Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!
May has arrived, bringing APA Heritage Month with it. I have mixed feelings about these months - do they signify an acknowledgment of our unique heritage or do they continue to separate our history from American history? Is is a good thing that bookstores create little tables of Asian American lit during this month? (Do they?) Do they do this at record stores too?
Those questions aside, I still wonder what it means to be Asian American. Who is Asian American? What is Asian American lit? What is Asian American music? (Check out this interesting timeline of Asian American music.)
I came across an interesting interview this morning with Karsh Kale, a DJ, producer and “tablatronic musician.” Here’s what he had to say about being part of a movement in the music scene:
When people talk about a movement, it sounds like such a large kind of thing…I think of hundreds of different incredible artists who are actually very individual…so I don’t really see my music as part of an evolution like that, I really only see the music as a progression for my self. For me, it is really important to be able to make music that is not, that doesn’t find itself in a category. For me, categories are disposable. Even though electronic music and dance music and lounge music wind up becoming cataloged music that ends up on millions of different compilations…those tracks don’t really live the life a song does, and for me that is what my pursuit is…to be able to really produce music that stays timeless in that way, stays with people…
Read the complete interview at Hyphen.
Last 5 posts by delia
- Rocket 2 U - May 13th, 2008
- Asians Rock: What's your story? - May 11th, 2008
- In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson - May 10th, 2008
- Our Month - May 2nd, 2008
- Ivy League Skills? - April 28th, 2008
Tags: Commentary, News.