so i changed the setting to require my last name to add me as a friend. this is not a trick question. my last name really is lin. if you're having issues with it, write me a message, and i'll add you.

new songs up up up!

i'm kinda big into recycling. i hate the idea of anything going to waste, and i try to reuse as much as possible.

i'm spring cleaning right now, going through my collection of cds and ripping music to make some room on my shelf. i keep all the digipaks (those printed cardboard cd cases with the plastic cd holder, like the one for blue and borderlined), but with jewel cases, i just keep the cd and artwork. so i'm left with a pile of empty jewel cases, and i can't bear to throw them away since they aren't recyclable. i do reuse them once in a while when i need to give someone a burned cd, but the pile keeps getting taller. they could still be of use to somebody, no? any suggestions? anybody want them?

i tried looking online, and i found one place in indiana where i could ship the jewel cases to be recycled. but that seems counter-productive. the emissions alone from trucking one box of jewel cases across state lines would negate my good intentions.

i've been thinking about the fact that i'm about to release a new cd. i'm designing some pretty cardboard cd cases (even though jewel cases are cheaper, i'm going to pay extra for the cases that don't use any plastic. the irony about plastic is that we humans are smart enough to create a useful synthetic product, but we can't figure out how to safely destroy it. i digress) that are made from recycled paper and 100% recyclable if you choose to part with it. what if i also offered the cd in a reused jewel case? at a cheaper price? maybe mark the case with "please reuse" and encourage people to hatchmark it for each time it's reused? and maybe one day it'll come back to me with a bunch of hatchmarks on it!

some people like pretty packaging. i do. it's as much a mark of the artist as the music inside. but some people don't care. they just want the music at cd quality (as opposed to mp3 quality!!) so they'd prefer the cd to itunes but plan to toss the packaging anyway. i'm gonna think about this.

new mix of 'perfect' posted - let me know what you think!

my lovely people,

thank you all so much for your well wishes. believe me, i tried all your miracle cures, and in the end, the only thing that kills a cold is time.

so i'm finally crawling out of my sinus-stuffed hole, and emerging as a singer revived. after not being able to perform for weeks, i am super excited for these upcoming shows!

i'll be performing this month as an artist-in-residence at uncommon ground, every wednesday nite in april from 8-10pm. each week i'll be accompanied by talented musician friends, and i've also invited special guest acts to open and close the show.

uncommon ground is a wonderful, cozy place to see live acoustic music. 3800 n clark at grace, near wrigley field.

all shows are free, a tip bucket will be passed. visit Uncommon Ground for directions and info on making table reservations. note: even if a show is sold out, there is still standing room.

as a general rule, the opener will play 8-8:30pm, i'll play from 8:30-9:30ish, and the closer will play 9:30-10pm.

here's the calendar breakdown and links for checking out the guest acts:
4/4: SPARKSHOP, Twilight Hotel
4/11: Chris Zonada, David Bravos, and The Audians
4/18: Lanialoha Lee and Pacific Soundz (my hawaiian music group!), Ryan Suzuka
4/25: Graham Greene, Rue Royale

man i am sick sick sick. i can hardly remember what it's like to be well.

i was supposed to travel, and i was supposed to do a lot of things i guess. but everything gets put on hold when you're sick.

back to basics, my friends. just trying to breathe, one nostril at a time.

anyone have magical cures?

c.

new york times article below. i've received so many forwards and calls about this article. :) glad to know my peeps are keeping me informed.

i have a lot to say on this topic (saved for a rainy day), but my quick 2 cents is that i'm not overly concerned about discrimination by the music industry. the music industry has long been driven by factors other than good music, and so many great artists of every color have been overlooked, often because their image worked against them. i may be overly idealistic, but i won't be discouraged by the fact that the music industry has a limited view of what sells. i believe quality art will be discovered and appreciated, and still has a value even if that value doesn't register on the billboard charts.

music and image have long been intertwined. when you hear the word "rapper" - do you formulate an image in your head? black or white? how about male or female? young or old? how about "country singer"? probably not picturing black, although there are black country singers. how about "pop/top 40"? "indie rock"? "r&b/soul"? these music designations all have images attached to them, and numerous musical acts have been shaped by PR teams and stylists with the "right" image, because the right image sells. and none of these images are asian in the least.

this image connection comes from community and critical mass, of which asian american artists have neither. we haven't originated a style of music, so we're trying to make ourselves known in genres of music that are dominated by images unlike ours, and we don't have big numbers in any one genre - yet. these things take time - time for the artists to personally develop, time for them to make a name for themselves in their genre of music, time for the artists who have made a name for themselves to come together and build a community.

i think asian american artists are still in a development stage. the key for any underrepresented group to gain representation is critical mass. i'm meeting more and more talented asian american artists, and i think we do have a responsibility to encourage young asian americans to pursue their artistic dreams and grow this community. because of parental expectations, societal stereotypes, and lack of role models, young asian americans have been slow and perhaps reluctant to discover their voice and make it heard. but this article should encourage anyone with a desire to change the landscape to work for it in their own way; aside from artists, we need asian american record label execs, music managers, entertainment lawyers, PR agents, music journalists and critics, tastemakers, festival creators, radio djs, venue owners...

and of course, fans. we need people to listen and enjoy our music, and to spread the word that asian american artists have the potential to go mainstream.


---

From the New York Times...


March 4, 2007
Trying to Crack the Hot 100

By MIREYA NAVARRO
LOS ANGELES

AS a child of Detroit, Harlemm Lee says soulful music runs through his veins. Mr. Lee has sung R & B in talent shows, in musicals at Disney World and even on an album he recorded in the 1980s as he pursued a music career after high school.

Then in 2003 he won the NBC reality show "Fame," gaining national attention and another record contract. Mr. Lee thought it was his big break, but he is about to turn 40 this year and is still working as a secretary, still waiting to make it as a singer.

Of all the factors that have shaped his career in a fickle industry, Mr. Lee said he is sure about the one that has hurt him most: looking Chinese.

"In terms of finding an advocate in the industry, the Asian thing has been the critical factor," said Mr. Lee, who is of Chinese and Filipino descent. "You don't fit."

There are Asian-American stars in sports, movies, television and classical music. But the "Asian thing" is what Mr. Lee and many other aspiring Asian-American singers say largely accounts for the lack of Asian-American pop stars. People in the music industry, including some executives, have no ready explanation, but Asian-American artists and scholars argue that the racial stereotypes that hobble them as a group — the image of the studious geek, the perception that someone who looks Asian must be a foreigner — clash with the coolness and born-in-the-U.S.A. authenticity required for American pop stardom.

Asian-Americans may be expected to play the violin or know kung fu, some artists and scholars say, but not necessarily to sound like Kanye West or Madonna, or sell like them. The issue came to the fore most recently on "American Idol," where a Korean-American contestant, Paul Kim, 24, said he was giving music one last shot after many disappointments.

Mr. Kim, who sang ballads for the show, was praised by the judges for his "range" and "tonal quality," but he was among the first four contestants to be voted off by viewers after the first round. While he was still on the show, Mr. Kim wrote on his MySpace.com page that "I was told over and over again by countless label execs that if it weren't for me being Asian, I would've been signed yesterday."

Some in the music industry note that there is no dearth of Asian-Americans or Asians of mixed race in the ranks of successful record producers (Chad Hugo of the Neptunes), rock bands (Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park) and pop and hip-hop groups (Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls and Allan Pineda Lindo, whose professional name is Apl.de.Ap, of the Black Eyed Peas), and musicians in general.

But where is the Asian-American Justin Timberlake, Prince or Christina Aguilera?

Asked to name the most recognizable Asian-American pop solo singer today, older generations might say the Hawaiian singer Don Ho, but younger Asian-American artists agreed on one person: William Hung, the "American Idol" castoff who became an overnight sensation in 2004 for his off-key rendition of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs."

"By and large the music industry hasn't done a great job cultivating Asian-American talent," said Jon Caramanica, music editor at Vibe magazine. "Because there's no significant tradition in the mainstream, it becomes that much harder to become that breakthrough artist."

Scores of young Asian-American singers are trying to become that artist. Like aspiring musicians of all stripes, they have created their own parallel universe, and many are writing songs and putting out music on the Internet, playing shows in small clubs and Asian festivals and sometimes starting their own labels. Some get play for their songs and videos on niche cable television channels and a few are even performing abroad and recording in Asian languages. In fact, some South Korean entertainment companies regularly hold auditions in cities like Los Angeles to scout for Asian-American talent.

"There are very talented Asian-Americans out there," said Michael Hong, founder and chief executive of ImaginAsian Entertainment, a multimedia company that features Asian-American artists. "The only problem is nobody is signing them."

Some are being signed, but the roster tilts heavily toward mixed-race Asians whose looks are racially ambiguous, like Cassie, an R & B singer of Filipino and African-American descent whose song "Me & U" was one of last year's hottest summer hits, some Asian-Americans artists noted.

In this parallel universe, there is even an Asian-American Idol contest in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has a large Asian population. The contest has been held by Element, an event production company, for as many seasons as the national show has run on Fox.

Christine Joy Villano, whose professional name is Christine Joy and who won this local Idol contest four years ago, said she tried out for "American Idol" in 2004 with her version of Aretha Franklin's "Natural Woman," but didn't make it past the auditions. Last fall, she moved to Atlanta to pursue her music career more seriously.

A compliment she often hears, she said, is that "You sing like an African-American woman." But she does not want to hear that. "You want people to say: 'She can sing!' " Ms. Joy said. " 'Who cares what she is? She needs to be a star!' "

Phil Chen, 23, the lead singer of an all Chinese-American alternative punk rock band, 8PAST, in the San Francisco Bay area, said: "I've had a lot of people come up to me after we play and they say, 'I didn't know what to expect with an Asian band.' But they're impressed. We're not just kids who do math very well."

Some artists say so much is percolating in the underground that more Asian-American talent is bound to start bubbling up soon.

Natalise, a 22-year-old pop singer of Burmese and Chinese descent whose single "Love Goes On" was a local radio hit in 2002 while she attended Stanford University, has been able to parlay her forays into YouTube, MySpace and her own Web site (www.natalisemusic.com ) into bigger exposure. She has had some of her songs, which she also writes, featured on local commercial radio and MTV shows like "Next" and "My Super Sweet 16."

"I feel that we're on the brink of something huge and it's just a matter of time and effort," said Natalise, who lives in Los Angeles and is recording her third album on her own label.

A talent executive with a major label who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for his company said he knew of no "inherent bias" against singers of Asian descent and said he was at a loss to explain why so few make it to the top. "It's a matter of who contacts you, who gets representation, who builds a following, who's out there playing clubs that people hear about," he said.

Natalise's manager, Andy Goldmark, said that Asian-Americans have lagged behind not because of discrimination but because they have yet to create their own popular music sound the way African-Americans and Latinos have.

"Asian-Americans have tended to follow what's going in the pop world rather than use the Asian-American path to invent new things," said Mr. Goldmark, a songwriter and music producer and a former vice president for talent at Jive Records.

He said many artists are beginning to find their voice and are incorporating Asian instruments into their music or writing lyrics that address issues like how Asian men feel about Asian women who date Caucasians.

But Asian-American artists face other challenges. Making up only 4 percent of the country's population, they are too small a market, and too fragmented in language and nationalities, to offer a solid springboard for its aspiring stars the way other ethnic groups have done, said Oliver Wang, a music journalist who teaches about race and popular culture at California State University in Long Beach.

Similarly, there are limited marketing mechanisms at their disposal. "We don't have BET," said Mr. Hong of ImaginAsian. "We don't have Telemundo, to have these artists be taken seriously."

That is why the case of William Hung stings, some artists admitted. Of all the Asian-American singers trying to make it, the one who seemed to have no trouble finding the limelight was a comic figure. "For Asian-Americans it was a collective cringe," said L. S. Kim, a professor of film and television studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

But Mr. Hung, 24, a Hong Kong native and an only child who lives with his parents in the Los Angeles area, takes exception to those who think he is a joke. And if he is a joke, he is at least a profitable one.

Since his brush with "American Idol," he has put his engineering studies on hold to record three albums (with sales of 200,000, 35,000 and 7,000 units respectively) and perform at concerts, events and private and corporate parties. "I think I represent a symbol of hope," Mr. Hung said in a telephone interview, explaining his appeal. "I tell people all the time to never give up and keep trying until they succeed."

That is also the philosophy of the rapper Jin, who already has a name in hip-hop circles but is still aiming for the hit song that will propel him into the stratosphere. A 24-year-old who gained fame about five years ago by winning freestyle rap battles on BET, Jin (whose last name is Au-Yeung) was signed to the label Ruff Ryders but his album did not sell well. So he went back to basics, growing his fan base through the Internet and his own label. Recently, he released an album in Cantonese, "ABC," in which he raps about being an American-born Chinese man.

"I just need to prove 'This guy is hot,' " Jin, who lives in New York, said during a stopover in Los Angeles on his way to Beijing for a Chinese New Year's performance last month. "If the music is incredible, it's not tough to market it."

Mr. Lee, who has found success elusive for more than 20 years even though he won "Fame," is also hopeful. He still gets fan mail and takes dance classes three hours a day. "I'm just one story," he said. "We need to keep knocking on those doors."

yesterday i was driving in downtown chicago. a few cars ahead in the lane of traffic was a white (at least originally) garbage truck. every time the truck moved, huge clouds of black billowing exhaust filled the air.

i noticed a homeless dude hanging out on the street corner, who just kind of let the black cloud roll by him. i took a moment to note how he probably didn't care about the state of his environment or the quality of his air, he probably just wanted to eat.

i moved into the next lane so i could pass the truck, whose fumes were creeping into my car. as i drive by, i notice a black logo on the truck that clearly reads "recycling." go figure - the recycling truck pollutes the air as it picks up recycling. hmm. there must be a better way.

anyway, reduce reuse recycle.

speaking of, anyone want to buy an old keyboard or a black starter guitar?

i'm sorry, but i have to take a moment to rant.

there's a particular popular radio song that irritates me to no end. the singer's voice is like rusted metal. the song has the same word 80 times, not to mention a cheesy, overused story line. and it gets a ton of play! i only listen to radio when i'm driving (which is rarely as i don't have a car) and when i'm shopping in a store (which is rarely as i prefer my shopping online, or not at all), and i always seem to hear this song.

anyway, i'm not naming names, although if you guess it right, i'll send you homemade cookies or something.

there is so much amazing music that is unheard. there's a reason why i have no faith in the big record companies. what happened to taste? do radio listeners like the music they're fed, or does radio feed them what they want to hear?

i guess i just have to accept that the masses have a different aesthetic than i. who knows, maybe one day i'll be the subject of someone else's rant...

cheers my friends.
c.

ignoring the holidays does a body good

i awoke with a song idea this morning. it was rejuvenating - i've been so entrenched in making this next album come to life, that i have not given my brain enough time to process my experiences and distill them into hooks and melody. crazy, that's what my brain does!

this holiday season has been a lovely respite. instead of fake-celebrating christmas, i escaped the country to see a little sun, and i can't believe the difference it has made on me. as much as i enjoy living in chicago, i will never get over the winter and accompanying paleness.

this year i was happy to dispel with traditions that buy into our commercialistic society. we are all tired of receiving gifts that are way more thoughtful than useful. i hate throwing out a gift, and i used to horde them all in a sad, dusty box: stiff stuffed animals, a fake plant, ugly 14K gold earrings, handmade candles that were falling apart. finally i understood that this whole cycle is simply wasteful, wasteful even to let these abandoned gifts occupy valuable space in my apartment. all this shopping time, money, and energy should be put into relaxing with the ones i love (and actually celebrating a religious event, if you subscribe to such beliefs). this year i used the holiday to take an actual "holiday" in the european sense, and for once i recognized that christmas happens, but not everyone feels the need to let it take over their lives.

what i really enjoy about christmas is the music. just like everyone shares "happy birthday," everyone shares jingle bells, rudolph, and frosty. it's rare to have strangers sing together, and it's a beautiful thing that connects people, if only for a moment. people know the songs, and they are joyful songs. this year i decided to share a video holiday greeting. i've been in love with the charlie brown vince guaraldi music ever since actress laura zam and i shared a car ride together to philly for the philly fringe festival. it was september, and she had the vince guaraldi cd with her for some reason. (i think because she knew i sang jazz, and it was something jazzy she had. the rest of the trip was a joni mitchell-fest). i'd heard "christmastime is here" before, but listening more closely to all the vulnerable kid voices, i found it to be a somber, heartaching look at christmas. children watching the falling snow, the world quiet. for a short while, peace reigns. and when the season passes, we anxiously await the time when snow falls again and carols fill the air.

(and i for one look forward to the return of the gingerbread latte. it's the only time i go to starbucks.)

i'll post the video here, since i'll be taking it off my page before long.
enjoy, and peace to you.
cynthia.

hello friends,

finally, a break day from the studio.
not like i'm working to death or something. it's just nice to wake up and not have anywhere to go.
of course i still have 7 pages of friends to add. if you're waiting, apologies!! this is really a one-woman operation. and you guys all know how fickle myspace can be. i basically clean my room a little bit at a time while waiting for all the pages to load.

so, "home" is the first cut i'm previewing from the new album. i think i'm going to call the album doppelganger. but not sure yet. ideas?

expected tracks:
doppelganger
water torture
skipping in nyc
microscope
perfect
home
chemicals
end of the line
time after time (yes, the cyndi lauper song)
tired of trying
every word

subject to change, whim, my patience...

i also posted some songs from the first EP. might as well pimp them before they become old news!

thanks for sticking with me. tell a friend!
from my cozy corner of gloomy chicago,
cynthia.

from Jizo Entertainment, a website promoting Asian American artists...

read the interview in french


PA: Hi Cynthia and thank you for allowing us to do this interview.

Cynthia: My pleasure. Thank you for listening to my music!


PA: I understand that you had your first award winning performance for your rendition of "Are you sleeping" in mandaring Chinese at the age of only 6. Around what time or at what age did you begin your adventure in the world of music?

Cynthia: Well, I've been singing since i could talk, and as a kid, my world revolved around performing - piano lessons, ballet, gymnastics, the school talent show. my dream was to be madonna. i loved watching music videos and learning the choreography, especially Janet Jackson videos. in college, i continued singing, dancing, and acting, but i never considered a career in performance. it just didn't seem realistic. i only began pursuing music seriously at age 25, after i had quit a job in software and was acting full-time.


PA: What artists have influenced or still influence your music today?

Cynthia: The indigo girls were my first inspiration - great harmonies, songs that were lyrically and melodically interesting but easy enough that i could play them! i basically taught myself guitar by learning lots of indigo girls' songs. you can write tons of great songs with simple chords. patty griffin is my favorite example of that, i love her music and aspire to it. I learned to improvise and let my voice do what it wants by listening to all the legendary jazz vocalists, especially Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. I love jazz standards, and that classic writing (Cole Porter, Harold Arlen) has a major influence on my writing. The most important album of my music life is joni Mitchell's blue. hearing it completely freed my mind of musical conventions. all of a sudden, i was allowed to use my upper register. there was no glory in pop belting. the lyrics could be like poetry, give you extremes of emotion, all true, all personal. i listened to it on repeat for days.

PA: Do you play any instruments besides the guitar?

Cynthia: I studied classical piano from age 6-16 but i never liked practicing. during my jazz phase, i picked up some jazz piano, just by hanging around with old jazz guys. only recently have i returned to piano to write songs - it's exciting. feels like a brand new instrument.


PA: You graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Economics, tried to work a regular job at a software industry, and in the end finally decided to gave it all up to go pursue a musical career. How difficult was it for you to make that decision? Was your family supportive of your professional musical ambitions?

Cynthia: I think this is the question i get asked the most, especially by other asian americans, because they know the kind of expectations that asian parents have for traditional "success."
I didn't hate my job - i worked with fun, intelligent people, and i enjoyed making a comfortable living. but it was just a job - i felt like a cog in a big machine, investing my time and energy into this corporate entity's goals. sounds cliché, but i honestly felt some part of me was being crushed, my creative spirit i guess. i was trying to figure out how to reconcile this kind of lifestyle when my company began a series of layoffs. although my job was saved, i realized that work was not about people but about bottom lines. as much as you might think they need you and as much as you may have contributed to the company's goals, you are expendable. it's disgusting to me now. i cried when my friends got laid off. i felt terribly that all their hard work meant nothing and that they could be treated that way. i lost all respect for this concept of job loyalty. I wanted to pursue something that fed my soul and could inspire me everyday. and for at least a year, i tried to quit. i would go to work and try to figure out a new direction. i was making some money acting on the side, and i knew some actors who made a living at it, but i was scared to make the jump. the final straw - one of my co-workers told me, "at the very worst, you could come back." which meant that i was already at the very worst point! that realization made it really easy to quit. i was literally jumping for joy when i submitted my resignation letter. Of course, this isn't easy to explain to immigrant parents, who worked their whole lives so their kids could have a better life. i was already financially independent when i told my parents that i was quitting my job to pursue an artistic career. they understood, because I'd been performing all my life, and also because i was clearly not changing my mind about this. in terms of support, they said i could come back and live at home if i needed to. ;)
They eventually came around though, when they saw that i was working hard and achieving some success. my brother and sister and cousins, and all my fellow 2nd-generation asian americans, have been extremely supportive.

PA: What main obstacles or roadblocks have you possibly encountered so far as an asian american female artist trying to make a name for herself and her music in America?

Cynthia: You know, I'd have to say that being an asian american female has helped me gain more attention in the music scene. there are just so few of us, and i think the American public wants more representation. the only real roadblock is a lack of role models and mentors. but that's the way it is, and i don't mind being one of the first to forge the road.


PA: When or/and where do you find yourself writing the most inspiring songs?

Cynthia: That's easy. when I'm in a moving vehicle. planes, trains, car, bus, subway. i observe people, i have time to reflect on memories. I also write a lot of songs from my dreams - i literally wake up with a song in my head and i record it immediately.


PA: You seem to be heavily inspired by jazz, blues and folk music and you have mentioned in an article that you were still trying to find a fit for your music. Have you possibly found it or is it still an ongoing search at this time?

Cynthia: My hope is that i can always give myself the freedom to write any style of music i want. the best definition of what I'm currently writing is pop structure with jazz chords and folky, confessional lyrics. in a record store, you'd find me under pop. i think I'll always be searching, or it won't be any fun for me anymore.


PA: Our first full length album will be released in 2006. Do you have an exact date?

Cynthia: Nope. it's a mystery to me too! but hopefully sooner than later, I'm ready for it to be done!


PA: What was the happiest day of your life? What about the worst?

Cynthia: Oh man, that's tough. well, like i said, i was literally jumping for joy the day i quit my job. I've had many happy days eating and laughing with family and friends, and when i get home from touring, i just want to relax with my boyfriend and my cat, and get in the kitchen. cooking is my therapy. This is going to sound nerdy, but one of my worst days was the day i lost a math competition that i supposed to win, and i completely lost confidence in myself. my teacher, my family, and my school had high expectations for me, and i went into it a little cocky. i was really devastated when i let myself down. my first taste of hubris.


PA: How did you meet Vienna Teng?

Cynthia: A friend invited Vienna to play a house concert in DC, and i opened the show. she was very friendly, and i was really impressed by how grounded and relaxed she was in her performance. we played another show in Philly together last October.


PA: Can you shed some light to our readers as to what a "Doppelganger" is?

Cynthia: It comes from German for "double-walker," and is used to mean evil twin. i wrote the song because i came across the word, looked up the definition, and was intrigued by its meaning. cool word, right?


PA: Have you ever visited France or Europe?

Cynthia: Yes, I love France! one summer during college, i lived in Paris and taught theater at the american school of Paris. i lived in a 7th floor walk-up chambre de bonne in the 17th. it was a miserable little room, but i didn't care, i was so excited to live in Paris. i love food, especially cheese, and there's nothing like cheese in France. didn't like the dog poop on the sidewalks too much though.
I've been lucky to visit different parts of France and Europe, but i haven't toured there yet with my music - but i plan to get there soon!

PA: Merci for the interview and good continuation in your career Cynthia.