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I noticed you've got some old photos on the front of your next two singles. who are those stylish people?
That's my father and my mother on the True Blue 7" and then just my mother on the Golden Desert Sun 7".
Oh, your parents look cool. What's their story?
My father is from Shanghai in China Before the cultural revolution he immigrated to Taiwan along with my grandmother and his little brother. I think he was still in High school at the time. My grandfather had passed away. My father was in a gang, because they were picked on a lot by the local people who weren't really friendly towards people from mainland China.
Do you know the name of the gang?
Yes, I guess phonetically you's call it: zhuliang. I'm not sure if it's still functional, he was in it in the 60's when they started, but when they got really big in the 80's and 90's, he was already not part of it.
Sounds pretty badass, what was he like?
Before he met my mom he was just a trouble maker. He was on his motorcycle with his boys. They were in a gang and they would get into fights constantly. They were the debts collectors. Once, he was supposed to make this guy pay, so he followed him into a movie theatre along with his two boys. They had an empty beer bottle with them. So they smashed it over his head only to realise they smashed it over the wrong guy. And the wrong guy was in the rival gang who had twenty or so of their guys in the theatre, they chased my dad and his friends out of the theatre, caught them, beat them to a pulp, and my father was hospitalized for weeks. When he was 18 he joined the military and I think that straightened him out.
And besides being in a Taiwanese motorcycle gang, was he also into music?
He never really talked about it, but I know he was in a doo wop band. The only evidence of that was an old photo from some talent show he played with some of his friends. They played cover songs, mostly Elvis and The Four Tops and other doo wop stuff that was popular at the time. My father refuses to talk much about anything from his past life. He would say "Why don't you ask me how I made it big in Real Estate? Now that's a story!" He doesn't understand. "Why would you want to ask me about the times when I was fucking poor and didn't have money? Don't ask me that stuff it's embarrassing.." I can't get anything out of him.
Your music started out much more "experimental", and then at some point it felt like you started openly embracing your inner rock and roller. What happened?
It was a result of me touring China and playing in front of my parents. I played in Shanghai and I think there was only maybe 10 people there. It was pretty much empty. I just did my usual thing which I would do in Montreal at that time: I didn't play with any pre-programmed loops, I was still making live loops. Using a guitar basically as percussion. I noticed while I was performing, my dad was really not into it at all. He was just chain smoking the whole time.
Was he at the back?
He was at the bar. My mom, on the other hand, has always loved anything I do. Her only criticism was "You need to sing louder."
Did you take her advice?
I did. I didn't before but I took her advice this time. That has been the main focus of my recordings this time around. I needed to sing louder and try to be a pop singer.
That was probably a good move. What about your father did he rub off on you?
Well, everything I do now, I do for my dad.. in a way. I do feel that the more we try not to become our parents the more we actually become our parents.
That's deep.INTERVIEW BY TOBIAS ROCHMAN
DIRTY BEACHES PHOTO BY PIERRE RICHARDSON
Golden Desert Sun 7" is available for pre-order now on Italian Beach Babes. True Blue 7" on Zoo Music next month.