About Us

Born In Chinese serves to promote Asian American music and musicians. We also produced the first widely-distributed compilation of Asian Pacific American rock, folk and R&B, entitled Compilasian, which was released in March, 2007.

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Eugene
(Founder/Editor/Pasta Lover)

Eugene was introduced to the Asian American music scene back in 2004 when he joined the Francis Kim Band.  After touring with FKB for a few years and putting out a couple of albums, he struck off on his own as a solo artist.  After releasing his first EP, Gesture and Mumble, he continued to tour and perform around the New York area, meeting and making lots of friends in the AA music circles.  In 2007, he decided to put out a compilation of some of his favorite AA artists called CompilAsian.  So he started Born In Chinese as a promotional vehicle for AA musicians.  He currently is on hiatus from performing, but continues to listen to, write about, and give props to AA musicians.  Eugene would also like to note that, for the record, his parents were born in Korean.

Monica
(Writer/Wheeler/Dealer)

Monica discovered her love for music early in life when she was classically trained in piano starting at the age of 6.  She continued to pursue her passion for music throughout her life in the forms of recitals, choir groups, musical plays and even attended several years of piano camp (yes, piano camp).  If you’re lucky you can still catch her singing show tunes at the top of her lungs in the shower or in the car.  She was first introduced to the Asian American music scene sometime in the mid-2000’s when she saw a Filipino American band open for Rex Navarette in Newark, NJ.  In 2007, she fell deeper into the Fil-Am scene during a Happy Analogues gig at Five Points, NYC where she would later be exposed to some of the most talented performers on the Asian American music scene.  It was also there that she met Feliza Mirasol who, after reading several of Monica’s blog rants, encouraged her to further explore writing creatively and eventually introduced her to Born in Chinese. Monica loves working with BIC b/c it allows her to express herself through writing and also listen to some good friggin’ music.  By the way, Monica’s parents were born in Filipino.

Cat
(Writer/German Correspondent)

Cat likes listening to music. She sometimes sings and performs for her friends, id and ego (super-ego is no fun). She also likes questions. You could say that she is an expert in questions but almost never knows the answers. She has been asking questions ever since the beginning – perhaps even before the beginning (because when did it all really start?). Legend has it that she was born and screamed, “Waah? Waah?” but didn’t know that the answer was just “Waah”.  You could say that Cat was introduced to Asian American music from that very first waah. But in actuality, she had never given it thought. Then, when she was in London studying ethnomusicology, it all came together. Since then, she has tried to find it and write about it. She has also given one concert and vows never to do it again.

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Born In What??

Please allow me to tell you where this strange phrase came from:

Back in college, when I was a misguided pre-med student in need of an English prerequisite, I took a poetry class. The instructor, a visiting professor from who-knows-where, assigned us a book of poetry by an Asian Pacific American poet.  During the class discussion, the professor introduced the idea that the poet’s cultural background had a profound influence on her work. Then, turning to me, she said, “Well, you would understand, Eugene… Because you were born in Chinese, right?”

To say I was shocked is an understatement. I was so blown away by the sheer absurdity of her question that I simply didn’t know what to say.  In hindsight, I could’ve gotten angry, yelled at her, or lectured her… But honestly, when faced with that kind of ignorance, where does one start?  Her statement was just wrong on too many levels for my brain to form a cogent argument.  So while my classmates scraped their jaws off the floor, I managed to mumble something about being Korean and let it go at that.  Half an hour later, I walked out of the classroom feeling confused, angry, disappointed and amused all at the same time.

I have told this story to countless friends over the years and it never fails to get a laugh. With time, though, I realized that this story is not only amusing but meaningful as well. The more I told the story, the more I found that all kinds of people, Asian Pacific American and otherwise, could identify with my experience.

Eventually, I realized that this phrase, “born in Chinese,” could be more than just the punchline in an old college story. So, in October 2006, I decided that I wanted to combine my interest in the music industry and my connections with the APA music scene. I set about devising a plan to put together a compilation and release it under a new record label that I would call Born In Chinese. I liked the idea that I could take this phrase that was blurted out of ignorance and use it to educate others, break down stereotypes, and turn people on to great music by APA artists.

So when I ask the question, “were you Born In Chinese?” I am not just trying to make light of my hapless English professor. I am asking a real question… Have you ever been dumbfounded by the ignorance of others? And, more importantly, do you want to do something about it? I have and I do– And that’s why I started this organization. By helping to promote and expose these amazing APA musicians, I hope to do my part to spread knowledge and APA art in the hopes that one day, no one will ever be so uninformed as to think that having black hair and almond-shaped eyes means I was born in a country called “Chinese.”  The struggle continues… but at least we now have some great music to accompany it.

And that brings us to the present. I hope you understand where I’m coming from and how this strange phrase fits into the big picture. Please take a few minutes to explore the site and check out our first release, CompilAsian.

-Eugene