Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: It is well established in the literature that younger voters (age 18-24) turn out in far fewer numbers than their older counterparts. Some scholars have attributed this fact to theories of life transitions and/or barriers to registration. In this paper, we examine these arguments focusing on the failure of political socialization as the primary culprit. Many hoped that initiatives such as "Rock the Vote" would jump start the socialization process and bring young voters back to the polls. Unfortunately, despite a single election rise in young adult voting in 1992, voting among 18-24 year olds continues to decline.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: My paper examines how punk and alternative rock subcultures have created their own commercially independent media, such as independent record labels and fanzines, through a so-called "do-it-yourself ethic." The formation of independent media is a response to the growing concentration of power among corporate conglomerates in the entertainment and music industries. The do-it-yourself ethic gives people involved with punk and alternative rock music democratic access to a means of creative expression, empowering them to be cultural participants rather than just consuming spectators. In many cases, it also enables them to use music as a vehicle of protest and activism, a kind of "public sphere" that gives voice to viewpoints marginalized by mainstream media while facilitating dialogue about critical social issues. My paper gives special attention to the "riot grrrl" movement and subculture, a collective of young women who sought to revitalize feminism by using fanzines and music as media for consciousness-raising and community organizing.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: For amateur musicians, the first trip to an instrument store can be enlightening. For others the trip can be alienating. For those steeped in rock culture and comfortable with demonstrating their technical knowledge, the experience can be a chance to solidify and demonstrate their identities as authentic musicians. Yet for others with different experiences, such as playing privately, knowing more about hip-hop than rock, or having classical training on the guitar rather than emersion in the rock music practice, the experience can be a struggle to comprehend the language and interactions of the environment. Finding themselves in this position, these musicians may defer to others to perform, speak and choose in their place. My interest in this paper has to do with how musical categories and technological knowledge are performed in the everyday setting of the music store in ways that are politically charged, lending some people considerable voice, presence and legitimacy and rendering other people silent, back-grounded and inauthentic. Through participant observation of three musical instrument stores, I construct an ethnography of the gendered and raced dynamics of rock music as they are constructed around the technologies used to make it.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This is an ethnographic study of Asian American musicians in the American independent rock scene. As the second or later generations of Asian immigrants, they are trying to find their own voice and speak for the concerns of their community. Looking for Asian solidarity, they sometimes reach beyond national boundaries, making a revitalized connection with Asian 'homelands.' A new kind of diaspora that emerges from these musicians' efforts can be interpreted as a sign of global culture. Although the medium of rock music is not particularly well-suited for defining a racial minority's identity, Asian American indie rock is growing fast as a musicians' community.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Rock music in general, and indie rock in particular, has been characterized as ‘white
music’ in terms of both musicians and audiences. While the two biggest racial minority
groups – blacks and Latinos – have their own rich musical traditions that distinguish
themselves from the white-dominant rock culture, Asians do not seem to have something
equivalent in their musical culture. For many young Asian Americans, especially those
who were born in the U.S. soil, the music of choice often has the origin of ‘other races’
instead of some Asian ‘fatherlands’ where their parents or ancestors came from.

The popularity of hiphop culture among Asian American youths is well known, and
Asian American rap artists and turntablist DJs have been noted by some scholars. But a
lesser known fact is the Asian presence within the ‘white majority’ music community
known as the indie rock scene. This study draws an ethnographic sketch of Asian
Americans in the indie rock scene.
It goes back to the late 1980s, when Sooyoung Park started a band named Bitch
Magnet and later Seam in Chicago. Around the same time, Mike Park in the San
Francisco Bay Area, was leading the seminal ska punk band Skankin’ Pickle. Not only
their musical achievement but also organizational work for indie rock as well as for Asian
communities set the tone for the new Asian American musicians who followed suit.

Based on the interviews with these two Parks (not related) and other Asian American
musicians, I will trace the journey for a new musical-racial identity of Asian Americans.
As more and more bands with Asian descent, Asian-themed cultural festivals, and even
Asian American musical tours pop up recently, this journey is now fully in its course.