Today, most college-aged music lovers are either into hip-hop or rock. Aloha's mellow rock fused with '60s pop may be easily overlooked by the average music listener, but with a few more turns in the CD player, an appreciation develops for this Ohio-based group's strange combo of jazz and indie pop-rock.
Lead vocalist Tony Cavallario calls Aloha, who formed in Bowling Green in 1997, a "pop band that uses the tools of progressive rock and jazz and other types of instrumental music."
Aloha will be performing at Kitchen Distribution Wednesday. They will be promoting their upcoming album "Some Echoes," set for release on April 11. It is the follow-up to 2004's "Here Comes Everyone."
It wasn't a coincidence that Aloha popped up when and where they did. Bowling Green had a surplus of music bands of many shapes and forms.
"Of the four people in the band, currently three of us went to school together at Bowling Green," Cavallario said. "At that time, we were very much a part of the punk, hardcore scene. When you're in a small town as Bowling Green, you tend to know what instruments everyone plays. We were just there and our lives sort of just overlapped."
The two biggest aspects that separated the band when they first began, continues to set them apart from the typical characteristics of music almost a decade later: their band name and their instruments.
"Because a lot of bands had a lot of longwinded names, 'Aloha' seemed like it would set us apart from other bands since it would differ from the kind of music we played and 'Aloha' just stuck," Cavallario said.
As for their instruments, something that sets Aloha apart from other bands is the vibraphone.
"When we first started playing, Eric, who's no longer in the band, figured 'I'm going to play this,' and we thought it was a novel idea," Cavallario said. "T.J., who replaced Eric, also just happened to be a person who played it along with many different instruments."
The band is stocked-piled with instruments, from the common piano and bass to the uncommon mellotron and marimba.
"Because we don't have limitations of what the people in the band play in terms of instruments, now we just use what sounds cool to go along with the music," Cavallario said.
Things weren't always smooth sailing for Aloha.
"We hit a point where Aloha wasn't going to continue with the current membership," Cavallario said. "Basically, I made a decision that Aloha was going to end. Later, one thing or another happened and we met T.J. and decided to pick it up again."
Multi-talented Lipple took up the role that Koltnow once played including that of the love and talent of playing a wide variety of instruments.
"T.J. is tremendous to the band. I hate to sound clich?(c)d, but he is the ultimate team player," Cavallario said. "He is just really good at complementing things. When he joined the band, he took on a lot of responsibilities. He took on a very important part of our sound and band."
Though Aloha has managed the individuality that most music artists fail to achieve now, there is more than just their name and relaxed attitude people would typically overlook.
The band has strong roots and realizes the credit that needs to be given to the music scene in the '90s around Bowling Green. Though many Aloha listeners string their influences to the '60s and '80s, Cavallario claims that they don't intentionally emulate anything.
"Generally speaking, especially with the Internet, there's just so much access to music. People are always digging stuff up and putting it up on the Internet. And for us, it's just nonstop listening to music which is really educational and really inspiring," Cavallario said.
It's easy to warm up to Aloha and get lost in the vibe that the band creates.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
