04.21.08
Interview with Far East Movement
Last week I had a phone and email interview with the members of the Far East Movement (FM), whose songs have gotten radio play on the West Coast, and in movies like ‘Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift’, and ‘Finishing the Game’. They have a great sound and are starting to get some mainstream attention from TV channels like MTV.
Below is Part I of our interview.
Please introduce yourselves (names, ages, roles)?
The FAR EAST MOVEMENT.. FM ON YOUR DIAL.
Kev Nish, MC
Prohgress, MC
J-Splif, MC
DJ Virman, DJ
We’re all mid twenties.
How did you all meet, how did you come up with your initial name?
We were friends in highschool, freestyling in parking lots and recording on home computers with downloaded instrumentals. Back in 2001 we had the name ‘Emcee’s Anonymous’ because during those times we were unaware of Asian Americans in hip-hop and we had the thought in our mind that maybe people wouldn’t like our music because we’re not the ‘norm’ in hip-hop. One of the first songs we recorded was called “The Far-east Movement”, talking about what we want in music and mainstream media - a FAR EAST MOVEMENT. As we were recording the song, the name Far East Movement felt so strong it kicked us in the head and made us realize we can’t and shouldn’t hide the fact we’re Asian, especially during a time when there were few to no Asian American hip-hop artists… we had to make a statement with our name and change the way people view Asian American music by allowing ourselves freedom to sound however we feel - as fun as we want, as sexy as we want or as hip-hop as we want our music to sound. We met our manager Carl Choi in 2003 while putting at charity show called “Movementality” raising money for a drug rehab house in Koreatown and through workin with him in this event we felt we found someone who shared the same vision and goals, someone who had faith in us and someone we could build with. We’ve been riding this crazy ride as a team ever since… which lead us to find Dj Virman from LA radio station Power106 who has helped to take this team even further.
Who or what are your major influences, and what are you trying to be?
Our major musical influences are as scattered as an ipod playlist. We grew up listening to Tupac, the Dogg Pound, Gun’s n Roses, Nirvana, Biggie, Smashing Pumpkins, the Cure, Outkast and even the artists we hear on the radio today to keep our tastes relevant. Outside of music, the LA lifestyle and our journeys on the road from the cities we visit, the cultures we experience, and the people that bless us along the way are huge influences and inspirations to us. A motto we have is “We moving east, one city at a time until the whole world is folks and family to us”, and thats exactly what we’re tryin to be through our music.
How do you come up with your songs or make your music? Are there any main themes or messages you want to express?
When creating a song.. our goal is to make music that people in every city we visit can relate to while staying true to our character as Asian American dudes growing up in Los Angeles, and as rappers, song writers, producers, and fans of music, our main theme and message is to bring out an emotion from the listener through our beats and experiences… creating music that every listener no matter the race can relate to personally. When we get in the studio, our goals are the same as a platinum recording artist or a young rapper at home recording for the first time, to make a song that people want to listen to more than once! hahaha
For more, check out the rest of this interview portion here