Brad “BW” Watanabe
Kailua, O‘ahu, Honolulu County, HI, United States
Biography
Born and raised in Kailua, Haiwaii, songwriter and performer Brad “BW” Watanabe has been making music most of his whole life: he started taking ukulele lessons at 3 and piano lessons at 5. Later, when in high school, he taught himself guitar and bass and started jamming with a few friends and in a few different bands.
In 2004, BW was asked to join one of his favorite bands, Ooklah the Moc, as they started to record their second album “Rearrange your Positive”, and went on his first tour on the west coast of the United States. Even though reggae has always had a big influence on BW’s music, it was recording in the studio with Ooklah that he learned more about the music genre.
From 2007-2008, BW started writing music for the first time and with no real outlet for these songs, decided to record and release them for fun. In 2009, 4 of his good friends decided to form “The Green”, sort of an all-star mash-up of local musicians band. BW played bass and keyboards and co-produced the first album, and started touring with them as well. He later joined as a full member and started writing songs for their albums. Currently, BW can be found on stage with the group playing bass, keyboards, and singing harmonies.