Spotlight ON! Fernando Perez

This month we shine the Spotlight ON! Fernando Perez.

It is difficult to determine where Fernando Perez lives. His life is a continuous odyssey. At the time these words were written he had a base in the city of Barcelona in his native Spain. But since he was 10 years old he has spent his life living all around the globe, spending years in every country and culture including of course Hawai‘i. The islands are in Fernando's heart his second-almost first home as he likes saying, "Because if I could choose where I was born that would be in Hawai‘i."

Fernando Perez grew up as a child in a small town called Ejea de los Caballeros in the North of Spain. His interest in music began when he was 7 years old when he literally "took over" his parents' guitar.

Since then he studied in many official places like the Music Conservatory of Zaragoza and Navarra, Spain. Followed by L'Aula de Musica, Barcelona, Escuela de Musica Creativa, Madrid, Musicians Institute, Hollywood, USA, Maharaja S. M. Sangeet Mahavidyalaya in Jaipur, India, Conservatoire de Musique d'Alexandrie, Egypt, Shanghai Music Conservatory in China and Labyrinth Music Center in Greece.

He has studied with great masters such as Roland Dyens (Classical), Scott Henderson (Jazz), Bob Brozman (Blues, Hawaiian), Yurdal Tokcan (Turkish), Ross Daly (Middle East), Hooshang Farahani (Persian), Daud Khan (Afghan), Vishwa M. Bhatt Family and Sri. Satish Pareek's family (Indian), Guo Mei (Chinese), Mohammed Antar (Arabic), Ivan Varimezov (Bulgarian).

But curiosity has taken him to learn directly from artists and their cultures, traveling to different places to experience the spirit of music. Residing in such exotic places as Hawai‘i, Africa, China, America, Spain, India, and Egypt.

Back during his childhood Fernando had a Spanish guitar teacher in his hometown who was in love with the Steel Guitar. Maestro Jesus Peralta was an old Spanish man who used to teach music to children at his home. He would teach them the chords for songs while he would play the melody on his mysterious steel guitar.

But it was many years later while living in Los Angeles, California that Fernando got seriously interested in the Kika Kila. While spending time at the Los Angeles Public Library Fernando came across a number of old methods, recordings and material about Hawaiian music and how to play steel guitar. This was love at first sight and since then all was Hawaiian in his world. This love got so seriously intoxicating that he decided to quit Hollywood and all his jobs as a session musician for the big main stream music artists of the 90s and move to Maui, Hawai‘i.

Uncle Sol in Wailuku, Maui was his first real contact with a true Hawaiian musician. From there came many names, some well known, and others humbly in the shadows but nevertheless very influential in not just learning how to play Steel Guitar but what it is to be Hawaiian. After his native Spain, Hawai‘i has been the place where he has lived the longest in his life. As he says with sadness,"I always wanted to stay there for the rest of my life but I could not find the way as an immigrant to get a permanent legal residence."

Although music was the first "hook" to come to Hawai‘i it really was the culture and its people that really gained his heart and soul.

Among Fernando's steel guitar influences we have in leading position Sol Ho‘opi‘i and Tau Moe followed by his contemporaries, to end up with one of his acquaintances in the late 90s Bob Brozman. Although Fernando has owned several steel guitars including some vintage double neck models, etc., he gave up all of them for just one type, the Weissenborn acoustic steel guitar.

Having owned and played with instruments from different luthiers Fernando's favorites are the instruments made by German luthier Michael Gozt. They both formed a team several years ago with the mission of making the Steel Guitar widely known in Europe, organizing steel guitar workshops and concerts every year. Fernando has also published several books and video material about the Kika kila and Hawaiian music.

The guitar is Fernando's passion, exploring its many forms; besides Kika Kila or Ki Ho‘alu he also plays classical and flamenco guitars, Dobros-resophonic, or other interesting ones like West African, the "Slide'" style from Mississippi, the guitar-Veena from India (which actually comes from the Hawaiian Steel Guitar) and fretless middle-eastern ones.

He also explores new horizons reflected in his arrangements and compositions based on instruments from other cultures, examples are: Japanese Koto, Chinese Pipa, or African Ngoni and Kora.

It is not a surprise that Fernando Perez works as a professional musician. To enumerate where Fernando has performed would be a difficult job. We have the Mozarteum University, Austria, Atelier d'ethnomusicologie, Switzerland, Cairo Opera House, Egypt, Ferentino Acustica Guitar Festival, Italia, Festival Expo Zaragoza, Spain, Sacred Arts Festival, India, Arequipa Guitar Festival, Peru, The Hollywood Roxy L.A., USA, and The Ritz Carlton Hawaii at "Masters of Hawaiian Guitar" among others.

He has worked as a guitar designer along with master luthiers such as Jose de Prados, Prudencio Saez, Luis Guerrero, and Michael Goetz.

He has collaborated with artists such as Shye Bent-Zur (Middle East-India), Grammy and BBC award winner Fathy Salama (Jazz/Arabic, Egypt), George Kahumoku (Hawaiian) in the Grammy Award "Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key," Wendell Peters in "Hoaloha Maua" JPF 2006 Award, USA.

He has been musical director of Escuela Arabe-Flamenco in Casa Arabe, Cordoba (Spain), and has published works about guitar and world music with Stefan Grossman Guitar Workshop, Universal, Mojo Roots Music, Mel Bay, Hal leonard from USA, Fingerpicking from Italy or World Music Method in London.

When Fernando is not playing music he likes helping others do it. His second parallel career is as a Music Producer-Mixing Engineer. He has produced many records for different artists in Europe, USA and Asia. In his own words, "I love producing records for other artists. It is one of my ways of giving back to others and sharing the experience I have accumulated throughout the years."

This video is of Fernando Perez doing "Hi‘ilawe".

The video can also be seen on YouTube.

You can check out Fernando's guitar works at his website. Enjoy his many guitar videos on his YouTube Channel. Follow him on Facebook or listen to his albums on Spotify.