sanawon

Hiya friends!
I can't believe it's been so many months already since my last post. What the..??

Anyway, hm.... honestly, I don't have terribly too much to update for public consumption except:

1) We've made our videos from The Promise available on Vimeo. You can check 'em out by visiting:
http://vimeo.com/album/1682043 (password: sanawon);

2) I believe Jeff from Quote Unquote records is going to have this stuff available on his website soon ... we've been slow moving and irresponsible about getting everything he needs to do that, but I think we're almost there; and

3) I've started doodling on new tunes. I'm thinking about releasing songs one after another now, instead of by albums.

I know that I've truly made it since I sent a copy of "The Promise" to MW of Giant Robot and my stomach did not turn even once when he e-mailed me saying he wanted to do a write-up. GR has been the king of backhanded compliments when it comes to my work, but for some reason this time I wasn't tripping or caring too much about it.

Finally, Hank, if you are reading this - thanks for sending your 7" (that's what she said)! Very nice work, dude! I enjoyed it.

Also for 2012, I want all of you to know that a) you are worthy of great things (as long as you take ownership of your actions toward others) and you don't have to put up with anyone's crap; and 2) growing out your bangs is really hard. I've had bangs since 2008 and I'm trying my hardest to be patient with the process of growing them out. Yuck.

I'm audy,
jc

I'm at SFO right now, waiting to get back to Chicago to share with my brothers and sisters at the Chicago Asian Giving Circle everything I've learned in the past day and a half in San Francisco.

I've been fortunate enough to attend a national convening of Asian Giving Circles from all over the country to engage in a larger dialogue about mobilizing communities towards social change in an age where citizens are growing more and more disenfranchised and disconnected from one another.

I attended an amazing plenary session where we learned about the power of sharing stories and voices, especially of young people, and how we can inspire one another to move away from a culture of cynicism and "hater-tude." We met some extraordinarily brave undocumented Dream Act-ivists who are stepping out and speaking up, despite the fact that they and/or their families may be deported. But how sharing these stories are vital to a healthy and thriving democracy, and how Asian American communities need to work with other communities (for example, Latino and African American communities) to lift one another up and share resources. The mayor of SF (the first ever Asian American mayor appointed in the history of SF) spoke with amazing compassion -- he was hugging everyone in the audience, and you could tell he was an elected official who really knew the people, and the people knew him.

Afterwards the Asian Giving Circles came together and began workshopping on what we could do to strengthen our own respective Circles, which honestly I wasn't super stoked about. There were some really great conversations happening, but the Asian Giving Circles and Asian American In Philanthropy are mostly comprised of very bright, motivated and ambitious grantmakers...a few of them fundraisers. So when you get mostly program officers whose dayjobs are participating in think tanks to build strategy on how to create social impact, sometimes there's a lot of really heady dialogue that feels removed from emotional truths and realities. And you get a lot of folks who are so articulate and impressive, but they sure like to hear themselves talk. A lot.

But the highlight of the conference was meeting and working with the AAPIP core staff, namely Peggy Saika, Noelle Ito and Jae, their consultant. The focus, deliberation and strategic mapping they've set for the movement is amazingly impressive and I learned a whole lot. And while they all come from very prestigious grantmaking and philanthropic backgrounds, they were all so modest, compassionate and unjaded, which I found so inspiring. I have seen so many folks try to design and implement very complicated tactical plans for social change, and I have to say, these folks are pretty frigging brilliant. I look forward to continuing working with AAPIP and seeing where our paths will take us.

I'm writing about this to a) promote AAPIP and their work because they really are awesome(aapip.org); and b) document my thoughts so I don't forget them when I get back to Chicago. I'm grateful to the AGC's leadership for giving me the opportunity to experience a national gathering of great folks.

xo
jc

So I've had a full week to decompress from the DVD release, and I want to thank everyone for sharing in such a special event with us. It was pretty extraordinary...the weather was beautiful, the scenery and party with the mix of people just made the evening transcendent in so many ways. There was a lot of love and good vibes in the space....and it made me definitely feel so grateful to be able to continue to create and put out art on my own terms. I was so happy to bring a rooftop screening experience to Chicago.

The best part for me was that there were a lot of people there who wouldn't typically go to a theater or "arty" show that really loved it. I love the experience of making art intimate, and making it accessible so people could relate to one another and feel connected to one another. A lot of people told me that the project made them fall in love with my family, which is really nice to hear...even considering the not-so-pretty parts of our story.

I'm done playing bars and traditional venues with other traditional bands, I'm pretty sure. I really think we're onto something here...sharing our art in non-traditional contexts at non-traditional venues.

Dave and Philip were amazing on this project -- obviously I would never have been able to tell my story without their hard work and expertise. The addition of Dave on this record from the very beginning definitely took the project and our sound as a band to the next level.

I know it sounds like I'm saying goodbye, but actually I feel like this is the beginning of a next chapter for us. We're still figuring out distribution -- most likely with our friend Jeff, who is slowly taking over the world. I like the idea of only doing benefit shows.... and we also have footage of the premiere, which we plan on sharing with you soon.

xo
jc

“The Promise: A music video documentary of a Korean couple’s immigration to Chicago in the 1970′s”

Friday, August 26th at 7 pm
Center On Halsted
Daley Rooftop Garden
3656 N. Halsted, Chicago
773.472.6469

Signature cocktails, light appetizers, and open bar serving wine, beer and soda
$25 suggested donation to benefit the Plea for Peace Foundation

Limited Seating
Tickets must be purchased in advance:
http://sanawondvdrelease.eventbrite.com

So a few follow-ups to my previous posts -
1. I hauled ass with cello in hand in a taxi over to an apartment in West Town. I went up to a beautiful, spacious apartment to meet up with Elia and Ethan of Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. Elia had asked me years ago to possibly be SYGC's new keyboardist (before the awful tour accident), and I just couldn't make the time commitment. I hadn't seen Elia since the terrible accident, so it was a slightly strange reunion of sorts, but I was glad to reconnect with him... he looked great.

I showed up in the dress I wore to work with my cello and did a few quick run-through's with Josh and the gang. It turns out we were filming at Tim Edwards of Flower Booking's rooftop. The whole time I thought that maybe it was because of Josh's celebrity, but then a whole film and sound crew of about 5-7 people showed up. It only took them about 15 mins to set up outside. I started wondering what we were really there for because it seemed to only get more serious and schmancy.

Right before we were about to film, I blurted out, "So who are all of you people and why are we here exactly?"

And then I was told we were filming for the Onion AV Club's Undercover series. WHOOPS! Doh.... so I instructed all of the folks filming to keep their lenses up because I didn't want any glimpses of my you know where while I was playing cello, ill-uniformed. I had to go back to work right afterwards, and was a bit frazzled, so I was in rare form... for those of you who know me when I get crazytown, you know what I mean. Lots of uncomfortable laughter and silences. And I got racial too.

2. Our cover of Jawbreaker's "Accident Prone" is going to be featured on Jawbreaker's Facebook page. Crazy, huh?
Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/jawbreaker

3. I just filmed for one of the last music vids that would be featured on our DVD (argh... I really hope I can get it done by the end of August). Some of you have inquired about getting a copy, and I still don't know how all of this is going to work so hang tight and stay tuned.

I need to make myself a list of all the things I want to do over the summer and before fall sets in. I've been terrible -- totally not in touch with myself and have been a terrible friend lately to most. I promise to get my shit together though, soon. Hopefully!

xo
jc

So today was a funny birthday. I guess you know you've really made it when you're at work and there's a birthday announcement over the intercom stating your birthday and Peter Sagal shows up to eat cheesecake with you.

Then randomly you see voicemails from Adam Pfahler and Josh Caterer on your voicemail respectively asking you for a copy of a Jawbreaker cover and availability to play cello for a show taping next week.

Wow... really, guys? Super random.

I'm tired. Take care and talk soon,
Jenny

So just came home from more mixing goodness. So! Close! guys! Argh.... can't believe what an ordeal this has been... mainly in that I think I was a little over ambitious on the video making part. Good god. But! I think it's really interesting... which is the most I can hope for for any project/record, right?

So I'm aiming to finish mixing by mid-June (including producing all the videos). We are going to make 100 DVDs. That's all. Of course the songs will be available via digital download. One of the five songs features Josh Caterer from the Smoking Popes on backing vocals.... Adam Pfahler from Jawbreaker lends his drumming chops on a bonus track. Oh yeah....

What else? Working hard; hugging my dog, yadda yadda yadda. Chopped my hair. What have I been into lately? Oy, not much. This Saturday I'm spending the whole day shooting for another video. Completed a glamorous photo shoot for Actually, Records. Fun, fun, fun.

It's summer in Chicago! I'll need to write a list of fun activities to accomplish. Right now I'm into espadrilles and dark denim skirts. And white blazers. I just heard that Brown's Chicken is making corn fritters. I'm down with that plus some lavender gimlets. Next?

Take care,
jc

Hi folks,
Well, for those of you who started following my blog because of my brief stint with Ben Weasel of Screeching Weasel, I felt some responsibility to comment on the recent events that have caused quite a stir and controversy around Ben's recent show at SXSW.

When I heard about what happened, the first thing that came to my mind was what naturally comes to people's minds when the news affects their family and friends... worry and concern. But in the case of Ben, he's a unique friend because SO MANY PEOPLE who don't really know him seem to have such strong opinions about him. Over the years, many people in the punk rock music industry have wondered why I, a pretty salty and confrontational person with high expectations, would continue to be friends with him. The reasons have always been the same: his words and his actions are always consistent, he isn't afraid to admit when he's wrong, and he's extremely honest. In all my experiences with people, from public education to the music industry to the non-profit sector, I can tell you that I've had enough of cowards and phonies, and Ben is refreshingly neither.

Now in the case of Ben, when I first met him about seven or so (maybe more?) years ago, I remember being a bit taken aback by a few observations: a) many of the folks he worked with in the industry over so many years were pretty phony with the exception of Joe Queer; and b) his fans were mean. And quite frankly, I've been around a lot of punk rock shows for lots of bands, and unique to other music scenes, these audiences can be especially mean, hostile and aggressive in their expectations of the artists they followed, and extremely dehumanizing. And for a person like Ben, it can be an explosive combination.

I've written pretty extensively about this before, especially in the context of playing two shows with Ben as he was coming to trust the public again. Since then, it's been really nice and gratifying to see him out more to find a connection with his audiences again. But I have to tell you, Ben is not a willing celebrity, and he plays music and shows because he's good at it and it pays the bills. He doesn't come at it like the self-aggrandizing punk rock bands out there who profess they have the best fans in the world (Trust me, they don't. You just don't hear about how much they really hate all the shitty fans that punish them). So yeah, if you're playing a shit show at a shit festival for shit money, to have an audience member have permission to spit beer in his face (in what universe is that okay?!?!?)-- I say permission, because this person was not kicked out immediately afterwards-- and as a result be further emboldened by that permission to follow it up with chucking an ice cube to his eye, I do understand why he did what he did. I don't agree with his knee-jerk response, but honestly, Ben is not Gandhi or the President of the United States...he's Ben Weasel.

I am most horrified by the venue owner and her actions. I don't understand why she didn't take the offensive audience member out right away, and I'm not sure why she would have taken it upon herself to jump onstage to pummel Ben the way she had. Clearly, she was already feeling stupid and guilty and took it out on him. So given how she totally failed to protect the artist's safety from her own audience members and reacted the way she had, it doesn't surprise me that no one pressed charges, and that Ben is not in jail.

I'm hoping that we can take this opportunity to encourage a constructive and balanced discussion around creating safe spaces between the audience and artists, and how venues and music industry peeps (booking agents, promoters, managers, etc) need to take ownership of preemptively ensuring that these explosive situations do not happen. In the documentary, Gimme Shelter, we see how it unfolds disastrously between audience members, but in this specific case at SXSW, we see how it unfolds when we (the venue, etc) let audience members dehumanize artists because they "paid for a show." Increasingly in our culture, especially where reality shows thrive and push our voyeuristic permissions to its limits, it seems like we as audience members have grown dangerous in our demands with respect to our performers, especially in contexts where we make the performers out to be caricatures and zoo animals to entertain us, instead of real people.

At any rate, so I continue to stick by Ben because it would be too easy and lazy to cut him out because of a mistake he made that was blown way out of proportion and in many ways taken out of its context. Quite frankly, I have cut many people out of my life because of mistakes they made that had nothing to do with physical violence, but were way worse in the profoundly disturbing implications and detrimental consequences around their mistakes. I don't condone the violence (and I've told him as such, and he totally agrees and has taken ownership of that), but mainly in the name of professionalism... not in the context of guys beating up on girls and gender! It would in fact be very irresponsible of us as the public to turn this event into a gender violence issue because it kind of demeans and takes away from the real issues and work happening to fight gender violence.

Good god, I can't believe I'm even talking about this. I can't really go into the details, but Ben really helped me on stuff that had to do with gender violence issues on a personal level, so I'm telling you... he's not some dude who is all about beating up on girls. Come on, people! Let's be smart and constructive. The last thing we want is to be brainless pods following and perpetuating sensationalist crazytown antics that really have nothing to do with anything besides the fact that it sucks to be a punk rocker these days. People are dying in Libya and Japan. Let's keep this shit in perspective.

xo
jc

Well, although life has been quite crazy, I'm trying to keep priorities in check by making sure I saw my friend Roger (who I met through my BFF and brother Steve Choi of the RXB) as he came through town on tour with a band called the Warriors. They were playing at the House of Blues and security was intense, but seeing Roger is more like seeing family, so no worries.

I remember the last time I was at the House of Blues, I went to see the Lawrence Arms play... they were on tour with NOFX, and Neil Hennessy asked me to record cello on the record they were promoting at the time. Neil put me on the list, no plus one, and it was a crazy sold out show -- plus I saw a gaggle of groupies walk up to the backstage area, who I later figured out were longtime friends of the band, but at the time, they did look like a random bunch of hoodrats to me. I showed up, saw what a bullshit scene it was, and walked right out the door and went home. That was years ago, and since then I've cleared the air with those guys, and we have become way better friends.

This time was totally different, and I knew I could trust Roger because he's a super solid guy. Roger is one of those dudes who is very highly revered in big-time schmancy music circles yet extremely modest and humble. But once you get to know him you realize how valued he is as an engineer and musician in the national metalcore music community. Okay, so it's not exactly my scene, but I do respect that he's clearly got chops and keeps himself in check about it.

Anyway, I kind of got the sense Roger wanted me to come backstage more as a sociological experiment, to make his bandmates and tourmates cry a little. So I did a little bit of this and that, but I was pretty tame because hi guys, I'm getting older now, and I have to keep my shenanigans in check these days.

It was nice to visit with Roger though, and Travis the weekend just before... because it keeps me grounded and reminds me of who I really am... an artist and activist who cares about and is concerned with making the world a better place. Lately I've had to have a few tough conversations with myself and others in spheres and contexts that are still new and uncharted territory to me, but I can always come back to myself at the end of the day. And considering some of the crazy drama I've endured in the last six or so years, I've done pretty well for myself, so I'm not going to trip, guys. This blog has had a lot to do with that, so thank you to all of you for continuing to care.

Right now, I'm creating a timeline to get this new project out to you guys by this summer. I promise, I promise.

xo
jc

Well, I guess the score is: belief in humanity +1 and Jenny the hater minus 1.

Yesterday I hiked over to the Metro and to my very pleasant surprise, Travis put me down not only for admission, but for a plus one, and two all-access passes. If you've ever played the Metro before, you have to know that all-access passes are very rarely doled out just because they run a very tight (read: anal retentive) ship over there. And on top of that, his whole family including his mom from Minnesota showed up, so I was especially so touched and honored that he came through like that, over and beyond my expectations.

Travis's gesture definitely brought to light the shittiness of others... I mean his band just appeared on the Jimmy Fallon Show, I never even recorded on any of his records, we keep in touch about twice a year, and still he managed to be totally A+. Argh, I felt really stupid and guilty for not expecting so much. Don't get me wrong, we still had a very awkward catching up exchange as always that somehow started with me holding my nose in a P.U. sign, and him bonking me over the head with a water bottle and criticizing me for my lack of listening skills, but it was so good to see him happy, tired, and doing his thing.

It was an awesome show... an awesome show of closure, actually... since the last time I saw them, I didn't know who they were...my friend Annie was tap dancing for a song of theirs and I showed up to support her. I loved their set... and then they broke up. Doh! But this is cheers to Travis for being an awesome friend when I am so often disappointed by frazzled front dudes in rock bands.

xo
jc