Reflection: The 27th Annual Asian Pacific American Awareness Conference
So back on January 28, 2012, Forword got a chance to perform at APAAC at our Alma matter, UCIrvine. The event was held APSA UCIrvine. We performed alongside fellow artists: Andrew Figueroa Chiang, Beau Sia, Justin Hamady, and many more.
First off, I gotta say it was an honor to be invited and perform in front of our fellow APIA people, so much so that we even wrote a new piece specifically for this event entitled: “Metta World Piece” (okay, honestly, we’re still working on a title).
It had been a while since we wrote a new group piece, but we were motivated to write a poem about being a part of this community, address the misconceptions of “being asian”, and maybe even provide a new way of looking at things. It took us a total of 2 weeks to write and rehearse it. Because of our busy schedules and where we all lived (OC, different parts of LA), we took advantage of 21st Century technology and practiced over Google+ Hangout. Given the time crunch, we weren’t able to memorize the piece, but we were able to get our timing down and just polish the piece.
When we got to the stage, we did a little blocking and mic checks to make sure everything was working fine. We also ran into our good friend and AMAZING singer, Andrew Figueroa Chiang, we exchanged hugs and handshakes and sat down to watch his mic check. And woo, what a mic check it was. It goes without saying, that the audience would not be prepared for the kind of soulful ride that Mr. Chiang would be taking them that evening. I even joked around (but serious) with Stephanie that we’d need to get a couple mops out here to soak up all the melted hearts after his set.
A few minutes before the show started we took pictures with the APSA staff and greeted some familiar faces: from the Tuesday Night Project, Common Ground, Beau Sia, and Justin Hamady of Uncultivated Rabbits. After the photo, we all sort of dispersed and tried to find a bit relaxation before we had to go up.
First one up was Justin, who set the tone for the evening with his poetry AND mastery of the mic (spitting). When it came time for our set, we had 10 minutes so we performed “Writer’s Block” and then premiered the new piece, “Metta World Piece”. I thought it went pretty well (sans a little flub on my part in “Writer’s Block”). After our set, we sat down and enjoyed the rest of the show.
I’d like to say thank you to Beau Sia for sharing new pieces. It was just great to be a part of the audience and listen to some raw and personal pieces.
Overall, it was an awesome show. Thanks to APSA Irvine for organizing the event and inviting us to perform. It was a great way to kick-off 2012.
- Mark
