Photos: Hilary Hosia
HILARY HOSIA
Daniel Kramer should be recognized as the magician of the Marshallese music empire. Why so? Simple: One year. That’s how long it took Daniel to carry out the greatest musical feats in Marshallese history.
Last summer, Daniel did the impossible when he reunited the famed Laura Settlers for a performance at Delap Park. That night, audiences were astonished when they learned most of the tracks other artists used belong to Laura Settlers. Even though it was the first time the Settlers has played together in 32 years, Daniel said they still had it in them. The over-crowded park was evidence of this fact.
Then as the New Year kicked in, Daniel brought Pacific music icon Daniel Rae Costello to perform at Delap Park. Costello was born in Fiji and is a renowned composer and producer. Even that night was packed beyond comparison.
And at the beginning of this summer, just when we were wondering what else was up Kramer’s sleeves, the Power 103.5 FM radio station surfaced.
The upbeat comical broadcasts by DJ Yastamon (Yasta Bolkeim), DJ Income Tax (real identity is a secret) and DJ Taco (identity also secret), and at times Brother C (Carlton Abon) and McGuyver (Daniel Kramer), are drawing listeners, to say nothing of the latest hits the station is playing.
When the Journal visited the new station, the DJs were engaged in a lively talk-show-style forum on air. “We don’t use scripts,” Brother C told the Journal. “We script as we go.”
“Power 103.5 is there to lighten up the mood of the community through our entertainment as well as to provide a forum for local artists to tell their story,” Kramer said. “There are a lot of artists out there that people probably listened to without knowing who the artists are. Now people will know these artists.”
Read more about this in the July 8, 2016 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.