His time with the scouts also imbued him with a deep love for nature and the outdoors.  He began to truly appreciate the unique Hawaiian landscape in which he had lived all his life.  He lived out a sample of country boy clichés: Riding horses, walking miles up and down dirt roads, catching crawfish in the front yard.  It was during these crucial years that he found his love for and fascination with music.  By the eighth grade, music had become an obsession with him, and he especially identified with country music.  The prevalent themes in country music tied into how he grew up, where he lived, and the values with which he was raised.  Oddly, that particular type of music was not exactly popular during the time that he began listening to it; in fact, neither Hilo nor anywhere else on the Big Island had a dedicated country station broadcasting during those years.  Sometimes, if he tuned it just right, he could get his radio to pick up a stray signal from Maui, but for the most part he had to search for ways to discover new music: at the library, on television, online.  He also began to take interest in songwriting and learning how to play the guitar.
 
            By the time he began his freshman year at Waiakea High School, Michael felt as if he had already begun to find himself.  Being back in the Waiakea district, he also reunited with good friends from his years at Waiakeawaena.  He had only just acquired his first guitar from a family friend in the fall of 1998, but he took his learning of the instrument to heart.  By his senior year, Michael had developed his songwriting, joined the Waiakea High Chorus, performed on various stages and at school functions, and picked up a vested interest in learning other instruments.  His time with the chorus allowed him to develop vocally and musically and got him to showcase his talents on stage.  His friends in the chorus band also taught him how to play the piano, drums and bass, and a year in the high school band program made him a beginner on the alto saxophone.  His musical identity began to flourish.  The time he spent in his band Midknight Thunder helped him to pick up experience playing with others and expand his musical horizons into rock.  During his stint in this band, he also began to develop his chops as a lead guitarist. 

On a writer’s retreat, he began to play with some new friends who he would eventually learn a lot from – the premier band at Waiakea High, Hawaiian Sunrise.  Their Hawaiian reggae-infused sound would not only pique his interest in that musical style, it also pushed him to reintroduce himself to the ‘ukulele.  In the school’s faith organization, Heart & Soul, he got the chance to learn from some talented rhythm guitarists, who eventually took him with them to choral practice.  His years with the Waiakea High Chorus led him to some unforgettable experiences, such as the Big Island Choral Festival and the ACDA Western Division Honor Choir in Honolulu in 2002, but most importantly it allowed him to find his footing on a stage and sing in harmony.  Performing briefly at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Theater didn’t hurt, either, as Michael hit the stage as part of the sound crew in a parodical production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”  Amidst all this, Michael had to deal with moving once again, to Hawaiian Paradise Park, and leaving the childhood home he had lived in for ten years.  But perhaps the most important and life-altering event of his high school years that impacted him as a songwriter and artist was the discovery of love, and alternately, of heartbreak – two of the most powerful human emotions.  They poured into his songwriting of this period themes of desire and longing, sweetness and anger.  It was not until the end of his senior year at Waiakea High that Michael truly realized his identity: Small-town country boy, creative writer, well-rounded musician, avid performer, lover of nature, hopeless romantic.  His decision to leave Hawaii and move to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California did not come lightly, but it did help that the university had a stellar reputation in the arts, as well as the fact that five of his Waiakea High friends and classmates would become USC students as well.
 
            While entering the university as a Civil Engineering major proved to be a terrible decision, the one to attend this particular college turned out to be great.  After suffering in the engineering program for a year amidst poor grades and waning interest, Michael was accepted into what was then known as the USC School of Cinema-Television with a concentration in the Film & Television Critical Studies.  In his last year at Waiakea, Michael started to show a growing interest in filmmaking, especially in the field of music videos.  The school turned out to be a perfect fit, and he went on to steadily raise his grades and graduate – on time – in the spring of 2006.  It was during these college years that he quietly honed his skills as a guitarist (by taking guitar classes from some very capable teachers) and as a songwriter (by getting in touch with his own emotions and life experiences).  As he opened his eyes and heart to a clearer understanding of life, love, God, Country, community and the world, and tiring of the big city life he still finds difficult to get used to, he made some very important decisions as to how he would live his life: With a strong moral foundation, a clean lifestyle and a family-first attitude.  It was a turning point; Michael themes became infused with sentimentality and nostalgia.  He dreams every day of the ocean breeze off the Puna coast and going back to live in the islands, and thanks God for some good friends who keep his spirit in Hawaii.  However, he wouldn’t give up the experiences or friendships that USC and life in Los Angeles gave him for the world.
 
After graduating, Michael moved away from the big city and into Alhambra, a much more “Main Street” community.  This is where he resides now, still living by his credo of Strong Foundation, pursuing a dual career in film and music.  Finally given the chance to do so freely, Michael got to work on recording some of the original songs that he had composed over the past ten years and assembling tracks, discs and demos.  As a freelance film lighting tech, he also had the chance to work on several independent music video and film shoots.  It would eventually prepare him for an intense undertaking in the fall of 2008, an entry into the nationwide video-based music competition, CMT’s Music City Madness 3.
 
CMT's third annual singer/songwriter competition, Music City Madness is a nationwide search for country's next potential star. Sponsored by Chevrolet and Warner Bros. Records, the competition is comprised of an initial submission in the form of a performance or music video, followed by several rounds of tournament-style voting. The grand prize winner receives their very own CMT Studio 330 recording session, their original works and performances posted on CMT.com, a CMT Artist Profile, a private showcase with Warner Bros. Records executives, and a personal mentorship with country music legend Randy Travis.  The contest is split into six rounds, and Michael has already pushed through into Round Four – the Elite Eight - with his original song and video, "American Dream."  Round Four voting begins today, Tuesday November 18th, at 8am Hawaii time.  In order to vote for his video, you can log on to madness.cmt.com, and click on "vote," or go directly to www.cmt.com/interact/music_city_madness/vote. Be sure to listen for his ukulele solo at the end!  Anyone can vote without registering, and you are able to vote as many times as you want, as often as you want. Keep an eye on the countdown clock for each round so that you can help Michael through to the next round (the Final Four, which will get him featured on the CMT website), and please continue to vote every week, day and hour!  Let's show Nashville just how much we support our homegrown Hawaiian cowboy!  Click here for a sneak peak at the video.