Mike Park is one of those rare breed of folks who lives a life purely in the interest of creativity and justice. And he manages to make a living at it. Park began as a punkster, leader of a band called The Chinkees, a name which, he says, is meant to bring racism to the surface and make us all take a look at it. He ekes out a living running his record company, Asian Man Records, and touring, playing sweet acoustic songs by himself or with a small band. I caught up with Park as he was packing up his gear after his show at Warehouse 21, as he was freaking out about making it to Denver through the snow:
SFR: Since you have an established record label, do you feel comfortable or do you feel like the bottom could drop out at any minute?
MP:
Well, I feel comfortable because there's no expectations. I'm not trying to climb a ladder of success. I'm just doing it for whatever it's worth, even my best efforts, that's all I can offer. So, there's no regulations like you've got to sell this many albums. There's no one pressuring you. There's no radio. There's nothing.
There's sort of an acoustic thing with folks that maybe 10 years ago would've been punk artists. What's that about?
I think it's just kind of a coming of age. For me it's just my ears. Ears can't take the loud noise. I love punk rock, but for me to play on stage with the volume, it's hard. The cuts are pretty demanding. I feel that punk is not about how loud you are. It's about the idea, so I feel what I offer is worthwhile. I hope the kids understand they can learn about what my interpretation of punk is as a philosophy and not as a style.
How old are you?
35
So, what is it like when you see that new take on punk-because I'm about your age too, and it seems a little foreign to me now.
Yeah, you know it is. I try not to be jaded. It's hard not to as you grow older. It's harder to go to the shows because you're 35 years old, and these are mostly teenagers. But, I feel more power to them if they're able to search out independent music. That's awesome. So, I put a challenge to the older folks that grew up in punk. What are you doing now? Why did you grow old? If you were listening to 7 Seconds or Minor Threat, you listen to the lyrics. It said "I'm going to stay young till I die," what's the deal?
You've played twice here in the past few years?
This is my second time. I played here in November of 2003. It was great. Had a great time, and it was a good experience. You see the nonprofit stages, there's a difference than playing down in the real clubs. It's really exciting.
Do you mainly play clubs or do you mainly play nonprofits?
On this tour so far, we've only done 3 shows, and 3 out of the 4 have been nonprofit. Gilmore Street. We played Modified Arts in Phoenix, and then here. LA was the only place we played an actual party.
You mention Minor Threat. What are your other influences?
Well, growing up I listened to a lot of the straight edge stuff, like Minor Threat, 7 Seconds, and started getting into the two-tone bands like the Specials. The big bands that influenced me were Fishbone and Bad Brains. The main reason was they were people of color in an industry that was completely white, run by white people for white people. For them to challenge that, I thought was pretty impressive.
With hip-hop making all the money, do you think that's all changing?
It's changing in the fact that some of these people have hopes, like young people of color see it as a way off the streets, and perhaps they'll get their lives together, and if they're talented will move in that direction. But, in terms of the music industry, nothing has changed. It's about them seeing dollar signs. As long as they're making money, they're not going to care.
Have you ever been to the Grammys or the MTV Music Awards or anything?
Absolutely not. I don't plan on that. There's no reason for me to be there. I don't think I'd even be invited.
I ask because, remember when Elliot Smith was at the Grammys…?
That was just because of the nomination process. That was a great thing for him, for an independent artist, who wasn't signed on the Regent Label, to be on Kill Rock Stars and get that break. It's like Amiee Mann after 'Til Tuesday, she got her songs being played.
If you ended up there, because it's so devoid of people of color, what would you do?
I'd just start playing a song. Just try and put a positive message, make a positive statement. It may happen, I doubt it will, but I guess I wouldn't complain if it did.
What are you working on now? Are you just touring?
Just doing a short tour. This is our fourth show. Just keep playing, and working writing the label. Doing all the above.
I read this interview with Bjork recently and she said men never get asked about their children or their home life, but she gets those questions repeatedly. Would you get questions about people of color repeatedly if you were a white guy?
I kind of ask for it. I have public Asian-American philosophies in my background so playing love songs are never a touchy subject, I'd understand, but I'm asking for it, so I don't blame any writers for asking these questions about race or my piece. It's overtly political.
It's interesting to me how a love song can be political just because of the person that's playing it.
Music is so powerful.
I had a long discussion with some folks about that tonight, about how the youth of America is so jaded, and yet they respond to the whole emo craze...
I agree. I don't know. Maybe it's my jaded side coming out of how music goes in trends. That's life. That's how it goes.
