These 'Cats can play

WC11 talks a lot about what a great group of people make up the Linfield football roster year in and year out. I'm not just blowing smoke to make the program look better but the staff does a great job in bringing in student-athletes that are well rounded and are more than just "football players".

Nothing exemplifies this better than the musical talent that a number of guys on the roster possess and display around the Linfield campus on a regular basis. Wildcat11 wanted to shine a light on the Linfield band Na Hemo and the acoustic trio of Boehme-Testa-Inns and find out how they came together and what roll music plays on the Linfield Football Team.

I asked Linfield Senior Offensive Guard #75 Cheyne Kaninau about how Na Hemo got their start: "It all started about two years ago or so around the first week of football camp my freshman year when me and Kala'e Parish (#33 Junior, Monster Back) started messing around and playing some music in our quad in Miller Hall. Then one weekend we went over to a friends house and started jammin' a lot with Chris Kamaka and Sparky Gonzalez (#93 Defensive End) and later our other friend Logan Freitas. We started doing that pretty much every weekend we could. Then came a crazy idea that we try and perform as a "band" at a CatCab during the spring semester. Ever since then we were hooked on performing as a group.

As of now our band consists of me on the bass, Chris Kamaka on guitar, Jeremy Moll on drums, Logan Freitas on keyboard and vocals, Kala'e parish on guitar and vocals, and Sparky Gonzales on vocals. As of last year we played around campus a lot and also started playing a Qube Lounge in downtown Portland right before the summer."

Cheyne told me that Na Hemo is will be hitting a few other clubs in Portland as well as College Luau's at Concordia (Portland), Pepperdine, Portland State, and trying to get on board with the Luau at Pacific University as well.

As for the name "Na Hemo" and what it means? "The word 'Na' in Hawaiian is a pluralizer or an adjective meaning thing or person. A definition of hemo; to be loose. It's fitting because it describes our lifestyle. We're pretty laid back people and just like to have fun and I believe it shows on stage with our energy and enjoyment we get out of every performance."

As for the Boehme-Testa-Inns trio, Linfield Sophomore Quarterback Mickey Inns explained how these three 'Cats hooked up: "We started playing this year after Boehme (Linfield QB Aaron Boehme) told me that James Testa (#15, Junior Rover Back) and he were thinking of doing a CatCab. For the first show we practiced once a week for a few months, usually on Sundays. For the second show over Jan term we had much less time so we practiced quit a bit more over that month."



As you can tell from the video above that you wouldn't know they didn't have as much time to practice as they sounded pretty dang good.

People love good music and for the 'Cats it plays a big role in the togetherness of the team. "The team listens to music before and after every game and practice so we get to hear a lot of different styles. For me, I like hearing all the reggae music because i really enjoy it but have never really listened to it or would know where to find good artists." Wrote Mickey. "I think that the Linfield program supports other interests while keeping us focused on football, but it allows us to keep doing the other things we love like music."

Cheyne echos that thought "I do believe that music plays a huge role on our football team. To me music is an expression and gets people moving. Whenever you step into the locker room be it before practice, after practice, during doubles, before, after, and during half times of games, and that stereo is playing a good jam it gets the whole team together and shows our love for music.

I think that music is a common denominator of enjoyment and expression for all people. I think there are a lot of people on the team with outside interests because that's just how we are. being in a program like Linfield Football it's more than just a team its more like a family and with that whole atmosphere we don't think of ourselves as only strictly football players like some programs might, but we also think of ourselves as people, musicians, dancers, video gamers, students, and family, which sparks each individuals interest in other areas besides just football."

Wildcat11 couldn't have said it better myself.