The Permission Parties: A New Listening & Tasting Experience

Three years after that pesky pandemic cut our dinner series short, I am thrilled to share that we will finally return for a limited 5-night run in May!  To celebrate the release of my newest album Permission, I am embarking on a brand new kind of “tour” called The Permission Parties: a multi-sensory listening and tasting dinner series. Attendees will enjoy six Chinese-inspired dishes I’ve created that share some common emotion with each of the six tracks on the album. I will share a personal story about each course before serving, and then premiere the track while the guests enjoy the dish.  The dinners will take place in Nashville in May as a part of AAPI Heritage month celebrations, and then across 9 other US cities in September and October: Kansas City, Denver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Houston, Austin, & Dallas. 

Proceeds will benefit groups fighting for AAPI safety and visibility via The Quiet Voice Fund.

GET YOUR NASHVILLE TIX HERE! (5/9-5/13)

Tickets for other cities coming soon. If you’d like to host a future Permission Party please drop me a line at alex@highceilingsmusic.com

More about The Permission Parties: 

The purpose of The Permission Parties is to invest in the idea that everyone has permission to take up space in the world… we don’t need to wait for it to be “given.”  Growing up in the US as a second-generation Chinese American, I rarely felt permission to take up space with my body, my voice, or my stories. Movies and media told me I was allowed to be a buddy, a punchline, or a decoration, but there was not enough space for my story in the center of the room.  By showcasing the emotional stories connecting my music, food, and cultural identity, I hope to empower everyone, especially those on the margins, to feel permission to take up space with their stories.

The inspiration comes from having synesthesia, a condition that mixes up 2 unrelated senses in our brains. This did more than connect colors to letters, numbers, and musical pitches.  It taught me to find connections between seemingly unrelated passions such as food, music, and storytelling, and inspired me to synthesize these disciplines into a holistic artistic event in order to share these connections with others.  

Music making and cooking have always come from the same creative place for me. The same elements that make music endlessly fascinating are also what drive my curiosity in the kitchen; pushing for new sounds/flavors, quiet/loud elements working together, and most of all the emotional message at the core of any creation. The way a kick drum makes my mouth salivate when it sounds just right is the same feeling I’m looking for when seasoning a dish. The way my heart flutters when the string arrangement locks into place is the same as when I taste a new combination of ingredients that really works. I’ve always wanted to express these emotional parallels between food and music somehow.  My hope is that experiencing them together might offer a deeper enjoyment of each.  

You can view a past listening and tasting experience here.
I can’t wait to cook for you all again!

Much love,
Alex Wong and the Angelhouse Family Dinner team

New Solo Album! And tours in the UK, EU, US!

Dear loved ones,

I hope you are all doing well and feeling hopeful these days.  I’ve got a lot of news I’m really excited to share with you so I’m gonna dispense with the chit chat and get to it.  Buckle up…

I’M MAKING A NEW ALBUM!

Can’t believe I am actually typing this… but as I write, I am at the airport on my way to Texas to record my next solo album!!

First, here’s a bit of background about why I am making this album. As a kid I never saw examples of Asian Americans telling their own stories in music, movies and TV, and grew up thinking that a career as an artist just wasn’t a path open to me. My story was one that existed in between two more dominant stories… the “immigrant” and the “American.”  I was always trying to shoehorn my experience into one of these and it never quite fit.  I never saw the stories of American people who looked like me reflected back in music, movies and TV growing up and believed it wasn’t a story worth telling.  I felt compelled to assimilate to American culture to survive yet lived with a constant low level shame for not being “Chinese” enough.  When I started exploring this experience in songs and playing them live I realized there were people feeling seen for the first time in this music.  I want others to know that their experience is worthy of being reflected back to them in the American songbook and in American culture where they belong. 

Straight up, I believe this is one of the most ambitious projects I’ve ever attempted and I need your help to bring it to life the best way I know how.  If you want to support me and this new album, the most direct way to do this is to BECOME A PATRON.  I spent a lot of time creating what I think are meaningful rewards, including a chance to record background vocals on the album itself!  Check them out below.

There are a few things that are going to be very different (and honestly a bit terrifying) about how I’m making this album as opposed to any I’ve made in the past.

First, I won’t be self-producing this one.  I’ve brought in producer Josh Kaler (Jump Little Children, Frances Cone) to co-produce with me (we also toured the country together on the Elle King/Lola Kirke tour earlier this year) He is one of the most talented and kind people I know and I couldn’t imagine a better collaborator for this journey.  

My primary mission for this album, which is sort of a continuation of the last one, is to get rid of any more of my tendencies to hide in my music.  This time I’m referring to a tendency to hide SONICALLY.  Real talk, in the past I’d never felt confident in my singing enough to truly let my voice be up front and center without supporting/obscuring it with lots of sounds, parts and arrangements, so I’m bringing Josh in to curb any excesses in production and bring out the best in my performances. 

Second, I won’t  be recording this album at my own studio.  I will be traveling to Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, TX, an absolutely magical studio on the southern border (the US/Mexico border literally runs onto the property).  There is no cell service there and nothing to distract you for miles and miles.  I’ve produced a few projects there including Delta Rae’s latest album and it’s always been my dream to someday record one of my own albums there.  I can’t believe it’s finally going to happen and I GET TO BRING ALL OF YOU WITH ME!! More on this below…

Third, the concept of this album extends beyond just music.  It is being created in parallel with a tasting menu from my childhood, just like I did with The Elephant and the Seahorse (which sadly got cut short by that pesky pandemic).  But this time I am giving myself PERMISSION to dream bigger… my dream is to set up shop in four cities around the US for a week at a time and do several pop up listening tasting dinners, where I share the album and the stories behind each song and their emotional connection to the dishes.  ICYMI here is a video and an interview from the last listening tasting experience.

TOUR DATES IN THE UK, EU, US

Right after Texas, I leave for the UK and Europe for two separate tours… First I’ll be playing drums with the truly brilliant Lola Kirke opening for First Aid Kit around the UK, then I will be playing some solo acoustic shows in Europe in some of my favorite cities.  I’d love to hang, EU friends!  It’s been way too long!!

ALEX WONG SOLO ACOUSTIC (EU/US)

THU 12/15/22 - AGNESKLAUSE, KØLN DE (INFO)
FRI 12/16/22 - PILLOWSONG SERIES, STANS CH (TICKETS)
SAT 12/17/22 - HOUSE CONCERT, KARLSRUHE DE (EMAIL TO RSVP)
SUN 12/18/22 - RHO TONEEL THEATER*, NUMANSDORP NE (TICKETS)
MON 12/19/22 - CONCERT ON A BOAT, ROTTERDAM NE (TICKETS)

WED 12/28/22 - FREIGHT AND SALVAGE (SUPPORTING VIENNA TENG), BERKELEY CA (TICKETS)
THU 12/29/22 - FREIGHT AND SALVAGE (SUPPORTING VIENNA TENG), BERKELEY CA (TICKETS)
FRI 1/6/23 - “FROM STORY TO SONG”, NEW YORK NY (CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN)
*w string quartet

Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end.  I’m grateful you’re here.

Much love,

A

New Song Drops May 15. Vienna Teng May 15 & 16

Dear loved ones,

The first half of the Show Yourself Residency has been an absolute joy! Thank you everyone who filled Rockwood Music Hall or streamed a show! The second half starts this Sunday, have you gotten your tickets yet???

I’m especially excited for the upcoming shows on Sunday 5/15 (only LIVE tix left) and Monday 5/16 (only STREAMING tix left) which feature Vienna Teng, an artist who I have collaborated with for many years and who has had a profound influence on me as a songwriter, artist, and human being.

Vienna and I met almost 20 yrs ago while playing an open mic at Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View CA. We became mutual fans and friends and I was psyched to meet another AAPI artist, a rare sighting in the singer songwriter circuit at that time. Two weeks later I turned on the tv and saw her performing on David Letterman

Since then we’ve been lucky to play music around the world together. She’s always been an inspiration to me and others as one of the first AAPI artists to break through on the national stage.  Working w her inspired me to #levelup as a songwriter, producer and musician, and showed me how we can integrate art and advocacy with grace and power. Some of my most joyous and most present moments making music were on stage performing with Vienna. I’m so grateful she’ll be sharing her powerful stories at the #ShowYourselfResidency. 

In-person tickets are $35 and online tickets are $20.  VIP add-on options are available for both which include access to a post-show meet-and-greet, mixed/edited video recordings of the show, and more.  100% of ticket sales will benefit The Quiet Voice Fund, again supporting organizations fighting anti-Asian hate and advocating for the AAPI community.  If you’re planning to be in NYC area, I highly recommend grabbing live tickets right away… one of the shows has already sold out!

AS ALWAYS, ALL PATREON MEMBERS GET ACCESS TO ALL STREAMING SHOWS FOR FREE.

Patrons can also get a special VIP package which will include access to the post-show meet and greet live from the Rockwood stage, an official poster signed by all the artists, access to mixed and edited audio/video recordings of each show, a special set of all 4 prints of Ping’s artwork, and handwritten lyrics to my newest single, to be released during the residency!  

BECOME A PATRON TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE PATRON-ONLY STORE.

Recorded and mixed the new song while in NYC for the residency!

If you’ve tuned in to any of the live streams, you know I have also been testing out a brand new song called “Permission” during this residency and I’m very excited to share that on Sunday I will be releasing a special recording of the song ON PATREON featuring guest vocals by Vienna Teng and MILCK! I got the very impractical idea to produce the song while in NYC, so I went to Hive Mind Recording in Brooklyn and laid down my piano and vocal, then got my musician friends from all over the country to send in parts, including a string quartet from Nashville TN! I can’t wait for you to hear it. Here’s a clip of the song from the moment I finished writing it, hours before I performed it at the first #ShowYourselfResidency.  

A bit about the song - As a kid I rarely felt permission to take up space… with my body, my stories, or the sound of my voice. Movies and TV told me I was allowed to be a buddy, a punchline, or a decoration, but there was not enough space for me in the center of the room. I learned to shrink… my voice got quieter, my shoulders folded inward.

I wanted to be a singer for a long time, but my body was so terrified of making any noise, let alone the “wrong” noise, that my throat would literally constrict and physically block sound from coming out as a defense mechanism. My throat was so tight that my voice would crack when I tried to sing, flooding me with even more shame.

I often feel that my path as a singer (a label i still struggle with) has been less about learning new skills and vocal techniques and more about removing these emotional clogs living in my throat and letting the sound come out. I wrote this song for that kid, and anyone waiting for someone to give them permission to take up space.

You don’t have to wait for it to be given.  You have permission.

Become a patreon member to hear the full song. 

Why I created the #ShowYourselfResidency

Dear loved ones,

I can’t believe the Show Yourself Residency is almost upon us!  Have you gotten your tickets yet???

I wanted to share some #realtalk about why I wanted to create the Show Yourself Residency.  I almost never saw examples of Asian musicians as a kid, and grew up thinking that a career as a musician just wasn’t a path open to Asian kids. So, just as many AAPI folx have memories of downplaying their food, physical features, customs, and language in the hopes of being accepted by the dominant culture (or at least not singled out for abuse) I downplayed my ethnicity in my professional life, and would even take it as a compliment when white peers would say “I don’t even think of you as Asian!”

I used to have an aversion to “Asian artist” events and groups. I convinced myself I needed to prove myself as a “real” musician, not just an “Asian” musician (not defending this belief, just being real). I found myself approaching the industry with a mentality of scarcity, buying into the myth that there was only one spot at the table for an Asian (or black, or female, or LGBTQ etc) musician, and to view other Asians as competition. It took me a long time to understand that this “table” was itself a product of white supremacy culture.

I realized my biases were more about my own insecurities and conflicted emotions around my identity and I’m grateful to have come back around to a point where I can be excited to help create a platform for AAPI artists to show themselves to the world, free from the identity shame that I experienced. I hope it is a step toward a day when seeing Asian stories in music and art is so normalized we won’t need events like these to shine a light on them and Asian artists have #permission to choose when to focus on their identity in their work, or on their many other parts that make them human

In-person tickets are $35 and online tickets are $20.  VIP add-on options are available for both which include access to a post-show meet-and-greet, mixed/edited video recordings of the show, and more.  100% of ticket sales will benefit The Quiet Voice Fund, again supporting organizations fighting anti-Asian hate and advocating for the AAPI community.  If you’re planning to be in NYC area, I highly recommend grabbing live tickets right away… one of the shows has already sold out!

AS ALWAYS, ALL PATREON MEMBERS GET ACCESS TO ALL STREAMING SHOWS FOR FREE.

Patrons can also get a special VIP package which will include access to the post-show meet and greet live from the Rockwood stage, an official poster signed by all the artists, access to mixed and edited audio/video recordings of each show, a special set of all 4 prints of Ping’s artwork, and handwritten lyrics to my newest single, to be released during the residency!  

BECOME A PATRON TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE PATRON-ONLY STORE.

#ShowYourselfResidency starts May 2 Live and Streamed from NYC!

For the past six months I’ve been quietly working on what may be my biggest undertaking yet.  It’s taken a lot of planning, calling, emailing, organizing, creating and dreaming, but it’s finally ready to share with you all!

I’m thrilled to present “The Show Yourself Residency, a benefit concert series celebrating AAPI stories!”

The full lineup for the Show Yourself Residency, live and streaming from Rockwood Music Hall in May

For me, this residency is the natural evolution of what we created with the two virtual tours last year.  Each of the four shows will feature three hand picked AAPI musicians from around the country (including musical SHEROES Vienna Teng, MILCK, Raye Zaragoza, and Kaye) following an in-the-round format, with a middle section filled with special guests, interviews and collaborations.  But this time around there will be some major upgrades…

First, of course, is the addition of a real live audience!  These shows will take place at one of my favorite venues on the planet, Rockwood Music Hall in New York City, in front of actual human beings!  They will be streamed  from the stage in real time via a multi-camera feed.  During the “Monster” release show last summer, we figured out a way to allow the Zoom audience to interact with the live audience, opening up a new dimension in the show experience.  The two audiences were able to chat with each other in the room, and it felt more connected than anything we’d done before.  We hope to build on this concept at these shows as well as “beam in” a special mystery guest from somewhere in the world, right into the venue on a projected screen at each show.  You won’t want to miss this!

The second major difference is that instead of producing this by myself again, I have partnered with a talented production team called Keepsake House.  They produced the beautiful event I played last fall in NYC which was so well-run it inspired me to ask them to collaborate on this event.  It feels amazing to have a team helping me co-create this vision into something bigger than I could have done on my own.

I have also commissioned a brilliant visual artist based in Thailand, Ping Hatta, to create a series of original paintings for the event, one for each show.  I came across her work a few months ago and was stunned by the originality and vibrancy of her art and her unique way of representing the human figure.  I was thrilled that she agreed to collaborate with us on this event.  We will auction her original paintings and sell a limited number of prints of each work, with 100% of sales benefitting The Quiet Voice Fund. 

In-person tickets are $35 and online tickets are $20.  VIP add-on options are available for both which include access to a post-show meet-and-greet, mixed/edited video recordings of the show, and more. 100% of ticket sales will benefit The Quiet Voice Fund, again supporting organizations fighting anti-Asian hate and advocating for the AAPI community.  If you’re planning to be in NYC area, I highly recommend grabbing live tickets right away… one of the shows is already almost sold out!

AS ALWAYS, ALL PATREON MEMBERS GET ACCESS TO ALL STREAMING SHOWS FOR FREE.

Patrons can also get a special VIP package which will include access to the post-show meet and greet live from the Rockwood stage, an official poster signed by all the artists, access to mixed and edited audio/video recordings of each show, a special set of all 4 prints of Ping’s artwork, and handwritten lyrics to my newest single, to be released during the residency!  

BECOME A PATRON TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE PATRON-ONLY STORE.

Keepsake House and I have been working hard to make this event something we think will be very special.  We hope you’ll think so too.