In Conversation with
May 2006
A little Background:
This is the latest in my on-going series of interviews
Viva www.myspace.com.
Setting up a account through this like I have is
Resulting in more and more acts inviting me to
Listen to their music – some rubbish and some
Average etc of course.
Something a little bit different is Asia Mei, a young
Girl singer songwriter who was born in Ribinsk,
Near
From this traveling background,
All kinds of things which are despite the lazy Norah
Jones comparison (which one of my friends used when
I played some of this stuff to them recently) is much
, much powerful and reflects a musical background
From as varied from a female led Muse to Ella Fitzgerald
To world music in both
Please visit her website at: http://www.asiamei.com/
Asia has also advised me you can buy her debut CD at
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/asiamei
Many thanks of course to
CD.
Cheers
AEN
Setting Sun:
How are things and what is happening at the moment?
Things are rainy and everything is slow and grey, but I heard the sun is
Coming back soon - so should be good.
Setting Sun:
Can you next tell us a little bit about what started you off in music etc or as
I like you to say - Who fired the starting pistol?
I have no clue. I can use the cliché of "music chose me" but am a
Little too cynical. My Grandfather wanted to be a musician, he always
Played classical music in the house and I think I got the passion
For music from him.
We had a piano in the living room and I was drawn to it from birth I
Guess. I learned notes very quickly and played a lot by ear until
Finally was sent off to music school when I was 7. I studied
Only classical and I guess I have MTV to thank for drawing me to
Pop and rock.
Setting Sun:
What are your influences and what have you been listening to
recently?
I love Muse. I started writing before I heard them, but was so happy to
hear that someone is successful on the same path of "piano rock", I
bet we'd get along well if we met. I also like Jimi Hendrix and other
rock/blues, rock and roll and old piano blues. I listen more and
more to classical music and to a lot of world music - especially
tangos and Cuban.
I think I got sick from the pop on the radio and started looking
for cool music elsewhere.
Setting Sun:
Probably my favorite song I have heard off yours so far is 'Girl ' Can
you tell Us a little bit more about this song and where the inspiration
from that came from?
Thank you! It's a big favorite when I play live. I had bikers doing
devil horns On that one.
At that time I was listening a lot to one of my favorite bands –
Israeli rock band Hayehudim (The Jews). They are kind of a
cross of Metallica, Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix with a kickass
female singer. A lot of the heaviness and the riffs Came from listening
to them.
I actually wrote "Girl" for a "vocal writing" class, where we had to
use a lot of Background vocals. It came out really well and
I decided to keep it. When it Comes to lyrics, they came out
slightly feminist - against girls whose only Reassurance is guys
who use them for sex. Usually I'm not that much of a feminist
But all for self-respect!
Setting Sun:
I notice from your website that you have done hundreds off gigs –
How does These compare to your recordings? Is their one you
prefer over the other?
I defiantly prefer playing live. Even in the way we recorded - everyone
played Together. The energy of a live performance and the rush are
amazing and I will Take them any day over being neurotic and
stressed in a studio. I really tried To preserve that energy on the CD.
One thing I like better about recording is the chance to work
with special arrangements and instrumentations that you couldn't
perform live. A big Example is "moment of peace" that features
a string quartet and percussion and My bonus track "Keep
Running" that was recorded with a full orchestra.
Setting Sun:
6. Anyway, a few lighter questions for you to finish off with,
what plans (music wise) Do you have next? Do you have any
more recordings planned / gigs etc?
We just got done recording this CD and I'm defiantly staying
out of the studio for a Little while. We are having our CD
release party in
After that we hope to promote the CD like crazy and plan a
tour for the Fall. Meanwhile I am writing some new
stuff to keep myself out of trouble. This CD is Defiantly
the first of many.
Setting Sun:
I know from reading about you - you have done a lot of
traveling throughout your Life being born in
Ribinsk, close to
that has reflected In your recording (s) as I can
certainly hear something quite unusual in it..
Yep. In my lyrics you can defiantly hear a lot of frustration from moving
around, how That affected friendships and my state of mind (i.e. "I
have no place, no home" - Missing you, "I've been forgotten, changed
and adopted by strangers" - moment of Peace, "we all laughed and
the ocean cried cause it saw me land, and it'll see My fly" - the ocean
sang the blues). But I also think it contributed in a way of Getting me
exposed to different cultures - musically and mentally. You can hear
A lot of middle eastern influence in my music, and the whole classical
side really Comes from this Russian culture of having every
kid learning piano - I just Happened to be good at it.
The
indie and live music - the Land of opportunities, they say.
Setting Sun:
What is the music scene like in
good gigs recently?
The music scene in
how many people you can bring so they would buy beer and profit the
club... So bikers or emo kids have an easier time packing clubs and
getting better gigs.
singer/songwriters and I think NY is a better place for music like
mine, and we do gig in NY regularly. Don't get me wrong, there
are defiantly people out there who like our stuff and we've had a lot of
successful gigs but I think it would have been easier if we played
hardcore (hardcore).
One of my favorite local bands is "the howl" who do old school
blues/rock and roll And are based in
lot of Berklee students/grads doing Interesting things like the bands
"flutter effect" or "mistyquintet" who have very Interesting
music and instruments.
Setting Sun:
What would you like to be doing when you are 60?
Producing young awesome acts and helping them out and hanging
out with grandkids.
Setting Sun:
What will you be doing when you are 60?
I don't think I'd stop playing or writing at any age. So I’d be doing
that. I'm more of a Present type person - you'd have to ask me then.
Setting Sun:
Lastly, something light to finish off (Borrowed from a pal's zine almost)
Imagine you were ship wrecked on a desert
Sight here lol) the choice of having 5 records or Cd's with you with a stereo of course-
What would be your desert
I hate those questions... It's so hard to choose, I get sick of music pretty quickly.
- I'd take some crazy classical CD so I could always listen to it and figure out
New things Like Mozart's Requiem or something.
- A techno CD so I could have a crazy party (with myself), let's say Darude or
Some other European DJ.
- I'll take "Absolution" by Muse, it's awesome.
- Any CD by Ella Fitzgerald, so I could learn her solos and scat along with her while I'm
Cracking coconuts - it’ll give me something to do
- Can I take a mix CD?
I'm probably overlooking 100 CDs that I'll remember tomorrow and think "ooh, I should have taken that!"
