A beer with a chi chaser - I've been taking this weird Chinese medicine lately. It's supposed to build up my chi. After my latest promotional tour, my chi was been feeling pretty wimpy. I was crawling out of bed in the morning wondering what hit me....
A lesson in jazz fusion - The wackiest things can happen in the music biz. What’s even wackier is that after a while you don’t even notice it. You take strange inconsistencies for granted when dealing with the Taiwan entertainment industry. Here's a typical example of....
A wardrobe for the stars - The music is done, the record completed, so what more could there be? The phone rings, it's my old friend Rudy. He's a well known stylist, and has played an integral part in dressing most of the stars you see....
Ah Mei vs Coco - If you’ve been watching TV lately, you’ve probably seen Ah-Mei’s or Coco’s latest video. For those who don’t know who these two Taiwan divas are, then it’s time to catch up on the local pop scene gossip. Ah-Mei is a....
Attack of the cute singers - Have you noticed that every time you turn on the TV, someone is jumping out at you saying, "Be young! Be happy! Happy Girl! Happy Boy!" Baby pop fever is invading Taiwan in a big way, and for us producer....
Band on the run - band n. 1. A group of people or animals. 2. A group of musicians who play together. v. To assemble or unite in a group. Bands are great fun. From the cheap amplifiers in dingy basement recreation room band to....
Chomp, Chew, Spit - I was sitting in my office today having a production meeting with a new artist of mine. She was telling me about the style of music she wanted to pursue, about how she didn’t want to buy into the whole....
Choosing between two sisters - Did you ever stop to think about the difference between books and CDs? The two are alike, but completely different. They both contain work from people who spent a lot of time making sure it was right. They both are....
Contracts annulled in the Gray World - Why do we need a contract for everything we do nowadays? Rent a house, buy a car, perform a service, and you’ll more than likely have to sign a contract. It’s the same in the music business. Maybe even more....
David Foster face to face - I always get calls for offbeat gigs. Like the other day, I pick up the phone, and my friend Fisher asks me, "Do you want to go to Los Angeles to do an interview for a cartoon?" "Gee, I dunno.....
Digital dilemma - Times sure are changing. It used to be that recording an album required musicians. These musicians would get together at a studio, go over a song idea, plug in their gear and start playing. Someone would sit in another room....
Fan mail - Part of the fun of being a musician is being out there on stage, strutting your stuff, doing your Mick Jagger impersonation, and having a good time. Unfortunately, though, they often leave the cameras on while you are doing this,....
Fear and loathing in the auditorium - The call came in from a nervous sounding lady named Ms. Huang. She wanted me to perform in the auditorium at a prestigious university. It wasn't my typical performance situation. I would be all alone. Without a band. Not even....
Your case or mine? - case (kas) n. 1. A specific instance; example. 2. A set of circumstances or state of affairs; situation. 3. A question or problem; matter. In this hustling bustling city, everyone I run into is in some way or another "working....
Freeze! Put your horn up! - When I was a kid I joined a music group called the Denver Junior Police Marching Band. We wore little police uniforms and practiced every Monday night in an old warehouse building packed with cops and coffee machines. We would....
God rules the studio - A musician's job is to make music. That usually means playing live, or going to the studio, or writing a song, sometimes even going to church. Religion and music have always made good writing partners. From Jimi Hendrix to John....
Hunger pangs and bian dangs - Promoting records in Taiwan is a real chore. It’s work work work. Never ending appearances, six or seven TV shows a day, two months of concerts, last second connecting flights around the island, and endless getting in and out of....
In search of the perfect smirk - The entertainment business is a people business. You meet lots and lots of people. You collect name cards. You exchange phone numbers. You keep in touch. It’s a happy business. People going from meeting to meeting, from café to restaurant,....
It's still rock and roll to me - In my line of work, you get asked to do some out of the ordinary things. Like last week. A Mrs. Chen from the Education Bureau rang and asked if I would be interested in judging a student music contest.....
Payoff time in TV land - I was recently invited to Thailand to celebrate the King’s birthday. He’s seventy now, and also a pretty good sax player. That makes two heads of state that play this prestigious instrument. Bill Clinton, of course, is the other (not....
Portrait of the artist as a music educator - This past year, I’ve sort of thrown myself into the world of education. It wasn’t so much a gradual step over from record production into the classroom, but a 30,000 foot parachute jump. What started as summer camp trips to....
Record company math - I thought I learned all the math I needed to know back in high school. Then I got to college and was drowned with calculus, algorithms, and chaos theory. When I finally escaped math hell the only number crunching I....
Road Warrior - It's always a good feeling getting ready for a concert tour. Working with your band, strategic planning with your tour manager, making last minute travel plans. I especially enjoy the part where I leave an outgoing on the answering machine....
Session man - I had an interesting chat with a taxi driver the other day. We were talking about living and working in Taipei, and he asked me what I did for a living. "I'm a musician. I produce records," I said. "So....
Ten minutes with Jodie - The Chung Hua Telecom building on Ai-Kwo Road. 8:30 in the morning. The coffee is prepared, and workman scurry around preparing a movie back drop for the satellite conference room. The room itself is institutional and bland. Brown carpet, brown....
The FTMP way to better sax - I've been playing music since I was eight. While my friends were out bashing their heads into one another and tossing around a leather ball, I was at home playing the saxophone and being a music geek. I would have....
The wakarimasen method of songwriting - I was strolling through the bookstore the other day when I noticed a book called, “How To Write Hit Songs: 101 Tips From the Pros.” It was stuck between “The One Minute Manager,” and “The Five Minute Massage.” I figured....
Timing is everything - From birth, we musician types are taught about timing. “Timing is everything,” our music teachers bark at us, as we try desperately to stomp our foot and play an instrument at the same time. Ever notice how the stage of....
TV hell - I guess I’m just like millions of other Taipei urbanites. I get off work, go home, toss off my work clothes, and plop down in front of the TV for some mindless channel surfing. It was an enjoyable activity when....