INTERVIEW::
conducted
by
JiZO Jewles
PA: Can
you guys explain to us the whole concept behind your name :"Far East
Movement"?
What is the movement?
FM: Well, when we were growing up we didn't have a
whole lot of Asian faces to look up to besides the
stereotypical roles in action films and comedies.. and in
the music scene there was next to no representation in the
US, maybe James Iha of the smashing pumpkins and a few other
behind the scenes role models... so when the big day came of
"what to name your hip-hop group"... we wanted a very
straight forward name.. something that represented exactly
what we want to do.. so that we don’t have to be constantly
rapping about it :)... what we wanted was a 'far east
movement' into mainstream media and music. what the word
'movement' represents to us in regards to our name is that
we spread one city at a time, east... touching everyone in
the world until we're back where we started and opened
peoples eyes and ears to something new
PA:
When and how did you guys meet each other?
FM: We
all met at different points in High School.. freestyling in
parking lots around Koreatown Los Angeles... just buddies
with nothing but love for music. from there we took our love
for music further.. step by step. We started recording
tracks at Kev's apartment and pushing our songs on the
internet through a site called aznraps.com… a community for
up and coming asian rappers to gain exposure and receive
feed back, then we decided to take it a step further and
promote our own shows, figuring that we can't just hide
behind a computer and that we have to get out and learn the
Los Angeles music scene first hand. That led us to our first
major event called 'Movementality" which was a show in
K-town L.A benefiting a local drug rehabilitation center and
bring light to live performances to the community in
Koreatown. While organizing the event we met our manager
Carl Choi who was the CEO of a premiere grass roots
marketing and events company called Climaxglobal. He shared
the same vision we did… which was to create a face for Asian
Americans in entertainment. and took us on this journey that
we're on today!
PA: In your EPK video, you mention about
having practically very few asian role models when you were
growing up: Who would be your role models today?
FM: As
far as asian americans.. Justin Lin, director of Better Luck
Tomorrow and Fast n Furious - Tokyo Drift, Lucy Liu, Jin
the Emcee, Sung Kang (of Better Luck Tomorrow and FF3),
Leonardo Nam (FF3), Lyrics Born (Quannum Projects),
Evolution Jackson and the Arowana Films team, Todd
Angkasuwan of TNT Media, Suchin Park and Vanessa of MTV,
Janet Choi, Brian Tee (FF3), Russell Wong, Kelly Hu.. and
the I wont leave out the super action stars... Jet Li, Bruce
Lee, Pat Morita, Jacky Chan... the list is growing soooo
rapidly!! We can't even keep up!!
PA:
Far East Movement has actually been
around for several years now. How difficult was it for your
group to be accepted by others as an Asian American Hip Hop
group?
FM: In
the beginning it was extremely difficult… when we would
first take the stage people would automatically yell "get
off the stage!" .. we'd see people in the crowd shaking
their heads and off stage we'd get comment's like "are u
guys gonna rap in Chinese or something?" ... we constantly
get the critique that we don't sound African American which
could be another way of telling us we don't sound like what
people are use to hearing.. but our big motto within our
family that we are strongly trying to push to people of all
races is: "JUST BE YOURSELF". Ever since we took that
approach to the way we make music to the way we act and
look.. people have take notice and been supportive...
because whether we're awesome or wack.. people can't deny
what’s real, and if someone is willing to give they're all
in what they do and sacrifice everything they have to pursue
a dream..... it's undeniable.
PA:
Does J-Spliff really stay in a carton box
when he is trying to write a song? lol...
FM: YES!!!! but the defining moment of the song
writing process is when... he steps outside the
box...............................
PA: Who came up with the hand sign?
FM:
we'll... someone on the internet told us that the sign
closed was sign-language for the letter "F"... we always saw
it as 'feeelin all good..A-OK"... which was the vibe we
always promote.. so it stuck with us :)
PA: You guys seem to have an excellent
relationship with Jin Tha MC/The Emcee? Did he collaborate
with you in your new upcoming album?
FM: Yesss, he's on a song called 'For The City"... and
he KILLED IT!! He's always been an inspiration, supporter
and friend to us... so it's always such an honor working
with him. He'll be releasing an album in Asia soon called
ABC (American Born Chinese), which has 10 songs all produced
by us... and rapped all in his native tongue.. Cantonese..
check it out at
www.abcjin.com
PA: Your new promotional flyer mentions about
a video game, a soundtrack and a new music video based on
the upcoming the Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift? Can you
elaborate a little on this?
FM: The track "Round Round" was first included in the
movie... then Evolution Jackson and Justin Lin of FF3- Tokyo
Drift wanted to support the movement.. so we were lucky
enough to get a music video from the movie... theeeen... the
people over at Motown Universal heard about the music video
and loved the song... so they included us on the soundtrack
for the movie.. and finally... Janet Choi of KTLA news did a
piece on us showcasing Asian American artists and mentioned
our video, so the folks who were making the video game heard
about it and asked us for 4 of our songs to be in the
game!!... it all just kinda fell together one by one :) ....
we feel sooo grateful and blessed to have such a good family
of people supporting us and wanting to further this far east
movement. MUCH LOVE FAM!
PA:
Where can we get a "Far East Movement" T
shirt or any other FM merchandise?
FM: Aaaahhhhh.. thanks for asking family :) please
check out www.fareastmovement.com where u can find our store
with CDs, Tee Shirts and key chains to represent the fam!
PA: Are you guys somewhat familiar with the
French Hip Hop scene?
FM: I’ve
always heard MC Solar.. he's definitely represented hard and
opened the ears of a lot of people but you'll have to fill
us in on the scene more.. our ears are WIIIIIIDE open and we
love taking in new music.
PA:
Thanx Kev Nish, Prohgress, and J-Splif. Far East Movement
ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FM: naaawww.. thank u
family for representing and helping us spread this far-east
movement. much love to yall. To all the lovely readers..
please add us at
www.myspace.com/fareastmovement !!!! thanks
fam..... and the final and most important bit of information
we had to save till the end......... OUR ALBUM IS OUT JULY
4TH!!!!!!! JULY 4TH!!!!!! JULY 4TH 2006!!!! Check
out
www.fareastmovement.com to
keep updated!
