boston progress radio

I thought I had it in the bag after my Omar Telan interview online. It went smoothly and prepared me for my next interview with Cynthia Lin, actress, musician, dancer, and a free-spirit currently living in New York City. But of course something had to go wrong. Even though I was not speaking with Cynthia my mouth got parched. I reached for my glass of water. The room temperature liquid replenished me and I was ready to move on with my conversation. All of sudden the glass slipped out of my hand before I could set it down onto the table, some water jumped out of the glass to splash onto the right side of my COMPUTER, near the control, shift, and “z” buttons! What do I do? I am interviewing a musician, my computer is going to die on me, all these questions are flowing through my head, and what do I do… I just stare at the water as it seeps deep within the keys of my laptop system. I was in disbelief. Cynthia was patient as I tried to reconnect several times to try to salvage our talk. The interview had to be cut short, but I still got some good material to share with you.

Cynthia: I like this, I can be in my pajamas.

JM: Was it a big transition to move from Chicago to New York City?

Cynthia: Not really, I was born in Chicago and I lived there till I was 11 and then I moved to New Jersey. So, I went to middle school and high school in jersey,and then went to Princeton, so I was always close to New York City. My family would visit the city often, especially to see musicals. Broadway was one of my dreams.

JM: So your love of music started young through your parents?

Cynthia: My parents supported my artistic activities and my whole family loves music and singing, but my parents didn’t really push the music thing. We all took piano lessons, but none of us liked to practice. Actually from a young age I had decided that I wanted to be a doctor. Of course my parents were fine with that.

JM: Do you still have aspirations in medicine?

Cynthia: I gave up on that freshman year of college. It was too competitive, pre-med that is.

JM: What was it like going to school there?

Cynthia: I think it’s the best school in the world for undergraduate education. Socially, it’s very Ivy League and it has its upper crusty side. But there are a lot of well-rounded ambitious students, people who have the ability to achieve almost anything. It is an interesting spectrum. There are crazy party kids who happen to be smart.

JM: Were you one of them?

Cynthia: Nah, I was not a good student. I was much more involved in extracurriculars than academics. Like most kids, I learned how to party in college.

JM: When you decided to quit med school, were your parents disappointed. Was this the time when you found music?

Cynthia: No, it took a lot of searching. I always loved performing, but I never considered it as a career. I sang in an a cappella group and performed occasionally in theatre and musical theatre. I took classes in politics, philosophy, French lit, etc, before finally choosing economics.

JM: Is singing your escape?

Cynthia: I would definitely call singing my escape. When I was a kid I used to sing to myself in the dark. Yeah, sometimes in awkward pauses of conversation, I’ll want to sing. I can sing anywhere, anytime, whatever I’m feeling or hearing in my head. I enjoy acting, but it’s still very structured. You need a character, you need a script or you can make it up on your own, but I don’t really get a kick out of doing that on my own.

JM: Do you know what song you sang as a child?

Cynthia: I loved the Sound of Music and Annie, kid’s musicals. I also LOVED the radio as a kid. One of the first songs I loved was “Broken Wings” by Mister Mister, you are probably too young to remember it! I loved Madonna, Debbie Gibson, and Belinda Carlisle. All the bubble gum stuff, I like Britney, Christina Aguilera, and Kelly Clarkson.

JM: Do you still like the bubble gum stuff, because your music is not from that genre?

Cynthia: Songwriting-wise, I find it hard to convincingly create that kind of song. But I’ve always wanted to have a dance video, like the old Janet Jackson videos. I danced a lot in high school and in college.

JM: You are like a jack of all trades, you sing, dance, and act, does this work in your favor, or is it hard to concentrate on one thing. What is your best craft? Which one do you think is your weakest?

Cynthia: Good questions, I struggle with this, but I embrace it as well. I get distracted with my different interests, but I enjoy it too. I think the variety keeps me inspired, and I work best when I have a lot going on. So I’m constantly taking on side projects, some film some theatre. I’m using my acting when I perform my music. I haven’t incorporated my dancing yet, but one day!

JM: So would you say you’re the most comfortable with singing?

Cynthia: My first love is definitely singing. In reality, I’m not really a master of any of these crafts.

JM: Always a student?

Cynthia: Right, you can never stop learning and improving. I’ve hit walls in each craft and I have used the other to help open doors. Specifically, working on my acting has made me a better singer.

JM: What projects are you presently working on?

Cynthia: I just released a new album. So I’m promoting the record, trying to get reviews for it. Booking shows, a tour, oh, I’m booking a spring college tour right now. It’d be great if you could mention that.

JM: So you don’t really do anything with the economics degree besides your stint in D.C.?

Cynthia: Yeah, I mean I didn’t really use my economics knowledge there either. To me, economics is a way of understanding people, money, and business and right now, I’m pretty much running a one-woman business where I am also the product. I worked in the corporate world for 3 year and from that, I appreciate how that world works. I prefer working independently. There are too many politics in the corporate world, it just comes with too much hierarchy. Now, I get to choose the people I work with. I am a bit of a control freak.

JM: Do you think you have to be disciplined to be your own boss?

Cynthia: Discipline is probably the thing I lack most. However, being my own boss, I’ve created a situation for myself where I work out of passion and motivation vs. discipline. Of course, I still need to push myself, structure and organize my work but I prefer to work because I’m inspired.

JM: Is there anyone who keeps you in check?

Cynthia: Not right now. I could use someone to keep me in check, a manager maybe, but I like to figure things out myself.

JM: Do you think you’ll be finding a manager soon?

Cynthia: This may sound silly but I believe in chance encounters. So I have never actively sought out a manager, but I think one day I will get connected to one, at a point in my career when I need one, and it will all work out.

JM: What are you inspired by? Are your songs based on your life or are they a work of fiction?

Cynthia: My songs, the feelings and sentiments are mine, the details are sometimes fiction. I’m inspired by people’s stories told through books, movies, music, articles, TV, plays, etc.I’m most inspired by turning points and people making realizations. We each make a lot of decisions in our lives. There are some that cause your entire character to change, for example you decide you want to be with someone or you decide you can no longer be with someone, and you search yourself to figure out why. You feel it first, and understand it later.

JM: Do you see yourself as a role model for Asian Americans who want to find a career in music or as part of the movement?

Cynthia: I think I’ve become a role model by default. I happen to be an Asian American artist, and there are just so few of us that we all serve to inspire and I’m very happy to take on that role. I LOVE visiting colleges and encouraging students to explore what they want with their lives vs. what their parents want, or what they are expected to do. After being a student and then working in the corporate world, I realized that my personal happiness comes from following my passion. I want to give the world something. I was so happy to quit my job. I felt like for the first time in my life, I was choosing my own path. What’s the point of money if you’re not happy with yourself. A lot of Asian Americans are driven by this goal of financial security influenced by our parents’ generation which makes sense, as immigrants who came over with nothing and had to rebuild their lives. My mom wanted me to do something practical, “practical” is probably her favorite word.

JM: What is practical for her?

Cynthia: Financial security, a steady job, a comfortable home, being able to eat a fancy meal and go on vacation.

JM: Since for you music, theater, and dance is kind of your work, whereas other people would do those things as therapy, what do you do to unwind?

Cynthia: It’s funny, when you do what you like as your job, you don’t need to unwind. I discovered that as well after I quit my job. I do yoga and Pilates. Actually there is one thing when I get home from touring etc, I like to cook. For me, that’s the ultimate way to unwind.

Last 5 posts by jess

• Holding It Down with the Blue Scholars: Video Interview - March 12th, 2008
• Sarcastically Brilliant 'Nahmean?... Interview with F. Omar Telan - December 11th, 2007
• Kiwi the Rapper not the Fruit: An Interview - November 20th, 2007

Tags: Interview, music.