The Hsu-nami
The Hsu-nami |
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The Hsu-nami is a progressive rock instrumental band from the United States. The Hsu-nami are known for virtuoso melodic Erhu, heavy guitar riffs and guitar solos in their music that add to their "progressive Asian sound scape" effect.
The first Er-hu Prog Rock Group in the world, their music features a high level of musicianship that fuses heavy metal, psychedelic, proggressive rock and funk while incorporating the use of an amplified erhu, a two-string bowed instrument that is often used in Chinese classical music and folk ensembles, in the place of lead vocals.
History
The group was formed in 2005 from the remnants of the acoustic Duo "Genso Fantasia" and power metal outfit "Bleed the Stone". The members met in the musical circle of Ramapo College of New Jersey. The band name Hsu-nami is a nickname of the frontman Jack Hsu from college. Their career began with packing NYC clubs from performing last opening night of CBGB's, to opening international acts such as ChthoniC, Yellowcard, Nightmare of You, The Parlor Mob, World Leader Pretend, and Jet Lag Gemini. one of the original members, Vinny BelCastro, left the band to form pop rock band "Fifteen Fleeting". New member Tony Aichele replaced soon after spring of 2008.
The band's first successful song was "Rising of the Sun" it was featured in the 2008 Summer Olympic in Beijing. It was picked to be the entrance theme for the Chinese Basketball team. The song has also been played during walk-ins, timeouts, and was incorporated with a martial arts routine during halftime.
In November 2008, Hsu-nami was featured on MTV IGGY show "Radar", a television show that features up and coming world music artists. It aired on MTV 2, MTV U, MTV Australia, MTV Hong Kong, and many others.
The Hsu-nami have performed for numerous festivals/conventions, including the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans Festival, and the Passport 2 Taiwan Festival. Both are held at Union Square NYC. The Hsu-nami has played conventions in Pittsburg (TekkoshoCon) , Columbus, Ohio (ArmegediCon) , Nashua New Hampsire (AnotherAnimeCon), and the Philadelphia area (TandokuCon and Zenkaikon).
The group has headlined many clubs/venues such as the Stone Pony, NJ, the Mexicali Blues Cafe, New Jersey, Highline Ballroom, New York, Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre, Long Island New York, the Trocadero Theatre, Philadelphia and the closing nights at CBGB in New York City.
The band has also performed for organizations such as Ronald McDonald House and Asian Film Festival (ACV/AAIFF)
Entering the Mandala
The Hsu-nami's first album, "Entering the Mandala" was named after the closing track of the CD. The song was inspired by the Tibetan Buddhist belief in the quest for the highest level of enlightenment.
The first track of the CD, titled "Rising of the Sun", was featured in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing representing the 2008 Chinese Basketball Team.
Jim Beckerman from The Bergen Record wrote a feature published 08/10/08 regarding the Hsu-nami's music feature in the Beijing Summer Olympics. When the story was picked up by the Associated Press, Hsu-nami instantly received national coverage from media outlets such as WCBS 880, 1010 wins, Fort Mill Times, NJ.com, Philly.com, redorbit.com, spokesmanreview.com, NBC sports, USA Today, International Herald Tribune (the global edition of the New York Times).
Due to the fact that Hsu-nami's Music represented the Chinese basketball team and Front man Jack Hsu is Taiwanese-American, the Taiwan Organization in New York did not warmly congratulate the band for its success. This is because of the global political issue of conflict between Taiwan and China regarding the violation of IOC rules and calling Taiwan "Taipei, China". They believe China oppresses the Taiwanese people, Tibet and many others. In an interview on MuchMusic, Jack Hsu was quoted, "The struggles suffered by the Taiwanese people are, of course, terrible, but that's only if you truly believe any of those conflicts occurred in the first place. The past is past. I look forward and have no problem with China especially when they want one of our songs!" [1]
The Four Noble Truths
The band released their 2nd album, "The Four Noble Truths" march 24th 2009, named after the 10:35 long song on the CD. The meaning of the song delves deeper into the theme behind "Entering the Mandala". It attempts to illustrate the The Four Noble Truths, especially the idea that the quest for enlightenment starts with pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, death, sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. [2]
The songs on the 2nd album were also inpired by different occurrences in the band members' lives. In an interview with Chinese World Journal, Jack mentioned "The new album song title 'Passport to Taiwan' is a medley of 'dark sky', 'throw pen' and 'missing spring wind' (3 Taiwanese popular Traditional Tunes) rearranged from traditional to heavy hard rock style." The song 'Luxy NYE' was inspired by Hsu's visit to Taipei, Taiwan celebrating New Year's feeling.
The Hsu-nami's lineup underwent one change during the time between "Entering the Mandala" and "the Four Noble Truths". This explains why the track "Moonlight" features Adam Toth on piano while keys for the rest of the album are played by Dana Goldberg, a new arrival to The Hsu-nami in 2009.
Jack was also quoted "comparable to death metal band Chthonic (also from Taiwan), The Hsu-nami want to put out a message of peace and friendship, shying away from the Political and negative perspectives." [3]
Members
Current
- Jack Hsu - erhu, violin (2005 - present)
- Brent Bergholm - lead guitar (2005 - present)
- Tony Aichele rhythm guitar (2008 - present)
- Derril Sellers - bass (2005 - present)
- John Manna - drum set (2005 - present)
- Dana Goldberg - keys (2009 - present)
Former
- Vinny Belcastro - rhythm guitar (2005-2007)
- Adam Toth - Keys (2005 - 2008)
Discography
Singles and compilations
- In 2006, the band released the single "Rogue Wave," on the Po Records ComPOlation Volume III a Ramapo College Based Record Label.
- In 2007 the band released single, "Mimosa," on the Po Records ComPOlation Volume IV.
- In 2008 the band released single, "Entering The Mandala" on the Po Records ComPOlation Volume V.
Albums
- On November 30, 2007 the band released their debut album, Entering the Mandala.
- On March 24, 2009 the band released their sophomore album, The Four Noble Truths.
Press
- The Bergen Record, the second largest circulation of New Jersey's daily newspapers
- Chinese World Journal Newspaper
- Chorus & Verse Magazine
- The Aquarian Weekly
- WCBS 880
- New York Times
- Herald Tribune
- Fort Mill Times
- 1010_WINS
- NY1
- News 12 New Jersey
- USA Today
- Associate Press
References
- "四個偉大真理 Hsu-Nami推新專輯". http://www.worldjournal.com. Chinese World Journal 世界日報. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - "Olympic gold for Red Bank Guitarist". www.redbankorbit.com. red bank orbit. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
- "Hsu-Nami attains Olympic glory". http://dailyrecord.com. daily record. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - "Rise up in midst of world politics: Hsu-nami @ the Beijing Olympics". http://www.yellowbuzz.org. Yellow Buzz. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - "Beckerman: Jersey band makes Olympic cut". http://www.northjersey.com/. The Bergen Record. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - "NJ band provides song for Chinese basketball team". nj.com. Associate Press. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- "長島中美之夜 樂曲精彩". worldjournal.com. Chinese World Journal. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- "The Hsu-nami". chorusandverse.com. Chorus and Verse. Retrieved 2006-12-09.
- "Pacifiction Records". pacifictionrecords.com. Pacifiction Records. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
- "Squat Issue". batgwa.com. squat. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
- "The Hsu-nami 應邀哥大演出". worldjournal.com. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
- "Po Records". porecords.net. Retrieved 2006-05-09.