Stories

Label founder Roger Bong recently hopped on the decks at London's My Analog Journal to share a 45-minute selection of soulful, groovy music from the Hawaiian Islands. The popular YouTube channel showcases the talents of its creator, Zag Erlat, and a global network of vinyl selectors and DJs. Fun fact: Zag's most-watched video to date, Japanese Funk and Soul on Vinyl (late 70's, early 80's), includes a cut from an Aloha Got Soul release: Aiko's uptempo city pop disco tune "Time Machine". As a tribute to Zag and his channel. Roger closes his set with the A-side of Aiko's 7-inch, "Fly With Me". ...

This is a cross-post from AGS Honolulu's website. Originally going to be used as an office space for the Aloha Got Soul record label, AGS Honolulu has grown to fill in the gaps of Hawaiʻi’s music community. Born out of a desire to provide a space where music lovers could experience an elevated record shop with an emphasis on independent artists and labels, AGS Honolulu offers a welcoming environment that's also fully stocked with releases from Hawaiʻi artists past and present. Now open seven days a week (during the first 6 months of operation, we were only open 3-4 days a week), we've expanded into hosting regular  events in...

It's been too long since the last Soul Time in Hawaii party!  In celebration of AGS Honolulu's two year anniversary. We hop over to Honolulu's go-to for good music and cocktails to host our Soul Time party. The last time we held one was several years ago.  Aloha Got Soul's staff — Roger Bong, Oliver Seguin ("O'Spliff"), and Max High — pull out all-vinyl selections of house, Hawaiian, funk, disco, jazz, electronic music all night long at Bevy. It's the first time the trio has DJ'd a bar/venue gig together as one -- sure to be an exciting evening of solid tunes and nonstop dancing. ...

The “sweet grass of the rainforest” has inspired Hawaiian musicians since back in the daze — Eddie Kamae, The Sons of Hawai‘i, Da Blahlas, the Makaha Sons of Ni‘ihau and several more penned songs about the particularly delightful plant. To celebrate, we're posting pakalolo songs to YouTube all week, featuring tracks from our Hawaiian vinyl crates — some appearing on YouTube for the first time! We're also hosting an all-vinyl party and pop-up on Sunday, April 23rd at our shop in Honolulu. Here's the details: Sunday, April 23rdAGS Honolulu, 2017 S. King Street4pm - 8pmDJs Hanimal Selecta, Miss Lulú, StrongymonPop-up by Punchbowl PipesLimited AGS merch! The first two tracks...

Two years ago, we introduced a 12-part series of field recordings from Hawai‘i entitled Aloha ‘Āina. These soundscapes, captured in stereo throughout the Hawaiian Islands, are engineer Kit Ebersbach's ode to the archipelago.Today we're finally releasing the final two installments in the series, volumes 11 and 12.  Aloha ‘Aina, Volume 11: Field Recordings of Hawaii by Pacific Sounds When we announced the first volume of the series on March 13 2020, the release was received with great enthusiasm from a global audience of listeners most of whom were stuck indoors at the outset of a years-long global pandemic. The recordings, culled from...