Cherry Pop Revue
How did you name the magazine?
Wanted to come up with a fresh, fun, catchy name that had multi-faceted connotations. There are a lot of really great things about cherries, a tasty fruit, a delicious flavor, but locally, if something is cherry, it means it is really nice, special. So, we that had a really nice local touch, yet fun. Pop is such a great versatile word and very trendy: pop art, pop culture, pop star, pop rock, etc. and when something pops it stands out, it catches your attention, it wants to be seen.
How did you come up with the concept of the magazine?
The endeavor is completely altruistic. Always wanted to create a magazine, but for this concept, it really was about how can we help artist get the exposure and recognition they crave and deserve. I saw a singer with a guitar one nite at Bambu 2 and hardly anyone was listening, so few people, and she was really good. I thought it must be hard to have a dream and be talented and feel like why don't people see how good I am, come to my shows just for me and let me entertain them. I just thought it would be really nice to be able to help local artists that way.
What types of artist do you like to showcase in the magazine?
We love all artists, but especially those who perform. We want to profile all the dream chasers and help get their name out there to a wider audience. We showcase a lot of underground musicians and found that they are such a supportive and beautiful group of people. How cool to get to know these musicians on a personal level and to help them feel valued and recognized as the talented people they are. We have started to meet a lot of comedians lately and we are thrilled about that. We also have showcased dancers and actors. We are looking to profile more drag queens, dancers, actors, instrumentalists, entertainers of any genre. We also showcase those people or businesses that provide avenues for artists to perform, build skills, and network. We are also looking to incorporate artists like painters, sculptors, etc., because what they do is inspirational, beautiful, and makes people feel happy just like performance artists do.
Where can you get the magazine?
We are new and still building our distribution sites. We are at various coffee houses, cafes like Fresh Café, salons, all over Oahu, etc. We have a more extensive list at cherrypoprevue.com.
What are you dreams for the future of the magazine and what do you hope for it to accomplish?
The existence of the magazine is a big dream come true, alone. I'd like to see Cherry Pop Revue continue to do good work for the local community and extend out to the other islands so that those musicians and performers can have the same exposure within their communities. Cherry Pop Revue's dream for itself is to start to grow in both content and visual aspects, profile a wider genre of music, become a world wide reference to agents, scouts, and national venues as the go-to source for what's happening in the scene in Hawaii and tap into the talent we have here, because we have really amazing talented people here and if one of them got a call one day from, oh...South by Southwest reps looking to fill a slot for next year's gathering and they found them through and because of Cherry Pop Revue magazine, then that would just be the Cherry on Top.
(Text by Alex Goff)