I was like, whoa, Mind blown. One of the best ever, like, ukulele players and filmmakers. He was passionate about Hawaii and taking it to the world and expressing what Hawaii was about. So I had a beautiful night with Eddie. It was incredible. And he sold me some CDs, and I still got him and I love him. But the one thing that really came to life for me was that his passion for Hawaii, the music, the aloha spirit, that's what drove him so much to be an entrepreneur, to be a change maker. So I want to talk about you. And, you know, I can see the same passion in you. I can see that, you know, you're so fired up about what you do. So if we look at the long term, next 10, 20, 30 years, what's your mission? Like, do you want to keep the music at home in Maui or do you want to take it to the world?

Oh, I definitely want to take it to the world.

Wow.

I love traveling. I love meeting new people. I love sharing.

Just my music and I love connecting, like, one of my favorites. I do love playing ukulele, but I do love performing and I love just like bringing people together in that performance setting and you just feel the energy in the room and I just. There's nothing more that I want to do than that. And it's. It's ironic because when I was a kid, I was the shyest kid, like, of all time. Like, I'd be the kid at the back of the classroom that would be. Try to hide behind the other kid so you wouldn't get called on, but, you know, but they always find you anyways.

Oh, absolutely. I know that.

And yeah, I would just. It was just crazy to think about because, like, I never imagined at that age that the thing that I used to fear the most is the thing I enjoy the most now. Because now it's just I can't wait to get in front of people and, you know, and entertain them and play music. So I definitely want to push the envelope, continue this journey of, you know, pushing the limits of the ukulele. And I want to travel all over the world and. And introduce people to what the ukulele can do, because it's crazy. There is no limits. It's not just a Hawaiian strumming instrument. It can be used for all genres. And that's what my mission is for me whenever I play, you know, I showcase all the different genres I can do. You know, rock, pop, jazz, of course, you got Hawaiian classical. And there's no. There's no limit. And so I want to be able. I do want to get to that next level and, and play all over the world. That is the vision.

I love it. Well, I look forward to coming to New Zealand. I'll be welcoming you with open arms.

Sure, man. I can't wait.

Gonna be epic. And I want to talk about what you're working on it now because I know that you're not only a performer and a teacher, but you're also doing a lot of things to try and help other people embrace the instrument. So people can head along to Andrew. Andrewmoulinoukalele.com to check out your website, but have you got a few other things that you're working on that we can maybe share with some of the listeners?

Yeah. Yeah. So right now I'm currently. I mean, I've been doing a lot of teaching and helping. Not just, you know, not just teaching, you know, like, okay, we can pluck this, pluck that. But I'm also helping people achieve their. Their goals. So I'm actually helping people, you know, even like working towards ambitious goal, like an album since I've been there. So I'm kind of like coaching them in a way. So I've been doing a lot of teaching and slash coaching, you could say. And also My podcast, the AM Ukulele podcast, will be coming April 30th. So that's what I've been in the works for the past, maybe four to five months actually. So that's gonna be real good. And I'm also the biggest project is working on my own Ukulele Academy, which I'm shooting for a June release. But we'll see. But it all very, very exciting. And I can't wait.

That's amazing. And what's just incredible about that is that people can go along to YouTube right now and check out your performances. They can go to your website and download and buy your incredible albums. But not only that, they can start to learn from you and understand how you think and why you play, the way you play through your academy and on your podcast. So I encourage everybody that's listening, that's passionate about any form of music to go along because ukulele music is phenomenal. And for me personally, I often play it if I'm sitting working at home. That's what I'm playing. It's ukulele music. It's just the best. So I want to say a massive thank you and I want to wish you nothing but the best for the future. I don't think this will be our last conversation, so I'm super excited and mahalo.

Thank you, James. Appreciate it, man. Thank you.

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