Jan 28, 2014 Save Music in Chinatown 2
I’ve been lucky enough to have not one but two dream jobs. Helping to start Giant Robot and edit the magazine for 16 years was a great run. How many writers get to work with their best friend and cover pretty much whatever he or she wants every single issue? And being a part of Imprint and interTrend for the last few years has been amazing, too. I’m still working with friends and am still given the chance to write about almost anything (a quick run-through of my Tuesday blogs will attest to that) yet I’m learning about the worlds of communication and culture every week. Very cool.
But I have to admit that the Save Music in Chinatown project is special to me. Through a completely uncalculated turn of events, I’m parlaying my experience in writing about art, music, and Asian subcultures into something that takes place in real life and might actually help people. Our idea is get the the local gallery scene and punk rock heritage of Chinatown involved in the local kids’ cause, and raise money for music education at the inner-city elementary school. It’s extra meaningful that my daughter is attending school in the neighborhood where my grandparents and in-laws have hung out, plus I get to work on it with my wife.
The second show is coming up in less than two weeks. It sure seems like we are following up on the inaugural event rather quickly, but I wanted to use the momentum. Mike Magrann from Channel 3 actually attended the first gig. So did Hector Penalosa, who not only drove up from San Diego to support the cause but donated some Zeros posters and a CD to the raffle. How cool are they? Artist Yukinori Dehara also gave me permission to use one of his rice cooker yokai art piece in the flyers. The other one is an Ultraman kaiju. If you can name all the places in Chinatown where the flyer pictures were taken, I’ll be impressed.
More friends who are involved in the February 9 show, below, clockwise from top left: Special guest Hector Penalosa of The Zeros, who will perform with Baja Bugs and solo, with Una Kim, who is donating a pair of Keep sneakers to the raffle; co-headliner Money Mark, artist Shizu Saldamando, who donated a signed monograph to the raffle, Ooga Booga Store’s Wendy Yao, who donated a goodie bag to the raffle, and Eric Kim, who invited us to have our shows at Human Resources; Best Coast’s Bobb Bruno, who donated vinyl to the first show’s raffle and Donut Friend’s Mark Trombino, who is donating a gift certificate to the upcoming raffle; Gabie Strong from KCHUNG Radio, who invited me onto her show to promote Save Music in Chinatown; Mike Magrann from Channel 3 at the first Save Music in Chinatown show; Pad Hoed, a.k.a. Adam Bomb from KXLU’s legendary hardcore show The Final Countdown, who will be a guest DJ.
The bill is pretty awesome. In my opinion, co-headliner Money Mark is the musician who made Check Your Head and Ill Communication the Beastie Boys’ heaviest records. His solo work is more soulful and experimental, and is much loved by heads around the world. The other co-headliner Channel 3 is an original Posh Boy punk band that appears on two Rodney on the ROQ LPs but also the coveted The Future Looks Bright and American Youth Report compilations. Unlike many first and second-generation bands that get back together for reunion tours and festivals, Channel 3 never stopped being friends or playing out. Special guest Hector Penalosa was a member of the OG punkers from Chula Vista, The Zeros, a.k.a. The Mexican Ramones. He’s going to play with Baja Bugs as well as perform solo material, which will be very cool.
And then there’s Adam Bomb. The last time I saw him DJ was at the closing party for the Track 16 gallery, which featured photos and artifacts from L.A.’s seminal punk zine, We Got Power!, and performances by Meat Puppets and The Middle Class. His mix of old school punk and garage rock is perfect for this sorta tribute to Chinatown’s underground music scene. Of course, KCHUNG is actually in Chinatown, which works perfectly.
I wanted to keep the price of admission cheap but allow supporters to donate more. Hence, few items from the raffle, which also allows other friends of mine to contribute in their own ways. Wendy Yao donated an Ooog Booga tote bag with buttons, a Bleached 7″ single, and a Raymond Pettibon zine. Can’t get more L.A. or punk rock than that. My longtime pals and Uglydoll creators David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim signed and donated a Batman Ice-bat and Wedgehead Robot to the raffle, as well. That’s a brand-new and very cool series. And I have an extra signed monograph by Shizu Saldamando to give away. Her masterful and loving paintings of immigrant subcultures actually fit the Asian/Latino punk vibe of this show very well. Other contributors include Kumquat baby clothes, Pho 87 restaurant, Berndt Offerings, Dengue Fever, future NFL hall-of-famer Donovan McNabb…
For the first show, my friends at Elephant Skateboards came up big by donating a signed Black Flag deck by Mike Vallely. This time around, I asked my friends at the Heel Bruise skate goods brand if they could design their own alternate flyer for our show. Thomas Yu came up big with an organic blend of hand illustration and lettering with bold fonts. It’s punk ruck all the way, and I actually had to ask him to work in his skate brand somewhere. (Look at the stickers on the drumkit.) The Heel Bruise flyer will not only provide extra exposure to their friends and followers but provide the basis for Risograph print that we can give to contributors and sell at the show. Stoked!
With the show coming up in a week and a half, there isn’t much to do except spread the word and hope people show up… If it bombs, at the very least I’ll be seeing a dream lineup in a cool location with friends and family. But I think it’ll be great and hope to help the mostly immigrant kids get exposed to music education and get a hard-to-come-by creative outlet.
There was a time when I proudly considered myself a part of Southern California subcultures–Asian, punk, indie art–and was content to blow off the mainstream. I guess I still think of myself that way but now I want to make a difference in the world-at-large as well. Please help promote the show and if you are able to attend definitely say hi!