If you put all the songs together that I’ve written on band records, and put it up next to my solo record, there’s definitely a different kind of feel than Billy’s songs.
At some point, I had to make a decision: I could practice more and become a really great guitar player or I could work on writing better songs. There are only so many hours in the day, and I found writing songs more fulfilling than working on becoming this virtuoso guitar player.
I play and I’ve played in heavy bands, but when I write for myself, I don’t particularly feel like writing huge rock riffs. It just doesn’t work for me and my voice.
It’s great working with directors and with somebody else’s vision.
I think if you’re able to make the music you want and you can do it in the right kind of context, you don’t have to be a circus ringleader to be successful.
So there was something of a learning curve with doing your own thing and people seeing you outside of the band. I mean, people have never really heard my voice before – or heard a whole record of mine before. So it was a completely new experience.
No, I’ve heard over the years that it’s nice for them to see somebody who’s like, you know, a well-known successful musician who’s Asian. I’ve heard it from a few musicians, too.
I’d like to keep doing film and TV, and I definitely can appreciate a good theme song. If it’s memorable, that’s a great thing.
Yeah, I’m sure there are stereotypes of Asian people.
The band set up in January and just started rehearsing. If there was a song, we’d just rehearse it as a band, and it would get arranged as a band, and it got changed around a lot.
I love a lot of the New York bands, but Patti Smith stands out. I just read ‘Just Kids’ and it’s an inspirational, well-written account of an emerging New York artist in the late seventies.
Even from a listening end now, I’m still completely a fan of music.
And they kind of left to find a guitar player at the very end, so you know, I don’t really take it as any slight that I wasn’t able to play on the record. It’s flattering just to play with them period.
But, yeah, as far as Asian Americans go, I hope they know they can look at me and see that they can do music on their own, within a band or just on their own, and not feel like there’s any barriers. I’ve never felt any particular barriers myself, being who I am.
I’m happy doing different things. Being in a band is great, but being in a band can be difficult sometimes.
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago.
I live most of the time in New York now. I have an apartment there.
The music industry is not what it used to be. Being in a good band is great, and I’ve been lucky to be in great bands. I’ve done solo stuff, and that’s been great. I also produce rock bands and I do co-writes, where I write with different singers in bands and songwriters.
It’s hard enough to make a good song and a good recording of that song. But to try to tailor it to some outside force is just like – It’s never been a factor in what I’ve done or what the band’s done.
It’s much easier to work on other people’s music and play in other people’s bands as a guitar player instead of being the main songwriter and singer. That’s a really big job to do that.