Monday 3 June 2013

Duncan Kamakana from The Voice answers our questions-EXCLUSIVE!

AG: Before you chose to be an artiste, did you have other dreams?

Ans
Yes when I was a kid my real dream was to be a professional athlete.  I grew up playing basketball, football, and soccer.  If I could have been anything in the world I would've been an NBA basketball player.

AG: When was your first record? Did you started singing when you was a
kid? And did singing come naturally for you?

Ans
I recorded my first song in a studio back in 2009 I believe.  I was working with a record label based out of Detroit Michigan and recorded a few singles with them.  I have been singing as long as I can remember but I wouldn't say that it came all that naturally.  It was something that I worked at for a long time.  I spent many nights playing guitar and singing by myself before I ever had the courage to get out and sing for other people.

AG: Why did you choose "The Voice" to audition? Now you have went
home, are you going to try out other shows?

Ans
Basically I was given an opportunity to fly out to LA and have a private audition with the producers of the show.  Because they had given me a chance to skip some of the larger preliminary auditions it would have been a hard opportunity to turn down.  I was never all that interested in doing a TV singing competition though, for me music has always been a passion, and the idea of competing in it wasn't all that appealing.  In music though you have to take the opportunities as they arise, so I can't count out doing something like this again in the future.

AG: If three coaches except Adam turn around for you, who would be your 2nd
choice? And why? Are you happy Adam picked you?

Ans
I honestly really wanted to work with Blake Shelton.  I grew up listening to Adam and Usher so those were obviously two people that I wanted to work with, but I thought Blake would have been a great coach for me.  He also seems like a great guy to be around.

AG:Can you give us a sneak peek of your next song? What is it about?
And how do you write songs? Is it that easy?

Ans
I'm working on an album now so there are a couple songs I'm working on at the moment.  A lot of my songs are about relationships that I've had.  The song writing process can be hard at times, especially when you try to force it.  Other times though songs seem to write themselves.  Everything I write is very meaningful to me because each individual song generally represents a moment in my life where I really feel like I had something to say.   

AG: Who is your inspiration and why? what is your genre? Why did you
picked that genre?

Ans
My biggest inspiration is my father.  He was a professional musician for many many years in Hawaii.  I like to think my style as a musician is greatly influenced by him.  I would say my style is Singer/Songwriter which is pretty vague but it represent a lot of different influences.

AG: what is it like to have fans? Do you feel frustrated when they ask
autographs from you everywhere?

Ans
Having people appreciate what you do as an artist is the most amazing feeling.  I've been performing for nearly a decade, but I've never had much of a fan base before this.  I love interacting with my fans and feel honored when they come up to me and ask for autographs or pictures.

AG: Is there anything you would love to say to your fans?

Ans
I am just extremely humbled and appreciative of all of my fans.  You may never know how much you all mean to me, but you are the reason I'm giving this everything I've got.

AG:How is it like to be a star? Like managing your social media stuff
while concentrating on your career? Does that mean limited time with
your family?

Ans
Managing the social media has been the biggest change in my life since I appeared on "The Voice."  I spend a lot of time everyday responding to fans.  A lot of times people ask if it's really me responding them, and I'm like "who else would it be?"  I think its important to interact with the people that support your music.

AG:Did the show increased your popularity? Was it hard for you to stay
like a normal person? Did you still get to hang out with your same
friends? And was there times you felt like giving up?

Ans
The show has definitely been huge for my career as far as popularity.  I don't think its changed me as a person though.  I still live a normal life, still hang out with the same friends, and still do the same things I did before the show.  This show has been nothing but positive for me, it just re-enforces the fact that this is what I should be doing

AG: Besides singing, do you play other instruments? Was your family
interested in music too?

Ans
I pretty much just play Guitar, I do play a little Ukulele as well, but not much.  Like I said before my Dad was a long time musician, so music was always around when I was growing up

AG:Do you still keep in contact with Adam? What are your future plans
in your career? He did not picked you to go to the "lives", but do you
still want to make him proud?

Ans
I have not been in contact with Adam since the show, but yes I would still like to make him proud by continuing to pursue a successful musical career.

AG:It's amazing to see a new star hatched out of its shell! How do you
plan to be as famous as those celebs in hollywood? Are you currently
in LA now?

Ans
I'm now back in Hawaii.  To be honest being famous was never really on my to-do list, but I've taken this all in stride.  I just want to keep making music, and hopefully people continue to enjoy what I do! 

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