Interview with Mike Park - Podcast 4

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Oh, that's good. He's got way more energy than I do today. So, just real quick, if you could just tell us a little bit about yourself, started off your history and involvement in music. Sure. Well, I'm from the Bay Area, specifically the San Jose South Bay of Northern California, and I grew up here my whole life. I was born in Seoul, Korea, but my parents moved to the Bay Area when I was a baby, so I have no memory of that. I grew up in this area and just got involved in the punk scene in the early 80s, and just been really lucky to have grown up in this liberal part of the United States, and I've seen quite a few bands over the years and just kind of enjoyed being part of this music community. And I could keep going, but I'll stop there.

That's cool. Can you give us a brief, like, I know you've been in a bunch of bands and you're doing your own stuff, just kind of, I don't know, I hate to like synopsize, but like in a timeline type deal? Sure. Well, in high school I was in numerous garage bands that didn't do anything. The first real band that actually started playing and touring was Skank and Pickle, and that was in 1989. And I did that until 1996, and then basically for eight years I took eight years off through 2004. I did run my record label during that time, which is Asian Man Records, but I also did do some touring, but it was mostly when I got offers to go overseas, places I hadn't been to. So I would muster the energy to just travel.

I looked at it as just an opportunity to travel for free, so I did do that. But in the U.S., I took eight years off, and in 2004 I decided to start touring again. So it's been a little more than a year of touring, but it's all been solo stuff, so it's quite different than my past efforts. And musically it's quite different too, but that's what I've been doing. When you tour now, do you do it like, because I know your last band you recorded with another band, the name escapes me. Colossal? Thank you. I was going to say Colise. Totally different man. You recorded with Colossal, do you still tour solo by yourself? Yeah, I do. Unfortunately, I'd love to tour with the band, but at this point it's unrealistic just because of time constraints and financial constraints.

It just costs a lot of money to bring more people on board. But this way, playing solo really doesn't cost much at all. I can fly into any city in the United States and do a weekend of shows and just get picked up by a friend if I know someone there, or just maybe post something on my newsletter, and I usually am able to get someone to come out and get me. So it's just very cost-effective to play solo at this point. Yeah, sure. I mean, just as opposed to the traveling for one person as opposed to like four or five different people. Sure. I mean, just going from one to four right there, you need to get a van, and with gas prices now it's because it's quite an expensive venture. Oh, yeah, sure. Plus I have no equipment.

I just have my acoustic guitar, so that makes it even easier. Yeah, it's got to be nice. I mean, if you had to throw it on your back in a hitchhike. Obviously not the... I'd love to do that. That would be amazing. One of these days. I'd love that. It'd be cool, but you'd have to watch out. It'd be picking and choosing who you've got to ride from. Sure. That'd be the hardest part. Now, you mentioned Asian Man Records, which is, of course, your record label. How did that get started? What began that? Well, it's just an extension of the band Skank and Pickle. We, as a collective, started a label called Till Records, which was basically just a fictitious name we picked to put out our first demo tape. And then through the years, realizing that, hey, this is something we should get more involved with in terms of following in the footsteps of other DIY bands.

So we kind of learned through trial and error how to run a record label. And then the more I got involved in the music industry, the more I realized how little I had in common with it. And also the idea that, you know, I want to be able to do things myself and not have to pour myself to the ideas of capitalistic endeavors. And so Asian Man was just an extension of that. It was just being able to put out my own music and help out friends that I met throughout the years. And that's pretty much it. You know, a lot of it has to do with luck. The reason Asian Man has been successful is because we've been lucky to release bands that have done well. Yeah. And, you know, I don't know how to decipher what band is better than A band is better than B band, but I've had some releases that have done quite well.

Yeah. Well, apparently. Is there been, I mean, not necessarily sales-wise, but has there been a release that you've been the most proud of that you were just really happy to put out? I think the Alkaline Trio records, especially the first one, the album God Damn It, I think I listened to it every day, like five times a day for a good year straight. And it was just like a great album. And it was also a good, a good example of not having to spend a lot to get a great record. Yeah. I think all the classic punk records, in fact, if you go down from like just Black Flag records, those things aren't, these aren't high budget recordings. Yeah. These are just the song in its, it's, it's just purest form. Like if you look at the Operation Ivy album, it's just so raw and so magical.

And I thought, God Damn It had that. It only cost a thousand bucks. Wow. To record and master. We've sold nearly a hundred thousand copies. Yeah. And then you look at today's punk records that are costing nearly 500,000 just to record. It's ridiculous. It's not even, these albums, you hear the albums now and they sound plastic to me. They're almost, it's just, they're flawless. And that's with computer enhancements now. They just chop up the songs and it just doesn't sound real anymore. That's what we do actually with our broadcast. So it sounds really. Excellent. Excellent. Everything will sound really phenomenal when it's all done. This doesn't even end up being my real voice, but. Nice. No. You just got back pretty recently from the Plea for Peace tour.

Wow. How long ago was that? We started on September 8th and that was, the start, starting point was up north in Olympia, Washington. And then, um, we, we kicked off with 14 riders and heading, heading south towards San Diego as our final destination. Mm-hmm. And then we finished up on, um, October 4th. Yeah. So not too long ago. Did anyone, uh, not make it all the way? Um, everyone who was, was doing the, who were doing the entire ride made it. Um, a couple of people had to sit out a day or two because of injuries. I had to sit out three days because of injuries. What happened? Um, just my knee gave out. And so, um, that's unfortunate, but everyone made it and everyone's healthy. So that's the, I thought for sure we're going to have a casualty.

Some of those roads up in the north, northwest, there were no bike lanes and just, you have these 18 wheelers whizzing by you at 70 miles an hour and you're just riding a white stripe. It's, uh, it's, it's not so exciting. Yeah. At that point to be on the bike. At that point where you like, this was a terrible idea. Oh yeah. Especially battling dense fog and you're just like, oh no. A tour van doesn't seem like such a bad idea. No. Yeah. Well, I'd like to talk, uh, real quick about the cause for this year's tour cause it's a little bit different. Right. Well, actually last year's tour too, the proceeds that we did, the money we did raise is going towards the same cause. Oh yeah. And what we're doing is we're just raising money to, um, build a, like a music oriented youth center in the South Bay.

Uh, ideally I'd love to do it somewhere in downtown San Jose, but, um, at this point I'm really open to different parts of the South Bay just because of cost restrictions and the, you know, the, the high cost of rent here. So, um, uh, 2006 is when we'd like to open up this space and, um, we just can, we'll continue doing fundraising up to that point and just try to, um, get that ready. And it, and it's, it's definitely targeted for the under 21 audience. So, um, you know, if there's a specific goal and that's to just have an outlet for kids. Yeah. Well, they're like, there never really has been anywhere in the South Bay like that. The closest I guess you would come is there was the outhouse in Los Gatos and then there was, uh, the cactus club, which I'm pretty sure was all ages most of the time.

18 and over. 18 and over. Yeah. And now both of those are gone. Right. Well, and it just, and there was a different vibe. The thing is I wanted to have a, a vibe of, of, of an art space with the energy of like a 924 Gilman street or a, uh, Vera project, which is up in Seattle. And, um, there's a place in Santa Fe, New Mexico warehouse 21. They have this energy and places like the outhouse. They don't have the energy because it's not, it's just this room. Yeah. In the back of a high school. That's just kind of rented out once in a while for shows. It's not a normal place for shows. Um, and with the cactus club, it was just the bar that did shows. Yeah. Though in hindsight, wow, I would love to have that. Yeah.

Cause there's nothing else. But at the time I was like, this is sad that this is all we have. Yeah. At the time it wasn't that great, but now looking back, it was like, you know, 50% of what you want is better than where we're at now, which is near to nothing. I mean, well, there isn't, it's nothing, absolutely nothing. All we have is big shows that come to the, uh, shark tank, which is where the professional hockey team plays here, which is like the Gwen Stefani's, Paul McCartney's play. Or we have a, a place at the university, which is San Jose state. And it's a 5,000 seat venue that does stuff like, uh, like good Charlotte and stuff. So those big, the midsize big bands. So it was just like, that's no way to see a show at least, at least not in my eyes.

Uh, the closest I think we have still is the blank, which is, it's, it's a nice place. Yeah. A blank club's great. It's just, uh, it's 21 and up, which limits the audience is a great deal. That's cool. I mean, have, do you find, I take, you must appreciate the all ages crowd then. Yeah. I just, uh, you know, I'm trying not to be jaded. I realize as I grow older, sure. My ideas have changed. And, um, a lot of times I just go, wow, you know, it's just, it's kiddie music, but you know what? We were all kids and it's something that's important, especially music. So I need to remember that and, um, just try to like, remember, believe in that philosophy of like that Fugazi philosophy of all age shows and just go, okay, music is meant for all ages.

And so I like try to, try to keep that tradition going. Oh yeah, definitely. That's twice. That's 200 years in a row that Fugazi's come on. Nice. They're a very popular band. Like, I mean, especially, it seems, I don't want to like make you feel older or anything like people at your age. It's like the older, like generation of like punk rock, the people who are now running the labels and putting the shows together, that seems to be like a huge influence on them. Yeah, sure. Because the philosophy is lost in today's quote unquote punk scene. Um, you don't find that integrity anymore. Um, nobody, there's only one Fugazi, there's only one discord. And those ideas are being, I feel being lost more and more each day.

So, uh, you try to remind yourself of, of what you got into punk rock in the first place, what got you into the punk, to the punk scene. So, hence Fugazi probably will come out a lot of people's mouths. Well, they're an awesome band. I mean, minor threat of course, but they were, you know, early eighties. Sure. Way back in the day. Now, as long as we're on the topic, like what got you interested in music? Was it just somewhere to belong or was there an artist or anything? I think it was just hearing the music. I remember like first hearing like seven seconds crew, the crew album and just like getting into skateboarding. You just want that aggressive rush of just that blast beat. And that was pretty much it.

And then from seven seconds, the standpoint of listening to seven seconds, you also had the lyrical content. So it was more than just saying, fuck this, fuck that. It was just like, they really had things to say. And it was like, okay, this is pretty cool. You know, you're able to have a political message without being overtly political. Yeah. And that's what I liked about it. And, uh, it just seemed to like unify in some ways a scene, whether you lived in California or you lived in New York, you could pen pal with somebody and you just have, you had this, this commonality between the two through music. That's cool. Like talk about the commonality and whatnot. And a lot of your music I find, especially the more your last two releases, your solo stuff talks about, uh, just kind of a universal feeling and like how, uh, people seem to like really to focus on the differences, whether they're racial or, uh, ethnic, anything like that.

Um, have you ever like in your life, have you encountered any of that growing up or just trying to be a musician? Have I encountered overt racism? Yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, I've been, we've, I've been on stage half a dozen times where I've had boneheads sig heiling me. I had a show in Miami in the early nineties where Skank and Pickle was playing and there's 600 kids and eight skinheads up front, sig heiling me and riot broke out and I had to actually pull the Nazi skinheads over the States to save their lives. So the irony right there is I saved them from their racist bullshit. Did they even thank you for it? They were just freaked out because I mean, there, it was going to be, it was chaos. You know, people were just, people just started punching and it was just like, you're just watching insanity unfold in front of you.

And that's just like a lot of that stuff. I mean, especially music wise. And when I play, I don't see that first of all, cause my music has changed a lot. And also because I think the audience have changed a lot early, late eighties, early nineties. It was so skinhead oriented, especially with Ska. Ska has turned complete 180 degree turn in terms of the type of people it draws. It used to be all just like skinheads, mods and punks. You know, it's like, just like nice, happy kids. So that, that danger is gone. And I, it was every day. It was like every day we're on tour, we're wondering, you know, how many skinheads are going to show up and are they going to be good skinheads or bad skinheads? Yeah. So we dealt with a lot of problems with skinheads throughout the years.

Wow. And just a racism. I mean, you see it. I experienced it on such subtle teases, like going to the gym and playing basketball and someone going, Hey, Yao Ming, Yao Ming. It's like, you know, they don't know. It's just the ignorance of society. Wow. That's, yeah. Um, are those people who know you? Yeah. Okay. Well, you know, they, they know me cause I play basketball. Yeah. But they're not like, yeah, it's not like, you know, but they don't know, you know, if I, if I knew them better, I would educate them. Yeah. And sometimes I do, but it's just like, you know, it's, it's like, okay, I know they're they're harmless enough, but it's just like, okay, that's just an example of our society that we live in. Yeah. They are ignorant.

And we're, if you just tune on in on the boob tube, it's just like, it's just insane how stupid we are as a, as a, as a country. We're more concerned about tits and ass than we are about what's going on in terms of our, the war. Yeah. Nobody cares. They just want, they just want that gluttony. Yeah. And to just, uh, empower themselves with thoughts of lust and money and power and the, like, Donald Trump and bling bling and more and more and more. I think there's a song in there somewhere. Sure. I think there's probably several. Well, that's unfortunately what we find more and more is selling in today's culture is the flash value and the get rich quick scheme. Sure. All of that crap. All right. Well, we're going to take a quick pause in that interview.

I'm going to bring you a little bit more of Mike Park's music off of his album for the love of music. Uh, we're going to be playing the song, uh, from Korea, which is, it's a good way to segue into the second half of the interview. We talk a lot about racism and, uh, we, as we already have, and it's a really strong topic that you tell Mike's dealt with a lot. So it's a fitting song. Please stay tuned in the second half of the interview. We talk about what it's like for Mike touring with larger bands, what it's like being a solo act and all that. And we bring you more music from him. And we can't forget the all important Smurf versus Ninja Turtles section at the end of our show, because that is the question that will eventually, uh, lead to the shift of blue states and red states in America as we know it.

So, uh, we're going to play from Korea and stay tuned. A new acquaintance I met last week. Use the word nigger in casual speak. He said, don't worry, you're not like them. You may be Chinese, but you're just like me. Screw this, I'm leaving. Well, I don't need a racist friend. And I'm not like you. And I'm from Korea. My eyes are small. Your eyes are closed. And I'm not like you. And I'm from Korea. My eyes are small. Your eyes are closed. Another day, another emotion. I'm playing a game. He called me a fag. I said, don't be an ignorant fool. You must be gay. Your prejudice rules. Screw this, I'm leaving. And I don't need a racist friend. And I'm not like you. And I'm from Korea. My eyes are small. My eyes are small.

Your eyes are closed. And I'm not like you. And I'm from Korea. My eyes are small. Your eyes are closed. Quake the words. Express yourself. Lift up your arms today. Start another state. No fabled story here now. And I'm not like you. And I'm from Korea. My eyes are small. Cause your eyes are closed. And I'm not like you. And I'm from Korea. My eyes are small. Cause your eyes are closed. And I'm not like you. And I'm from Korea. My eyes are small. Cause your eyes are closed. And I'm not like you. And I'm from Korea. My eyes are small. Do people assume because you're an actual musician and you run your own record label that you're somehow like that you're like that that you all of a sudden like because you're not dirt poor, you must be ridiculously successful.

Oh, no. I live such a – I mean, right now you're looking at – I mean, I'm only living here temporarily because I got evicted out of my house, but I've always lived in like the smallest of places. I lived in an attic just up to – like six months ago I lived there for the last four years. But no, I don't have any bling. I don't think I've bought or purchased any new clothes in the last 20 years. It's just everything is hand-me-downs or free or just bought at the thrift stores. And that's not just like show that I'm punker than punk. It's just my frugality wins and it's just like I'm just a minimalist. I don't want things. And I don't have things. I just keep it that way. Yeah, it's not a bad way to go. If you don't want stuff, then you're never let down by what you don't have.

Exactly. I mean, that's how I feel. But that's not to say, you know, I have done well. Asian man has done well and I'm not in the poorhouse by any means. But I just don't – I don't like living a life of luxury or to like use that as some kind of like head trip. Oh, look what I've got. Look what you don't have. You're not going to go out. That's ridiculous. You're not getting the new Asian man, you know, G4 golf stream anytime. I'm not getting anything. Nothing right away. That's fair. Now, I keep coming back to your record label and I feel bad if ever I ask too many damn questions. No, that's fine. Now, a lot of, I mean, record labels and, you know, there's a lot in the general vicinity. And there's a lot more that have like gone under.

I mean, most recently you have Lookout Records, which is after the Green Day debacle has kind of gone under. I mean, Spring Man Records, they're functional, but they're kind of on some harder times right now. Are they? I've heard. I can't – I don't want to like say anything, but – I didn't know. Well, I know with Lookout, it's just sad because it was such an influential label. But when you look at Lookout, the thing is the original owners aren't involved anymore. So the focus of the label is completely gone. It went from being a punk rock label to more of like a hipster label. Yeah. And so that's fine. And I like the owners of Lookout, the present day owners. And I like a lot of the records they put out, but it's just – it's hard to do that.

Yeah. I mean, I've run into the same problem. You know, people see me as a Scott label. So when I release an album like – guys, there's so many I released, like Just the Fire, Good for Cows. These are like math rock albums. And who – what ska kid is going to buy it? Yeah. And their audience, the math rock audience, aren't running the Asian man to find a new like Mr. Bungle-ish type math rock. So I understand that's hard. I could release ska and pop punk all day and go, yay, but it becomes a bore. Yeah, eventually it's not interesting. Well, is there anything that you've done different that you think would separate you from any of the hundreds of labels that end up failing? Oh, it's – well, for me, what's easy is I have no overhead.

I run it out of my parents' garage, so I have no rent. I only have one employee. I stopped doing ads completely. We don't spend any money now. Wow. So it's just like, okay, let's just sell what we have, the back catalog, and just – because times are hard. Yeah. The industry is changing. It's like, okay, what do we need to do to survive? Yeah. I did lose – I lost the money on many releases over the last five years, so I had to rethink how I was doing things and just be smarter about the way I released records. So that's basically the difference is I think if you have a label and you're paying rent and you have a full staff, you've got desperate times, desperate measures. But for me, it's like desperate times, it's like, okay, no big deal.

Yeah. I just make less. So the key here, live out of your – or work out of your parents' garage. Also, you've got to look at your expectations. For me, my expectations are very low, and I don't – the thing is I don't want the company to engulf my life. I want to be able to do other things. Yeah. It's just – I'm very lucky that it has done well and it's allowed me to do the things that I've been able to do with Plea for Peace. I think it's an extension of Asian Man. Asian Man has really funded Plea for Peace. Yeah. So I just want to make sure I never, ever get too involved in the business and let it take over my life because it can be demoralizing. Oh, yeah. That's cool. Exhausting. Any business, I'm sure. Sure.

But, like, your last two releases have been – I'm pretty sure they've been through Subsidy, right? Subsidy. Now, is there a reason that you decided to release that with them? Now, I know there's the Asian Man logo on it, but is there any reason you did that with them instead of just through your own? Yeah. The main reason I work through Subsidy is because I had experienced in the past problems with bands on my own label and complaining that, hey, you know, you're pushing your release so much and our release is just kind of getting brushed aside. Yeah. And I never wanted to get that feeling again of having to, like, defend myself. So I said, well, why don't I just release it on a different label and I don't have to worry about it?

And it's like, though, if I released it on my label, I'd make so much more money. Yeah. But is it about the money or is it about being happy? So it's like, okay, Subsidy, you deal with it. I don't have to deal with it. The bands can't complain. Everyone's happy. Wow. And so that's the situation. And plus Subsidy, the idea of Subsidy as a record label subsidizing a part of their profits, reports of non-profit, is really, I think, something to be praised. And so I wanted to be part of that. Yeah. That's really cool. So, I mean, I know there's a lot of people who would just, I mean, be easier and, you know, more cash effective to do it through their own. Mm-hmm. It's definitely crossed my mind because I'm like, man, I could have made, I was kind of doing the figures like, oh, I would have made this much compared to this.

But, you know, again, it's like, is it about the money or is it about being happy? Yeah. Well, that's really awesome. Now, has there ever been something you've done either musically like through a song or just a live incident that has really been like kind of epitomized why you're into music or why you do what you do? Like a single moment? I don't know if that has happened. There's definitely been shows that I've gone to that have given me that energy. Me, myself, there's been definitely many different shows where you kind of feel at that moment like, okay, this is the reason I'm doing this or this was just a good feeling overall. Yeah. So to say there was one specific moment, I can't pinpoint that. Yeah.

I think it's just a mass collection of different adventures that I've been through, traveling. A lot of it is traveling, like just being, I think maybe the first time I went to Japan and having the show be sold out when I got there and just going, wow, you know, how did these people know about me? Like, you know, I've never been on the radio, I've never been on TV, I've never been here, but they know about me. And the same thing going to Europe, it's like, the show's going to be sold out, but there are people there, and it's like, they know who I am. That's kind of cool. It's got to be pretty humbling. Yeah, that's the most exciting thing is going to different countries and having people know who you are.

Yeah. And without any advertising, this is all word of mouth. That's kind of the most, and even in the U.S. too, you know, it's all word of mouth. I'm not in the U.S. I get less love in the U.S. than I get anywhere else.

It's all kind of, I think doing it yourself is definitely, you get a sense of satisfaction that you can't get, where if you're a band that's, oh, I won't name names, so I'll just stop right there. I try not to bad, my new year's resolution last year is stop bad-mouthing bands. Did you bad-mouth people? I would just, if I just felt like a certain band didn't, I would use bands as examples. Well, this band. It's kind of a general, you know. It's not like someone you have a personal grudge against or anything like that. I would just like take like ex-popular bands, but what's the reason to downsize anybody's accomplishments? Yeah, and then that becomes, of course, any time you do that with an interview, that becomes the tagline.

Sure. Mike Park hates these people. Right. Oh, man. But anyhow, so like you were just talking about Europe and going to Asia and all that, and you're going there actually in November with Alkaline Show, is it? Right. And then you're going back later with Anti-Flag. Right. Is that, I mean, because those have got to be pretty big crowds that they draw. Yeah, I'm excited. It's kind of a chance for me to play make-believe and pretend these people are there to see me. It's just an extension of the friendships I've made where these bands have believed in me enough where they'll take me and let me travel on their bus, and it really makes for an easy traveling experience for me. Oh, yeah. These tours are like vacations.

I don't even feel like I'm on tour. Yeah, because you don't have to do anything. I don't have to do anything. I'm on a rock and roll bus that has two TVs, and I just get to show up and walk around town and talk to kids. So it's very exciting. I want to do that. Very exciting. I want that job. I want that job. I want more. If you can just do that all the time. I just want more bands to contact me and let me ride on their bus. For all the bands that are listening to us right now with tour buses. Let me come. I'm a nice guy. Don't take up much space. You're clean. I'm very – I'll send you my references. There we go. Excellent. Is it weird at all? Because opening for anti-flag, they're so loud and so political. I mean, I guess people would say – I was – well, I actually toured with them last year.

Yeah, for the Rock Against Boat. So I was kind of – I was wondering how am I going to go over, but it went over really well. So now the confidence is there, and I've really become confident in any capacity as a solo artist. I feel like I can open up for anybody, whether it be a metal band, a punk band, a ska band, a singer-songwriter. And I'm like, okay, I'll make do and just – of course, they're going to be naysayers. But I think for the most part, if I play it right, I can find a niche and just get the respect or demand the respect. Command it. Just tell them they're going to respect you. So I just got to – just got to feel the crowd out and just go for it. Was it weird at all, like, going from, you know, playing with Skanking Pickle, which is like a ska band, big band, to like one person on stage?

Yeah, it took me a while. Just – probably just in the last year have I started to feel comfortable playing. I did last year's Plea for Peace where I went on tour with Cursive, which was a huge tour for me, but at the same time I felt like I performed poorly. I was very, very scared every night. Oh, yeah. My nerves were killing me, and I felt like, you know, that would have been a great opportunity to really impress a lot of people. But I think I really blew it in terms of the performance, and I think I just – I suck. Like, just start drinking every night. I should have. I think I actually started drinking. I did drink. And that's when your performance is – you think it will help. I never drink, but I was like, screw it.

Cursive drinks so much. I was like, damn. Like, I got to keep up. Everybody likes Cursive, and they drink, maybe. It was the peer pressure. There we go. But seriously, I actually – I did drink. I rarely drink. I drank because it was just such – the atmosphere of them drinking nonstop. I just found myself, like, having a beer, occasional beer, and then it turned out to be two or three or four. And then after I played, I was like, I just kept going sometimes. I think I was drunk more on that tour, which is two months, than I had been in my entire life combined. Oh, my God. And so, one, to shoot for kids. Speaking for – I'll say I speak for everyone. I'm glad you're more comfortable on stage because I don't want you dying of, like, liver failure in the next five years.

Some people can do that. Some people just don't pull it off. But still, even at my worst, I'm probably a saint compared to the majority of the bands out there. I mean, the bands that I've met, they know I don't party much at all. I mean, once in a while, once in a blue moon, I'll let loose. But I'm just – mostly just in it for the experience of the music and the concert and the people and the bands, et cetera, et cetera. I'm going to ask a question, and if it sounds weird or whatever, you can always ask me to clarify. Sure. Now, it's – through your music and everything, it's clear that you identify, you know, with your Asian heritage and your Korean heritage. Has it ever been hard to draw a distinction or, like, let people know there's a distinction between you identifying with that and just being identified as, well, he's an Asian musician?

Oh, I don't – I don't – I don't think so because my fan base is predominantly white. Yeah. So I'm singing about issues that I have dealt with as an Asian American, as a minority, and specifically growing up where I have grown up, in Los Gatos, suburb of San Jose, very fluent, very white. Yeah. And so it's just me talking about issues that I've dealt with, and a lot of those issues are being Asian American, and that's what – my surroundings, with my family, et cetera, et cetera. So those are just songs, and I don't – I definitely don't think people see me as the Asian artists. They just see me as Mike Park, and that's about it. That's cool. I'm going to get to a strange part of the show. This is one that we've just started working on, where we're going to introduce song titles for you, and I'm going to ask you to rate these song titles.

It doesn't need to be anything about the content of the song, just the song titles on the – Song titles I know? No, these are song titles that we're working on with what we would do if we were a band, what our song titles are. So I'm going to rank them, what, one to five star? One to five star, one to ten, whatever works for you. And then your personal opinions on if these – if you saw these just on the back of an album, if you – this whole part, this whole section, I can already tell is going to get cut. Okay. But – all right. Full Tilt Clown Dune Buggy. Say three stars, going to leave you in the air. I have no idea what is – whether it's bad or good. It could be anything. All right. These are – actually, it sounds like something you would find on the back of a Dillinger Escape Plan album.

I don't know.

Public transportation is cool as long as you don't have to sit next to the crazy guy. I give it a three again because it could be – it could be racy, it could be – but it could be politically enlightening. So I give it a three. It leaves you up in the air. Good to me. All right. I think we're going to leave on that one – or we'll do one more, I guess. We'll do Testicular Deathmatch.

Three again. It's a real toss-up. I don't know. It could be awesome. It could be horrible. I think that's – yeah. I think that's the way a lot of album – or song titles go. Well, if it's just like – if the title is like Big Tits, then I'd give it a one star and go. That's good. Because that was the next one we were going for. All right. See, it was good that I cut it off there. Well, I noticed like your – I was just going through your song titles the other day. They're all very like – they're pretty forward. So it seems like that – like what you like. Just – well, I just – I never – come up with titles for songs. Never – something I put much weight in. It's like, okay, what's the line I use most? And that'll be the title.

Yeah, what sounds like basically reflects the song. What do you got? Oh, God. I can't even think of any off the top of my head, but all the bands that have the asinine. Like, those ones are basically like – Oh, those are very like Lawrence Arms will have like these long ass titles. Oh, man. Oh, Cyborg, Zombie, Night, Apocalypse part. Yeah. I love the Lawrence Arms, so if they're listening, they can always – we'll interview them at the drop of a hat. But, yeah, really fucking long song titles. But, um, so real quick, we got one more question. This is a standard question we ask, so don't worry. I'm not trying to like Cynthia, but it was posed to me when I was 14 years old. It's one of those ones I've always asked people.

If the Smurfs fought the Ninja Turtles, who would win? Ninja Turtles? Yeah? No question of – they're ninjas. Yeah. I mean, their whole – the whole show was based on their skills as fighters. Yeah. Smurfs aren't fighters, they're Smurfs. That's true. A lot of people, though, put weight in the fact that there's like 5,000 Smurfs or I don't know, something like that. Yeah, but probably one Ninja Turtle could do it by himself. Well, that's the new challenge. If it was one Ninja Turtle versus all of the Smurfs, you've set the precedent now. Yes. That's the new challenge. Well, excellent. Um, is there anything you'd like to plug, website, or upcoming shows? Sure. Um, I have three URLs that, um, I would love people to check out.

The first one is www.playforpeace.com. The second one is www.asianmanrecords.com. And the last one is www.mikeparkmusic.com. All right. Thanks. Those are all sites that I'm affiliated with, so, um, if you're interested in seeing what I do, please check out those sites. And if anyone knows how to ship a bike for $25. I know. I'm going to go to FedEx tomorrow. Just do it. Yeah, it's probably. Do it at the place, so. It's probably the best way to go about it. And, of course, we'll post those on the website. And, uh, yeah, I just want to thank you so much for, uh, taking some time to, uh, sit down with us. No problem. All right. Thanks a lot. All right. All right. Well, that concludes our interview with Mike Park. I'd like to thank everyone for listening to, I guess, what is our first inaugural Halloween episode since that's when we've decided to edit it one night before we, uh, crank it out.

So, uh, thanks for everyone listening to that. We're going to conclude this all with, uh, one more song off of Mike Park's album, For the Love of Music, which you can find on Subsidy Records. Or if you go to Asianman.com, be sure to check out all of his websites, including the Plea for Peace website. Very important cause that, for us particularly in the South Bay, is very important. Hits very close to home. Um, we have an incredible lack of all-ages venues or decent venues, which people can feel safe at and people feel, present good bands, that it's an excellent cause for right now. Um, please tune in next week. With any luck next week, we should have an interview with, uh, Fat Records, one of their newest bands, uh, Western Addiction.

So, stay tuned for that. And, again, uh, this is Southbound 280 from Mike Park. Thanks for listening. Sound Scene Revolution. We'll be back next Tuesday.