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Okay, today is February 25, 2021. My name is Ann Shi. I'm interviewing Kevin Trinidad for the Houston Asian American Archive at Rice University.

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Thank you, Kevin, for joining us today. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. It's great to be here. And I guess, how have you been since the last— the last week was crazy with the winter storm and the

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freezing temperature without electricity for many Houstonians. Oh, yeah, um, I mean, I was prepared for it, but I wasn't prepared enough. And I did survive. It's just, and I

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didn't have that much about bad conditions, it’s just mentally it affected me. So because I haven't experienced anything like that before. We used to have like a snowstorm in Washington where I used to live, and we would

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have power the whole time. So it wasn't that bad. But this one was definitely a bit... and I needed some time to, to

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get over it and a bit. And now this week, our classes started back up, and are they pushed back our assignments, but it doesn't help because now if we just do it last minute, we're just going to be

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swamped with work. So it's like, pretty much got to manage our time right now. Okay, good. Good to hear at least you're alright. So good to go back to our, I guess, life history.

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To start with, your coming into existence: where and when were you born? I was born in San Diego, California. 1990 October 1st. My dad was a sailor in the US Navy.

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And my mom was an accountant. And well, they met in Hawaii, because my dad was stationed there. And then somehow they ended up getting stationed in San Diego and then me and my brother were born there.

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And your brother is older or younger than you? Yeah, my brother was three years— yeah, my brother is three years older than me. He was actually born during the Gulf War.

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And my dad wasn't with him when he was born; but he was with there with me. So your parents, they were born back in the Philippines? Yeah, my... so my dad, I've been told that he's from Manila. And my mom is from a town called...

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well no, it's called San Antonio in the Philippines. Yeah. So they're from different places in the Philippines. What are some of the stories about the Philippines that they share with you during

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your upbringing? Okay, during upbringing, um, the currency rate was different at times. So they'd tell me that, if you go there were $5 you know that the currency rate you're going to get like a million pesos.

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And they did tell me a lot of stories about how like people and the culture there and how things are like; how our cars are different, and you know, grocery stores are different; and markets are different; food is different.

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They just, yeah, it's-it's a really different world. And I always wanted to go there. And they're like, 'cause they grew up there, they're like, "We don't want to go there, because we grew up there, and you're not gonna like it."

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So yeah, they– they kind of they painted a good picture; and they also painted a bad picture. And then I finally went there when, during when I was in the Navy, and it wasn't much of a culture shock, but I mean, it was

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everything they taught me it was gonna be. What was your earliest childhood memories, if you could share with us? Let's see. Early childhood memories. So my dad, he's actually deceased right now.

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But my earliest memories of him was... he would... I think the movie Aladdin came out, and I really liked that movie. So my dad would put

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me on the carpet and drag the carpet around the house. Because he wanted— I wanted, I told him I wanted a magic carpet. And I guess he made that happen. Yeah, um, we, my dad and all his friends, they're

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all Filipino. And they had camaraderie going. So we actually had an extended family in San Diego, and we would have potlucks once a month. So I just had a lot of interaction with people.

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And yeah, when he passed away, we had to move to Hawaii, where my mom lived with her sister, and we had to live with them for a bit and so we could buy a house. And then I had memories over there because I have cousins there too.

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So yeah, a lot of my upbringings was just just hanging out with family as kid— playing around as kids. Yeah, that must be very difficult on the family, with that kind of traumatic experience.

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I'm wondering, how did your mom cope with it... and the family? I believe my mom would, I think me and my brother would take turns.

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So, first, my mom would hug me and cry for like, maybe 20 to 30 minutes. And then she would let me go and say, "Okay, go get your brother." And then she would hold my brother, and she would cry and sob for like, maybe

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30 minutes. And let's see, there's that. I also had to. After we moved to Hawaii, I had to see a therapist, because I wasn't concentrating in school.

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And they had to, and then I was a bit traumatized as a kid, because... so my dad was murdered. And they had to explain to me that, "Okay, so they're not going to try and murder you, because you

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live here in Hawaii now." And they want to— how do I say it? Yeah, they said, "The sharks are in the ocean, and they can't swim, because the sharks will eat them." That's what they explained to me.

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Well, I'm very sorry to hear that. But... glad your family have strived through the difficulties okay. And yeah. And I'm wondering, what are some of the familial val— family

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values that your upbringing has been emphasized with? Oh, let's see family values. I used to— every now and then I would fight my brother. So my mom would want me to not fight with him.

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At one point, I did hit on him and, and she just said, "Okay, if you spill blood, like it's over for you." So like, she wanted me to… she wanted me to do good at school, and she wanted me to not fight with people.

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So I guess that's a family value. And what are some of the foods that you had in your family? Can you share some recipes or your favorite dishes with us? Yeah, definitely.

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Chicken Adobo My mom makes it a special way. I think she puts wine in there too while it's boiling. But you got to cook it slow so the meat’s tender. And that's like, that's the best.

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I could never recreate it. There's also— it's called "arroz caldo". It's also a Spanish dish that the Mexicans also have, is the rice soup. That's

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actually my favorite that my grandma cooked for me before I left for the Navy. My mom also makes "Flan," which is also you know, Spanish influence dish. And she has a secret recipe that only she knows how "shrimp

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lumpia," which you just buy a whole bunch of shrimp, and each lumpia has a shrimp inside of it. And that was actually like a favorite that my mom makes and like every time we were invited to a party, she would make that.

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That sounds delicious. Great. And I'm wondering in Hawaii, how would you remind me how old were you when you first moved to Hawaii? And what was the neighborhood like?

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Oh, let's see. I was six years old. The first neighborhood we lived at was called Makakilo, on the west side of Oahu. So what it is, is Oahu has Honolulu and on the east side where it's all developed, and everything's like nice

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and beautiful there. And then on the west side was still developing. So we're— they built a neighborhood on the mountain. So you have to drive two miles up a mountain to get home. And when you drive down, it's just you're

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just on breaks the whole time. So the first neighborhood was a— yeah, Makakilo that was like a— it's just a big residential neighborhood and just old houses, new houses, and I lived in my auntie's house with my cousins, and

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at least for a couple months, until my mom got a job and bought a house. And what was the demographics like and were there a Filipino community? It was very prominently Asians. So Japanese, Filipinos, and what's interesting there

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is that the locals there are mixed with either Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, German; it's they're all mixed into one and the people from Hawaii just say, "I'm, I'm this, this, and that." So it was very, like very Asian

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diversity there. And actually Whites and Blacks are the minorities over there. That's interesting. Um, and do you remember any, like, kind of events that stand out about, like the

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distinguished racial identities? Man, events that stood out. I do know, it's like, there really isn't much of a racial problem there. But I do notice in school, like we would have, you know, Caucasian families

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and Caucasian students and people tend to, you know, tend to say things about them, like, "Hey, these guys are just Houle’s , they're, they're just visiting." And I don't know, they call, they called one person a polar bear

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one time. At first like growing up around that I just didn't think of it's a big deal. But then moving here to the mainland, where I work with mostly Caucasian people, and I realized, you know, a lot of

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that stuff isn't going to apply. You know, bringing that to the mainland. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. And also, I'm wondering what was the— so you are studying in— until

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high school in Hawaii, what were some of the experiences back in school and, for example, your fav- your favorite subject back then? Just some random school memories. Oh, man, random school memories.

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Let's see, I guess I was part of a dance team. It was like a hip hop thing. We did like choreo- choreographed dances. And we performed, we started off performing at a banquet

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for the freshmen. And then we ended up performing at a— let's see high school football games. I mean, this was the school's club, funded club. So it was— you were always going to get booked for that.

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And we performed for, like a state fair. And I thought that was really cool. But that was actually my first time like getting on stage in

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front of like, thousands of people. And, and it's interesting, because I was always like, the kid with glasses, that was quiet. Everyone thought I was a dork. And then they see me on stage dancing, and they, they just completely,

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"What? I just didn't expect you to be up there," you know? Yeah, it's like when you're on stage, you're like a completely different person. So that was a pretty fond memory for me.

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That's super fun and interesting to hear that you're have a kind of dedicated stage persona. Is that like, how you started inserting yourself with music and performance?

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Um, well, man, it just felt like that was the first time I did it. And then every time after that, it just felt like, there's— you know, when if you're going to give a speech, like a presentation for a project, you just don't feel like

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you're into it. But if it's something like a song you wrote, and then you perform it on stage in front of millions of people, it's just completely different. Like you're not shy to perform it, because you know what the song is about.

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And you're not a— you're not as objective to it, because this is like something that you wanted to do. But yeah, um, so I think that the other high profile event I ever performed in was, was part of a flag detail in the Navy.

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And we were at the ballgame to the Seattle Mariners, so that, it's a weeknight, so I think they sold like maybe half the stadium. I'd say like, maybe 10,000 people. Yeah. And then we had to go out on the baseball field, and I was

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holding a little rifle and did a little thing. Well, I didn't do any flips. I just did the hat. That's it. Yeah. But yeah,

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that was actually one of the larger profile events I've done. Super cool. Yeah, I'm actually also curious, since you're one of the performing side, and also I know that as of recent, that you're composing as well.

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Did you started composing at that age? I actually started composing three years ago, I had a... Yeah, I had a bit of a traumatic experience. Another one, actually.

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Somebody was just lying to me about stuff. And I started playing guitar again. And my friend who's really into music that I worked with, he was always inviting me like, "Yeah, come– come

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jam with me! Come jam with me." And I'm like, "I don't know." And then I tell him, "Hey man, I started playing guitar again." It's like, "Okay, now you got to come jam with me." So then I did. And he played in bands before, and he taught me a lot

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of stuff. And yeah, it all went on from there. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. And I was jumping ahead a little bit, we could go back to your high school. After you graduated, you joined the Navy, right?

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Yes. What was the decision to do that? Well, it's funny, I just saw a tweet about this, this morning. I guess I decided, like towards the end of high school, I was like, "What do I want to do?" And I was like, "Hey, I want to go to art

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school." Because I just, I don't want to go to college and I just want to go to art school. And, and I wanted originally, I wanted to go to film school. And because I love, like watching films and

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telling stories. And I thought, "How am I going to pay for it?" Like, my mom is not gonna pay for it. And then, uh, yeah, the first the Navy called me, and they're like, "Hey, so how are you going to pay for college?" And like, ”I don't know," like, "Well, we'll pay

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for your college if you join the Navy." I was like, "Okay." And I guess I didn't. I wasn't really that informed of a decision at the time. But it was a good decision to make, to enlist after high school.

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And, yeah, and then the Army called me after I enlisted. And I was just like, "Sorry, too late." And you went to so many different places with the army, right? Yeah. Yeah.

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Can you share some of the experiences like, going to all these places? Yeah, one time we went to Morocco, in North Africa. And we, we took a— there's this thing called COMREL Community Relations trip where we would, the command or

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ship would set something up with an organization and to help out maybe some local people. So we went to an orphanage. And we split up into groups.

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So some people painted a wall, some people helped clean stuff up. And, and while the whole time, they were cooking lunch for us. So it was like, you know, it was a Mediterranean food. So it was couscous, pieces of beef,

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and a bunch of vegetables. And they served in a giant plate in the middle of our table. And then they gave us our plates, and they didn't give us any like forks or knives.

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And then we're like, "What?" We started looking at each other, like, "Are we gonna eat with our hands?" And then, the– the local girl who's our guide, and she was you know, wearing or, you know, shrub and stuff.

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And she's like, "Okay, guys dig in." And then, so she grabs it, and she grabbed the food with the couscous and you roll it into a ball in your hand like this. And then she goes this, she eats it like that.

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And yeah, so like, we were just all like, "Okay, guys, we all started eating our..." I think there were spoons, but then like it was just a spoon to put in your plate and eat it out of your hand from your plate. Yeah, so that was a pretty interesting memory.

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And what kind of cultural heritage was that eating– eating habit from if you remember? I believe. I mean, it was Morocco, but I believe you know, I heard the Egyptians, you know, ate with their

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hands back in the day. So you know, I think that's a... Yeah, probably something from like Africa, eating your hands and stuff. I'm sure they do it in another country, too.

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Yeah, actually my family ate with their hands in the Philippines. Yeah, they would, their– their hands would always be like this picking stuff up. And then they would insert the food like this, like that your hand is a

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spoon. Yeah. But my, my grandma, I think my grandma still eats her hands. But my mom stopped for a bit. And now she just eats with a fork and a spoon.

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Yeah, that's so interesting to hear about different culture heritage. And I'm also wondering with all these different places, you went, Guam, Florida, Washington, East Africa, Gulf of Oman, Philippines, and Malaysia.

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What are some of the experiences of building relationships with people and the locals? Um, like I said, um, you know, we did this COMRELs, so we did them all over. I can't remember where else

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we did a COMREL at. I believe we went to this island called Seychelles of the East, east coast of Africa, and a bunch of guys from our ship, they played soccer with their national football

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team of Seychelles. And I remember my boss was like, "Alright guys, so yeah, sign up if you want to play soccer. We're just letting you know these guys play all the time.

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So expect to lose." That was one of them. Man, I can't remember much. Yeah, that I believe that's one thing I remember.

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Sure. Thank you. And I'm wondering, especially one of the deployed location is Philippines. It's where your hometown. Like going back to like, where are your parents are from

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originally like, what are some of the, I guess cultural conflicts or heritage— from your own heritage in a way that you realize that wasn't originally found, and then you return your homeland and you found out about it?

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I guess you could you, could you, uh, the question was a bit too long, do you think you could... Sorry! Yeah, I know. Um, so yeah, I was just curious, like, kind of being brought up as a second generation

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and then going back to Philippines where your originally, your homeland is. Is there any kind of cultural— I guess, shock as well, in a way, because you were kind of going back to, as a foreigner? Oh, yeah.

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So when people— this is, at one point, I flew back to the Philippines to spend Christmas with, you know, with family over there, because I just wanted to experience something different for Christmas and New Year's.

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And like, when people are like, when they know you're coming, it's like, they make arrangements for you but not like... It's like, they know you have money.

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So they, they were, tried to extort some money out of me throughout the whole trip. And there's only like one ATM in like the town. So I just felt a bit uncomfortable.

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Because like, you know, all of a sudden, like, everyone starts visiting me. And then they asked me for money. And yeah, that was definitely a culture shock. Because they just, I don't know, it's just a thing.

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It's like a natural. Everyone goes through it when they go to the Philippines and visit them and the family members ask them for money. I see. Thank you for sharing that.

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Yeah. And I'm wondering, since you left the army in 2018, what were some of the decisions that, leading up to that? Oh, well, it was... Oh, yes, it’s the Navy.

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And I just, um, let's see, I was two years from leaving the military. And I thought, "What do I want to get into after?" And so first, I started doing photography, and...

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but I didn't like to do portraits or like, you know, get booked to do photography. I just wanted to create photographs. And that's, uh, yeah, it's kind of tough business to get into. And I want to be into travel photography, where I travel around

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and photograph stuff for magazines. So that's one thing. I thought maybe I could get into trading stocks for a living; and good thing I didn't like fully invest in that.

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So then, um, yeah, it all started when I started playing music, and I thought, okay, maybe I can go to school for music. And then at the same time, I can write songs. And then hopefully, by the time, you know, I'm done with school, I can, you

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know, launch a career in music. And I decided, yeah, that's a good plan to do, because it takes time to write songs. And yeah, so towards about a month,

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a year before I left the military, I started saving money and writing songs. And I decided I wanted to move to Texas because it's warmer. And I was stationed in Washington at the time because it was cold.

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But yeah, it was the main thing was just leaving Washington because I just couldn't take it. It's just, it was like, it was a type of place where if you weren't born there, you couldn't make friends with people if you're a transplant. So it was kind of

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hard living there. It's interesting, you move from the very north to the very south, and I guess that prepared you for last week. Yeah, well, what was some of the, I guess, favorite places that you've been

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after going from all these continents and all the places? Well, man, this is uh, like, right after I left the Navy, I went to Japan.

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And it was, Japan was not like any other country I've ever been to. It was just their way of living, like... so there are mini-marts have food, like

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healthy food, fresh food. And they had like sushi and ramen all ready to go. And it was just their way of food is like the quality of their food was just so much better in— than the US.

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And I felt like everybody either walks and takes the train. So everybody was healthy and everybody ate healthy food. And I'm not sure about like the work-life balance because yeah, but I mean, definitely people just seemed happier there.

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Are you still in touch with some of the people that you've met during the, your career in the military? Ah, probably, there are probably like one or two people. But it's just, it's pretty hard.

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You know, keep in contact with everybody. I know some people are, I believe they're paid or ranked right now. Some people I work with, like this year, they got promoted to E7. So that's like, it's a big— as they're called Chief.

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So that's like a big accomplishment. And it's kind of interesting, because when I met them, they were E4. And I was an E5, and then I left as an E5, and now they're an E7.

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So it's kind of interesting to see how they're progressing. Yeah. Thank you. And there's also one thing that I'm so fascinated with your life stories is that you mentioned you were homeless in 2019 for a couple of months.

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Can you share some stories around that? Yeah, well, so I wasn't typically, like, living on the streets. I was just living in Airbnbs. Like I hadn't, I didn't have a permanent mailing address.

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So basically, when I knew I wanted to move to Texas, and I'm like, "Okay, maybe I'll get a job first and pay off my car." And I thought, "Okay, yeah, that's a good dream, dude. And then when you go to school, you can focus on school and not worry about paying off your

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car." So first, I tried to use my military experience to get a job, because I had a lot of mechanical skills. And when I tried applying for these jobs, they found out that I needed electrical skills too, which in the Navy, when

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something broke, and it's electrical, I have to call the electrician. And it didn't work out so well in the civilian world. So, yeah, I applied for like a bunch of jobs.

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And let's see, I moved to, I drove to Houston in November, and… November of 2019. And then, let's see. No wait, okay.

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It was definitely November, December, January, February. And then I actually, I ended up getting the job. No, actually, it was September, October, November.

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Yeah. In September, I arrived in Houston. And I first I lived in a hostel, and then I had like four job interviews lined up. And then it took me about maybe two months to finally get a job.

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Only I didn't have my social security number, my card. And so I had to wait a month for that to come in. So I didn't start my job till November, actually. So from September to

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November, I... and then I needed the job to, to get the apartment. So basically from... Yes, September, October, November I was.

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And then before that, I moved out of my apartment. So in Washington, I was living in my, my friend's house, and all my furniture was in storage. So I guess you could say from July of 2019, all the way to

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November, I was without a permanent home. Yeah, and then I've lived in a bunch of Airbnbs. At one point, I lived with this lady who was like really crazy. And she says like, she would hear things that's going on in my room, like

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a hammering noise. And she's like, “What are you doing up there?” I'm like, “Nothing. I'm just reading a book.” And then it just she just got more and more crazier.

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And then I left and... Oh, it was so. I was just so relieved to leave. But she was she was really nice even though she was really crazy. And yeah.

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What was some of the kind of the feeling that you had when you were like living this kind of more like Nomad lifestyle? Um, well, it's, for the most part like

00:29:09.380 - 00:29:27.860

the Nomad lifestyle is, is pretty cool because it's like to not have a mailing address and not have a permanent home is interesting because you're always moving. I drove probably across the States, across the States three times from Cal—

00:29:28.020 - 00:29:40.080

from Florida to California, California to Washington, and then now Washington to Texas. And I did that with a car full of things. And I'll have my guitar with me too.

00:29:40.080 - 00:29:54.270

So I was just, I don't know, I'll see like, just the-the Mother, the Heartland. That's what they call it, of the US. You know, go to places where people were kind of staring at me funny, but I bet it's nice to see that part of the US

00:29:54.270 - 00:30:11.560

because people just you know, they just fly to city to city they don't really like they see the small towns. What are some of the places that stood out in your memory? Hmm, let's see. It probably had to be in the south, because

00:30:12.760 - 00:30:27.740

growing up in Hawaii, you know, here in the south, like you learn about the Civil Rights Movement and Southern food. Um, Nashville was an interesting city. Yeah, they have the Country Music Museum over there.

00:30:29.270 - 00:30:39.260

They had good soul food over there. And yeah, Nashville and Memphis. Memphis has a— it's where the Blues was born. And it's a street where all the Blues bars are at.

00:30:40.470 - 00:30:55.440

And yeah, so that's really interesting just to go to cities were prominently music, but you know, like Bluegrass and all the music that I'm used to hearing Reggae in Hawaii, and then all of a sudden, you know, I'm hearing Bluegrass

00:30:55.440 - 00:31:11.600

and Blues and Country music. Yeah, I guess that's a perfect segue to your musical career as you're now also taking classes at the H— HCC, the Houston Community College for your music degree.

00:31:12.280 - 00:31:22.820

Can you share with some of the journey? Like you spoke about starting as a performer in high school or earlier. And how does that lead to your like your journey

00:31:23.930 - 00:31:40.500

with music? Oh, yeah, um, well, I started playing guitar in high school, I took a guitar class and our assignments was, “Okay, learn the frets, learn the chords, and learn a

00:31:40.500 - 00:31:51.770

song.” And then they made us sing for everybody. And that was I guess, yeah, that was a, the essence of it. They made us like, "Okay, you have a week to perform, and you're

00:31:51.770 - 00:32:05.270

going to perform on Friday." And that's how each class was, and you had to do it in groups. I remembered the first performance, I was so scared. And it was just like, it was just sort of nerv-, so nerve wracking.

00:32:06.210 - 00:32:18.540

Um, eventually, during that class, I just started performing by myself while everybody else was in a group, because I don’t know it was just easier that way. And when during my time in the Navy, I

00:32:19.320 - 00:32:29.940

had to buy another guitar because I couldn't bring it to Guam with me. But towards the end of my service, I stopped playing guitar for like a bit. And then I started playing again.

00:32:30.420 - 00:32:44.160

And me and my friend, Eduardo, that's his name. Yeah. We're like, "Okay, let's do an open mic night." And it's like, you sign up, and you get to perform. And then that's it. "Okay, wow, let's do that." And

00:32:44.160 - 00:32:55.630

we rehearsed for a month straight. And it was just so nervous to do that. And it was just we performed in a bar, and there was like, maybe five people there.

00:32:56.800 - 00:33:06.000

But then we invited, I invited like three or four of my friends. So there was like, maybe 10 people in there. And yeah, so my friend played the drums. We just brought one big

00:33:06.000 - 00:33:20.830

drum, a Floor Tom it’s called, and then I had my electric guitar. And it goes just like the whole night, it was just people playing their acoustic guitars, and we just have like a little white stripes thing going on. And yeah, that was

00:33:20.830 - 00:33:36.030

actually like one of my most fondest memories. And then I started performing on my own for a bit. And then now I just performed by myself. What are the feelings you had when you're on stage and the

00:33:36.160 - 00:33:47.530

spotlights are on you? Oh, so it's super bright. So this one. Jay Zee Bay, he hosts an open mic set, at the Avant Garden in Montrose.

00:33:48.330 - 00:33:59.660

And he would set the lights down low, so the lights go upwards. And you know, you practice playing guitar, but then you don't practice with a flashlight going into your eye. So that was just...

00:33:59.860 - 00:34:11.590

Oh. And then I'm not afraid of like, people staring at me. Because on those open mics , it's like people are just at a bar, and they're just in tables talking to each other.

00:34:12.690 - 00:34:23.990

And they just want to listen to music. But most of the time, like some people are looking at you and... which is nice. But yeah, it's just sometimes play at bars, and people just don't, you know, acknowledge

00:34:23.990 - 00:34:35.980

you. Which is... it's a good thing and it's also a bad thing. But I try to rehearse enough to I just want people to stop what they’re doing and hearing the music and watching me because I just want to put a lot

00:34:35.980 - 00:34:52.440

of effort into it. That's interesting. And I'm also wondering, has your Navy experiences brought any kind of inspiration to your composition or performances? Well, definitely composition.

00:34:52.800 - 00:35:07.140

I think of song I wrote, my first song that I wrote that was very popular, "The Drifter." I wrote that the year before, before I left the military, because I was just so... I was just so...

00:35:07.430 - 00:35:22.030

I was in a state where I was stressed out, because I didn't have a plan of leaving the military. And "The Drifter" to me reminds me of that nomadic lifestyle that I have for a bit. And then a lot of my songs came because of what

00:35:22.170 - 00:35:36.800

happened after I left, like being unemployed, and homeless; I have a song about that. And then now, I'm learning a lot about decolonization and civil rights again, and a lot of these

00:35:36.800 - 00:35:47.650

issues are in Houston. And a lot of that's affecting my songwriting, too. But for much of the Navy, the Navy really gave me a work ethic

00:35:48.690 - 00:35:57.360

that I was able to bring everywhere, because I was like, technically my first job. So it was that too, when... Yeah, work ethic is just doing

00:35:57.360 - 00:36:11.790

like a little bit of something every day. That’'s super interesting. And I guess, your like, kind of really amazing life stories will definitely bring a lot

00:36:11.790 - 00:36:29.590

of inspirations as in your art, like, of composition and performance. And next, I'm also wondering, since I saw you join the H-E-B in— back in April 2020, although it looks like you've left that position.

00:36:30.270 - 00:36:41.090

Like was that part of the kind of COVID pandemic effort? Yeah, they, uh, they hired me. Well, I ended up getting the interview the day I got laid off from my last

00:36:41.260 - 00:36:54.020

job, but they're pretty quick about it, which is really nice. They, yeah, it was a temporary job for the COVID. They're just did a mass hiring online. And I got laid off at the airport.

00:36:54.700 - 00:37:06.550

And I just thought like, I was actually... Since the coronavirus start happening, I was working at the airport, and I would see the crowds disappear. And it would just ended up being in a ghost town during the peak of pandemic.

00:37:07.460 - 00:37:19.870

And we were all... the whole company was like, "Are we going to keep our jobs?" And they started closing down the restaurants one by one, but we were maintenance. So we're like, "Okay, we still got to maintain the restaurants." Eventually,

00:37:19.870 - 00:37:33.920

like me there's three of us, they-they laid off, you know, me and another person and kept one person on. So there was that. And then I got hired by H-E-B to be a personal shopper and their work

00:37:33.920 - 00:37:43.700

ethics over there were pretty interesting, because they're more of, they care about you working. Yeah, they're very, like friendly company. So yeah, I do recommend if

00:37:43.700 - 00:37:57.700

anybody's looking for a job with them. Yeah, that's wonderful. And how has your kind of COVID pandemic experiences been since last year about the same time? How has your year been?

00:37:58.630 - 00:38:12.590

Well, um, what I mean, so last March, yeah, it was definitely scary, because I just lost my job. And then I started collecting unemployment, which is not bad.

00:38:13.260 - 00:38:26.580

And then I got a job at H-E-B. And then the best decision to make to, you know, fix all that was to go to college and use my GI Bill. So GI Bill has been helping me with, you

00:38:26.580 - 00:38:44.260

know, living costs, and then everything. So when I get to college, everything started getting better, with the whole year going on. Things started opening up in Houston. But I mean, I just not gonna risk it, because they used to be

00:38:44.260 - 00:38:53.650

like— we couldn't have, we couldn't perform as musician. Now, the bars are starting to open back up and now you can perform at bars. So people are getting gigs again.

00:38:53.650 - 00:39:04.790

And that's, so that's pretty good thing to do. But I decided because people are a bit sketchy about meeting each other online that because there's a pandemic going on.

00:39:04.850 - 00:39:17.640

I felt musically it was a good time to write stuff. And it was a good stuff to release music and... well right now I just got a music video release, but we're working on more music videos.

00:39:17.640 - 00:39:34.860

So what I'm focusing on is more content, beside the music. Have you been creating music or performing on online, like on Zoom, like what we are...? Well, yeah, so what we– we did a livestream in December,

00:39:35.240 - 00:39:50.780

and this was a benefit concert for the Philippines. I asked my friend Jenah Maravilla— you know her. Yes. So she she performed during the concert. But yeah, we raised $220 and we,

00:39:51.330 - 00:40:07.170

we gave it to NAFCON , Texas; and NAFCON took the money and gave it to an organization in the Philippines, they had, had two typhoons that affected them recently. That's great.

00:40:07.170 - 00:40:22.210

Thank you so much for doing that. Yeah, I'm wondering how has moving into Houston in like you've been with the Filipinix Artists Group of Houston, and how does, how com- Houston's community of

00:40:22.210 - 00:40:32.210

Filipinos connect with your heritage? Well, it uh, they... Yeah, they helped a lot. Um, because I moved here, I didn't know anybody.

00:40:33.330 - 00:40:40.920

And I met Rachel first. And she told me to join them. And, you know, I ended up meeting knowing all of them.

00:40:41.740 - 00:40:54.940

So, so yeah, Rachel was a first person who put me on and helped me meet all these people. But yeah, like, since I've been talking to Matt Manalo, and Stan, and,

00:40:56.360 - 00:41:13.330

and, and Vinny, and I've learned about decolonization. And by your heritage, there's a lot I didn't know about my culture that I learned from them. And, yeah, I realized, like, in school, they teach us US history, but they don't teach us our history.

00:41:13.870 - 00:41:26.060

So I wanted to get to know our history. And I learned so much things about Filipinos during colonization years, and discrimination and sort of fighting for farmers' rights.

00:41:26.740 - 00:41:42.370

So it's all new to me. And it was nice to know all of it. Yeah, it's super interesting. And I'm also wondering, how has, how has you felt during your kind of research and studies of decolonization?

00:41:44.660 - 00:41:58.200

Um you know, it felt so, I felt also, when I first joined the Navy, I got made fun of a lot because there was a definitely a Filipino community in the military. It's just they all spoke Tagalog.

00:41:58.460 - 00:42:08.050

And I, my mom did not want me to learn Tagalog. because growing up in America, you know, we need to learn English, and you speak perfect English, which is a good skill to have.

00:42:09.150 - 00:42:24.010

And I got made fun of my first year in the Navy, because I didn't speak Tagalog. And the Filipinos said that I'm not Filipino, because I can't speak Tagalog. And I carried that throughout

00:42:24.010 - 00:42:37.100

my whole life thinking, “Okay, I'm not Filipino enough.” And then I also worked in a very predominantly Caucasian workspace, and they would crack jokes about Asians sometimes, and I'll just ignore it.

00:42:38.310 - 00:42:46.070

And yeah, since leaving the Navy, I've been learning about my culture. And I still don't know how to speak Tagalog. But that doesn't make me not Filipino.

00:42:46.070 - 00:42:55.760

And yeah, I'm as — the more I learn about my culture, it's like, you know, I don't have to, to know that language. I mean, I'm not good at learning languages.

00:42:55.760 - 00:43:14.040

I tried learning Spanish and I, I wasn't good at it either. So yeah, like not speaking your language doesn't make you, does not make you Filipino. Yeah, that's amazing to hear that you're embracing that part of your identity through

00:43:14.040 - 00:43:28.600

this journey. And I'm also wondering, have you discussed or spoken with your earlier generation, like parents or grandparents about the Filipino heritage?

00:43:28.600 - 00:43:42.490

I did talk to my mom recently, because I told her about this interview. And yeah, we, we were proud of, we had Philippine heritage and we were proud of it. It, and it's just that we're living in America.

00:43:43.010 - 00:43:56.710

So my mom wanted me to learn, you know, English and, you know, and then and that, and you're not always working with Filipinos, so you got to work with other cultures too, even with the Caucasian cultures.

00:43:56.710 - 00:44:12.780

So you got to learn to work with them, too. So for us generation that was born in US, you know, we were Filipino at home; but we're American outside our house. But at home, we always, we always ate Filipino

00:44:12.780 - 00:44:34.010

food. And I believe my mom, me and my mom were members of a folk dance team, and we would perform cultural dances all over Hawaii. I guess this could be a little bit of a challenging question.

00:44:34.280 - 00:44:47.840

So have you had any conflicts with your parents or your grandparents regarding the generational differences about certain topics or opinions? Hmm, let me think.

00:44:49.120 - 00:45:10.130

I do know like me, and my mom had a big argument about, you know, me moving to Texas after the military. Every big decision like I made on my own, she always had something to say about it. Even joining the Navy, she, she was just like, "Ah ,no thanks." And

00:45:10.640 - 00:45:25.440

yeah, or wanting to live in the mainland, and she wanted me to move back to Hawaii, but it's like the job opportunities there aren’t that great. But yeah, it was always a, you know, my mom's just traumatized from the death in our family.

00:45:25.440 - 00:45:37.800

So, but then it's like me, I experienced certain things due to the Navy and being in living in the mainland for a bit. So I kind of knew where I was going. I just had to shore it, and I was able to do it.

00:45:40.250 - 00:45:50.850

And then my grandma, she's still alive. Um, there are certain times she would see something on TV. And, you know, I think my mom or grandma would say something

00:45:50.920 - 00:46:04.240

sexist, like, "Oh, yeah, woman can't do this and that." So yeah, definitely. See, my grandma actually survived the imperialism. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines.

00:46:04.890 - 00:46:17.930

She's survived that, her and her family. Did she tell you some of the stories about her memories? Yeah, she did, she, I did a school project. And I asked her about it.

00:46:18.940 - 00:46:27.160

And then I think at one point, she didn't want to keep talking about it. But I mean, because I was young at the time. I didn't want to keep talking about it.

00:46:27.280 - 00:46:40.590

But then I, I wish I mean, I wish I knew it was traumatizing for her before I asked her about it. But she did tell me that her... The Japanese, she said that they saw planes flying over the sky, and everyone started running.

00:46:41.790 - 00:46:55.540

They said that, they though the town had to live in the mountains and dig a hole. And they said that, they made people the Japanese made the locals dig their own graves.

00:46:59.220 - 00:47:10.220

Yeah. And she said, "Oh, yeah, the Japanese players says," they, they, they would say that, "You see Japanese guards, they'll look at you. And they'll– they'll– they'll say, 'Hey, let me kiss you'." And yeah, that's just...

00:47:10.340 - 00:47:26.470

yeah. So that that is kind of horrifying. And my grandma went through that. Wow, that's definitely heartbreaking to hear. But I'm happy we're able to document this as history, as part of

00:47:26.470 - 00:47:42.410

the oral history archive. Is there anything else you would like to add for your grandparents part of the memories? Besides the war, did they tell you about how they met each other?

00:47:44.530 - 00:47:58.030

Huh, let’s see, my grandparents... Well, right now my grandma, my grandma’s still kicking. My auntie takes care of her and she has to take it to the hospital, probably four times a year.

00:47:58.990 - 00:48:12.770

And my auntie’s always telling me like, "You should see grandma, because she might not make it this next year, you don't know. You don't know what's gonna happen." And, yeah, so I was in my family. Sometimes I, sometimes I fly back there in Hawaii and

00:48:13.630 - 00:48:25.440

my grandma,like she just, she used to talk a lot. Now she just, she rarely talks. And I don't know, but my grandma, she, the last thing she gave me was $200 for Christmas.

00:48:27.080 - 00:48:39.340

And I used that to buy a guitar. I, not the whole guitar. Just, I used it with my paycheck to buy a guitar. So I guess the guitar I bought was just like, love of my grandma

00:48:39.340 - 00:48:57.040

in there. So I always have that guitar with me. That's how I remember. That's wonderful. I see that the generational hope and that musical dream of yours is carrying on.

00:48:58.340 - 00:49:12.420

Yeah, yeah. Let's see. I'm wondering, you probably don't have any children now, but in case like, in the future, what kind of family values will you be instilling in the next generation?

00:49:14.270 - 00:49:28.700

Let's see, I... Me, I've been through moments in my life where I just didn't know how to stand up for myself because I was afraid of, I was afraid of people not liking me.

00:49:28.890 - 00:49:44.780

So what I would tell the future generations is to like fight like, not physical fight for what you believe in, but mentally and verbally, you know, call people out and, you know, say something about what's going wrong.

00:49:45.590 - 00:50:00.410

Because I used to, I feel like the culture, me and my mom would go around because we had a traumatic experience with our father, was to just like, "If you see trouble, just run away." And so now I would rather teach the future generations

00:50:00.410 - 00:50:17.030

to... Yeah, be vocal or verbal about what's going wrong. I see that going on now, with the new friends I've made here. A lot of people were like, sharing resources with one another about how to help out our community.

00:50:17.940 - 00:50:32.320

And yeah. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. And it's really empowering to learn that we're trying to instill some values

00:50:32.600 - 00:50:49.290

and the kind of passing on the torch to the next generation to stand up for themselves. And I'm also wondering if you would be interested to do a time capsule with us like, to tell like the people who are watching this, like, maybe 50 or 100 years later?

00:50:50.820 - 00:50:58.200

No, I'm good. I mean, this whole thing is being recorded. So this being this whole interview is a pretty good time capsule.

00:51:00.450 - 00:51:08.330

Great, is there anything else you would like to add before we conclude? Oh, no, not at all. Thank you.