As the calendar turns and reveals a new year, it’s a good time for looking ahead, evaluating the past and journaling the present. In terms of that latter category, I think I’m a little slow on finding Switchfoot’s latest project, Hello Hurricane, but I have to say it’s on constant rotation these days.

Incidentally, if you love Switchfoot and you don’t know about Fiction Family, check em out. The band is fronted by Jon Foreman and is quite a bit folkier than Switchfoot. Apparently the project was at one point going to be released by Hear Music, the label that puts out music you buy at Starbucks. That didn’t happen after all, so it’s now available on iTunes. After a brief scan it doesn’t have the stylistic appeal of the Jon Foreman solo projects for me, but I appreciate Jon’s songwriting quite a bit, so I’m sure I’d dig it if I gave it more time.

Here are a few other projects I’m listening to lately:
MuteMath – Armistice
Owl City – Ocean Eyes
Sarah Blasko – As Day Follows Night
Mario Spinetti – When You Say My Name

Tell me what you’re listening to in this new this decade.

The pop icon definitely shaped me as a musician, vocalist and artist, I’m not ashamed to admit. Thriller, while it said very little to me lyrically, I have to say, it spoke volumes on a musical level. I wanted to be like this Mike, way before others wanted to be like the other Mike. And I tried. I never had enough money to get the red leather jacket with zippers (though a couple friends did) and I never could pull off the moonwalk when it really counted (though a couple friends did) but I do distinctly remember wearing a red bow tie with a pink tuxedo shirt a few times. And if I would have owned a sequined glove, I probably would have tried to work that into the ensemble as well.

Unfortunately, the thousands of tributes to Michael Jackson today will also include references to his bizarre private (and sometimes public) life while off the stage. He seemed to redefine the meaning of artistic eccentricity. In a time when we know so much about so many who make confounding choices, it’s challenging to think of anyone who tops Michael Jackson on the “Strangest and Most Shocking” list. Whether you call him a victim, a fiend or a genius, of one thing I’m certain, there IS NO such thing as bad press.

At least when it comes to music sales. Michael Jackson is proof that you really can’t stop someone from buying a good song. Seriously.

But just how important is the way people remember you?

I was telling a good friend recently that I was feeling busy and overwhelmed and just kind of needed to have some time to myself. I admitted that sometimes, recently, I avoided people who were likely to take a little more of my time than others. Just because I was busy. My friend’s response was simple and to the point.

“Don’t be a jerk.”

His response was actually harsher than that. He told me that he knew way too many “jerks” and the world doesn’t really need any more of them.

After trying to justify my “boundaries” for a minute, I finally had to agree. The world actually needs more people who will give you the time of day and less people who complain about the time you stole from theirs. The world needs more people who think about the impact they are having on the people around them and less who only focus on what they can get from the people around them. The world needs more people who are less concerned with the way they invest their money and more concerned with the way they invest their time.

We’re all here for a pretty limited number of days. Make the most of yours.

I’m gonna make a change, for once in my life
It’s gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right.

As I, turn up the collar on my favorite winter coat
This wind is blowin’ my mind
I see the kids in the street, with not enough to eat
Who am I to be blind? Pretending not to see their needs
A summer’s disregard, a broken bottle top
And one man’s soul
They follow each other on the wind ya’ know
‘Cause they got nowhere to go
That’s why I want you to know

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

Rest in peace, MJ.

1. Write a blog review. Do you have a blog? Use that medium to tell your circle of friends about your indie artist friend (referred to here on out as your IAF). Even if you don’t think you have a lot of readers, you would be surprised what one little inbound link can do for a search engine ranking.
2. Write a peer review. Chances are, you probably don’t have your own blog. You can still review your favorite IAF. Go to where ever your IAF’s work is for sale. Amazon.com? CDbaby.com? iTunes? All of these stores have a built in customer review mechanism and studies show that people who buy products online are VERY INFLUENCED by peer reviews.
3. Request them. Do you listen to any independent music podcasts? Do you listen to the radio? Some stations would never play an “unknown” artist, but you’d be surprised how many would. You don’t have to be annoying about it, but if you know of a station or podcast that’s friendly to music that’s out of the mainstream, you’ll probably have some luck requesting your IAF’s stuff with them.
4. Support them in word and deed. Of course I would expect that you would contact them and let them know you love their stuff, but sometimes people don’t feel comfortable doing that. Trust me, it means a lot. By word AND deed, I mean, tell a friend. Pass it along. Give a recommendation on Facebook. When it comes to my music, I know the only way I’ll make a living doing this is if more people than my friends are fans. Make a copy of my album and pass it along.

I do want to take a second and recognize that there have been many people who have done these things for me. Had I not been encouraged to pursue my music, I wouldn’t have a CD (and now two). Had I not been reviewed by a blog or magazine here or there, I probably wouldn’t have been taken seriously by other people. If no one was willing to buy my music, I wouldn’t have bothered duplicating a CD. It really does snowball, to exploit an overused metaphor. So thanks–you know who you are.

In Chinese the song is called “海闊天空” and it’s by the band Beyond. The title in pinyin is “Hoi foot tin hung.” The translated title is “The Boundless Sea and Sky.” Here’s my previous description of the song: dated and non-interesting lyrically (from most translations I’ve read). It’s from 1993, though it sounds even older than that to me.

Wake me up before you ngoh ngoh?

Here’s my current description of the song: moving and iconic. I still don’t understand what I’m singing, but as I’ve researched the band and I’ve talked with several of my Cantonese friends about the fact that I’m singing this song, I find a deeper attachment to it that goes past simply seeing it as an outdated rock ballad. People love this song. People love this band. It’s crazy. And so, what I love about music that I do understand, I love about this song. It connects with you emotionally.

I was singing the song in the office today as a joke and when I stopped I overheard at least 2 people in the next room finish the line. Imagine being at work and only singing “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad. Take a sad song…” Now you know what I mean.

According to Wikipedia, Beyond was beginning to see some big success in Asia in 1993 when lead singer Wong Ka Kui fell from a broken stage and sustained massive head injuries. He lapsed into a coma and died a week later. This was about when they released the song that I’m singing tonight. So yes, there’s some of that deceased rock star mystique attached to it, but I’ve learned that the lyrics in Cantonese are pretty poetic anyway and content-wise, they strike a chord with the people here.

So I’m singing this song, with a band, in front of several hundred Cantonese speaking people. I predict either a revolt with vegetables or a lighter and cell phone “Free Bird” moment. We’ll try to get a good recording for you.

In the meantime, here’s a karaoke version of the song (with pinyin captions) so you too can try to sing along with Beyond.

This should be interesting.

I was watching American Idol tonight. Even this show, probably one of the biggest things going in terms of money-making machines at the moment, is on a journey from new to old. They added in a “13th” finalist to spice up the story. Yes, reality TV is almost as much Hollywood magic as reality, it seems.

I watched Slumdog Millionaire last week and now I always want to say “Slumdog Mill-en-air!” like the Indian Regis guy. But it’s a great story. It’s a fantastic tale of a person’s longing for love and what seems to be an end to most of us is just a means: winning a big load of money.

Some people will downplay the impact of music or video games on a person. They will tell you that it’s just music and words or entertainment and that songs that seem to promote violence or some other ill of society only affect weak-minded people.

I’m not so sure. In fact, I’d prefer to make the argument that art and stories and music can have a tremendous effect on all of us. But not just in a bad way. I think that stories can remind us what we are fighting for. They can remind us who we are. They can give us understanding about another person. They can help us cope with grief. They can give us a sense of connection to our world. They can give us a sense of connection beyond our world to our Creator. They can give us Hope.

And sometimes they just make us laugh. A lot.

Or make us think.

I was asked in an interview last week about music in general and why I write songs. I think that’s it. I want to elicit some kind of emotional response in people and push them past the mundane subplot of their own story.

I like to see people laugh too.

In case you want to participate, this year’s FAWM.org is still under construction. Should be live in the next few days, I’m guessing.

However, whether or not the site is live, I’m writing 14 songs during the month of February. I’ve been trying to get as many people as possible to join me this year. Are you with me?

Island ECC is my church here in Hong Kong. Check it out if you’re in the neighborhood.

Merry Christmas!