Author Archives: Kevin Hsieh - channel APA

If I Was Like You by Wesley Du

The channelAPA.com crew met director Wesley Du at the 2010 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. His short film “If I Was Like You” premiered at the 2009 DC APA Film Festival, but hasn’t gotten into the Asian American film festival circuit due to its controversial and edgy theme. Here’s a synopsis:

Living in South Central Los Angeles, Billy finds it impossible to fit in. His father, Daniel, finds it impossible to live without Billy and goes to extremes to take matters into his own hands.

This short definitely challenges the audience and doesn’t provide easy answers. Hopefully, this piece can be used to open up dialogue about racial tensions that occur between the Asian American and African American communities, especially when violence is a factor. You can see some of the online discussions about the short here.

what’s your reaction to this short? What kind of emotions do you feel as you watch the film? Should this short have more visibility on the Asian American film festival circuit?

If I Was Like You – Part 1 (contains profanity and violence)

If I Was Like You – Part 2 (contains profanity and violence)

Leah Dizon x the404 interview

A few weeks back, the guys at the404 interview Japanese pop star Leah Dizon. She talks about how she got into music, life in Japan, and technology differences between US and Japan. The model turned singer isn’t Japanese, but picked up the language in high school.

Also if you missed it, check out the404 interview with the guys from Secret Identities.

Leah Dizon x the404 interview

Stairwells by Kina Grannis

Kina Grannis’ album Stairwells is now available after two years in the making. Lots of great songs on her album including Valentine. Upbeat love songs with Kina’s vocals. How can you go wrong? We could listen for hours. In fact, we’re listening to it as we write this post. You can listen to it too. She’s even giving all her fans a chance to hear Stairwells online for FREE until March 1st! Check it out while you can.

If you like what you hear, support her by buying her album on Kina Grannis - Stairwells. She can’t keep producing great music without the support of her fans. Listen to her top 10 reason on why you should buy her album

….Paper Cuts… by Bambu

Bambu‘s latest EP ….Paper Cuts… is out. We’ve gotten a few sneak peeks with behind the scenes footage including dumbfoundead interviewing Bambu and Slow Down. Cop that 8 track EP over on Bambu - ...Paper Cuts....

If you wanna hear a sample track, you can get “The Queen is Dead” FREE here.

….Paper Cuts… by Bambu

Check out some of his recent music videos including Crooks & Rooks and Quit.

Join the Wall with Wong Fu Productions

Wong Fu Productions wishes everyone a Happy Chinese New Year. They also tell Chinese Americans to “Join the Wall” at The World Expo (aka World’s Fair) in Shanghai. You have until February 29 to upload your photos. If you’re not Chinese, don’t worry, you can Join the Wong Fu Wall on Facebook. Their wall is already blowing up.

Also check out guest “Ted,” who speaks very good Mandarin.

Join the Wall with Wong Fu Productions

Breaking Asian American barriers with Sam Ock

Interesting commentary from Sam Ock (he’s the guy that did Different Galaxies with dumbfoundead.) about breaking Asian American barriers to go mainstream. We launched channelAPA.com as a way to showcase Asian American talent to the masses. Breaking down these barrier isn’t going to happen overnight, but we’re optimistic to see some changes happening. Far East Movement has done a great job reaching a mainstream audience along with getting great support from their Asian Americna fans. The group recently signed with Cherry Tree Records (Interscope), which is the same label as Lady Gaga and LMFAO. Last year, we also saw Jay Sean and Black Eyed Peas with Apl.de.Ap topping the Billboard charts. There’s some momentum, but we haven’t reached the tipping point yet. So continue to spread the word about Asian American artists to your friends and family.

Sam Ock isn’t the only one to comment on race and entertainment. Check out Asians Just Aren’t Cool Enough by Kevjumba, David Choi commentary on race, Apathy Killed the Asian American Star by GT, and Asian American Artists on Overcoming Racism & Stereotypes. We also chatted with The Asian Persuasion Show about this topic before.

Breaking Asian American barriers with Sam Ock