Not Invisible

My heart still hurts that Donald Trump, someone who has vocally promoted racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and Islamophobia, won this country over.

As I watched the election results with my parents, their story of immigrating to the US from Korea to make a life for our family weighed on me. My dad made it to LA in 1979, and my mom followed in 1981. I’ve heard their stories of shame and guilt around discrimination they experienced and the challenges they faced assimilating in the US. 

One of my favorite photos of my parents. I mean, look at 'em.

Identity is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Who the hell am I? I’m a first generation Korean-American. I carry my Korean heritage and culture proudly. At the same time, I was born here in the US and have been blessed to have incredible friends from all walks of life and be part of diverse communities. I have been afforded amazing opportunities and experiences here that have shaped my life differently from my parents’. 

Now more than ever, it's time for those of us in marginalized communities to use our voices to fight back and rise up. We belong here and deserve to be heard. We also need to stand together and support those especially in need. Here's a list of organizations in particular that need support.

I harbored these thoughts in Vancouver a few weeks ago as well when I was invited to speak at the 20th Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF).

It was the first year they had a music panel to address the challenges and wins that Asians have experienced in this field of entertainment. I was there alongside major music producers and talented singer-songwriters, the owner of a music publishing company and a soprano who had been invited to perform in North Korea. I also met William Yu, the creator of the social campaign #StarringJohnCho that went viral. He Photoshopped John Cho’s face in place of white male lead actors' faces on movie posters in an effort to spread awareness of the lack of diverse lead roles in film.

All the participants of the festival come from different backgrounds and experiences, but we all came together in support of the fact that representation matters.

VAFF’s founder Barbara Lee had stumbled upon my reflection on five years dedicated to supporting SoundCloud's creator and artist community. Putting out that post in the first place was nerve-wracking but ultimately I'm grateful that I did. It gave me more confidence to know that my voice, my experience and my contributions in this world matter.

I never expected the kind of supportive responses the reflection post received–I’ve had strangers reach out and tell me I'm brave; I've received emails from young women trying to enter the music industry asking for advice; and I’ve had the honor to be invited to come up to Vancouver to share my experience at VAFF. 

After having my identity steeped in a brand for so long, to be able to speak from my own voice in front of an audience of aspiring creators and fellow peers in the Asian, Asian-American and Asian-Canadian communities gave me even more courage to fully embrace who I am, celebrate my accomplishments openly and share my stories more boldly.

Assimilating to make others feel more comfortable and trying to fit in has been a challenge I’ve dealt with since I was a child. I can trace back to my first memories when someone made me feel like an “other.” I experienced these feelings intensely over the past few years, particularly working at a place where I’d look around and hardly see anyone who looked like me. With any negative sexist, racist experiences I faced over the years, I felt that I froze and hid more than actually confront them. The silence grew into resentment. Over time, I learned to find my strength and courage to confront those who hurt me and say “That’s not okay.” 

I also acknowledge the privileges I have and will speak up even more in solidarity for those who are hurting and oppressed. Black Lives Matter, Muslim Lives Matter, Indigenous Lives Matter, Immigrant Lives Matter, LGBTQ Lives Matter. We are not invisible.

It's our time to shine and speak up for our communities, because you never know who you’ll empower if you share your voice for others to mobilize and feel like “Hey, I can do that too.”

Let’s continue to share our stories and create art to protect and provide inclusive spaces for our marginalized communities.

Produced By: D. Sanders

On a separate but related note on the topic of finding my voice, I’m excited to be working on a couple things, one of which is a series called Produced By.

It’s a simple name and an important, friendly reminder for artists to acknowledge and list who your producer is in your titles or credits. It’s not something that happens enough.

The aim of Produced By is to share the stories of hip hop producers and spark gratitude and inspiration among creators. There are a lot of great existing features on producers on a variety of music blogs and publications.

I’d like to do my part in contributing and sharing in my own way. The artist’s narrative is important and practicing gratitude is something that means a lot to me. My hope is that this resonates with other people too. 

Yesterday I published a feature on Jackson, TN-raised and LA-based producer, engineer and DJ D. Sanders who has produced for artists Isaiah Rashad, Tut, Michael da Vinci, Ye Ali and more. 

D. Sanders whose real name is Desmond Sanders and often goes by "Des" is easily one of my favorite producers and has produced some of my favorite Isaiah Rashad tracks. He’s talented, smart and hard-working, so look forward to more heat from him. 

For now I’ve posted Des's story on Medium.  If you enjoyed it, please share it or give it a recommendation if you're on Medium.

I've also edited and compiled a set of interview clips on a range of topics Des spoke about, like the process of working on Isaiah Rashad's latest album The Sun's Tirade, his thoughts on whether producers receive enough visibility, what he's grateful for and more.

Shout out to Jayme Catsouphes who gave me some pointers on audio editing and storytelling. We worked together on a couple of audio projects when we both used to work at SoundCloud, like this one three years ago.  

Anyway, I'd love to know what you think, and I’m open to any feedback. Thank you for all your support.

Much love and hugs,
Jane

Takeaways from ATL

Howdy. I write to you from the Bay after having spent an energizing last week in Atlanta for A3C. 

I am fortunate to have been able to visit for the first time and connect with all sorts of creative, hard-working people within the music community. 

Shoutout to sound engineer and rapper JRich who was the plug for this first trip to Atlanta for me.

Earlier in the year, he randomly stopped by the SoundCloud NYC office. I happened to be visiting NYC for a team offsite when I was informed that “Lil Yachty’s engineer” was in the building. 

We had never had any prior communication, but I count that as a fateful day. He opened the doors for me to learn more about the current music scene in Atlanta. He introduced me to many talented up-and-coming Atlanta-based artists, and I subsequently helped them make the most of SoundCloud. He also introduced me to the A3C organizers which led to my opportunity to participate in this year's EPK Mentor Session.

Overall, my first visit to Atlanta was fun and inspiring to say the least. It was great to meet artists I had been in touch with through email like Digital Nas; build new friendships with artists like Brian Brown and his crew (shoutout DJ GB, Kimu, Lucas); meet and hear the stories of producers like Jowin, Park Ave., Dolan Beatz and Ducko McFli; catch a bunch of live shows from emerging artists like Brown, Kelechi, Tre Capital and Hefna Gwap to legends like Cam’ron, Mystikal and Too Short; meet photographers and videographers like Quincy Brooks; and learn even more about the rich history of hip hop in Atlanta and the South. I’m missing more details, but you’ll hear more things that bubbled up from my time in Atlanta down the road.

For now, here are my main takeaways from the trip: 

1. Trusting the process and taking time to create quality music or work is important. 
   
   A recurring theme from discussions with different people was how important it was not to fall for "flash in the pan" success. I admire all those whom I met who are working hard to develop their own craft, not rush the creative journey and practice patience daily.
    
2. Truly understand who you are and what you’re about.
   
   The Internet has enabled people to create and release music easily which in turn makes the pool saturated with a lot of artists. Don’t try to copy a sound or fit into something because it’s trending temporarily. Take the time to understand what you care about and what you need to nurture or let go of to continue progressing forward. Know your worth. I feel this is an important thing to keep in mind for any aspect of life in general for anyone. It hits on a lot of the points made in Essentialism. If it’s not a clear yes to you, it’s a clear no. I plan to share more notes from this book in my next post.
    
3.  Relationships are the cornerstone of everything.
   
   As shared in the introduction of this post, existing relationships brought me to Atlanta. Fostering great relationships leads to more new, great relationships with others to emerge. Achieving success takes more than individual strength; it also takes support from others. 

Learned a lot at A3C and grateful to have participated this year.

Brian Brown in "church" aka Nolan's studio.

Cam'ron in the flesh.

Waffle House fix.

First thing I saw in the bathroom stall at Music Room on first night of A3C.

Without a doubt, I’ll be back in Atlanta.

More soon,
Jane

Fall Feels Full

"Levitated Mass" at LACMA.

Happy Saturday. Can you believe it’s already nearing October? It’s officially fall, yet the sun’s been still beating down here in LA. I’m not complaining; I finally get to bust out my sandals. 

My aunt (one of my mom’s six sisters) and uncle from Korea have been visiting so I’ve been busy gallivanting around town with them. The whole family went to Disneyland last weekend. My parents hadn’t been to the park in over 20 years. It was fun to be a kid with them again and nosh on churros and Dole whip. 

Beyond spending lots of time with family, I recently got a chance to meet up with Seattle-based rapper Sol in Downtown LA. I found a cafe called GiorgiPorgi which is an absolute gem. It’s a clean, minimal shop with a moss-covered ceiling and slate grey concrete throughout.

The owner, Giorgi who’s originally from Milan, opened up the cafe about seven months ago. You know when you meet someone for the first time and you instantly click? She’s stellar. She introduced me to the other cafe patrons who all seemed to be regulars and allowed me to be the cafe DJ for a bit. I threw on tunes from Chattanooga-based producer KEEM THE CIPHER. If you find yourself in Downtown LA, go to this cafe, not only for the ambience, but for the drinks too. They use the highest quality beans and teas sourced from Flying Goat Coffee in Healdsburg (Bay Areaaa!).

Anyway, it was the perfect place to meet Sol in-person and catch up. Sol and I first connected through SoundCloud. He’s traveled all over the world and has been creating nonstop for the past few years. We talked about progression, Morning Pages and how Berlin’s nightlife is a trip. 

I also met Giorgi’s neighbor Lionel and his crew who stopped by for a drink. They run a venue space next door to host music events. Lionel introduced me to DC-based singer Opal D, and we exchanged contact info in hopes to collaborate in the future. I appreciate how LA can be serendipitous like that. 

Atlanta + A3C

The next few weeks are looking stacked. I’m headed to Atlanta to attend A3C for the first time. A3C is the largest hip hop conference and festival in the US that aims to empower, inspire and educate those that shape hip hop culture. 

I’m looking forward to being part of the EPK audit mentor session to help aspiring artists ensure their digital profiles and press kits are looking up to par. 

If you know any folks in music who’ll also be attending A3C or live in Atlanta, please let me know. I'll be there for a week from Oct 3-10, and I’d love to connect with them.

Speaking of Atlanta, have you been watching the show on FX? I love this NPR story about Donald Glover's motivation to make people feel a certain kind of way when watching the show.

“We always kind of just talk about the surreal nature of just the human experience. And it’s a really strange thing,” Glover says about conversations he had in planning the show. “Most things lie in the gray area. But I think because of the Internet, and like, social media — things get cut into zeroes and ones really quickly. So we were like, ‘Let’s just play around in the gray areas.”

— Donald Glover

I've been listening to Isaiah Rashad’s The Sun’s Tirade non-stop since its release on September 2. It's a testament to how far he's come and how far he'll go since his last release Cilvia Demo more than two years ago. He also has his crew of talented producers like D.Sanders he's started with since day one on the project. The writing, rapping and production all make for an excellent package worth listening to from start to finish. I can't wait to bump this at full volume once I finally get my first car (next on my to-do list). 

Enjoy your weekend. You deserve it.

More soon,
Jane

Five years at SoundCloud

Reflections on music, gratitude and vulnerability

Wall of memories at SoundCloud HQ in Berlin.

Today is my last day at SoundCloud. I’ll be returning home to LA after dedicating five years at SoundCloud and spending 10 transformative years in the Bay Area. I debated writing and publicly sharing this post but decided that in my current transitional state, now felt like the right time to share my reflections in my own words.

I met some incredible people through SoundCloud. I got to support independent artists in my role. I was at the intersection of music and tech where I could see the progress that so many talented sound creators were making over time–recording in their bedrooms, uploading their first tracks, playing their first live shows, collaborating with their musical heroes, and taking on any challenge and opportunity with gusto.

During my time at SoundCloud, I deepened my appreciation for music. Music has been the cornerstone of my relationship with my family, particularly my older brother Paul.

Ah, to be young again.

Growing up, he had a huge amount of influence on me; he was also the primary person who introduced me to music. My parents would drop us off at shows together throughout middle school and high school all over venues in LA because that was the only way we were allowed to enjoy live music at a young age–if we stuck together. My brother opened the gateways for me to explore music and get in touch with it on an even deeper level by writing about it, too. I would sometimes interview musicians before shows with my old school mini cassette tape recorder and notepad.

Scribbled notes from interview with the band Murder by Death and a saved set list on a napkin.

Fast-forward to many years later and now I’m the younger sister plugging my brother into what’s up-and-coming. Having my brother’s influence growing up translated into my being the friend who would also naturally introduce my friends to new music. I‘m the aux cord hog; I love introducing new ears to a sound I’m digging and supporting the people who push music culture and create from their hearts.

For all these reasons, I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to embed myself completely into a community of people creating and sharing their music on SoundCloud. Doing what they love has been inspiring and has given me the courage to discover things about myself that I might have otherwise shrugged off out of fear.

With my time at SoundCloud coming to a close, I wanted to share a glimpse of my journey and what I learned about practicing gratitude and embracing vulnerability.

2011 SoundCloud Community Team in Berlin: Jami, Ed, Marie, Natalie and me / The “Fish Bowl” All Hands meeting room at the first Berlin office

I joined SoundCloud in November 2011 as the platform’s first US community manager at a time when the company had about 60 employees across Berlin, London and the newly established office in SF.

It took some time for me to land the job. When I applied in June 2011, I was initially rejected because they were looking for someone more senior with community management experience. At the time, I was an account manager at a digital web agency, liaising between clients across the entertainment industry (everyone from The Killers to UFC) and our Design and Engineering teams to help get their websites, online fan clubs and stores off the ground.

Even after the initial sting of rejection, SoundCloud was magnetic, and I didn’t want to give up. Knowing SoundCloud was on its way to becoming a staple for creators looking to pursue careers in music, I wanted to help play a role in making that happen. After 5 months of consistent follow-up and two sets of interviews later, I got the golden ticket to join the ‘Cloud.

Community: Building blocks

Check out my SoundCloud, fam.

With no prior community management experience, my first instinct was to reach out to as many individuals as possible across different subcategories of communities within the SoundCloud ecosystem–emerging rappers and instrumental hip hop producers, binaural audio recorders, classical composers, singer-songwriters and more. I would go down the rabbit hole, reaching out to creators of all kinds to say hello, learn who they were and why they had joined the community, and what their aspirations were.

I thought about the old music forums I would participate in and applied the same criteria to SoundCloud in that I was a peer, diving into the community headfirst. Along the way, I found the courage to share sounds too — as one example, I recorded random bits of noise like this back when the record button existed.

All it took to make a connection was a comment on a track or a private message, to say “Hey, it’s Jane from SoundCloud…” and spark an interaction and connection.

These interactions also fueled the community engagement activities we ran back in the day:

Community engagement activities and programs throughout the years: Fellowship, Heroes, Global Meetup Day

• SoundClouder of the Day, a series in which a random SoundClouder was selected and featured daily in an effort to encourage positive community engagement. The Community team would congratulate them via audio messages for being selected, like this one I sent to Cologne-based instrumental hip hop producer [Flitz&Suppe].
• SoundCloud Heroes, a community ambassador program where community members would organize meetups and online collaborations and activities like Audiobiography. We held a weekend summit in SF for the first 10 Heroes who flew in from all over the US.
• SoundCloud Community Fellowship, a program in which 15 sound creators received a grant from SoundCloud to use towards the creation of a sound project across a 3-month period. Some of these projects got their start through the fellowship and went on to become award-winning podcasts like DecodeDC and Here Be Monsters.
• SoundCloud meetups and Global Meetup Day to promote offline connections within local communities

For me, a simple hello goes a long way, and the little things matter. That’s been the crux of my community management experience: taking the time to connect with people and to be personable and open. Letter-writing was something that also flowed from my time on the Community team when I would write letters to community members, stuffing them into swag packages.

Letters on letters on letters.

Taking the time to compose from the heart and write messages by hand is a personal touch that I’ve wanted to impart as a way to say a) I’m a real person, b) real people work at SoundCloud, and c) thank you for being part of the community. I have an affinity for writing, having always journaled since childhood and having a former life as a journalist and news writer throughout high school and college. Plus, I’m a card-writing aficionado on the side.

These relationships I built throughout the variety of Community Engagement activities and programs ended up building toward the next phase of my time at SoundCloud on the Content team.

Artist Relations: Growing and maturing

In 2014, I moved into the Content team as an Artist Relations manager to primarily support independent artists. This built on the experience I had working largely with independent creators while on the Community team. Over the past two years, my role has been to support the independent artist community through the On SoundCloud Premier program and continue to make connections with new artists to figure out how to best support them on SoundCloud and contribute to their growth.

One of my favorite, definitive memories was the collision of my work on Community and Content at SXSW in 2014. In order to foster as much of the community vibe as possible, I helped build out the daytime showcase lineup, adding everyone from former SoundCloud Heroes like acoustic singer-songwriter Cyra Morgan to people that were on the come-up like hip hop collective AGO and electronic producer Mark Redito.

SoundCloud Clubhouse at SXSW 2014

AGO and guest appearance by Little Simz, Mark Redito, Cyra Morgan performing during the daytime showcase.

Independent artists are a massive part of what makes SoundCloud unique. I admire their strength, courage and creativity to continually push forward in the face of obstacles and unpredictable challenges as they try to navigate their way through the music industry.

I have learned a lot from them and am humbled by their stories and the passion and grit they have to carry forth and continue creating.

Practicing gratitude

Practicing gratitude is key not only in building individual mindfulness, but also strengthening relationships with others. By sharing support and love with one another, only good things can blossom. Research also shows that practicing gratitude leads to experiencing more positive emotions, better sleep and even stronger immune systems.

Our journeys are our own to define. But there are people along the way who help us get to different places in our journey, who encourage and teach us something, whether in small or large ways.

I’m grateful for the many people–family, friends, colleagues, community members–who have devoted their time to support and encourage me to continue powering through despite challenges that inevitably happen.

I have gratitude for this experience in doubly identifying that music is a beautiful thing that brings people together. At the end of the day, after all the things are counted and the product pushes are out, we are here for the music.

Thank you to all the former SoundClouders of the Day for showing love and fostering community since the beginning.

Thank you to the SoundCloud Heroes across the world who dedicated their time and energy to lead community activities and be beacons of inspiration to those in their network and beyond.

Thank you to the 2012 Community Fellowship members I had the honor to help shepherd to create sound projects and express their creativity.

Thank you to all the SoundClouders who attended Global Meetup Day in the early days to meet fellow SoundClouders in person.

Thank you to all the creators on SoundCloud I’ve had the pleasure to support and connect with in any small or big way.

Thank you to all the creators on SoundCloud I didn’t have the opportunity to directly support but are continuously pushing their sound and building their audience. I hope to connect with you soon.

Thank you to independent artists like Chance the Rapper and Little Simz who are redefining what it means to be successful and are grinding away for their present and future, for the community and for the culture.

Thank you to all the producers and engineers like JRich who have connected me to a growing community of producers and engineers. You all deserve so much love and spotlight. On this note, if you are a producer and you’re interested in sharing your story with more people, get in touch with me on SoundCloud.

Thank you to collectives like The House who stay true to their Chattanooga roots and push hip hop forward.

Thank you to online collectives and labels like Soulection that are embodying the spirit of community and creating a movement on SoundCloud and beyond.

Thank you to all the artists who have broken out like GoldLink that I had a chance to support at the beginning of their careers.

Thank you to all the artist managers like Kei Henderson and Cameron Rath who are putting their support, time and heart into an artist because they believe in the person and their music.

Thank you to all the leaders in A&R like Tunji Balogun who have a close ear to the ground and are helping develop the next emerging artists.

Thank you to all the booking agency reps, promoters and festival throwers like Trillectro who are digging on SoundCloud to give artists a live platform and fans a chance to vibe.

Thank you to special individuals in music that I randomly met on this SoundCloud journey who have become supportive, inspiring friends and mentors to me, especially Mark Redito, Josh Bloom, Jacq Schneider, Jordan Caldwell, Vatana Shaw, Amir Abbassy, Rikki Blu and Free P.

Thank you to the SoundCloud team for the opportunity to be resilient and work hard through changes and ultimately hone in on the passion I have for music and connecting with people.

Thank you to my family and friends for being there for both emotional support through trying times and physical support in the form of helping me transport boxes and material for events like the Artist Forum (shoutout 아빠) and building out swag bags (shoutout Ry).

I missed a lot more folks to shout out here, but know that I’m grateful for your support and connection in whatever path we shared.

Embracing vulnerability

Vulnerability is courage. As author and research professor Brené Brown defines it, vulnerability is “uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure.”

Sometimes, we need to stand in the discomfort of uncertainty. Creativity, belonging, authenticity and love are uncertain, but they’re worth doing and showing up for. If we didn’t, great ideas and creations would not exist.

Vulnerability is everywhere on SoundCloud — through people having the courage to upload their work for the world to hear, whether first uploads, works in progress, final tracks, or whether in pursuit of a hobby or a career.

Trusting your process is a way to embrace vulnerability. I’ve learned this from the leaps taken by artists I’ve seen emerge on SoundCloud, particularly independent artists. Riding the wave and finding the good in unexpected changes all fuel our growth to nurture what’s important, nix things that don’t work, and ultimately, strive to elevate us closer to being our authentic selves.

Self-care and self-love are the backbone of trusting your process and who you are, whatever it is that your goals are. We don’t have to have everything figured out right away, but we can start somewhere.

I’ve learned to embrace my own vulnerabilities and take chances on me, to remind myself that it starts with doing this for me and to be authentically myself. I am grateful to have absorbed this learning in particular as I move forward in my own journey outside of these SoundCloud walls.

What’s next? Keep in touch

I’m moving back down to LA and getting back to the blank page of writing for now.

If you’d like to keep in touch and follow my experience riding out the post-SoundCloud wave, I hope you’ll subscribe to my newsletter. Every now and then, I’ll share some words, tunes and random bits and pieces across the Internet that inspire me and/or spark vulnerability, courage and self-love.

In October, I’ll be attending the 2016 A3C Festival & Conference in Atlanta to participate in a mentor session for artists and producers. Subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Twitter where I’ll share more information soon.

I’m also on SoundCloud all the time so if you’re an artist, producer, any kind of sound creator really, feel free to drop me a private message there if you want to get in touch.

If this post sparked something, you’re also welcome to reach me via email or LinkedIn.

Be kind to yourself and celebrate how far you’ve come. You are destined for greatness.

p.s. *Bonus* if you got all the way down here: The SoundCloud San Francisco office mailbox.

Special thanks to former SoundCloud colleagues and wonderful friends Catt Small, Clem Breslin and Diana Kimball for their guidance, input and editing support for this post.