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Here we go again with more Asian American artists!*
One of my uber favorites, Motomichi Nakamura, is having a show at Halycon in Brooklyn and if you’re in the area (unlike me, who will be far far away), definitely check him out. He has an awesome monsters series, including a Mongolian Death Worm sculpture that I dream about taking home to cuddle in my bed. Yeah.
*Please keep in mind that I really don’t have any artistic background, aside from drawing Keroppi faces in my notebooks. Wait, that’s a lie. What I really mean is that I am the last person you’d find talking about art and going to galleries and critiquing someone’s painting. I just like to share what I find!
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I was checking out the Los Angeles Times, and came across “‘Hulk’s’ biggest obstacle: Ang Lee’s version.” Ang Lee is of course the Oscar winning director of Brokeback Mountain. I’ve enjoyed many of Lee’s films, including The Wedding Banquet, Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (where I first came across and fell in love with Zhang Ziyi), Brokeback Mountain, and most recently, Lust, Caution. Well, one Ang Lee film I was not a huge fan of, was The Hulk. It was okay, at best, and I agree with the LA Times article that the new Hulk movie coming out this summer will have to overcome a lot of the ill will the first film generated:
“”The biggest challenge on ‘The Incredible Hulk’ was Ang Lee’s ‘Hulk’ in 2003,” says Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios… In absolute and relative terms, director Lee’s superhero movie opened fantastically, grossing $62.1 million in its first weekend… But “Hulk’s” real (and crushing) story unfolded over its second weekend, where middling reviews and corrosive word-of-mouth pushed its grosses down a staggering 70%. In deciding to return to the property after such a brief hiatus, Marvel and Universal tried to figure out what went wrong on the first film and how they could better capture the enduring appeal of one of Marvel’s most popular creations. They also realized they would have to cut through a wall of disbelievers. “We knew people would be out there saying, ‘Why are you doing it again?’ ” says Adam Fogelson, Universal’s marketing chief.”
I agree - why did Marvel make and is going to release another Hulk film? And only 5 years from Ang Lee’s version? Does Marvel really think it can overcome the negative perception of the first film?
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Welcome one and all to the 18th episode - thanks for checking it out.
This episode I challenge you to name all the original performers of the songs I play on the show, plus we have an interview with Director/ Actress Siu Ta (Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle) just before the world premiere of her first documentary, Daddy Tran: A Life in 3D.
Also see what my Fortune Cookie’s answer is to a question from a listener and if anyone out there wants $15 seat tickets to the Korean Music Festival at Hollywood Bowl this coming May 17th, 2008 - let me know ASAP.
For any comments, suggestions, feedback, requests and questions for my Fortune Cookie, leave a comment at Popcast88.com or email me at christine [at] popcast88.com.
Please remember, if you would like to support the podcast, I ask that you support the artist by buying their albums through YesAsia.com by the links provided on this site.
(Continued)
POP88 #18 - The Cover/Sample Show + Int. w/ Siu Ta [46:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (22) No Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, Movies, Music, POP 88
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“The metal look works for Chinese males. This shit sprouts out of our head quite naturally and it looks pretty good. And that echoes with the great warriors of ancient times. Long hair means martial prowess.” - Kaiser Kuo, Tang Dynasty
A couple of years ago, I watched a documentary called Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, which completely changed my perception of Heavy Metal music. I mean, I was never a fan, but I wasn’t completely against listening to it either. I don’t love it, nor do I hate it. I would say, that there are more redeeming qualities in heavy metal music than there is in, say, pop music. You may not like it, but it’s never boring.
For the most part, heavy metal music actually has its roots in orchestral classical music like Wagner and Beethoven. While most of the vocals in the genre are stereotyped with gutterral screaming, a good portion of the vocals have more in common with opera than rock; think Freddie Mercury and Queen.
So imagine my surprise that the same filmmakers created a sequel called Global Metal. Applying the same anthropological mindset as the first film, they set out to find out what and how heavy metal music has been affected by globalization by talking to bands and fans of heavy metal music all over the world (particularly in Asia.) I highly recommend watching it when it comes out in June and also rent its predecessor on DVD.
Before, my exposure to rock music from China was fairly limited to whatever I saw on YouTube through Danwei.Tv and movies. I wasn’t impressed to tell you the truth. It all seemed kitchy and wannabe and really felt something was missing in its delivery. Every so often I would come across a gem, like Cherry Boom, but they were very few and far between. The band credited with bringing heavy metal music to China was Tang Dynasty. It was founder Kaiser Kuo, who was born in New York, went to China in the late 80’s to start the band which sold 2 million legit copies of its debut album ‘A Dream Return to Tang Dynasty‘.
In preparation for the interview with the filmmakers, I go ahead and attempt to do my homework in terms of metal bands from Asia (China and Japan in particular) and I come across this supposed thrash metal band called Overload from China … and slowly find myself turning into a fan.
Known as Chao Zai, Overload is fronted by one-time pop singer Gary Qi, who according to Wikipedia formed the band with elitist musicians in China. Listening to his voice, plus looking at his picture on the album cover (rowr!), I can’t help but be drawn in. I’m almost shock to discover just how pretty one song can be, side by side, with something that is just fueled with aggression. I implore you out there to check out the music on iTunes. Search: Chao Zai.
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In Part 2 of my interview with Classical Guitarist Steve Lin, Steve speaks with me about classical guitar, his passion for modern music, and creating new works for the guitar.
J: Why do you feel it’s so important to commission new music for the guitar?
S:There are two levels:
First, the key is collaboration, and in any good collaboration, you grow and learn as a result. Working with composers is like working with other musicians, except composers tend to hear and experience music differently from performers. One of the greatest things about music is the collaborative process, and we live and learn from each other.
The second has to do with new music itself. We need new music so that we can continue the creative discourse that we as artists are obliged to contribute. New music has the power to challenge our notions and conceptions of what music is and what music can do. I love old music, but as artists, we face a challenge of expressing our own voices of our own generation. It is a struggle that is both frustrating and beautiful.
J: I like how you say it’s a dynamic process creating new works, and that’s great…but as an audience member, the thing I don’t really like about modern music is that much of it simply just sounds weird. What are your thoughts about this?
S: This is a topic for a long conversation, but an important one. There is a lot of bad modern music out there, just like there are a lot of bad restaurants and bad consumer products. Like I said, new music offers both performers and audiences a challenge. Thus, it’s important to ask questions: “Why do something like this?” “What’s the point?” “Could the composer have done it some other way?” The good news is, composers and musicians are actually very accessible and approachable—most anyways—and in most cases we are more than happy to talk to audience members to help bridge as many gaps as possible. Some do things just to be obscure, but more often than not, artists do in fact want to be understood.
Take another analogy: I love stand-up comedy and how random some of it is. In a way, it is similar to new music & art and how seemingly random they are. Some of the funniest commercials are pretty random. If you ever stop on any cross walk and just listen, you’ll be surprised at how crazy the world around you sounds—it’s complex, multifaceted, sometimes completely unrelated, etc. They are sounds that reflect the world of our generation, and that in and of itself is an interesting concept. The most important thing is for music to generate questions and to encourage discussion and new thoughts.
J: I don’t know, Steve. Sometimes I think a lot of modern music is like the Emperor that has no clothes… everyone is clapping because they think they should be clapping, but in reality, it was crap.
Often times it’s really hard to tell good music from bad music. But these are subjective terms. If new music doesn’t speak to you, that’s fine. We don’t hope for everyone to like it, but we do ask that everyone listen to the music with sincerity and, above all, a sense of curiosity.
I guess I’ll just have to trust Steve’s word. Thanks to Steve for speaking to me, and here’s more information about his upcoming concert:
May 10, 2008 at 8PM
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
1600 Santa Lucia Avenue, San Bruno, CA 94066
$10 at the door
Directions
His latest CD, Imagen, is available via Amazon.com.
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Apologies in advance if the Asian boobies in this show flyer get you in trouble, but I wanted to let everyone know about Japanese artist Mari Inukai’s solo show at the CoproNason Gallery in Santa Monica.
I’m currently gathering Asian American/Canadian/Anything artists for an upcoming show at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery that celebrates art in our community. And a whole bunch of stuff that I don’t feel like typing up.
Mari is participating in my show, but I thought I’d let everyone know about her own show this weekend, if you’re in the area! The opening reception is Saturday, May 10th at 8:00pm. And how can you NOT enjoy her paintings of giant pink bunnies attacking Japan?
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The annual Taiwanese American Cultural Festival will be held at union Square in San Francisco on Saturday, May 17,2008 from 10AM to 6PM. Mayor Gavin Newsom has also proclaimed May 17th “The Taiwanese Day in San Francisco.” Traditional dance, music, arts and Taiwanese food will be featured. A list of the events throughout the day can be found here.
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I had the opportunity to chat with classical guitarist Steve Lin and had a fascinating discussion about Asian American issues, music, and being a classical guitar player. He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree at the New England Conservatory of Music, and Steve is one of the founders of the Boston Guitar Project.
In preparation for his upcoming concert in the Bay Area on May 10… I thought I’d chat about him about his unique instrument, practicing, and his background.
J: Why guitar?
S: I got into guitar because of Taiwanese pop. As it turned out, my guitar teacher was a classical guitarist, so before long, he encouraged me to try some classical. It wasn’t a big stretch for me because I had already played the violin and the piano for a few years (soooo Asian), but little did I know that the guitar would be a motivating and inspiring force in my life.
The best thing about the guitar is that the guitar is such an icon, as recognizable as milk. What I mean is, whether your genre is pop, classical, jazz, flamenco, etc., there a kinship that exists among guitarists across the board that can not be found among other instrumentalists. As a guitarist, there’s an innate curiosity that motivates us to tap into world music. In a way I feel very lucky to be a guitarist because it allows me to participate in a variety of genres.
This is reflective of my own life—my parents are Taiwanese, I was born in Connecticut, I lived in California for a while, I lived in Taiwan for a while, I now live in Boston, etc. But I also lived in Italy for a while and speak the language. The notion of crossing boundaries has been a part of my life and my music.
J: With the previous discussion on 8Asians about practicing music and childhood, what are your thoughts about practicing?
S: When I was young, I didn’t really know how to practice. Practice requires discipline and attention to detail, and that is something that is very hard to teach to anyone, never mind a kid. I only began to understand what practicing meant when I was an undergraduate at Cal State Northridge. I went through a phase when I got up at 4AM every morning and practiced for 3 hours. After that, I’d fill the rest of my day with 5 to 8 more hours with the guitar.
Today, I’m no longer college student and my life demands so much more. Instead of just studying and practicing, I now need to teach, to track down performance opportunities, to work on CD projects, etc. Basically, I’ve had to rethink how I approached practicing because I don’t have 8 hours per day to devote to the instrument so I’ve had to get smarter about how I use practice time.
But the greater implication is: we often face challenges and changes that force us to re-structure our lives. For me, these have been healthy changes, because it’s a reflection of my growth as a person and a musician. As a result, I’ve had to modify my routines, and that’s just fine.
J: Do you think you’ll force your future kids to practice?
First, I want my future children (if and when I have them!) to listen to a lot of different kinds of music, not only classical, but jazz, world music and modern….and everything in between. I believe that the world will be incredibly global, that having access to diverse cultures, whether it be through music, art, dance, food, or language, will be very important.
Practicing is not about getting the right notes or memorizing a piece, but it is about issues much larger than just music. It’s about discipline, attention to detail, proving to your self that you can sit down for an extended period of time and focus on a relatively small amount of material.
Again, it’s not about getting up at 4 AM, but it is about finding something you like and setting your mind to it. As with almost everything else, It’s about doing something you love and being the best at it as you can.
Part 2…we chat about modern music, the good and the bad, the weird and the ugly…coming tomorrow.
4 Comments | Posted in: Announcements, Music
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