Mike Tulba

Mike Tulba is a seasoned musician based out of Hawai’i who has been gigging for over a decade. Throughout his career Mike has put out a total of two albums, each marked in real life by the birth of a child. This singer-songwriter kicked off his first project with self-entitled album Mike Tulba which carried two radio hits including “Amazing” and “Absolutely You”. Mike’s second album, Here I Am, earned him two Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award nominations one as Male Vocalist of the Year and the other for Contemporary Album of the Year. Although no baby is on the way this time around, Mike is preparing for the release of a new single “Seen It All Before” debuting on January 30th and his third record which is set to come out shortly after.

Mike’s sound can be described as soul-driven R&B with folk authenticity. This is the result of being raised in Kalihi where rap and R&B blasted out of homemade car stereos and secondhand CD players. It is also where the working man celebrated the simple life through “pau hana” where the comforting warmth of Hawaiian Slack Key was woven into island living. Some may detect a hint of doo-wop in his harmonies and hooks, as Mike admitted to being in boy band when he was interviewed on Island Life Live. Now his sound is heavily acoustic rooted in organic instrumentation as its foundation. 

His live performances are real and unfiltered, void of the long winded looping and saturated reverb. Experience as a hula dancer is responsible for planting the seed of belief in his career as a musician, and for developing a standard for how Mike performs. Being surrounded by professionals who understood the art of entertaining while maintaining effortless charisma left an imprint. This mindset eventually led to the historic Hawai’i Theatre where Mike Tulba was one of the featured artists on Moonlight Mele. In 2025 for Na Leo TV’s Beyond the Mic series, he shared the screen with fellow artist JO-AN, singing “Paradise” a song that speaks about their ancestors’ journey to Hawai’i during the plantation era.

With his third project hitting music outlets in February, Mike will now have industry legends like Michael Brauer and Pete Lyman in his portfolio. The new EP will feature a total of six songs, and will have more of a groovy soulful vibe that has the potential to transcend past Hawai’i’s coastal shores.  Working closely with childhood friend and producer, Dwayne Andres, this project was three years in the making. Stay tuned for the latest updates and release.