Guys, dropped a new single today, on V day called “That Day.” I’m massively proud of this song because I felt like I nailed something special in the way I wrote it and produced it. Because a lot of this new collection of songs was an exercise in “letting go” for me, I was able to free myself to throw all different flavors into the pot. This song is a cross between alt rock, piano ballad, hip hop… I don’t know it’s a lot of things, but things are feeling more and more like me. Anyways, give is a spin today, hope you enjoy.
Dear Diarya: What Does Love Require 2020-11-28
The act of loving will always call us out of what is immediately comfortable or known. Love and sacrifice are more closely intertwined than our western view is comfortable with. An act of true love requires us to act beyond ourselves and beyond what is easy. It requires us to see the possibilities of a new narrative, a new possibility - whether it be in ourselves or in the recipient of our love. This is why, to me, we need God in order to understand love because He gives us a model as to how to lay ourselves down.
Dear Diaryia: Peace With Myself 2020-11-27
I think I’m making peace with myself. Or at least I’m starting to. I’ve been at odds with who I am, never feeling good enough, feeling like I’ve “missed it.” But, somehow I’m learning to make peace with everything - who I am and who I’m not. This is the beginning of an important and fruitful time ahead.
Dear Diaryia: Being A Different King Of Voice 2020-11-25
These are my thoughts about judgment and gossip.
It’s really easy to judge people. It’s really easy to assume people’s motivations and their reasons for doing the things they do. It’s easy to write people’s stories for them and write them off as bad or worse people. I consider myself a Christian, and the more I consider the words of Jesus and also my own personal experience of divine love - love that is all inclusive, all understanding, and unwavering - the more I am realizing how much judgment is actually a disease that critically cripples our experience of connection, unity, and ultimately love. If we are to grow into mature and more useful people, we inevitably will have to honestly face these judgmental tendencies in our own lives and come to crucial realization that we’re not really better than anyone.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a part of this problem. I have been in groups of people who’ve been speculating about other people’s character and decisions (while these people are never in the room of course), I’ve passed judgement on people who are different than me - people who struggle with things that I don’t struggle with, and ironically, people who exhibit the same distasteful behaviors that I myself practice. But as I’ve grown, a strange feeling has begun to gnaw at my inner person, my conscience. “Something just isn’t right” I’ve started to feel, during moments where I’d be exploiting someone else’s life and weaknesses just have a laugh or to make myself feel and look better in front of my other friends.
The irony is, we expect different treatment than what de dish out to others. I would say that almost every single person who reads this would like their friends and community to give them the benefit of the doubt during their difficult times and their personal failures. We would all like the space to fail and for people to walk with us through those times and try to understand the inner workings behind those moments, yet when it comes to everyone else, we fail to extend that same grace. The irony is so obvious it seems laughable. In my observations, environments that are filled with judgment and gossip aren’t safe for anyone. While there might be some laughs and some “revelations” (more accurately, judgments we spiritualized to shift accountability away from ourselves), I think the constant analyzation of other people’s lives without the intent to help them creates a rather poisonous environment. It’s all fun and games until everyone realizes - we always talk about people who aren’t in the room, so what does everyone say when I’m not in the room?
In Christianity, sex, drugs, alcohol and cursing are condemned easily and naturally, but things like judgment, gossip, gluttony and self-righteousness are given a free pass, sometimes even encouraged by the culture. Do not be deceived. These things are killing us too.
I’ve decided that I want to be the person who helps the people who are struggling. I do not want to be another part of the giant gossip machine that is most young people, even (and sometimes especially) Christians. I want to be a part of helpful and fruitful conversations. Honest conversations. I want to see the ostracized and marginalized people who have morally failed the community and themselves, the people who can’t quite seem to get it together. And I feel like I’ve only been able to come to that place because I’ve realized that I myself am that person. I want to work towards becoming a person who can include all, who doesn’t feel the need to separate himself as better. Because at the end of the day, we’re all on the same playing field. I want to become a different kind of voice out here. I want to be there person who actually follows through, who gives grace, who picks up the phone to walk with people through their life, who actually does something instead of just talks about it. I for one, no longer want to contribute empty words and harsh judgments without any cost to myself. Ultimately, judgment and gossip are easy because it cost nothing but love costs us our very lives and comfort. Let us remember that all the shit we talk in our lives dissipate as quickly and as cheaply as they came, but choices to actually exhibit love ring forever through time.
I know this is such a specific topic, but I have become very passionate about this. I really think that if we chose to graciously exit these patterns and offer solutions to people instead of just ripping apart their lives when they’re not in the room, some beautiful things could happen and we could find that our Christianity would actually begin to work.
With Love. A.B.
Dear Diarya Massive L 2020-10-14
Yesterday I took a massive freaking L. Felt worthless, like a failure. contemplated quitting, etc etc.
But today’s a new day. Still believing that I can change whenever I want to, and part of changing is, in essence, making decisions for yourself even if, maybe especially if, you feel like you can’t. Those small decisions are pivotal moments for your growth.
Get up, and try again.
Dear Diarya: 2020-10-11
I’m dying my hair so I had some time to kill tonight. So I just opened up my blog and here we are everyone. I’m just going to type whatever comes to mind.
The new song is out, which is pretty cool. I hope everyone likes it. To be honest I put it on repeat the last few days… cause I’m really proud of what I was able to achieve both as an artist and a producer and also mix engineer with this track. This whole project, in a sense, was a happy accident brought to you by quarantine as well as my existential and emotional challenges. I wanted to push the conventional boundaries of recording and challenge myself to get outside of my own box. I wanted to create a sound that was experimental in nature that also replicated some aspects of music that I grew up listening to. And I also tried to mix all my interests the best I could. I feel like I’m one step closer to developing my voice as an artist and producer.
Besides that, I’m out here. Thinking about the future. Wondering what it will be like. Wondering if I will ever realize my dream, or if the dream dies so that you can realize that what you end up getting is better than what you wanted originally. I don’t know. Or does life have to come with all the “what if’s.” Like what if I did that? What if I didn’t do that? The haunting question, “did I miss it?” Sometimes I’ll watch youtube videos of hit producers and artists in a studio and wonder to myself if I will ever get to experience that… and then wondering if I am an idiot for even thinking those things were ever possible… Or if it’s wildly closer to me than I could ever imagine. I don’t know… maybe time will tell.
IT'S HERE!
“Part Of Me Knows” came out 20 minutes ago. I’m really excited about this song, and even if it feels a humble beginning still, I feel like this was a big feat for me personally. I just can’t wait for people to hear it. I’m going to eat a grapefruit and here is the link to the new song.
My New Song
My new project begins rolling out in just a few weeks. I wanted to premiere the full artwork right here on my website. So take a moment and take in this beautiful illustration created by Arielle Zottneck. There will be more revealed about this artwork in due time. But to the song:
The song I will be releasing is titled “Part Of Me Knows.” I’ll also do a little write up on what it’s about alter, but I think I want you guys to decide what it means for you without explanations this time.
Mark your calendars, this bop will be dropping on October 9th! If you are a Spotify member, would you consider taking a few minutes to follow this link to pre-save the song? Doing this really helps the song have more reach with it drops, and costs you nothing! If you pre-save the music, I’ll promise to keep trying to make the most beautiful and most dope art I can possibly make. Deallll? :)
And while we’re here, you can keep scrolling down to get lost in my random thoughts in my not so secret online journal called Dear Diarya.
til next time :)
Dear Diarya 2020-09-15 REMEMBER THIS DAY
Okay today was an amazing day. Like extraordinary. I feel like I’m in the right place at the right time. First, spent an incredible time at HeyHey Studios with producers Ryan Wilson and Zach Epps working on Mary Michael’s new record. I had never met Ryan before in person, but had been wanting to for a while. The hang was amazing. The day flew by. I felt like the spirit of everything was right.
During this same day I got an invite from a hip-hop producer who lives in Atlanta to come meet him at his studio. I played some of my music for him. I was more nervous playing music this time than any other time in my life. I think I was intimidated by this producer’s success in music. I was in a situation where I could fail. It’s one of those moments as an artist where you think to yourself, “is my music good or have all my friends just been being polite for a long time?” It felt like song played for an hour. But he said encouraged me. There’s no more details here but I felt so encouraged. It was one of those moments where I felt like I was going in the right direction.
Anyways. I’m pretty tired and don’t want to explain what all this meant to me. Just know that it was truly, an amazing day. AND, it’s nice out tonight.
Dear Diarya: Live 2020-09-15
I’m releasing new music in October.
Last night I had one of the worst dreams I had ever had. In the dream I found out I had cancer - and everything about it felt so real. All the emotions were there, all my fears and shock. It felt really real. I had never experienced anything like that.
When I woke up, I remember thanking God for the life I have now. My problems, for a moment, seemed so marginal. Then I remember saying to myself as I got up, “you better go out and live.”
Dear Diarya: Grace 2020-09-12
There are some times where I live through life with this undeniable but subtle pressure that I need to be more. Like there’s this little voice following me around telling me that I’m never going to make it, whatever that means. This pressure invades almost every area of my life. I oscillate between feeling like I’ve figured somethings out and feeling like I am a giant child.
Today I thought about grace and what it really is apart from its cliche’s and oversimplifications. I was trying to understand it within the context of my life. Does this grace thing really exist? Does it work? And I felt this deep sense of, “its okay.” Like, all that pressure you feel, maybe you can let yourself out of it. Maybe you don’t have to listen to it. And maybe it’s okay to, you know… see yourself as okay. To many this may be an elementary practice that you have mastered long ago. But to me, it’s still a critical thing that I need to learn.
It’s funny how we convince ourselves that we’ve learned things. Even things as simple as “you don’t have to earn love.” I would have told you that I knew that. But until I actually believe it, do I really know anything?
Why do we feel like we have so much to prove? And to who?
Dear Diarya: Today 2020-09-07
Today was, what I would mean to be, successful.
Dear Diarya: Unstoppable Force 2020-09-06
There’s a quote from Batman: The Dark Night Rises from a scene where the Joker asks Batman, “What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?”
I’ve been thinking about this a lot. When it has come to pursuing what I want to do artistically, as well as ways I wanted to grow as a person, I have found myself stuck in this paradox. Where my desires and my dreams meet my fears and inabilities. Both sides seem so strong. In a lot of ways, I feel like I’ve been dormant. Asleep. Running. From a lot of things I want to see happen in my life. But, somehow I found myself at an impasse. I felt so stuck… so far from where I wanted to be and so far from who I wanted to become.
But, then another truth emerged. One so “duh” that I feel like we overlook it most of the time - but the simple fact is, nothing changes until it changes. That’s it. You want to try to learn something? You want to get out of certain habits? You want to change? Yes… it’s all complex and and nuanced yes yes yes. But after a certain point, you just have to decide right? I’ve been putting off so much in my life. I want to be free. And I’m realizing that I can be free, I just have to choose to get out of where I’m in. To walk towards the light. I think I understand now more than ever what it meant when we’d say, “Let Go.” It’s starting to make more sense to me now.
Somethings is changing in the winds of my soul and my life. I feel alive for the first time in a long time.
In other news. I was at a brewery yesterday and this woman walks straight up to me, in the middle of this brewery and asked me to take a photo of her and her partner. Come to find out they are hip hop artists looking to work with someone in the city. A big part of my dream for Atlanta is to work in hip hop, and it literally came knocking on my door yesterday. Things are happening.
Also this week I met an artist that goes by Randissimo. This will be a very important person in my life.
Dear Diarya: Today 2020-09-3
Today I decided to make a change in my life. When things break it’s often a chance to take a look at where you’re going. It’s important to ask, “how did I get here? And is this where I want to be? Is this what I wanted to become?”
And if the answer is no, you are left with a choice.
What I needed to understand was that I am no exception to the rule. The rule being the universal design of the universe, of human life. It’s just how things work. If we live for ourselves, we are powerless to transcend. Live for love, and you can live forever.
Dear Diarya 2020-08-26
Remember that every single person you interact with deals with some form of rejection or the feeling of not being enough.
Adjust attitude towards others accordingly.
Dear Diarya: Dreaming 2020-08-25
Has this idea of dreaming of another life cost me living in and appreciating the real moments that are actually my real life? Has the idea of “becoming everything I ever dreamed” actually disillusioned me to how life really works? Dreaming is a privilege, and comes at a cost. What a terrifying thought to think that my whole life I have been chasing something that was sold to me. A counterfeit promise telling me that if only I had this or became that I would be happy. When you live in that you treat things and people as inconsequential because you’re always wanting to be on the next biggest thing.
Have I missed out on my own life by always wanting another?
Dear Diarya: Freedom Without Meaning. 2020-08-24
Just got off a week producing two songs for Peter Larsen. It was a great week of creating, talking dreams, and busting a mad hang. It is encouraging to feel like you’re craft is growing with each attempt. I feel like my ear is improving, my senses are heightening, and I cam growing stronger and more efficient. I’ve been mixing music for 10 years now, and feel only now might I feel confident in what I can do. It is such a mind game. Sometimes I wonder if I might be better off just believing that I’m amazing at this, but at the same time, the wondering if I’m any good at this at all is what keeps me hungry to keep learning and to keep improving. My goal with each thing I create is to do something I’ve never done before, and to learn one new concept.
Today I met a poet in Stone Mountain named Janette Ikz. Such a hilarious and amazing spirit. It just so happened she was looking for a studio to work out of near here. It feels like random things are happening for a reason.
This week I was sad for the first time about leaving Athens. I have busied myself so much with the move that I’ve been able to escape some of these emotions. But the thing with emotions is that they’ll catch up to you… at some point. I just haven’t processed how much that place meant to me and how much it was my home. It’s weird, the whole time I lived there I never 100% said it was my home, and the moment I moved I realized that it was. What they say is true - you don’t ever know what you’ve got til it’s gone. This will be a slow burn.
For the last half a year or so I’ve wanted to live like there were no rules. I’ve been questioning a lot of things. What is religion? What is God? Is my religion just a prison cell keeping me from a free life? I wanted to be free - just like the freedom portrayed in the media in the world. I wanted to be inconsequential. I demagnetized my moral compass. I started writing my own rules. But I think I’m being moved out of that. I think I’ve come to the end of this way of living, at least in this iteration. Basically I’ve learned that doing whatever you want is fun and feels good for a moment, but it also feels totally meaningless.
I was happier when I cared.
Dear Diarya: I'm Finally Starting My Diarya! 2020-08-18
My first diarya!
Well I’ve had this idea for a while now, and if you are deep on this blog, you know I’ve sort of been doing this already. But basically, I just thought it would be fun to do these small little off the cuff posts to document the process of my little life, like little diarya entries. These little diarya entries could be funny things that I see or hear, ventures I attempt, breakthroughs, failures… all that stuff. Serious thoughts, funny moments, frustrations, joys.
The internet is the land of calculated and directed messages - carefully crafted to create a voice or a brand and to present a version of ourselves that isn’t quite representative of real life, and that bothers me. So I think it would be interesting later on down the road to see all of these little unfiltered thoughts and events that presented themselves to me over the course of my diarya.
My plan is to just leave these posts here, without telling people to read them. I may share a couple down the road on my other social media stuff, but ultimately I want these posts to be for two parties. 1. ME, so I can read them later and remember all the little steps that happened and 2. for anyone out there that is interested in the process of things, not necessarily the outcome. I have always enjoyed reading and seeing other people’s behind the scenes type stuff, so I thought it would be enjoyable to create my own, and this is how I want to do it. So, wherever I end up later in life, it would be interesting to see how they got there.
A great first diarya post.
July. Moving. Redefining. Listening.
Hey everyone, a July update for you. I’ve just said goodbye to Athens officially and have moved just down the street to Atlanta. I was in Athens for 9 years (wow!) and honestly I wish I felt more strongly about leaving. But everything has felt so weird for so long now that making this big move just felt like another big weird day. I am sure that the scope of what that chapter meant to me and my friends will be revealed and understood slowly over time.
Today, I wanted to write an update about moving, listening, redefining, and my idea to push this blog forward as a diary of new adventures and explorings in my new home.
I posted on instagram that this would be my first time writing about my experience and perspective as a minority who grew up in a white space. If you would like to skip to that section, it is under the heading, “Listening.” But if not, please enjoy some updates about moving and some things I have been considering spiritually.
Moving
I wanted to reflect on all the work I had done in music since moving to Athens and made a catalog of all the music I had produced and recorded over the last 9 years. After going back through my hard drives and counting up the releases, I calculated that I had produced and mixed roughly 260 songs since 2011. I realize that I never really felt like I was doing “a lot” or really anything. I’ve realized that doing things never feels like you’re actually doing them. It’s just a process that takes a long time. But after a while, say 9 years, of just trying song after song after song… you’ve built something and you didn’t even know it. Brick by brick by brick. I heard the saying about young people that we “overestimate what we can do in the short term and underestimate what we can do in the long term.” How true. So for anyone out there who is working on something, or you have a big dream that feels out of reach - it is wise and practical to begin putting something in every day. Something small. Drop something in the bank, even a penny. Each and every day. Refuse to be dictated by your fears and your inability. Don’t look around too often except to learn. get off instagram. Don’t wait to feel ready to start anything. Just do it every day and you’ll eventually get going. One of the most convicting and helpful quotes I’ve read in a long time is “Don’t confuse your cowardice for prudence.” And boy does that cut.
Anyways. I have moved to a town just east of Decatur called Clarkston. One of my best friends from college just made big boy moves and purchased a house there, and has so kindly offered me a room and the basement to begin Bloom Sounds’ operations in Atlanta. I’m still getting a feel for what is around me. I’ve been drowning in all things Asian food, since we’re right by Buford highway. One of my goals this year is to learn more from my mom about how to cook Taiwanese meals we had growing up. So far, I’ve gotten the tofu stir fry to lightly slap. A good start.
The move has been kind to me. I feel like I’ve made the right decision.
REDEFINING
I’m starting a new chapter in life. It feels overdue. The move has really helped because I found that the shift of the physical location for me has been a good tangible reminder that the last chapter of my life has closed. With the change has come an opportunity to take a good, hard look at what I’ve built my life around thus far. I feel like everything is under scrutiny - my faith and all the practices that came with it, my values, my friends, my way of thinking, my habits. Everything. Has this been good? What needs to go? What needs to change? What is no longer useful? What do I need to dig deeper into? I am energized by the possibilities while I am simultaneously terrified of the change. My musical tastes have taken me away from Christian music, and I’m exploring other ways of writing and expressing different aspects of life. just human ones. I’m dealing with my frustrations with Christian culture, how I’ve felt deceived, how I’ve felt hurt, how I’ve felt jaded (note that I am saying “felt” rather than “been”)*. I feel my values shifting. I feel myself caring more about being honest than appearing to be a certain Christian way to everyone. I am seeing the impracticality of acting. Why do we pretend like everything is one way when it’s really another? Why do we feel the need to feign a holiness or a godlikeness that is absent in most moments of our everyday lives? I have found that the pressure to be perfect or to have a perfect life in order appear like a “better” Christian or better person is altogether unhelpful. We need an honest dialogue that addresses the secrets and the shames that we carry in the unseen parts of our experience. We can only pretend for so long.
For the first time in my life I am letting myself feel frustrated, doubtful and angry about my experience with religion… with the franchised, capitalist, American Christianity that has pimped the story of Jesus to make much of our own personal lives and agendas. But I am so hopeful that a real God might not look anything like what I’ve seen. After all, if you think about it, if God is much bigger than us and looks nothing like us, then it might make sense that our institutions might have missed the mark in some small and large ways. Some of us are so hurt because we placed an unrealistic expectation on human beings and man-made institutions. If you’re around my age, middle to upper class, have gone to church with mostly white people, and have engaged with American Christianity and the culture surrounding it, you have most likely, in many ways, been indoctrinated into a celebrity Christian culture that deified its leaders and their ministries. So no wonder, when these people and places inevitably failed us, it felt like God himself failed us. To use a Biblical allegory, a lot of my generation innocently and unknowingly built our houses on the sand - celebrity pastors, Christian trends, so-called movements, or the most recent hit worship song or band. And then life, just as life does, came in wave after wave, and as we grew up and saw more of the reality and harshness of our world, our foundations were revealed and for many of us, those foundations were destroyed, leaving us lost and embittered.
In millennial Christian speak, one might say I have entered into my deconstruction, but I honestly hate using that word because I’ve seen too many jaded people use “deconstruction” as a pass to disengage from the conversation, naval-gaze, and act like assholes. I understand that there are times when it is appropriate to burn the whole house down, and I think it is necessary. But I implore all of us (I’m writing to myself)… please, after you’ve burned down the village… build something better for the people using what you’ve learned. Every experience, and I’d say especially the painful ones, are useful if we allow them to be.
I am just beginning to unpack this part of my life. It’s taken me a while to be honest but I feel ready to start talking about it. I’m definitely going to continue to process this on the blog, but I just wanted to give an overview of where I’m at. I’m definitely afraid of what some of you might think of me if I continue to be more honest, but ultimately I’ve come to realize that it’s not worth it to appear perfect and to feel unknown and disingenuous… and I know that there are a few of you out there who are wrestling with the same thing, and I want to be a voice for you through telling my story honestly and unapologetically. That’s what makes it worth it to me. And, if you’re looking for writing that acknowledges the beauty of life without the pain it takes to cultivate and understand it… you might be reading the wrong blog.
*remember that we are always tempted to shift blame and responsibility as far away from ourselves as much as possible. If we can create a narrative that says that we are the good guys without any fault and that the people or places that hurt us are surely bad, then we can escape any responsibility to understand, listen, and ultimately forgive. I am growing increasingly aware of how people paint themselves within their own pain. With the exception of extreme cases, if someone tells a story in which they are 100% the victim of a 100% ill-intended individual or institution… there is much work that needs to be done.*
Listening
I remember, very specifically, a conversation a friend and I had my freshman year in college. We shared a similar Asian-American experience - we grew up middle class in the suburbs, we were popular among white people, we were typically the only asian people in our crews, and we were leaders. I remember so vividly, parked outside of our dorm hall, connecting over the fact that neither of us liked asian people. In that moment, our conversation was our response to watching a group of Korean girls cross the crosswalk in front of us, arms linked, giggling. We ripped them apart. We were racist against our own race. Our gripe against asians was that they seldom engaged with mainstream white culture. We criticized asians for always sticking together and never assimilating into whiteness like we did. I can’t speak for my friend, but in my eyes, I considered myself better than other asians because I was accepted by white people. I made it onto the team and others didn’t. In my mind then, rejecting my asian-ness and assimilating into whiteness was a noble and good thing, as if I had earned my way into some higher level of society where most other minorities weren’t allowed . I felt like I belonged. I had made it to the inside.
I look back on this moment I had with my friend in college and see that it indicated a deep and important dynamic that minorities have dealt with their whole lives. And only in my 27th year of life have I begun to face and unpack the ways that I have been affected, and how I want to respond. And now, we’ve found ourselves in an unprecedented time in history. People are starting to listen. When it has come to the race conversation, I’ve been slower than a lot of the people around me to come to conclusions, and I have not yet felt it timely or appropriate to take my opinions to the internet arena. I have felt incredibly awkward, because of my Asian American-ness. Essentially, I grew up with white privilege while I was simultaneously oppressed by the same system. I was receiving the benefits of a privileged system while also feeling like I was never really a part of it, dignified by it, nor respected by it. This realization, exacerbated by the nation’s current social climate, has been life altering to my core and has brought so many things that have been a part of my life into question. I am looking back on times that I felt so strange, out of place, and out of touch in white spaces… and I’m realizing that I wasn’t crazy for feeling those things. That I wasn’t wrong for feeling those things. White culture, in my experience, seldom yelled… but always whispered to me, “get like us, or get out.” I have carried such a shame about myself for so long because I thought that there was something innately wrong with me because I could never fully identify with the spaces I occupied at a cultural level, both white and asian. Simply, I wasn’t white so I couldn’t fully be embraced by whites, and I alienated myself from Asian-American cultures because I learned to view it as less-than, which hurts me so much to even type. The reality is, I was living in two different worlds, culturally, while 99% of the people around me were living in one. This, over a lifetime, has had immense consequences on my sense of identity, belonging, and nationality… and I know I’m not alone in this. I have had a feeling during this time that one of the big assignments for me over the course of the next chapter of my life will involve understanding these dynamics, speaking out for others who may have had this same experience, and reconciling my heritage, which I have been running from for 27 years.
And so here we all are, finding ourselves becoming more and more aware as a society of racism and racial injustice. And during this time, where sensitivity is at an all time high and our nation continues to polarize, deciding how to move forward can feel intimidating and overwhelming. I have felt that my course, personally, has been to listen. To try to understand a broad scope. To be slow to speak. To learn as much as I possibly can from many differing perspectives, especially the ones that are challenging to me. I have had issues with the language that claims that “silence is violence,” and I think that some of the white voices that were quick to speak could have benefitted from some time to understand and reflect on what it is they were actually saying. Remember, I’m asian. The resting state of an average Asian American is passive and submissive. We have, in many ways, been dominated by the all-powerful white voice and way of thinking. White culture’s resting state, in my experience, has often been presumptuous and quick to speak, and far too quick to offer solutions before trying to understand how it might affect someone different than them. From my point of view, white people have always felt the need to be the heroes in whatever space they occupy, they presume that their opinions are necessary and should be prioritized, and I see that m.o. being fleshed out in this race conversation as well. White people have never been good at listening before they attempt to offer solutions. And so suddenly, virtually overnight, white people all across America started to care about racial justice and fighting oppression, feeling the need to raise their voices loud and clear, while the majority of them had not gone so far as to dip a pinky toe into the justice conversation at any previous moment in their lives. If you’re reading this and you’re white, the following may push a button, but please remember that I do not share the same perspective as you. I am a minority, and as a minority, you grow up feeling like things only truly matter when the white people around you decided that it mattered, and I am grieved that this power dynamic only seems to repeat itself this time. It feels like the things that minorities like myself had been fighting, whether externally or internally, our whole lives are finally given some dignity… but only because white people decided that it was time. This reveals, still, where all the power rests.
I suppose what I’m suggesting is that you begin to listen. Listening is not an American pastime. It’s not built into how we interact with each other. Listening gets in the way of an American’s agenda, and it opens up the possibility that you might be wrong. Listening also opens up the possibility for you to hear that you participated in the problem. And if there is anything that is Un-American, it’s letting someone who isn’t like you offer you a different perspective. White people, you must see that the majority of you have always been in a position of power, and when you hold all the power, listening becomes a chore, an inconvenient thing you have to do so that you can continue on with your lives. But I implore you. Listen before you speak. Listen before you post. Maybe don’t speak. Maybe don’t post. Release yourself from the pressure to be the hero. You cannot be. Sit with people. I see all these posts from my white friends on social media offering solutions and opinions and wonder what percentage of them have had any sort of real, open and honest conversation with a minority friend about their experience. And then I think about most of the white people I know and see that they don’t actually know how to engage with other cultures, and a lot of that is due to the fact that Americans have seldom truly listened to anyone other than themselves. Listening is a posture that is yet to be learned.
I’ve grown up with white people. I have had hundreds of white friends. I’ve lived with mostly white people. I’ve worked at churches with white people. Most of my best friends are white. I’ve dated mostly white people. And of all these people, do you know how many of them have ever thought to stop and ask me, intentionally, about my experience being Asian American? I can count them on one hand. I’ve had white people say racist things right to my face while my other white friends stood there silently, and then we’d all go on pretending like nothing ever happened. I confronted someone this last week about a comment he made to me that I felt to be racist. He responded with, “I know I know” and a quick apology. I felt like I was inconveniencing him by even bringing it up. No follow up questions. No conversation. I just felt like he was trying to get out of that position as quickly as possible. Our phone conversation lasted two minutes and eleven seconds. I only remember that because of how weird I felt when I hung up. I want you to hear that I’m not blaming these people. I’m blaming the culture. In a way, we are all victims of a larger system that is in place. There have been so many times where I wonder if it’s even worth the trouble of having the conversation. I feel like I could never truly understand what it’s like to be white and I feel like a white person will never be able to understand what it’s like to not hold the power. But in this time, I have found some hope.
A couple weeks ago, my friend asked me about my experience being Asian American. Simply and humbly. He didn’t bow down before me and repent for the entire history of white people, he didn’t slice his hand open and offer me a blood oath to never think a racist thought again. Tt wasn’t a big thing, it wasn’t an event, and he never posted about it on instagram afterwards. In essence, it wasn’t about him. He just asked me, “what’s it like to be you right now?” And he gave me 10 minutes to talk, without interruptions, without justifications, without defenses… he just let me talk. And right then and there in that parking lot of the Value Village, I experienced healing.
So if you’re still with me, and you’re white, and you’re wondering, what do I do with this? I humbly propose to you that you stop assuming that everyone around you has had the same experience as you, especially the minorities. Even if they go to your school, even if they are on the “inside” of your community, even if they share the same faith, even if they appear happy to be the token, even if race doesn’t seem like a big deal to them. I would almost certainly say to you that 1. race is absolutely a big deal to them and they’re afraid to tell you for fear of being silenced yet again and 2. they are dying to be heard. It’s the nature of the system - us minorities have been taught be quiet, to not be too different. We’ve been told to minimize our experiences, to pretend that racism doesn’t exist or doesn’t hurt us, and we’ve come to believe that ultimately no one cares to listen. But you have the power to change this. I have so much hope based on the tiny the things I’ve seen. Those of you who’ve been willing to read this, who’ve encouraged me, and who are have said, “I’m here to learn.” You’re my hope. You’re our hope.
So, what if you began to listen? What if you took the time to let someone different than you tell you what it’s like to be them? What if you forfeited your position of power? And what if for once you let someone else write some of the rules?
It may seem small, but I imagine an entire culture learning, slowly, how to assume a new posture. And this gives me hope for all of us.
Thank you for listening to me. This was critical for me. With Love, AB
May Update.
Here’s that picture. One of my favorites recently. This is my dog Marley who has been rolling hard with me for a long long time now. Love this dog. It has been a beautiful spring, and there have been many meals eaten in the quiet all alone right here on this little stoop in front of my house. Since everything slowed down, I’ve begun to notice so much around me. The colors, the sounds, and beauty that’s right in my front yard. It really is all so amazing if you were to take five seconds to think about it. I’ve been challenging myself to stop and look at and appreciate things for at least fifteen seconds at a time. I have found myself looking at a lot of trees. Trees are INSANE YO! They all seem bigger now, or am I just going crazy? Anyways, I heard that it takes that sort of intentionality for our brains to really soak in something good, whereas negative emotions and experiences are felt immediately. I heard it in a podcast, so who knows if that’s actually true, but I really like the idea anyway. I don’t think we sit and appreciate things as we ought to… always wishing we had something better when what we need it right in our front yards (that could be a metaphor). But, you may have not come here for metaphors. You came here for the most epic May update in all of history. My May update! I’ll be sharing about new music, recent studio adventures, things I’m thinking about in life, about buzzing my hair, and about moving from Athens. Hope you enjoy and as always, thanks for reading.
New Music
I’m working on a new record. Since March, I’ve produced an entire new record. 7 songs made it on. I’ve found new sounds, new expressions. I’ve lived in the studio. There was a point there where I think it was getting a little unhealthy to be honest. Or… awesome… I don’t know. I’d just make and make and make noises until 3 or 4 in the morning for weeks on end. That little part is over, and I can’t imagine doing it now, but something about those few weeks back in March were really really special. This has been one of the most unblocked, joyful, and pure expressions I have ever experienced. It reminds me of when I was first starting making my own music in college, when I created from such a pure wide-eyed place, since music at that time wasn’t yet connected to my value or identity. I feel like over the years I’ve gone through such a journey with this and have found that pure place again. I would say, without hesitation, that I reached new heights on all levels with this record. I am so proud of what I’ve discovered and created, and found a new space as far as producing, writing and mixing. This new album is about love. Love and the perspective it can bring. Love and the newness it can bring. Love and the pain it can bring. Love and the endless lessons it will teach. It also is about nostalgia and saying goodbye. I feel like this record, in more ways than anything I’ve released, is truly me. I don’t know when I will release it, but I am going to go all in on this thing, giving you the best I’ve got. That’s all I can say for now, but I want to get you excited too. I’ve been recording the record mostly at my house (bloom sounds) and looping in some dear friends for some other elements. But there was one day where I had an idea to rent my friends studio a little outside of town… a giant warehouse filled with all sorts of wild instruments. Gongs, harps, synths, pianos… so much. I went in there for a whole day and just made sounds. It was so fun. Then my friends came and helped sing on my album. That was one of my favorite days. Here are some photographs from that time.
The Studio
I’m starting up work again as a producer. Definitely had to lay low due to the virus, but I’ve been making some things with some of my good friends recently. If you want to hear what I’ve been working on, here are some links to songs I’ve produced in this time. Sometimes I forget how much a privilege it is to produce. Sometimes I forget the magic and the beauty of music and the power we have to create things that didn’t exist before we decided to try to make them exist. That’s pretty crazy. I’m been coming back to such a deep sense of thankfulness that people trust me with their art. Thank you fam if you are reading. It is a true privilege to serve you in this way. Check out these songs and add them to your playlists. And WAY more coming after the summer. recent faves, produced and mixed by yours truly at Bloom Sounds
click the album art and it will take you to Spotify
Lighthearted - “Asking For A Friend”
Joani Ray - “Joani Ray EP”
Trisha Adams - “Just Happy To Be Here”
Mike Murphy - “Seams”
all these covers have a similar color scheme whoa ^
I’m Moving!
And I guess here is some bigger practical news. I’ve decided to move on from Athens and head to Atlanta to explore more things and begin a new chapter in my life. There will probably be way more writing about this transition later. But long story short, I began to feel the tug - to something new, to something unknown. I began to feel this unease in my gut about being here and began to ask myself the question, “how far could I really go?” I have grown to believe more and more in who I am and what I can do, and there is something in me that is really wondering how high I can go with my music. And it’s not necessarily about becoming famous or saying that I made it big… but I began to see in the last few years the power of integrating my passions with my faith with love and also my authentic self. It is really powerful and people need it, and I think I could do some really good things in the music industry given how I feel like I have been uniquely gifted and made. I want to be real salty. At first, it was going to be Los Angelos, and may be in the future, but after some considering and also given the factors thrown into the mix by our old friend COVID-19, I landed on Atlanta. It’s a larger city, and also will allow me to be close to home. I think I’m more connected to the south than I had wanted to admit. I plan to continue to grow my recording business and my career as a producer and an independent artist and writer. I also plan to dive more into my passion for making hip-hop, a newly discovered love of mine, or I should say, revisited. I feel a sense of fascination with this art and have felt for a while now, actually, that I could do some really good in that world. The last nine years in Athens have been so important and so full. I would not have done any of this any different. I felt like I was able to grow in so many ways as an artist and a producer and also was able leave a small legacy behind me. My friends and I, from every single season of this place, wrote a beautiful chapter here. But anyways, it’s a little early for my goodbye speech, which I’m sure I will want to write later. I just wanted to let you know! And if you are a pray-er and have some extra prayers, I would kindly ask that you would pray for the right doors to open and that God might provide life-giving opportunities that allow my passions and personality to really thrive and work in a powerful way. I believe music and the process of making music can change people’s lives. I’ve seen it!
All My Hair Is Gone
I buzzed my hair here is a picture! i know i know i know i know the long hair was cool, but I have had it for years and I just wanted to do this. And not to be all meta about this and make it deeper than it needs to be, but I think personally it was an exercise in letting go. When I was deciding to do it, I really did have to consider how much I really did feel connected to how I looked. I was kind of afraid of being less attractive or looking weird, so I wanted to do something that would help me see that all that stuff doesn’t really matter. I don’t know if I’m weirder than other people, or just a human who feels like they don’t have much to lose by being honest on the internet, but I feel like I’ve put so much value into how people look, including myself. Spending so much time trying to make myself more attractive, or putting way too much weight on how attractive girls are… ascribing someone’s value to how good they can look. And I feel like I’m growing through all this, and yes maybe it’s just natural, but it’s something I’ve noticed about myself and would like to grow out of. I want to see people for people. And I guess with my hair, I just thought the fact that it made me reconsider my value based on whether I had beautiful hair was a sign that it was a good idea to shave it off. So there it is! Don’t worry I have plans to grow this fuzz ball to a beautiful beautiful thing later. But for now, I will enjoy the sports with no more hair ties and the showering without blow drying, and no more clogs, and no more of my hair everywhere. Oh yeah, and I might not get anymore samurai jokes when playing basketball in public. Also, swear I can run twice as fast.
Things I’ve Been Thinking About (Extra credit)
So many. But here’s some. My entire adult life I have been trying to figure out if I’m a good hearted person who does bad things or a bad hearted person trying their best to do good. I’ve always struggled with this, because I’ve definitely done things that I would consider bad. I’ve disappointed myself, people close to me. I’ve failed, gone back on my word, disrespected people, hid. I’ve done and seen things that you’d probably never think I’d do or see. There have been so many times where I’ve turned out to not be what I seem to be. On the other hand, I’ve also displayed so many meaningful moments… so many authentic gestures of love, support, encouragement and positivity out into the world. And that’s always been so confusing because on one hand I feel like I know myself and my heart feels healthy, loving, and willing. But then sometimes, often out of nowhere, crash. It just makes me wonder sometimes where that bad stuff comes from, that’s all. And yes, it’s probably a mixture of hundreds or thousands of different factors, but this duality I’ve experienced in myself is discouraging and frustrating so much of the time. And to address my original question: am I a good hearted person who does bad things or a bad hearted person trying their best to do good? I’m not sure if there really is an answer. Maybe my peace is found in the truth that we are all paradoxes. We all say things and then do the opposite. We all fail. We all have secrets. and in reality… we’re all really scared of a lot of things and that makes us do insane things. Maybe the understanding of this duality lies in the reality that somehow, someway… despite every time evil has triumphed over good in my life… today I had a shot at a full, purposeful, and meaningful life. I felt love, received love, and gave love. I felt and heard God amidst all of the pain and discomfort I felt, even today. And that means something out there really, really cares about me, and believes in me, and might even think that I’m an amazing person who has the capacity to do bad things… an amazing and precious person who was made for good, that will still inevitably do more bad things as he continues to try his best to live a life that matters. And that is life. That is being human.
I am really hoping this doesn’t come off as dramatic or self deprecating, but I don’t think I will ever arrive at a place where I will be able to say, I’m 100% a good person. Never. I’ve been waiting all my life and it hasn’t happened yet so that’s telling me something about how this thing is shaking down. I will always be failing over and over again. Learning lessons. Breaking things along the way. But as I think about my life, I realize that I have come quite a long way with this thought. Personal failures used to really break me. They’d freeze me and send me into depression. Failures would cost entire periods of my life, spent in shame and self sabotage. I would attach my identity to my failures so heavily and would believe a lot of the nasty lies I’d hear in my head. But I’m seeing now that I respond way different to failure now. I’m seeing, in small ways as I grow, that my failures are not me, and that I’m learning, slowly, how to separate my identity from my failures. I’m seeing the difference between my actions and my heart, and am allowing myself to believe this about myself - that I really didn’t wake up this morning wanting to bring pain into this world, and that I was just in pain myself and sometimes it wells up so strong that it spills out.” I’m learning what it’s like to extend grace to myself, and to receive grace from God and from others.
I’m feeling a little naive even writing about trying to even define a good or bad person because life becomes really gray really quick. Anyone who has experienced deep pain, tragedy, or sudden change can tell you that. Nothing is black and white. We cannot define things so absolutely, even ourselves. This paradox is what we’re talking about when we say that life really is a mystery. But what I have come to believe is that each person, no matter their past, still has a chance of becoming a part of something incredibly light or tragically dark. Nothing we have done or not done could earn or destroy our eligibility to be a part of the good story. The one that will last.
So then, why not, if given the chance, become something brilliant?