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So today is January 25th, 2022. My name is Kevin Chen, and this is the punk and metal project of the Houston Asian American Archive. Today, I'll be talking with Edwin Carson, who's the bassist for the

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Houston-based hardcore band Liberty and Justice. So thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to talk with me today. Hey, yep, my pleasure man.

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So to start off, I'm gonna ask a few questions about your early musical experiences, early band experiences and also your immigration to the US. And the first question I have for you is, you were born

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in Cebu City in the Philippines. And you know, there was or still is a pretty well established hardcore scene there. So did you get into hardcore music because of the city you were from? Um, I guess, yeah.

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There were––when I started, when I was in maybe high school––oh, yeah, high school, I was a teenager, maybe 12, 13. I–I think I started as––listening to punk rock, like Sex Pistols.

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And like a friend of mine, a classmate of mine, introduced me to that genre. And then, yeah, we listened to like Sex Pistols and Black Flag, Minor Threat. And we kind of––there wasn't any punk sc—there was, but

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we were still young, we don’t know—we didn't know where to go. And Cebu is like a tiny island. It's not like Manila. It's like––they–they have a–a punk scene or a hardcore scene back in the 80s.

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And in–in Cebu, which is we just kind of get like a–a whiff of––like we hear stories about that, but you know, we–we—high––first year or second year of high school, I started playing

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guitar––learning guitar, then my–my––a buddy of mine like yeah, let's start a band. So we started playing––we started practicing and then from punk rock to kind of evolve the—of course

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it–it–it evolves and–and–and continues to––we–we wanted more of like a harder, faster beat, so we discovered like hardcore stuff. Minor Threat, Black Flag, Crumbsuckers.

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The–the thing about it is back home in the Philippines, we–we have one guy that has like a record collection, which—his name is Bob, but he––I–I guess in–in his family like, you know, cousins send him

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stuff from the states to–to the Philippines and then we go to hang out at his place. He's––he would charge us 10 pesos, which is like, what, five cents, 10 cents, or yeah, five cents,

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to make us a–a–a cassette. A mixtape of–of the bands or the–the records that he has, and that's where—he's our source of whatever music that we had, ‘cause this was back in like 1990, so

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there was no internet and stuff like that. So from there, all the bands that he had, we–we listened to. And we–we saved our money to get that cassette and then just listened to it, and then he had like a lot of hardcore punk rock

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records and new wave stuff as well. Yeah, from the high school, started playing shows and stuff. Yeah, so you mentioned that you first got into, you know, like punk rock, and then that

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progressed into hardcore. So what kind of drawed you into the sound of punk or hardcore music initially? It was just a–a––what do you call that, I don't know, ‘cause back that time,

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it was a–a lot of glam, like glam rock, Guns and Roses, like kinda radio rock and even––like, I remember like Nirvana was kind of starting, but punk rock really appealed

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to me a–and like my–my buddy, we were just like a few of us that listened to punk rock in our high school. And I don't know, we–we kind of––we listened to like Anarchy in the UK, which, we didn't really understand it, but like, “Oh yeah, this is

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punk rock, we'll be like rebellious and stuff,” and we didn't want––we didn't like the look of like having long hair and, you know, spandex, and like these guys have mohawks and–and just wear like crazy stuff and–and–and I don't

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know, it–it–it—just the–the image of them kinda appealed to us, like how–how a punk rock kid or punk rocker would look like. And yeah, tha-that's why it stuck to us and that's why we–we just

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listened to that. Whatever we like. A lot of themes in punk and hardcore deals with rebellion, and you know, promoting social change. So, I guess, you know, you were pretty young when you first started getting

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into the music, but were you rebelling against anything, or were you into rebellion, or that sort of thing? Nah, not really. Like––you're a teenager, you're–you're always––like I was–I was 12,

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13, 14 years old. Like, you're–you're––if you’re a teenager, you're always rebelling against something. So, I mean, I had some stuff that I–I–I was rebelling against my parents, or

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my––actually my dad, which is a different story, but—he wasn't bad, but it was something that he–he–he loved to do, like gambling. And I–I didn't really like that. So I was just trying to do something else.

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And–and I don't know, like––but he–he–he was okay. But yeah, I just didn't like what he was––he–he like––I didn't like what he was doing at that time. So, I guess yeah.

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Teenager. Hormones. Rebellion. Yeah. It's a mix. What did your dad or your parents think about your interest in, you know, in punk or hardcore music.

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What were their thoughts? It's funny because they thought I was a–a drug addict. And they thought I–I–I was just, I was a good kid. I–I went to school. I was like your normal kid.

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I wasn't really doing anything. I wasn't even drinking. And I don't know for some reason their friends look at me and they thought, “Oh yeah, your–your son is

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going in a pot session.” Like, I asked them, “What is a pot session?” I don't even know what that means. “Oh, it's like a group of friends smoking weed,” like no, I don't do that. We–we go chill and go to shows and–and listen to music and yeah, that's it.

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But I mean, that–that changed when my dad and my––actually my parents saw me play at high school graduation. I–I played guitar, you know, at graduation. I was in a band that played our song for graduation.

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So like–like, that was, like, after like four years of–of––and then they said, “Oh yeah, you––I didn't know you had––you know how to play guitar.” Like, yeah I was in––I'm in a band for already like two years. Well, yeah. But, oh, you know, parents.

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So you––the first instrument you picked up was the guitar. So how did you––how'd you learn to play that? Did you have a teacher? Did your friends teach you?

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No, my brother. He bought a nylon–nylon classical guitar. So, and then of course my–my–my––I asked my brother if I––he could teach me something.

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I kinda just read some pick books and like chord charts and stuff. And then I––for–for maybe a couple of sessions, I went to this––our neighbor, he's a guitar teacher.

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I paid like a few bucks to teach me guitar, but I didn't really learn anything. But I kind of––I–I actually—I did learn how to tune a guitar, and stuff like that. But any other than that, like I–I just learned by ear.

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Self-taught. Awesome. And your very first band experience was with The Underdogs which later became known as Shrapnel . So tell me about this band experience, especially since it occurred

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when you were in an all boys Catholic school. Oh, yeah. So–so we–we–we––I was I think second year in high school if I remember it correctly, or–or third year, I–I–I forgot, but it was—like

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my–my buddy Harold, he was the one who–who showed me the punk rock and–and we started playing in a band. So we–we started jamming and–and we found out that there’s a–a showcase for–for the students,

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like whenever they—in a–in a Sa—Wedn—actually a Friday afternoon. So that people––some–some groups of kids have like dance groups, a singer, stuff like

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that. So we signed up, oh yeah, “We'll play two songs.” So we were at the end, so all i-it went maybe like few hours, and then we were the last group to–to–to

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play. So we–we got–got our guitars and–and–and amps and–and–and drum set and we just––I was super nervous. Like we–we were—like it was our first show we–we didn't know how to—we–I don't even think I–I tuned my

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guitar right, but it wa–it was just, we just played the–the first note and then I was like shaking. And then we played––it's funny, but we played Anarchy in the UK by the Sex Pistols.

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But we changed the–the lyrics because we were in a Catholic school. The lyrics are "I am an antichrist, I am an anarchist." We–we changed it to “I am not an antichrist, I am not an anarchist,” ‘cause like

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we didn't want to get in trouble, but I guess we still got in trouble, ‘cause the–the–the principal got super mad at us, and then after the––and then we––after we played, like, the kids were–were–were—or the students were—I don't know if they were cheering or just making fun of us, because I don't know if

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we–we even played correctly, ‘cause even the–the drums, our drummer, we had a–a another student who had to sit in front of the drum so it won't move, ‘cause he–he––there was no carpet so he–he was just—our drummer

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was playing the drums and then the drums was moving so he had to sit in front. So yeah, it was–it was–it was something else and then, yeah, we got called to the office, the principal's office, and yeah, we got berated

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and–and–and––so we got banned from playing again at–at the school function. So, yep. That was our first taste of–of anarchy––it

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was fun. So shifting now to your immigration experience––so you immigrated here pretty early, and you first came to––when you first came to the U.

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S. you arrived in Vegas. So, you know, why'd you–why'd you choose Vegas specifically, and I guess what motivated you to immigrate to the US in the first place?

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Oh, I had––so when I was 20 years old, I got a letter from the Embassy that––saying that I have to process my immigrant status because I was approved

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for–for–for a green card. So–so because my–my–my biological pare—or dad put my––he was–he was living here in the States already. I haven't––I've never

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really met him before, but he put my name as one of the kids. So he–he want––he–he–he got––he petitioned all like his kids and then he included me. So yeah, and then my––when we got the letter

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my–my surrogate parents said,"Oh, yeah, you–you should–you should take this opportunity." And yeah, I–I just took it, and I dropped everything. I was in college.

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I dropped everything and then processed—‘cause I had to be here before I turned 21. And then yeah, and then after that, I lived in Vegas because my biological brothers were in Vegas, so that's why.

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I didn't have anywhere to stay, so it was––I just lived with them for–for–for a year or so. It was pretty weird, but yeah . So you said you dropped everything before coming here.

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So what were you studying or planning to study in college before, you know, you let all of it down? Oh, I was actually a–a–a physical therapy student. I was–I was in my sopho––no, actually I

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was in third year of–of–of physical therapy school. And then from there, yeah, I just dropped everything and then–and then yeah, I went to the States.

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When you first came to the States, what kind of culture shock did you experience, and how did you eventually find other people who were, you know, into punk and hardcore music? Yeah, it was just––it was pretty weird. Like I–I was living in a–in a smaller

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city, kinda an island, you know, Philippines. And then you–you go somewhere like Vegas, which has like lights and everything. And yeah, it was–it was out of a movie, like–like, oh,

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that–that was my first introduction of America, is Vegas. So I had to get accustomed to how–how you talk or how you interact with people, and yeah, it––it's–it's––I had to

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learn to—like even like if you go to a fast food joint––back home at that time, after you eat, you don't really clean up after yourselves back home in the Philippines, ‘cause they have

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employees that clean up. Here, I had to learn how to do that, like, so, like oh man, I didn't know so yeah. it was stuff like that, simple stuff like that.

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So from Vegas, can you tell me about your history in other cities in the US, and did you join like bands in these––in other cities? Yeah, I actually––well, actually my first band was in Vegas.

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I–I––after like a few years, I was kind of getting because before––like, when I moved–when I moved to the States, I lived here for maybe six months or seven months.

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I just worked, and then saved up some money to go home and finish college and then––and went back after finishing college. And then when–when I was like done with every school, and then I'm living here like for–for good, like that's when I started

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looking for bands. And then I–I found a band here––in Vegas. It was my first band, like I answered an ad on some website, but like it

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was––there wasn't even a–a Craigslist at that time, it was more of a, like a forum for–for local bands, or for local artists in–in regions, so like Ve—I–I look up Vegas and then look up punk bands looking for–for

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a guitar player. So I–I messaged the guy, and then—this guy, and then he said, “Yeah, we're–we're looking for actually a bass player,” so like, alright, I'll–I'll–I'll play bass, but I–I even told him like, yeah, but I'm

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kind of short . Like, he said, "Dude, it doesn't matter." "Like, alright, cool." ‘Cause I–I didn't know. I was–I was insecure. Like, I saw, like, American dudes like who are super tall and I was

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like short, 5'5”, and like––and–and yeah, and then that's when I started playing a little bit and then––‘cause—and then I tried to save up for–for–for a bass and some gear, ‘cause back

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home in the Philippines, you––some–some, like, bands don't even have their own guitars, so you–you would go to a studio and they have like all the guitars there, and you rent and then you play, or you go to shows and then you

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just come up to a–a guy that has like a guitar, "Hey, can I borrow your guitar to like play?" Stuff like that. We––and then here, you have to have your own amp, your own guitar, or bass, or whatever.

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So I learned that, and–and then slowly—and then I moved––my wife––I met my wife in Vegas––at Vegas, and then we moved to Florida. And then in Florida, I had a band

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for about a few years, and then we stayed in For—in–in Fort Lauderdale for five years, and then we moved to Texas, in Houston, and then I didn't even play––I––like, we moved here, I–I

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didn't play for about few years, and then like she said, "Oh yeah–yeah I think you–you need to play in a band again." So, yeah, I started looking for a band, then yeah, from there, I–I started jamming again with other people, which led me to now, which is playing

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for Liberty and Justice. So initially, you were having trouble––like in the bio you sent me, you were having trouble finding a band in–in Vegas. So–so you took up the bass after someone gave you

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advice to switch. So why do you think you have more success with the bass guitar––there's just not enough good bass players out there? No, not–not–not enough, no, I wouldn't say not

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enough––I mean not enough good pla—bass players, but not enough bass players, because everyone wanted to play guitar. I was a guitar player when I–I from back home, and then yeah, like, I told you that guy at the

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guitar store told me that, yeah, “Just play bass and you'll find a band pretty easy, and–and–and you won't have a hard time looking for–for a band,” so yeah, which is pretty true.

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Because yeah, everybody wants to be a guitar player or a singer, and if you want to be in a band, play drums or bass. And yep. You always get the gig. You kind of touched upon this earlier, when you were telling us

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about how, you know, in the––back in the Philippines, no one––or not a lot of people had their own gear, right, they––you–you would borrow it. So how is the band culture different in the Philippines compared to the U.

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S., you know, are there any major differences you've noticed? Yeah, actually, pretty actually huge difference, ‘cause—like this was wh-when I was starting, like

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from the 90s. I don't know now, because now I think all––most of the bands now, back home, have their own gear, okay, . But this was like 90s, so we even like, if–if

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you–if you–if you snap a string, we’d even try to–to see if we can still use it by–by winding it back and get the ball joined and then just tie it back around and then restringing it, just if it's enough length, so—it–it

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was––I don't know, it–it was harder to get––it was expensive to get electric guitars or band stuff back then. Now it's easier, like I

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mean, there's–there's some––and–and the culture is––like for shows we––back home, we–we would book like 10 or 20 bands, but everyone would just line up and then just––this was my experience when we were

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doing shows, like first band would play three songs and then everyone just leave, use the same equipment, and then the other three bands or o-other band would play three songs again, and then—and here.

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it-it's like we go––you got like 30 minutes set, plus setup time, and–and so but other than that, it's all like––it's all punk rock, kids would do the same: mosh, pogo, and–and–and just have fun and–and–and

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scream–scream and shout. And yeah, just get rowdy and stuff. So going back to, you know, your experience in bands, where do you draw inspiration from, you

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know, for your songwriting, and what are some of your musical influences? I know you touched on this a bit earlier, and then maybe you can touch upon how your influences have changed throughout the years.

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Yeah, my–my first––like I–like I said. I–I listened––when I was younger, I listened to like the Sex Pistols. And then Minor Threat, Descendants, Black Flag, but over the years, I've

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listened to like ska, and like New Wave stuff, dark wave, electronic music, trying to be open-minded. And then a lot of––I used to listen to a lot of hardcore, metalcore, and—but now it's

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more, I don't know, like there are times that I want to listen to–to quieter music, or sometimes if I want to like just kind of––I might––when I'm driving I listen to like something softer or something po—like poppy.

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And if I'm–I'm working I'm cutting at the shop, I listen to like a lot of–of hardcore stuff, so—and then you said, what, songwriting? How do–how do

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I? Or–or–– I guess your creative process, kinda–– I've noticed that whenever I try to write a riff, I write better riffs when I wake up in the morning, and

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then—than like, right now, like after the day, and–and—I mean after working, and then un-unwinding, it's–it's harder for me to concentrate. I–I don't know why. I guess that's like if I'm well rested and then

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stuff pops up and like oh, and then I can just easily record it on my cell phone. And then yeah, it's–it's––I'm more–I'm more inclined to make riffs when–when––I'm not––like

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my mind is still fresh. Yeah. Can you touch upon some of the challenges you faced in your previous bands, or your current band and kind of how did you overcome them?

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Challenges? Like what kind of challenges? Like––well, I mean, my–my personal challenge is trying to keep up with–with my band members, like I've–I've––I have this idea in my mind that if I join a band

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that the other members are way better than me, I want that because it challenges me and I learned from–from–from them, I–I–I just grow. So like, I–I've been really lucky to play with a lot of like great

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musicians, which helped me grow, like the one that really–really helped me a lot was––I–I–I was in a band with Chris LaForge––I don't know if you heard him, from 30 Foot Fall. He–he was really like a

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really great musician. He––sadly he passed away a few years ago, but as a short time we've–we've been in a–a band together, I learned so much from him, and he never really––like

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he–he's like an amazing guitar player, but he never tries to––I was never a-a-afraid, or–or–or how do you–how do you call that––I've never really––I–I

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mean, I–I just went for it, and he–he–he understood that I was kind of hesitant to–to––like I–I––like in my mind, that I was not really a good player, but he–he just lifted me up and then yeah, just showed me how–how–how you do stuff, and from there

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like, yeah, just I–I learned and I grew, which is—I was very fortunate. And now like my–my–my band Liberty and Justice, like, everyone is–is just such a amazing musician

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that, yeah, that's my–my–my struggle is to try to keep up with them, which is—I–I like, ‘cause I––it helps me try the stuff that I normally won't do, and then yeah, I–I–I grow with

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that. On the topic of your current band Liberty and Justice, how did you, you know, when you came to Houston, you started jamming with people. Can you tell us more about how you found out about Liberty

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and Justice and how you initially, you know, joined them? Yeah. So I'm–I'm gonna give you the–the backstory of––that which led me to be–be in the band. So I

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make my own hair products. So I–I make pomade. So I–I met this guy, Ryan Taylor. He's a barber at Cut

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Throat. At–at that time, he was in Cut Throat. So he–he–he called––he mentioned to me, just, “We wanna carry your products,” so–so I–I–I talked to him, I met him and then from there, he–he went to

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East End, which now is East End Barber, and he took that over, and he made it––he––it was––at first it was a branch of Cut Throat, and then now he took over it and then he called it East End Barbers. And then, so I–I was

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supplying their–their pomade, a-and we've been friends for a while, and he knew that I–I played in a band so–so he–he—him and–and Johnny Rioux and Reese, our old guitar player,

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they–they had this––the–the project, Liberty and Justice, so he hit me up like, "Hey, do you want to play in a super part-time band?" "Like, al-alright cool, I-I'll play in that!" I've

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always wanted to play in a band with him. So and then from there, yeah, that's how I got in, from being––making pomade, being friends with–with–with

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barber—Ryan and–and–and that. He's the singer for–for Liberty so, yeah. Can you define the sound of Liberty and Justice for us? It's a––we have–we have been called the–The Village

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People of punk rock, ‘cause it's such a––we–we play a lot––we play a–a lot of different styles of music, like everyone, each one of the band––of band members have their own style.

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Ra-Ramsay, our guitar player, have his–his indie rock kinda punk rock feel, and then Halston, he's into like hardcore, but he's like an amazing like jazz, R&B. guitar player, and then Ryan has his own style of singing, and

00:30:59.850 - 00:31:16.370

then Corey, our drummer has a–a rock and roll feel. And I–I play––I don't know what I ––what you can categorize me, but I guess punk rock, and then yeah, we––our songs are––goes from

00:31:16.700 - 00:31:34.010

from Rock n' Roll to–to oi!, to we put some hardcore songs, and basically, we just tried to play pop songs that are––that have oi!

00:31:34.010 - 00:31:49.540

influence and punk rock influence. And–and–and right now we're trying to do some other stuff as well. So we're not really like a traditional oi! band. Gotcha.

00:31:51.040 - 00:32:08.270

And one of your band's songs I listened to recently, it's called Immigrant Rock n’ Roll, which, you know, deals with contemporary issues and topics involving race, mass media and immigration. Your band's name, you know, Liberty and Justice obviously alludes to this, but what

00:32:08.270 - 00:32:20.340

motivi-motivates you guys to sing about these things? Is thi–maybe is there some interesting backstory? Well, Ryan wrote that song, and then I wrote my verse,

00:32:21.030 - 00:32:33.530

and then he, yeah, he kept––actually I–I was––I thought that was really––it was pretty cool. Like he titled it Immigrant Rock and Roll because, like, o-our band is always all inclusive.

00:32:33.530 - 00:32:49.860

We–we don't really––and we-we try to sing about stuff that are relevant, but not really hateful, but will open your eyes, and yeah, that's the song

00:32:49.860 - 00:33:01.790

that––I think i-it's perfect song for–for everyone. And then my verse is about being home —from Philippines and then coming here

00:33:03.290 - 00:33:22.970

and then trying be a good citizen, and then, yeah. So, you know, based on that song, what is the kind of response you guys hope to invoke, or kind of the message that you would like to put forth is it?

00:33:23.160 - 00:33:36.640

You know, about inclusivity and, you know, diversity, that sort of thing? Yeah. It's–it's––I mean––it's–it's—our message is–is that, like everyone––we're all immigrants in

00:33:36.640 - 00:33:51.660

this–in this country, and we should just, yeah, not hate anyone that's not––th-that's different and then this is our–our––it's our music, it's–it's just rock and roll, it's for everyone.

00:33:54.890 - 00:34:08.370

Your band's most recent album was released in June of 2021. So it's not been too long since a release, but are you guys always working on writing new music?

00:34:09.600 - 00:34:27.890

Yeah, actually, you know, we—last night we practiced and we're getting ready to record eight songs for an EP, but I don't know if every—all the songs are going to be in the–in the EP but––‘cause the–the

00:34:27.890 - 00:34:42.970

label wanted us to–to make another song before we head out to Europe. So yep, we're–we're–we're—and the songs are coming up pretty good, so it's–it's different from Pressure,

00:34:43.420 - 00:34:56.670

our–our second one, the–the one that we got released last year––or actually—yeah, it was––I think it was last year. Everything's a blur for–for us.

00:34:57.590 - 00:35:15.500

Yeah, but, oh–oh yeah, we were gonna record those new songs and then yeah, we were gonna––hopefully it will be out this year. Yeah. You mentioned that the–the new music you're writing for the EP

00:35:15.500 - 00:35:31.350

is––it's going to be different from Pressure. So what's different about it, if–if you can tell me anything about your new music at this point? Well, we're–we're gonna do––it's gonna be a little bit more

00:35:31.780 - 00:35:54.120

darker, ‘cause it's–it's like, we're trying to—like from–from our first album, which is for all, which is more like a happy kinda chanting music, and–and then Pressure is more of like, a little more darker than that, and

00:35:54.120 - 00:36:10.070

then the third one. I guess it's more like mature and–and we're going to add a different kind of––not just punk or–or hardcore, so a di-different genre, which I–I–I don't wanna tell you .

00:36:11.660 - 00:36:28.250

No worries. You know, as you are aware, punk and hardcore music can be associated with, you know, racism and hate––obviously not the––the majority of punk and

00:36:28.290 - 00:36:45.830

hardcore is not, but with that being said, have you ever faced any hardships, for example, racism due to your race in the–in the scene? Personally, I've—at-at–at the shows, I've–I've never

00:36:45.830 - 00:36:56.520

really encountered anything. I've encountered racism at work, not–not the barbershop, but I used to work at a hospital. That's where I encountered

00:37:00.650 - 00:37:16.180

racism, especially when around 2016 to, and then from there, I've–I've–I've experienced more and more racism and then––but that's when, you

00:37:16.660 - 00:37:31.710

know, when they––the––but compared to like from when I started––when I lived here in ‘97, I've never really had an experience, or I was just

00:37:33.120 - 00:37:53.760

gullible, or I was—I don't know, I–I–I just didn't really had a––I wa—I was lucky that I–I wasn't really exposed to that much racism, but it's just unfortunate that other people really experienced that daily, which is, it shouldn't

00:37:54.010 - 00:38:09.920

be––it shouldn't happen, actually. Not, especially now. Yes, it is unfortunate, but I'm glad to hear that your experience in the scene has mostly been positive. Everyone takes care of––especially like if

00:38:09.920 - 00:38:28.530

you go to shows that are––it's just––I don't know, like–like if you're a real punk rocker or–or hardcore kid, yeah, race, hate, and any––like race doesn't really count, and hate is not––it's

00:38:31.220 - 00:38:47.700

not–it's not cool, like, I mean, yeah. So you've come a long way from your arrival here in ‘97 to now. In fact, you mentioned in the bio

00:38:47.700 - 00:38:59.740

that you sent to me that you've played with a lot of your heroes in the scene. So tell me what–what that's like. Yeah, I–I played with Agnostic Front.

00:39:01.760 - 00:39:16.520

That was pretty cool. Like you–you—at–at–at first, I was like super nervous to like be in face to face with the bands that–that the––or the band that–that I really love,

00:39:16.580 - 00:39:33.690

and then I realize that if they've heard your band, then–then—I've had one of the–one of the––my heroes tell me that, "Oh, yeah, you're a badass bass player, man," like, and that means so much. So, and it's just

00:39:33.690 - 00:39:52.250

the same like kinda––I–I try not to be a fanboy in front of them, because I–I try to keep it cool, but i-inside I want to just kind of hug them and scream and–and–and it-it's just a––it's an awesome feeling to

00:39:52.250 - 00:40:08.110

play with–with–with the––open for your––the–the––your heroes. Yeah, sounds amazing, and I want to go back to your immigrant experience now. You know, as an

00:40:08.110 - 00:40:30.720

Asian immigrant, what would you say has been the hardest part of your experience? Being away from your family and trying to…Yeah, just–just–just

00:40:31.370 - 00:40:47.100

being away with your loved ones is–is–is a really tough one for me, like ‘cause like my–my–my adopted parents were back home. Then my–my–my––and my brothers were back home, and

00:40:47.100 - 00:41:03.410

so––and my friends were all back home. Even though like I made friends here, it's just different too like, if–if–if you grew up with him, and then you rarely see them now, and this is your life now, you live here.

00:41:04.180 - 00:41:18.230

You have to—it's a di-different way. Like, how you deal with people back home is–is totally different than how you deal with people right here. I mean, did you–did you grow up here, or–or you were––you––you

00:41:19.650 - 00:41:35.000

were born here, or you–– Yeah, I was born here. I was born here. Ok, so it's–it's how we—sometimes it's–it's—some people would think that it is weird for–for some

00:41:35.280 - 00:41:58.140

stuff, like being––how––yeah I–I lost my train of thought, but yeah. And then one thing too is–is the language, like I ha—it's not my–my––it's not

00:41:59.740 - 00:42:09.070

my mother tongue. It's–it's––I have to think like––for–for—to speak in English, I have to think of what I have to say first, it doesn't really come out naturally.

00:42:09.810 - 00:42:33.160

So yeah, I–I stutter and I–I sometimes I have to take a while to think of what I have to say, if it makes sense or not, so yeah, language barrier and stuff. You mentioned how family is––was a big part of that

00:42:33.160 - 00:42:45.810

challenge of immigration. So are you still in close contact with your adoptive parents or your friends in the Philippines? Yeah, well, my–my–my adoptive

00:42:46.260 - 00:43:02.520

parents already passed, but my brother is–is still back home, so we st-still keep in touch, and my friends, through social media, we st-still talk, which is–is pretty helpful.

00:43:05.890 - 00:43:20.160

I'd like to shift now to some of your perspectives on current issues or topics. First question I have is, as you're most likely aware, there's been a rise in anti-Asian sentiment

00:43:20.300 - 00:43:35.520

recently, especially due to the pandemic. So since punk and hardcore has always been politically charged, or involved with trying to promote social change, what do you think punk musicians or hardcore musicians can do to combat this

00:43:35.520 - 00:43:56.150

sentiment or fight back? If, like, through our songs, we should educate people, not—‘cause I mean, sometimes the hate comes

00:43:56.150 - 00:44:14.280

from not understanding and–and misinformation, especially Asians were blamed for the pandemic, which is–is—it sucks. It's–it's—and–and now all these hate, it's actually like even

00:44:14.840 - 00:44:31.180

directed to older Asian folks, like I've seen a lot of–of–of news that they always target older people, which is like, it–it really breaks my

00:44:31.180 - 00:44:48.490

heart every time I read about it. So our songs are about trying to watch out for each other and educate that this is not—what's going on with the

00:44:48.490 - 00:45:03.330

world is not caused by one particular people or one particular person, or it's not caused by anyone. It's just––it's an event that we have no control of, but we have

00:45:03.330 - 00:45:22.720

to live with it, and we have to watch out for each other and not blame a certain sect—that it was their–their–their—they’re the reason for it. Yeah. When you think about yourself in the scene, do

00:45:22.720 - 00:45:33.580

you identify yourself as an Asian musician, an Asian American musician, you know, an American musician, or do you think this classification even matters at all?

00:45:38.360 - 00:45:53.960

Actually, I am guilty of saying I am an Asian musician. I mean, ‘cause I'm–I'm still not an American, because I–I still have my green card. It's–it's just that I'm not––I didn't go through the citizenship yet, so

00:45:53.960 - 00:46:12.000

I'd say I'm Asian musician. I'm an Asian punk kid, or punk rocker––I don't––yeah. Can you tell me about your perspective on Houston––Houston's punk and hardcore scene, and how it

00:46:12.000 - 00:46:28.750

compares to other regional punk and hardcore scenes you've been a part of? Yeah, for–for—I've lived in Vegas, and they have a pretty good punk scene, and in Fort Lauderdale,

00:46:30.050 - 00:46:49.550

my experience is not so good, I wasn't really involved too much, but in–in Houston, I––this is where I really––I think I flourished here, because all the–the–the people are very welcoming.

00:46:49.710 - 00:47:09.380

And I feel like the scene is more united, as cliché–cliché as it may sound, like everyone knows each other and–and–and there's new––there's––like right now there's a

00:47:10.440 - 00:47:24.610

ton of new bands that are played, and then—which is like amazing. So it's growing, it's still growing, and–and yeah, it's–it's been a good few years for–for the Houston punk scene.

00:47:28.760 - 00:47:47.370

Do you like––would you say that you like the U. S., you know, punk and hardcore scene better than the scene in the Philippines? I like them both the same way because it's–it's–it's different.

00:47:47.370 - 00:48:03.250

You can't really like one––I–I can't really–I can't really choose, because the Philippine punk scene or is–is my like stomping ground, that's where I–I–I

00:48:05.600 - 00:48:20.550

learned and–and became a punk kid. And that's my roots. You can't really not––you can't love anything else, or other than—what do we call that––you can't

00:48:23.770 - 00:48:40.300

love something else be-before your roots, you know what I'm saying? Like, it has to be like the same––and then from–from the U. S. punk scene, like here in Houston, this is where I grew–grew as well, like I–I learned a lot, so it's–it's the same for me.

00:48:40.340 - 00:48:59.010

Like, I can't choose which one I like better. What is your perspective on the future of Asians and Asian Americans in the scene? Being in the U. S. scene for quite some time, have you noticed a

00:48:59.010 - 00:49:17.490

shift in Asian participation, perhaps more or less? Yeah, I've–I've seen more and more Asian bands, actually in–in San Francisco, a buddy of mine, they–they have records, which is

00:49:17.540 - 00:49:36.540

mainly a lot of––most of are–are–are Asians––bands of Asian descent, and then there's a––they–they really try to spread the word, and then through social media, there's another––there's other like

00:49:38.280 - 00:49:56.360

groups that are trying to educate and show that Asians are–are in–in punk bands too, or they're Asian musicians, not just punk, other genres. So it's–it's, we're–we're getting

00:49:56.360 - 00:50:16.370

more visible and getting more recognized. Speaking of other genres, have you ever been a part of a band that wasn't punk or hardcore? Well, it's–it's still kind of punk adjacent, like ska, I was in

00:50:18.190 - 00:50:36.300

ska–ska band, or ska punk, but I guess it's the same it's still ska-core. Let me see what else. No, I've always played in a kind of punk,

00:50:36.330 - 00:50:54.140

hardcore adjacent band. You mentioned earlier about your business called “pomps not dead” , which seems to have some sort of a cult following among people who like punk and hardcore music.

00:50:54.670 - 00:51:15.730

So tell me about your business, and like why you started it, and your clientele. Yeah, it's–it's––actually it just started because I–I wanted to make hair products, and then the themes

00:51:16.350 - 00:51:32.020

are the bands that I like. So the–the names of the–the products are based off the bands that—like one of my favorite bands, like–like, Sick of It All, like that band Sick of It All, I have a product called Slick of It

00:51:32.020 - 00:51:49.720

All, or Pompage, which is–which is like from the band–from the band Descendants because they like coffee.

00:51:49.810 - 00:52:02.610

That's why it's––the–the pomade is coffee-scented, and then they like to use words and then add “age” to the end. So like––so that's why Pompage, and then I–I just

00:52:02.780 - 00:52:19.150

made the products to actually hang out with the bands I like––I just show them like, "Hey, I love your band, and I made this product." And–and they-they've––I've–I've––all the bands that I've messaged or–or–or did

00:52:19.440 - 00:52:37.010

some–some–some influence for the products, they—always a positive result or positive remark from them, and then I tend to like meet them. If they're in town, like hey, and I get invited .

00:52:40.690 - 00:53:00.540

So how long have you had the business? This year is gonna be my 10th year now, ‘cause I started 2012, so ‘22 is my 10th year. Oh, wow. So you've been, you know, making the product for a

00:53:00.540 - 00:53:14.020

while now? Yeah–yeah. 10 years. It's just small. I mean, it's more of like, hobby, but yeah, I–I–I just still, I just

00:53:14.020 - 00:53:30.520

enjoy making it. Do you have any advice for aspiring punk musicians, whether, you know, they play guitar, bass, drums, and especially for those who are perhaps Asian or Asian

00:53:30.520 - 00:53:47.270

American? I–I–I would just––if–if they're a young kid or an older cat, if they're just starting to play guitar, I always tell them yeah, there-there's—always practice, and there's no––it's never too late.

00:53:47.480 - 00:54:04.120

If they're older, and they’re, “Oh I'm too old to play guitar,” naw, it's never too late to learn how to play an instrument because I mean, I–I started like––now I'm 45––even though I-I-I've been playing since I was in high

00:54:04.320 - 00:54:20.160

school, I stopped and I never really focused on playing, like right now like with Liberty, until like I-I turned like 40. So, yeah, it's–it's–it's never too late, and then just–just

00:54:21.720 - 00:54:36.790

stick with it, like if you–if you really enjoy it, yeah, just–just have fun and don't–don't–don't think about––just don't think about the––like what other people would say.

00:54:36.790 - 00:54:53.490

You know? Because we have a lot to offer––Asians have a lot to offer. Absolutely. So, to close off this interview, I just like to ask, is there anything else you would like to

00:54:53.490 - 00:55:15.550

share that maybe I didn't cover in the interview? Like–– Just anything you'd like to share, or if there's anything on your mind, anything like that, really. . If not, no worries, I

00:55:15.550 - 00:55:32.010

mean no pressure. I don't think I––we–we––I think we covered everything. Yeah. Yeah, we covered a lot of ground. It was great talking with you today about, you know, your

00:55:32.900 - 00:55:45.150

musical experiences spanning all the way from, you know, when you were in the Philippines to now in Houston, so it's long, and a journey with lots of cool experiences, so thanks so much for sharing that with us today.

00:55:45.150 - 00:55:50.010

Yeah, and thanks for–for considering me for this interview, and I really appreciate it.