VIDEO: Five Minutes With… Augie Tulba

Video by Jason Genegabus / jason@staradvertiser.com

VIDEO: Five Minutes With… Donavon Frankenreiter

Video by Jason Genegabus / jason@staradvertiser.com

Kauai-based singer/songwriter and pro surfer Donavon Frankenreiter took time to talk story before playing a pau hana set at bambuTwo’s theVenue last Friday. His latest CD, “Revisited,” applies a Hawaiian-style sound to one of his previously-released albums; an all-new record, “Glow,” is due in October.

Five Minutes With… WWE Champ Sheamus

By Jason Genegabus
jason@staradvertiser.com

The last year and a half has been quite a ride for Stephen Farrelly, the Irish professional wrestler known to World Wrestling Entertainment fans as two-time WWE Champion Sheamus.

Sheamus made his WWE debut in 2009 after stints in Florida and across the Atlantic Ocean in England; since then, he’s feuded with some of the business’ biggest stars and, most recently, retained his WWE title after being disqualified in a match against Randy Orton last weekend at the company’s “SummerSlam” live event.

The champ, along with some of his co-workers from WWE’s RAW brand, will be in town tonight before heading on to shows in Asia. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser caught up with him last week by telephone.

Read more

VIDEO: Five Minutes With… jeffstaple

Video by Jason Genegabus / jason@staradvertiser.com

By Jason Genegabus
jason@staradvertiser.com

New York-based entrepreneur Jeff Ng, better known to fans around the world as jeffstaple, arrived in Honolulu late last month to finish preparations on Reed Space HNL, a pop-up bookstore concept he worked on with local arts organization Interisland Terminal.

Ng got his start printing up T-shirts and selling them in NYC before moving into fashion, page design and other retail concepts. His flagship Reed Space store attracts customers from all over the United States and numerous foreign countries; he’s also worked on advertising campaigns with some of the country’s biggest corporations.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser caught up with Ng last week while he was in the temporary bookstore’s space at the Waikiki Parc Hotel.

Five Minutes With… DJ Steve Aoki

Courtesy Lacy Matsumoto

By Lacy Matsumoto
Special to the Star-Advertiser

After a full day of tromping through Hawaii Kai in search of China Walls, celebrity DJ Steve Aoki, his brother Kevin Aoki, niece, and girlfriend finally gave up the hunt and settled for a cove near Sandyʻs beach.

They watched as a few locals jumped off overhanging rocks, and with no hesitation, climbed up to the same point to make their dive. Hand in hand, Aoki and his girlfriend leaped; while airborne, he let out a slight scream.

“I canʻt believe I just screamed,” he laughed as he popped out of the water. “That was like hopping off a curb.” Read more

VIDEO: Five Minutes With… Grant Imahara

Video by Jason Genegabus

By Jason Genegabus
jason@staradvertiser.com

He may not actually be from Hawaii, but now that Grant Imahara’s mother lives on Oahu, the University of Southern California graduate and one of the stars of cable television show “Mythbusters” tries to take as many vacations here as possible.

Imahara, who also worked for legendary “Star Wars” producer George Lucas and was responsible for the robotics behind iconic sidekick R2D2, was on a break from filming new episodes of “Mythbusters” earlier this month. He spoke with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser at buddy Kevin Aoki’s restaurant, Doraku Waikiki, before hosting a meet-and-greet “tweetup” with fans from social media networks on Twitter.com and Facebook.com.

Along with talking about the show, which was recently nominated for an Emmy Award, Imahara also spoke about his involvement with Craig Ferguson and his robotic sidekick on CBS’ “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” and what he likes to do for fun while vacationing on the neighbor islands.

VIDEO: Five Minutes With… Paul Ogata

Jason Genegabus / jason@staradvertiser.com

By Jason Genegabus
jason@staradvertiser.com

Former Hawaii resident Paul Ogata returned to Honolulu last week for a stand-up comedy performance at Pipeline Cafe with fellow Hawaii expat Cathy Tanaka and local openers Kento and Shawn Felipe.

Before he went on stage last Friday, Ogata sat down to discuss whether or not he made the right decision in moving away from Hawaii, what it’s like performing for audiences around both the United States and the rest of the world, and a new DVD he’s released of performance footage from gigs in Hong Kong.

Five Minutes With… DJ Diplo

Courtesy photo

DJ Diplo

Presented by BAMP Project
» Where: NextDoor, 43 N. Hotel St.
» When: 9 p.m. July 7 (doors open at 8 p.m.)
» Cost: $20 general admission; $25 for ages 18 to 20 years old (presale tickets available at all Local Motion stores on Oahu)
» Info: www.bampproject.com

Star-Advertiser Staff
tgif@staradvertiser.com

Mississippi-born Thomas Wesley Pentz has turned his love for spinning records into a full-time gig traveling the world as mash-up master DJ Diplo.

Named Spin Magazine’s “DJ of the Year” in 2005, he’s since grabbed his share of the spotlight as one half of the DJ duo Hollertronix and through a creative partnership with female Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. Over the last five years, he’s also produced remixes for tracks like Three 6 Mafia’s “Stay Fly,” Justin Timberlake’s “My Love,” Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights” and Britney Spears’ “Circus.” He also continues to produce mixtapes, including 2010’s “Diplo Presents: Free Gucci” and “Major Lazer & La Roux Present: Lazerproof.”

The Star-Advertiser sent questions last week via e-mail to Diplo, who is currently on tour in Asia before playing at Chinatown nightspot NextDoor on Wednesday. Read more