’Oli Ukulele Factory Visit w Kalei Gamiao

This last week Kalei and I went to another volcanic island across the pacific, Java, and to the wonderful city of Bandung. We checked in on the development of our new line, ‘Oli, and documented some of that here for you. Husni Nasution started Genta Guitars in 1959 with a goal to make high quality musical instruments. A few decades ago my father started working with him and his sons, Awan and Suar, teaching them about ‘ukulele and creating the Pono line of ukulele and guitar. Hunsi passed away some years back and now that my father has retired, this is a 2nd generation collaboration between our two families on a new line, ‘Oli. The culture and warmth of the people in this factory and around the city of Bandung is always astounding to me. There’s truly an Aloha spirit and the effort put in by all of us collectively will ensure that ‘Oli delivers its meaning, joy and happiness. All NEW original song ideas from Kalei! (Pretty cool stuff, right?!) All three instruments played are tenors. The first is from the Hawaiian Koa line, the second is a cedar top Macassar ebony, and the third is an all quilted maple. (Recording w a travel recorder, we’ll come with our regular sound samples soon for proper comparing) Talks are with Suar Nasition (His brother Awan runs the company as well and I’ll have to interview him next time) And also with Derry Surya Ganda Permana, manager of quality control. Hope you enjoy! Let us know your thoughts and mahalo for watching and sharing!