Rockband Tournament/Charity Event

Wow, I had a crazy weekend! I competed in a Rock Band charity tournament and my band, The Anorexic Turtles, WON! 100% of the proceeds from the tournament will go to Mercy Corps' COMFORT FOR KIDS, a program helping earthquake survivors in Sichuan, China.

So I've been working long hours everyday for a few weeks to finish scoring an awesome and funny romantic comedy called Asian Stories (starring James Kyson Lee from "Heroes" and Kathy Uyen). I finally finished writing and my friend Scott Tang wanted to come over with his band (The 2 KGS, consisting of Scott Tang on Drums, Kathy Uyen on Bass, Grace Su aka Peachies on Guitar, and Karin Anna Cheung on vocals) to practice for the tournament.


The 2 KGS. They knew how to put on a show, best showmanship all night...Karin even bought pink panties that they threw out into the audience, and that made them go wild!

When Kathy showed up, I totally didn't recognize her, even though I've seen her face onscreen everyday for a few weeks while working on Asian Stories. It's been 3 years since they shot the film, and her hair is totally different now. So I was mentioning how I just finished composing music for Asian Stories, and Kathy was like "No way, you're kidding."



So I got to play for her the love theme that I wrote for her character, and she really liked it. So then we started playing Rock Band on my Xbox, and since Kathy had never played before, I taught her how to rock the bass like she was born playing one. Her first time playing ("Say It Ain't So" by Weezer), she got 50 something percent, and by the night of the competition, she scored 94%!

Click here to hear music from Asian Stories (the first piece is the love theme):
http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/603510


Kathy Uyen and I hanging out at the party. I taught her everything she knows about playing bass in a video game.


Scott busting out his awesome hat!


Karin and I looking at...something.

So in the first round of the tournament, we played "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult and had the second highest score, behind a band made up of engineers (they called themselves, I.T. Freely), and they had apparently practiced every configuration to figure out how to get the highest score, plus they chose a really long song to rack up the points...smart thinking.

Rounds two and three we performed "Vasoline" by Stone Temple Pilots, and "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys. And I got to watch Big Phony and Thomas' Apartment perform, they were awesome, especially Thomas' Apartment (who have several of their songs featured in the Asian Stories soundtrack). So those guys had never played Rock Band before, and really rocked it while also performing with so much energy and stage presence. It really blew me away.

So we made it to the final round, and did a show down with I.T. Freely on "Creep" by Radiohead. Everyone was screaming, singing along, and cheering. It was such an adrenaline rush to perform in front of a crowd like that. It's the first time in my life I actually felt like a rockstar. All my experiences performing in orchestras don't compare to that level of intensity you get from a screaming crowd. In the end, we edged out the other band to win the tournament! What an experience, next I believe our band is going into rehab to recover from our huge success.


My band, the Anorexic Turtles, rocking out! That's me on drums, Ray Reinebach on Guitar/Bass, and Erin Wilson on Guitar/Bass.


Anorexic Turtles after winning the tournament.


ASIAN STORIES THEATRICAL PREMIERE
Asian Stories will have a one week theatrical release in Los Angeles. The premiere will happen on:
Friday, July 25, 2008
ImaginAsian Center, Downtown LA
251 South Main St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
http://www.iacenterla.com/la

I will be at the premiere along with James Kyson Lee, Kathy Uyen, Kirt Kishita, Ron Oda (the director), and other cast and crew members for a Q&A after the screening. The movie will be released on DVD on September 2nd.

Asian Stories is an amazing feature length film that tells a story unlike any other. Jim is a young closefisted Chinese American living in LA who desperately finds himself with a stack of white flower themed disposable cameras, fleur-de-lis invitations, a number of champagne bottles, and a ten-thousand dollar engagement ring bill. The only thing missing is a bride. In financial debt and miserable for having his fiancé leave two weeks prior to Valentine's day, Jim tries to resurface his dignity and wash away his wretchedness by asking his best friend, a Japanese hitman whose passion for cooking fancy entrees extends far beyond his kitchen, to kill him just in time to miss the Hallmark holiday. With less than four days to live, Jim, while wearing his wedding tuxedo the entire time, treks to the mountains to find his fate, meet a pizza delivery boy with lucky charms, the funeral spot of his choice, and a girl.

ASIAN STORIES won the Audience Award at the VC Film Festival/Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and has screened to sold-out audiences at other festivals in San Diego, Hawaii and Chicago.

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