The day before the big gig @ The Village Underground, and my new best friend is:

Exhaustion from being stranded on the runway of Chicago's O'Hare has me in a mentally grappling with a bad cold.  So I've been popping these suckas like candy and hoping that the drug-induced healthy state will trick my body into thinking everything's OK. 

Hope to see you all tomorrow night at the Underground?  I think we're going to be playing a real grown & sexy set.  :P

Deliver us from Hung, Hung!

I'm a complete Bravo TV addict.  I swear, they can make me obsess about anything they have a show on.  Because of them, I'm officially a Kathy Griffin fan, lover of Whoopi Goldberg, and slowly turning into a gay man.

Anyhoo, HOW HAPPY AM I THAT HUNG WON "TOP CHEF"?!! 

Admittedly, a part of me was completely rooting for the token Asian on the show.  I'm the biggest supporter of my Asian brothas and sistahs!  But not without reasonable justification.  Anyhow, I felt that Hung's win was completely deserved—he was the most technically proficient chef there and it was great to see him win.

A part of me hopes that his reality TV win can somehow eclipse the humiliation of another Hung, of American Idol infamy.  Maybe I'm an idealist.  They wants to keep us down!  (too militant?)

When did life get so hectic? It's so bad, I have to schedule drinks with friends weeks in advance. My Filofax has become my companion and my cognitive crutch for appointments and general to do's.

This past month has been a slew of non-stop craziness at my job. First San Francisco Fashion Week, a red-eye home, then NY Fashion Week, then back to San Fran for Macy's Passport. I feel like I've hardly had time to normalize my body and mind, much less get in a creative zone to write some songs.

Sometimes I wonder, could I actually be content JUST working? I remember Steve once telling me that if there was ANYthing else in the world that could possibly make me happy other than music, that I should quit and do it. (Lemme tell ya, it sure ain't PR!) He said that when I first met him a few years ago, when I was JUST starting my pursuit of music. I guess he was trying to warn me of a lifetime of challenges and spent hope.

And I would be lying if I didn't sometimes wonder if I COULD just be normal and work. But I just don't think it's IN me to be normal. Heather doesn't do normal.

I think the only reason I can stomach doing Beauty PR is because at the end of the day, my job doesn't define me. It's just a means to an end. The end is music. I step off the N train, home at the Broadway stop, the iPod plays "Definition" by Black Star, and the love is just rekindled.


Rock on,
HP

Don't know what overcame me, but I decided today was the day I should get tatted up. (sorry Mom & Dad!)

It's a tad larger than I expected, but I'm sure I'll get adjusted to it. We're all creatures of adaptation, right?

It's just 4 Chinese characters: ji2 xing1 gao1 zhao4
It basically describes when someone's star is on the rise, or ascending. I thought it was a good sentiment. ;)

 

This is a little late coming, but better late than never.  Last weekend, I was in HOTlanta for the 2007 International Soul Summit.  I didn't know what to expect, never having gone to a soul summit before, but I came away really moved.  The best part of the entire event was getting to meet fellow artists, and the comradery and the love was real.  That's what it's all about--helping and supporting each other.  I never really understood people who put each other down, or refuse to support their fellow artists.  We're all in this crazy game together, so really, we're like family. 
It was great to meet new faces, hear new voices and bask in the company of some old friends.  :)


Me & Chanel Tilman of Fusionz Sounds


Me & Mike Ashley, Life & Soul Promotions


Me & Russel Taylor


doing a tv interview...

   Hi All, 

Greetings on this clear, sunny NYC Saturday!  Just wanted to send some official love and appreciation to all the friends who made it out to the show last night at Webster Hall.   I can say with confidence that it was the best show we've ever put on.  The energy was phenomenal, and it was great to have the family back in full force (welcome back, Malikah!). 

Unfortunately, we just didn't have enough numbers to make it through to Germany.   But the experience was invaluable--who would have thought that we would have made it to the finals when we first started competing last November?  But more importantly, there was so much love and positivity between all the bands performing, it was beautiful to meet so many fellow creative spirits.

On that note, good luck to all the bands competing again tonight!  HP signing off for a while, retreating to finish recording the 2nd album.  But I hope to see you out soon!

peace & much love,

HEATHER 

Just came back from a screening of Michael Kang's "West 32nd" tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival. "Leave Me To Dream" was selected as one of the songs in the soundtrack. Actually, we were told that it was the very first song that they locked down for the film!

What a surreal experience to hear the song in the movie! I didn't even recognize it until someone else tapped me! But it was such an amazing honor to be a part of such a significant film. It was great to be able to meet the majority of the cast and Michael after the film, too. Much respect and love to them.

If you get the chance, go out and see this movie! It was poignant and wonderfully acted and directed!

Whilst grappling with a bionic strain of bronchitis, I was a little nervous about last night's show at round 2 of the Emergenza finals. Also, a lot of the people we'd been expecting to show up, were deterred by the cold weather and the drunken St Patty's revellers.

BUT WE MADE IT TO THE NEXT ROUND!!!!!

Our band was one of 3 bands to proceed to the next round of competitions. Thank you to everyone who came out, and also thank you to all of you who listened with an open heart and voted for us! :)


The next round is coming up real soon, so we'll keep you posted!!! :)

Anyone read that article in the NY Times Sunday Style section about why Asian American artists can't break into the music industry?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/fashion/04asians.html

It was really interesting that the article appeared on the front page of the Style Section, as if this was breaking "Style" news. Hmmm…

While I appreciate the honest attempt at trying to EXPOSE the plight of the Asian American artist. But on the other hand, it was like saying "YES, racism against Asians is ALIVE and WELL, but hey, nothing can be done about it."

I was particularly averse to the implication that Asians could only succeed in music if they develop their own "Asiatic" genre. As if to imply the only reason they hadn't "made it big" yet, was because they hadn't correctly found a way to integrate traditional Asian instruments into their music. (grrr!) As if to say that Latino or African-American music can only succeed if they incorporate claves and nayabingi drums into their music.

This general belief just furthers the fact that Asians are pigeon-holed into what is considered a "digestable" stereotype for the American public. With few exceptions, we have yet to transcend the Kung-fu kicking/math whiz/submissive geisha girl roles. So it's really no surprise that uber-talented musicians, actors and artists are overlooked because of their race.

The resounding reality of your article was that we have identified that Asians continue to suffer from racism, but despite the realization, the issue has yet to be addressed.

So, I don't know if this article was a doing a service to "educate" about the status, or whether it was a terrifying and disgusting expose to the degree of existing racism that exists in our current lives.

Regardless, it's definitely a wakeup call, and it's inspiration to stay strong and to support each other as we try to break through and level the playing fields. :)

Stay strong, my brothas & sistas!

Everyone who knows me knows that I am always fascinated by everyone's fascinations with Asian culture..."asian persuasion" as I like to say.

I'm sitting here watching the VH1 video countdown, (very happy to see they have an Indian guy as the host) but then I see this video called "From Yesterday" by 30 Seconds from Mars. Lo and behold, it's set in ancient China, complete with sword fighting, mean looking Genghis Khan-ish soldiers and mysteriously alluring Asian women in kabuki makeup.

Now, is this an homage of sorts to Asian culture? Or is this yet another form of media that pushes a stereotype of Asians onto popular culture? It's a fine line that it always straddled, but I lean towards the latter. Is it too much to ask that an Asian girl play just a GIRL and not an ASIAN girl? This is one of the reasons I got much respect for Sandra Oh, for continually playing a PERSON, not an ethnicity.

Those who know me, know I can get real militant about this kind of stuff. So I'll just leave it at that. But I think it's important that we, as intelligent cool people, always be aware of the delicate balance between fascination with a culture and the oppressive nature of that fascination. Just as we should be aware of ourselves, we should be aware of others as well.

And on that note....have a beautiful weekend! :)

peace & light,
hp