Kala Artist
Hula Hi-Fi
As a multi-instrumentalist and producer in Nashville, Josh Kaler had spent the better part of a decade helping other artists make their dream records. While working with everyone from Frances Cone and Jump, Little Children to Matthew Perryman Jones, he was also toiling away at a personal love: Hawaiian music and specifically the lap steel guitar. In 2014 he met singer-songwriter Danica Dora when co-producing her EP ‘Together in Spaceʼ.
Between the languid lap steel guitar and weathered ukuleles, Hula Hi-Fi sing modern love songs that evoke both far-off tropical places and intimate internal struggles. Complemented by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra on their forthcoming debut album ‘The Isle of Forgotten Dreams’ (coming Summer 2020), the duo ground their exotic, intoxicating ‘Hawaiian Noir’ sound in lyrics that are just as concerned with the emotions adrift inside of us as they are the horizon and what mysteries might hide beyond. Producer/multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaler (Frances Cone, Butch Walker) and singer-songwriter Danica Dora (songs featured on everything from Sesame Street to Netflix dramas) took three years to create ‘The Isle of Forgotten Dreams.’ The deliberate pace of its construction allowed for every detail to be considered and every bit of heart squeezed in. The end result is breathtaking, haunting, and undeniably special.
