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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.
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POP88 #18 - The Cover/Sample Show + Int. w/ Siu Ta [46:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (14) 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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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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Apologies to all the Ken Lees out there… but this was too good not to share.
According to VidJar:
A contestant in the second season of the Bulgarian show “Music Idol” performs Mariah Carey’s song “Without you” in fake English. The contestant’s name is Valentina Hasan, 29 years old. She’s from the village of Zvezdelina, in the Kardzhali Province. Valentina’s married and “Hasan” is her husband’s surname. She currently lives in Spain. This video is not intended for any ethnic tensions or historical debates. It’s just a laugh, so I implore everyone to ignore any irrelevant comments and not to engage in pointless discussions. Go to http://kenleeworld.com/ the international Ken Lee community’s site….
Um, HELLO! Did you know there is a Ken Lee World?!
Valentina later returned to Bulgarian Idol to sing her world-famous song “Ken Lee”… and her English was much improved in that performance.
UPDATE: Thanks to Tony Pierce, this post got linky love from the LA Times blog!
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/funny_pages_20/2008/04/move-over-willi.html
Check it out… in addition to the original video, they’ve got one showing Mariah Carey herself on French Idol being forced to watch Valentina’s performance of Ken Lee…
Seen at Joelle’s
2 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, Music
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Meet Renee Sebastian - a Filipino-American wife and mother who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She majored in Computer Science in college. Just your typical Asian American living in the Bay, right?
Wrong.
Because Renee Sebastian is also an indie soul singer, songwriter and producer. And a really good one at that, performing in venues in New York, San Francisco, and a recent showcase at SXSW, the big independent music festival in Austin, Texas. (Check out her video to “These Are The Signs,” above this blog post. The first line of her song kinda comes out of nowhere and hits you in the face, in a good way.)
Maybe it’s a sign of getting older, but as my tastes as evolved from the typical urban radio stuff to music that’s more soulful and complex, I find myself really getting into this song; therefore, you should too. Her album is on iTunes. Go listen already.
2 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, Music
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What seems like an eternity, I’m back with a new show with new music from artists who’ve recently ‘Comeback’ to the spotlight this year. Music from Andy from Shinhwa, Jewelry, Namie Amuro and Toshinobu Kubota.
Also I review the recently published (and previously blogged about) “Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food” by Jennifer 8 Lee, ask my Magic Fortune Cookie if I’m going to have any chocolate anytime soon and give a sneak preview of some of the films premiering at the Hot Docs International Film Festival (April 17 - 27).
If you want the Enhanced M4A version of the show, with Chapters, Pictures and Links please visit Popcast88.com for download and subscription links.
For any feedback, suggestions, comments, requests or if you want to ask my Magic Fortune Cookie something, please leave a comment at Popcast88.com or email me at christine [at] popcast88.com.
POP 88 #17 - The COMEBACK Show
www.YesAsia.com
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1 Comment | Posted in: Entertainment, Movies, Music, POP 88, Reviews
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A while back, I got the chance to interview the lovely Kina Grannis, on behalf of 8Asians. She is one of Interscope’s newest artists ever since winning the Dorito’s Crash the Superbowl contest. The conversation itself covers everything from some background history, to how the Japanese culture effected both her and her sisters, to what’s coming up with her musical career.
I must apologize for the crackling of the recording since it seemed that the buffering didn’t completely set up yet before I had started. Novice sound tech on my part. Fortunately for me, she was very easy to talk to and we had a great conversation. We’ll probably catch up later with her to see where everything is going in her life.
Photo Credit: (Tim Monzon)
3 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, Music
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I remember long ago when I worked at an Asian North American lifestyle magazine and co-hosted an Asian music radio show the amount of CDs I would receive and cringe having to listen to in order to review them. Some would be ok, while others would just be downright unbearable. Every so often there would be an album that makes you wonder how come this artist hasn’t been picked up by anyone?
Some of the answers can be found in this article which basically states what many of us know, the reason why Asians don’t have their version of Justin or Britney (ok, Britney’s a bad example right now - Christina?) Jeff Yang also made mention of this in one of his Asian POP articles (that I can’t seem to locate at this time) - he I believe hit it on the head when he said that there is no genre of music to term “Asian-American”.
So the question lies: “What is Asian-American music?”
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10 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, Music, Observations
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