His creativity and unique sounds are fueled by his passion and love for the ukulele and music. Jake Shimabukuro, the 28-year-old Japanese-American ukulele master from Hawaii, is breaking musical boundaries, awing audiences in the United States and across the Pacific Ocean. His first experience with the ukulele came at the age 4, and he`s been hooked since then. Experimenting with various techniques creating new and inventive sounds, Shimabukuro has been producing music never before heard on the ukulele.

Since his humble beginnings playing at local coffee shops, Shimabukuro has made it far, signing with Epic Records International, a division of Sony Music International, as well as the William Morris Agency, the world`s largest talent agency. With a budding fan base in the United States and Japan, he is becoming quite the celebrity, playing the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden for the NY Knicks, and recently making a late night television appearance on “Late Night With Conan O`Brien.”

With the release of his CD, Dragon, audiences are invited to experience the eclectic energy of his innovative music. Shimabukuro`s passion, however, is not only restricted to his music, but in his personality and attitude towards life.

Amid his performances, television appearances, and red eye flights across the country, Shimabukuro took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for ChopBlock.com.

What challenges did you face growing up playing the ukulele? It`s not your typical piano, violin, drums etc…that many children pick up.
A lot of it was growing up in Hawaii--the ukulele is popular. Some challenges that I faced was trying to execute songs that were not commonly known on the ukulele--classical, jazz fusions, etc… It`s difficult because of the range of the instrument. There`s only four strings and a two octave range on a ukulele--almost like a toy piano. You have to be a little bit more creative about how you arrange the piece and the music.

 
How did you decide on calling your album Dragon?
It was my first project that I self-produced. I wanted a title that was a little bit more personal. See, I was born on the year of the dragon, and was always a fan of Bruce Lee--I even named my younger brother Bruce! I wanted to name him Bruce Lee, but my parents didn`t let me go that far!

 
What is your favorite song off the album?
I don`t really have a favorite song. To be honest, I don`t like to listen to myself play. I think it`s hard for me to listen to myself. It`s kind of like looking at yourself in a mirror, not something you would normally do a whole lot everyday unless you`re getting ready for something. Listening to my album is something like that. I just listen to it to make sure it`s okay, and it sounds okay.

You have a very unique way of composing and writing your music. For instance, how you came up with “Circle of Friends,” where you asked your best friend to select a bunch of letters from A to G and write them down on a sheet of paper. Where do these creative ideas come from?
Well, a lot of times it`s just trying different things, especially just off-the-wall. You find that you`ll trigger different parts of your brain and find different ways of doing things. Always trying to have different experiences and doing new things helps fuel my creative process.

 
As a child, what was your biggest dream with music? What did you wish to see happen, and did it come true?
I never had any dreams, or thought music was going to be a career. I was always more of a closet player. It was my passion, I totally loved it. I never ever thought that I would be traveling and playing music as my career. I guess it`s just always been my passion and I`m just really thankful that I`m doing this and making a living.

What message are you hoping to send to your audience with your music?
I think I just want to people to see how passionate I am about what I do, and hopefully that is what I show. When I play I have so much fun, I want to show people that music is fun. I guess I just really want to encourage young people to find their passion. It doesn`t have to be something that you are good at but something that you really truly love. It could be art, painting, writing, could be just finding that special person. Just having passion is very important.

As you know, there are barely any Asian American musicians out there “representing.” How do you feel about that, and what are some of the biggest challenges that you face being an Asian American musician?
I haven`t so far really felt anything negative. I`ve always been proud of my heritage and where I come from, but I don`t really think about it. I really don`t. I just think, especially growing up in Hawaii, where Asian is pretty much the majority of the population, it`s really different, especially from the mainland. It`s weird, because when I go to a place, where the Asians are the minority, like for example the Midwest or something, it doesn`t really sink in. Like my friend might point out that we`re the only Asians in the room, but that`s something I never notice. I`ve just always seen people as people; I never take notice--like, “Oh there`s all Caucasians in here.” It`s just never been an issue.

 
I understand that you are Hawaii's goodwill ambassador to Japan. What does that mean to you?
I was very honored when they asked me. It`s actually going to be my third year representing Hawaii. I`ve been going to Japan for the last five years building a relationship with them there, playing my music, and I always talk about Hawaii and talk about my experiences. I still do the same thing, but I just have the title now. I really feel that it`s everybody`s responsibility that had a great experience growing up in Hawaii to share their stories. It`s important for them to share that with people, especially people in Japan because in Hawaii we rely heavily on tourism to help keep our economy alive. So it`s really everyone`s responsibility to always promote Hawaii. We are all representatives of Hawaii. It`s been fun a wonderful experience--I can talk about music and Hawaii for hours!

You were recently on Conan O'Brien for your first nationally televised performance. What was that like?
I was really nervous before, but it was a great experience for me. That was such a highlight. It was weird `cause we were so busy in 2005, everything just kind of happened, so coming in to it I was so excited! What a way to end the year! It`s truly because of the people that I work with, they work so hard, they been getting all these great opportunities. I have the easy job: I just have go up and play my ukulele! It`s really a team effort, so when things like that happen, it feels almost like wining the Super Bowl, like “Ahhhh! We did it!” It`s a great feeling for everyone.

All this success! What drives and motivates you to keep going and keep pursuing?
Definitely I think it`s just a personal thing for me. I never get caught up in all the other stuff, for me it`s always about myself as a musician. I know my weakness and where to improve and I`m going to keep working on those things. I`ve always had that drive to better myself. Even simple things like learning to be a better composer, or creating new arrangements. Anything to do with music, I`m always reading and practicing, taking lessons from people. And not only with ukulele. I`ll go for drum or piano lessons, go to clinics about music. There`s so much you can learn--I think that`s what keeps me motivated. Whenever you learn something new, you realize there`s so much more you can learn! I still have a burning desire to learn more. It`s like the more you learn, you the more you realize what you don`t know.

 
With all these amazing accomplishments, what else do you hope to accomplish in the next five years?
I definitely want to learn more about composition. Learning about how to help people score soundtracks like in movies and television, it`s been my new thing. Sometimes, when I`m in a hotel room, I`ll turn the television all the way down and try to play something to match what`s happening on the screen and what I see at that moment.

 
Lastly, is there anything else you'd like to add?
I want to encourage the younger generation to really find their passion. Always be drug free. Be happy and enjoy life.