Season 2 Episode 7: BLKBOK--Neo-Classical Pianist, Composer, & Yamaha Artist

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You're listening to the piano part where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry
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about how they're bringing the piano into the 21st century.
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Welcome back to the PianoPod, the podcast for piano lovers.
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I am Yukimi Song.
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I'm Clara Zhang.
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Clara and I are both classical pianists and piano teachers from New York City.
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And this podcast is for anyone who plays the piano for fun, loves listening to the piano
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music, or anyone who is currently pursuing a career in piano or works in the industry
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professionally, or anyone who is simply curious about the world of piano music.
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Each episode we interview a guest speaker who has been breaking exciting new ground
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in the music industry.
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Before getting started, we want to thank all of our listeners for tuning in today.
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Please take a moment to read our show or review on Apple Podcasts because every reading review
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will help people find our show.
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Since the last episode, we have been inviting a guest co-host to assist us during the show.
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So Clara, since today's co-host is your former piano student at UMass Amherst, you have the
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honor of introducing him to the audience.
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That's right.
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I'm happy to do that.
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Oh my gosh, hi Ray!
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Our guest co-host of today needs no introduction to the YouTube audience and the TPP fans.
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He is a YouTube sensation and ambassador of Yamaha Music Malaysia and one of the most
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prolific creators of musical covers.
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He shares his passion by making piano covers for his favorite songs and songs requested
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by his fans.
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Played solely by ear, he had covered a whole range of genres from pop to rock and even
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rap all on the piano.
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And very recently, his full stage name made it to the Urban Dictionary.
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Alright!
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Wow!
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He was also our guest speaker of our fifth episode in the previous season, season 1,
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which we live broadcasted the interview for the very first time.
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It is my pleasure to present my former student and dear friend, YouTube sensation, Mr. Remack.
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Welcome back Ray!
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Thank you, thank you.
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It's good to be back.
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Thank you.
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Thank you for being here, zooming in from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as our co-host.
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And so the last time we spoke was through your episode and then it was actually almost
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exactly a year ago, right before Thanksgiving.
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Yeah, actually today we're taping today.
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It's a Thanksgiving Wednesday, the pre-Sunday Thanksgiving Day.
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So tell us what you've been up to since then, Ray?
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I'll be reaching 400,000 subscribers as of today.
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Oh my God!
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On YouTube?
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On YouTube.
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Congratulations!
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Because remember last year you was, I remember introducing you.
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300,000.
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Right!
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Wow, congratulations!
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Oh my gosh, that will be a dream come true one day for TPP.
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Oh my gosh.
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And tell me a little bit of the process.
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So for music is usually a little bit slow because music is considered a niche, you know,
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because on YouTube nowadays people love things like prank, movie reviews, you know, those
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kind of things.
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So music, it really rely on the personality of the person and rely on how crazy the fans
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are.
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So recently, fortunately and unfortunately during the pandemic, a lot more people are
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on YouTube.
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Okay, a lot more people are on YouTube.
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So people are starting to watch YouTube streams instead of live performances.
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So from there I get to grow a lot more and there are a lot more younger fans because
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my YouTube have been on YouTube for the past 15 years or more.
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Okay.
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And a lot of my audience, they have already grown, they are now grown ups with adults,
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with kids, with families.
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You remember some of my old students you gave TPP.
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Yes.
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With kids now I'm like, oh my gosh.
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Exactly.
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A lot of Clara students, they are like either dating or even like with kids and stuff, you
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know what I mean?
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So but because of the pandemic, I start to broaden the horizon.
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So I get to have a lot of new fans from all age group and many different countries because
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everyone is affected by the pandemic.
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So a lot of people are on YouTube as well.
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So it kind of helped me grow a lot faster.
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And among all of that, you also had the second baby.
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My little nephew.
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Pandemic baby.
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He is so adorable.
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That little round face.
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Oh, he's so beautiful.
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He is now how old is he?
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About eight months old.
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And the older one is?
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And the older one is three years old.
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Turning four next year.
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Oh, what a cute age.
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So as I was watching again, some of your video clips, you know, and others posted by your
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fans tagging your name and see how excited your fans get when you respond to their comments
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and etc.
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And reminded me what musicians ought to be.
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Right.
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And through music, you're engaging with your audience.
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How you're connecting with connecting to people with through music and people love you and
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you love them back, even you love them when they hate you.
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They exactly they leave a really negative comment.
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So that's quite incredible.
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Well, that's why we want to invite you back.
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And this time as a co-host and because in so many ways, you and our guest of the episode
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have so much in common, you know how you both engage with your audience through music by
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using digital platforms and social media very positively.
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Ray, please help us ask some fun questions today during the interview with our guest
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Bach, Black Bach.
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Yes, definitely.
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Awesome.
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So we are very excited to introduce our guest of this episode, lucky number seven, Mr. Black
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Bach, who is a neoclassical pianist composer and has worked as a lead pianist and musical
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director with A-list pop singers such as Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato and Joan Mayer,
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sharing the stage with the world's biggest performers.
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Mr. Black Bach channels his experience through his explosive and immersive live music performances
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and engages his audience with his incredible talent.
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He recently released a new album, Black Book, a compilation of his original piano pieces
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inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2018 film Green Book.
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His critically acclaimed debut album was released on June 18th of this year, honoring Juneteenth
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and Black Music Appreciation Month in June.
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Besides his debut album, his first mixtape released, cover art and current mixtape project
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Angels Watching Over Me with world renowned tenor Lawrence Brownlee illustrate the innovative,
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disruptive musical landscape.
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Mr. Black Bach is also very active on social media and creates fun and engaging content
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for his fans.
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He has over 30,000 followers on TikTok and 21,000 followers on Instagram.
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He was recently named as a Yamaha artist added to their classical piano roster of which there
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are only 125 Yamaha artists worldwide.
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Here we are to interview and discuss our favorite topic, which is music, with our guest, Mr.
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Black Bach.
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Yay.
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Thank you so much.
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Welcome.
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Good.
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Like that was mind blowing.
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No, you, you are mind blowing.
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Yeah.
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Thank you so much for coming and thank you for being here on Thanksgiving Eve.
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Thank you for having me.
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How are you?
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Yeah.
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Great.
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So where are you actually tuning in from?
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I'm in Las Vegas.
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Oh, are you originally from?
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No, you're from Detroit.
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Detroit.
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Yes.
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I remember.
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Yeah.
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You're doing a show there or?
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No, live here now.
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Oh, wow.
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Yeah.
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Cool.
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Okay.
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There are a lot of YouTubers that come here, but that's amazing.
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That's great.
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Yeah.
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So, but I saw you've been traveling quite a bit.
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You were in Florida, I think?
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Just this past weekend, I performed for the National Astronaut Hall of Fame, first performer
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ever for the Hall of Fame, which is our...
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Wow.
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Fortunately, I wrote a song called Stars, which I performed, I debuted there.
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And this song is going on a spaceship to space in February.
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Oh my...
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Oh wow.
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It's on the playlist for one of the astronauts.
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His name is Michael Allegria, and he's the commander that's taking the first commercial
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flight into space in February.
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And he texts me and asks for the song to put on his playlist.
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Wow.
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Of course.
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So rad.
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Incredible.
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So he's going to space.
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Bach had one Goldberg variation, I believe.
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Oh my God.
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Glingu's version.
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Back in the days, NASA first was going to do this.
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Wow.
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Now another Bach is going to space.
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I always say there's some connection between Bach and space.
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Wow.
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Congratulations.
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Congratulations.
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Indeed.
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So you spoke, you just said you're tuning in from Las Vegas, actually.
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The way I found you was through Las Vegas origin, Alexandria Lee.
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She was our guest a couple of episodes ago, and she was an excellent guest.
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And she is also an American artist, right?
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And she's like toward the end of the interview, she's like, you guys, you should check him
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out.
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We're like, who?
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And his name is BlackBach, B-L-K-B, okay?
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I was like, okay.
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So I looked you up and first thing I saw was on your Instagram post.
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And it was the song by Cardi B.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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From your mixtape.
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Yeah.
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Wow.
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You know what?
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Honestly, I was like so blown away because I've been telling my students, hey, you guys,
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if you want to play Bach, sure.
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If you want to play Justin Timberlake, sure, but you cannot play hip hop on the piano.
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I was wrong.
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I was wrong.
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I am so sorry.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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But it was just a mixture of this classical style of arpeggios and everything.
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And with that beat, I was so, my mind was so blown away.
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Yeah.
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It was a very fun arrangement.
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Anyway, so yeah, I just want to ask, we want to ask you, so where does this, your stage
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name BlackBach come from?
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Yeah.
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Well, the second half of it is something that my dad used to say.
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And he always says, everything will be okay, but you got to be okay with everything.
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So half of it, the name is the acronym for a saying that my dad used to say.
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Everything will be okay.
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Wow.
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So half of it is everything will be okay.
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And then the connection to Johann Sebastian and like, it all kind of just made sense.
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Right.
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Yeah.
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Such a perfect, perfect name for you.
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And also as we were like reading your bios and articles, we noticed that you mentioned
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yourself neoclassical pianist.
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So can you tell us what neoclassical pianist is?
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So the neo part can be anything.
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So when I started to write, and one of the things that I've never done, I've never taken
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composition classes.
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I studied piano only from age four to 16 with a-
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Only.
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Only.
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Yeah.
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I didn't go to a conservatory.
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I didn't study beyond high school.
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But that's quite long.
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Yeah.
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So-
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You know?
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Yeah, exactly.
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So I got a great foundation, this classical foundation.
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And then it kind of skewed into these other things like around age 16 or 17, I started
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playing a lot of jazz.
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And then in college, I started playing a little bit more jazz.
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And then, you know, pop tours and all these other things.
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And I was always a hip hop kid and I was a producer and I love making beats.
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So it's kind of like the neo part is the bucket where you dump everything else in the genre.
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All the other dramas go in this bucket, but it kind of sits on this base of classical
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music.
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Yeah.
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Wow.
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That's a very beautiful explanation.
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Whereas I was wondering, wow, neo classical, could it mean new?
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Yeah, because neo can mean like a lot of things.
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So neo classical, I was like, is it new classical?
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But your explanation makes it like even more colorful, you know?
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I was like, wow.
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Yeah.
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It's a lot of things.
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It's just the blending of genres.
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I think that's one of the things that's really important as we keep moving on as musicians
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is that, you know, these lines are we kind of blend these lines up.
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It's so creative to kind of see what someone else is doing and say, oh, let me grab a piece
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of that.
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Or, you know, it is.
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Yeah.
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It's super incredible.
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Like it's so inspiring to kind of blend the genres that way.
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And since we're talking about this new classical, sorry, I'm just curious, what kind of pieces
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were you working on when you were a child?
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You said 4 to 16, which only I figured.
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I played the Bach Conventions.
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I played Beethoven.
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I think the last piece I studied was Beethoven Sonata Partitique.
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I played a lot of Debussy.
283
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Wow.
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You had a good teacher.
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Wow.
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You were really classical and great.
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Yeah.
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Well, my teacher, and this is one of the things you guys would understand, but a lot of other
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people don't understand.
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His name was Thomas Schwartz and he was married to a lady named Eleanor Lipkin.
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Now, Eleanor Lipkin was the sister of Seymour Lipkin from the Curtis Institute.
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00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:57,960
So all of this, it's kind of this overarching, you know, amazing great pianists were kind
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of connected in a way.
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Of course.
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And Mr. Schwartz could have totally been, I mean, world renowned.
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I mean, he was so incredible, but he just had a little bit more.
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His focus was my sister, who's a year older than me, is also a pianist.
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Oh, wow.
299
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Yeah.
300
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Actually, she's a physicist, but that's something.
301
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Wow.
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He had a major investment on his students and that's where his energies went as opposed
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to just being the main guy.
304
00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:35,600
So since you're talking about your training, so can you tell us your childhood, how you
305
00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:45,480
started your piano journey and maybe some anecdotes with the piano journey, piano lessons?
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Yeah, fun stuff.
307
00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:48,120
Yes.
308
00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:49,120
Okay.
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00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:51,240
First piano lesson with Thomas Schwartz.
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I was sitting there and my mother was there and I was four years old and he's showing
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me things and I'm just going like this, I'm all over the place.
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My mother took me outside and she grabbed me by the arm.
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She said, you don't take this lesson, I'm going to kick your blank.
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And she sent me back in.
315
00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:18,520
She sent me back in and you know, C major scale.
316
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So it was that.
317
00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,480
You're sure you don't have an Asian mama?
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I don't know, she may be a little bit.
319
00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:36,360
But another thing I remember from coming up as a pianist was playing Mozart's Sonata.
320
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I think I was maybe eight or nine or 10.
321
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And I performed it and I stood up and I took my bow and I walked off stage and as I was
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walking off stage, I went whew and the whole audience just erupted in laughter.
323
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Because they could totally understand that this little kid was up there.
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I mean, just like, just going crazy and they just and they got it.
325
00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:05,400
And from that moment, I knew I wanted to be an entertainer.
326
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I was like, there's something that they were connected to me in a way that I didn't know.
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And that was the first time I felt an audience actually like link in to what I was doing
328
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or what I was performing.
329
00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:23,160
And from that point, it's just been it's been I've been locked in to being an entertainer.
330
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That's so amazing.
331
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That's so beautiful.
332
00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:27,080
Exactly.
333
00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:30,640
I actually had a question later on, but you already answered it.
334
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I was going to ask, you know, what age did you just had that moment?
335
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You're just like, that's it, you know?
336
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That's it.
337
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:39,560
That's beautiful.
338
00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,560
There's another moment that we can go address that.
339
00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:47,800
There's another moment where I decided I wanted to tour.
340
00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:48,800
It's kind of crazy.
341
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:50,800
This is a really crazy story.
342
00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:58,360
So I was about maybe 15 and my jazz instructor, his name was Teddy Harris, and he was the
343
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:02,840
musical director for Martha and the Vandellas for the Motown era.
344
00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:06,520
And it was the first tour or first time I'd ever been out of town with an artist was with
345
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:07,520
Martha and the Vandellas.
346
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,960
I was 15 years old, we went to Boston in that same.
347
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:12,280
And this is this is pretty crazy.
348
00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:15,520
I, you know, I'm going to say this, but I'm going to caution.
349
00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,960
This is a little, little touchy.
350
00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:22,760
So in that trip, I had been offered sex.
351
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,280
I had been offered drugs.
352
00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:29,400
And then two of the band members got into a crazy fight.
353
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:30,880
And then Martha pulled me in the room.
354
00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,840
She said, baby, I'm so sorry you had to see that.
355
00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:34,840
But here's your money.
356
00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,080
And she gave me an envelope of money.
357
00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,520
And I was like, oh, my God, I want to do this for the rest of my life.
358
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:40,520
Like, this is so cool.
359
00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:41,520
This is so cool.
360
00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:42,520
I was in.
361
00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,520
That was just like the crazy.
362
00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,720
Like my first experience was the crazy experience.
363
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,720
So from then I was like, this is the this is the life.
364
00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:53,720
You know, it was like a pirate's life for me.
365
00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:54,720
It was just like, I'm in.
366
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:55,720
Wow.
367
00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:56,720
Very different.
368
00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:57,720
Yeah, very different story.
369
00:18:57,720 --> 00:18:58,720
Yeah.
370
00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:03,960
I kind of want to know what's like to work with A-listers.
371
00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,960
I mean, come on, Rihanna.
372
00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:07,960
Timberlake.
373
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:09,200
I mean, Justin Timberlake.
374
00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:14,200
I love Justin Timberlake and who else?
375
00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:15,200
John Mayer.
376
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,000
So what was it like?
377
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:24,480
Oh, I'll start with Justin, the most amazing performer I've had the pleasure of sharing
378
00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:26,080
the stage with.
379
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:32,040
He is the ultimate entertainer, not to mention he has the ears of a hawk.
380
00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,900
He hears and sees and notices everything.
381
00:19:34,900 --> 00:19:39,800
He's all about small details, and that's what makes his shows and his performances what
382
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:40,800
they are.
383
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:48,120
I can remember the first time we met, I sat down and played Chopin for him.
384
00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:51,040
And wow, he sat there and he listened.
385
00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,720
And then when I was done, he said, and how old are you?
386
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:55,720
Dude, I'm 21.
387
00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,160
He's like, dude, you play like you're 50.
388
00:19:58,160 --> 00:19:59,720
And he walked away.
389
00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,280
And that was our first interaction.
390
00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:06,200
And from that point, we were just like locked in.
391
00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:12,200
He knew that I understood what he was trying to accomplish.
392
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:14,480
And I was there to give my best performance.
393
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:18,720
I always say part of the reason why I've had the resume I have is because when I go on
394
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:25,120
stage, people understand and they know and they can trust that I'm there 150%.
395
00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:28,520
And there have been days when he wasn't having a great day.
396
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,800
And it was kind of like, you know, I give him that, you know, like that, let's go, bro,
397
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:33,800
let's go.
398
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:38,520
And it would give him just that energy and that boost to continue on.
399
00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:39,520
Same with Rihanna.
400
00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:46,680
There's a video on YouTube, it's kind of hidden in the depths of YouTube, where we perform
401
00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:48,720
the song Love the Way You Lie.
402
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:55,480
And I get on the piano and the piano goes up like 50 feet in the air and then spins
403
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,280
with she and I on it.
404
00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:02,480
And she sits on the piano top and right in one of the breaks, I always like to the beat,
405
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:07,400
I always hit the piano and it would just get her like, you know, she would just go into
406
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,280
like Super Saiyan mode or something.
407
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,320
She would just get completely hyped.
408
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:15,840
And that was one of the things that I can say about my career is that I understood my
409
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:16,840
job.
410
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,920
I knew I was there to support their vision.
411
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:26,880
And even with John Mayer, a lot of times we talked about, you know, where you place yourself
412
00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,480
within a band setting.
413
00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:35,280
My thing for him was always to create the perfect ground and foundation because he's
414
00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:36,360
such a player.
415
00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:40,240
All you have to do is give him something to stand on and then he just dances around on
416
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:41,240
it.
417
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:47,200
So the idea was just to give just enough to make him feel like the foundation was sturdy.
418
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:52,600
And it's just been a lot of that just really, really understanding how to support each artist.
419
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,560
Demi Lovato was a little bit different.
420
00:21:54,560 --> 00:22:00,720
I did a tour, the last tour I did was called Michael Jackson Immortal with Cirque du Soleil.
421
00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:05,640
That tour was absolutely life changing.
422
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:09,600
It was after Michael passed away, but this was the tour he was designing before he passed
423
00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:10,600
away.
424
00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:17,840
And four of the musicians in the band were his musicians from tours, from past tours.
425
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:24,200
And every day the multi tracks were the multi tracks from his studio recordings.
426
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,760
So it was almost like being in pop music 101.
427
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:34,040
Like, right, I went to pop music college with Michael Jackson.
428
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,320
Like every day I was saying, turn Michael up.
429
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,280
He's doing something I didn't hear yesterday.
430
00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:41,280
Every day was a new thing.
431
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:46,240
I would hear exactly why he is the great musician that he is.
432
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:47,240
He's the greatest.
433
00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:48,240
I'm sorry.
434
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:56,480
Yes, you know, honestly, I went to Michael Jackson's live concert twice in Tokyo.
435
00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:01,320
Be jealous, be jealous.
436
00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:02,640
I was a teenager.
437
00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:05,840
I was a teenager and yeah, I got so lucky.
438
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:12,760
I mean, at that time, I, you know, obviously I never knew he would pass away so, so young,
439
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:17,520
but yeah, so I was a huge fan of my Michael Jackson.
440
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:24,040
I knew every single song and I used to have this cassette tape with the Sony Walkman.
441
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:25,040
Yeah, yeah.
442
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,240
So it's just a sensational.
443
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,520
He was a sensational figure for me.
444
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:35,920
Well, I'm curious, you know, sometimes when I think about, so for me, you know, I, I grew
445
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:37,120
up in China.
446
00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:44,320
So originally, and I went to the, I was not really a conservatory trained in the very
447
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:45,320
beginning.
448
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,040
And everybody like, I mean, the long, long generation, right?
449
00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:53,400
So everybody start training at two years old and I was told not to be a musician.
450
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:58,320
And so I was just kind of playing around and then somehow got into the conservatory when
451
00:23:58,320 --> 00:23:59,320
I was 11.
452
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:06,400
And I remember this kid who was, I think he's a, you know, wallanist in Berlin now, but
453
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,400
he was so into Michael Jackson.
454
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,560
He was like always dancing on stage.
455
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:15,120
And then actually that really inspired me to get really better with rhythm.
456
00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:19,560
So but this pop music or hip hop, these are all very new to me.
457
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,400
And then I moved to Kansas when I was 17.
458
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,800
And I remember some of my friends were like, oh, you got to listen to these, you know,
459
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,640
I was like, no, I'm just, I only listen to Bach.
460
00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:35,120
Maybe once in a while I'll listen to some song, but you know, mostly just so, but for
461
00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:40,720
you, how, but you know, now, especially this time doing the interview with you, I was so
462
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:41,720
curious.
463
00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:44,280
And then my students were like so excited for me.
464
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:53,240
You know, so I was like looking up and your videos, you are really a, how do I word it?
465
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:54,360
You know, sure.
466
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:59,040
Coming from a classical musicians, sometimes we do have a little bit of stereotype, right?
467
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:05,560
Like we, we do think of classical music being more serious and other genres, like even jazz,
468
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:11,360
I, you know, did I even think, but for your music, I was so attracted to your playing,
469
00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:16,160
you know, and I was showing to my students, like you can just tell you have such solid
470
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:17,160
foundation.
471
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:18,160
You are not faking anything.
472
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:24,600
Ray too, you know, Ray was, he, I say he was my student, but really he had already played
473
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,840
really well and he just didn't learn to read.
474
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:29,840
So I can only play by ear.
475
00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,200
He played everything by ear.
476
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,440
And then when I was teaching all these, like a piano minor student, he was like, Clara,
477
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:37,720
can I go be into your class?
478
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:39,640
And he was such a good student.
479
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,400
He was like, always get homework done.
480
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:45,240
I was like, this is not like, you know, this is not joking around kid.
481
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:46,240
Right.
482
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:51,000
So I really see the two of you had some connection, like, but how, how was it for you?
483
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:56,320
Like the transition when you were trying all of a sudden you're going from classical to
484
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:59,200
jazz and then now you're playing with timberlays.
485
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,480
You know, like how was it like?
486
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,800
The transitions were not easy.
487
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:05,800
Especially the first one.
488
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,880
The first one from classical to jazz was so very difficult.
489
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:15,880
I mean, literally going from reading music to creating music, like improvising.
490
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:22,320
And the only thing that I can say is that the technique is the same everywhere you go.
491
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:24,160
The technique is always the same.
492
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:30,280
And that has been the one saving grace for me throughout every genre is that even with
493
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:35,400
when there were things that were difficult for say Justin Timberlake or Backstreet Boys
494
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:40,480
or Rihanna, I had my technique to fall back onto.
495
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:45,000
And it was, you know, it would be something where I'd say, okay, I got it.
496
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:49,560
You know, I would spend just a couple of minutes like recalibrating how I could actually play
497
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:54,200
this in a way that was, you know, tasteful.
498
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,160
And it was always the technique that was the thing that I could fall back on.
499
00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,180
It was so amazing to have it.
500
00:26:59,180 --> 00:27:04,280
And then, like I say, the transition between classical and jazz was very difficult.
501
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:09,280
I remember my piano instructor, Teddy, he gave me a piece that he had actually written
502
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,160
all the manuscript for.
503
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,600
And he gave it to me and he said, go home.
504
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,440
He said, just play it how you feel it.
505
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:18,720
Don't play it exactly how it is.
506
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,160
You know, play it how it is on the music.
507
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:24,080
But if you feel something, don't be afraid to go off the path.
508
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:29,680
And that was the first time someone had given me permission to go off the path.
509
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,120
And I came back the next week and I had a couple of different things that I played.
510
00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:36,360
And he says, I didn't even think of that.
511
00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:37,360
That's so cool.
512
00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:41,480
And it was very much my ear.
513
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:46,280
Ray, it was very much my ear that I was relying on at this point.
514
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:53,240
Now, it's just been, you know, from that point, it just became, let me see how I can express
515
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,160
myself without the music.
516
00:27:56,160 --> 00:28:01,120
Let me take a piece of the music and then learn to express myself using that.
517
00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:07,160
So a lot of things I would take would be like excerpts from different pieces, like an excerpt
518
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,920
from, like I said, Debussy, I would take an excerpt and I'd be like, OK, this is pretty
519
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:11,920
cool.
520
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:13,180
How can I make this different?
521
00:28:13,180 --> 00:28:19,280
So that was kind of the first, like I said, departure from classical music into what has
522
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:23,720
now grown into this bucket of everything on top of classical.
523
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:24,720
Yeah, the neoclassical.
524
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:25,720
Neoclassical, yeah.
525
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:26,720
Yeah.
526
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:33,640
So I am curious, I'm saying the students that hopefully a lot of them will be listening,
527
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:35,120
always practice the scales, right?
528
00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:38,080
That was also one thing Alexandria was saying.
529
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:39,080
Always practice your scales.
530
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,200
You will always fall back on the technique.
531
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:48,120
It's funny because I have to reach out to her after the holiday and say, Alexandria,
532
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:49,120
can you get me back on scales?
533
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,200
Because I have been on scales, but I want more.
534
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,760
Like I still want, she's such an accomplished pianist.
535
00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:00,280
Like it would be advantageous for me to sit down and have some time with her and say,
536
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:01,280
you know, teach me something.
537
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,760
And that's one of the things that I've always been is hungry for knowledge.
538
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:07,760
Like I'm always like teaching something.
539
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:08,760
Yeah.
540
00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:09,760
Yeah.
541
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,480
We should do a scale challenge.
542
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,480
Not me, I'm good.
543
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:22,880
But it's funny, I'm actually learning to do jazz right now.
544
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:28,000
And I thought, oh, I am an advanced, you know, I play in a classical concert.
545
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,960
So jazz, it's just a, you know, a few bunch of chords I have to learn, but boy, was I
546
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:33,960
wrong.
547
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:35,760
It's a completely different language.
548
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:36,760
Yes, absolutely.
549
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:39,560
The way you think is so different.
550
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,600
The way you think of music is completely different.
551
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:48,360
Forget about all the traditions that you learned, except for the technique, as you mentioned.
552
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:49,360
Wow.
553
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,080
So I am, I'm struggling.
554
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:53,600
I'm really, yeah.
555
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:57,840
It's funny because it's like all the traditions, it's like, these are the rules.
556
00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:00,720
And then when you get to jazz, it's like, break all the rules.
557
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:01,720
Right.
558
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:02,720
Yeah.
559
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,440
A lot of parallels that you hear.
560
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:09,160
It's like that was no, no, no in classical, but that's totally okay.
561
00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:10,680
And that blew my mind.
562
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,760
And even the inversions, they don't call it inversion.
563
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:16,560
They did something else.
564
00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:18,560
And it's all mathematic.
565
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:23,000
You have to think in numbers, so yeah.
566
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,760
Actually, Jim Riddle, your teacher, he came to be my friend.
567
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:31,600
He did the Au Bach recital in this classical concert.
568
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:36,240
He's a jazz musician, he's a jazz pianist, you know, where we all know in New York and
569
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:37,240
the area.
570
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:38,240
And I was like so blown away.
571
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,000
I was like, oh my God.
572
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:48,520
But I think, you know, nowadays more and more people want to have this, I don't know, interdisciplinary
573
00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:59,720
or like mix of, okay, my background is classical, but actually I love hip hop or my background
574
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:04,640
is this country or this is my identity.
575
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:10,680
And now more than ever, I feel like just things are kind of coming together or you can just
576
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,400
pick.
577
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:18,240
I have this background, but I love this sound because that really speaks to me.
578
00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:22,680
And that's becoming like a normal or more like a popular.
579
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,160
And I think it's awesome.
580
00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:25,160
Right?
581
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,160
What about you, Ray?
582
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:31,000
Do you play any Bach, Ray?
583
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:32,000
No.
584
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:37,040
Because you see, when it comes to ears, it's very difficult to pick up things from like
585
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,640
classical.
586
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:40,640
It's difficult.
587
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:41,640
It's really difficult.
588
00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,040
I remember you used to pick up things from Mozart, right?
589
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:46,040
Yeah.
590
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:51,600
Even the easiest Mozart, it would take me like many, many weeks to pick up what are
591
00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,520
the notes that are in it.
592
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:55,920
So it's not easy.
593
00:31:55,920 --> 00:32:01,000
So I really envy you guys who have like a very strong classical foundation, especially
594
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:07,840
Bach, because you are able to bring your classical foundation into all the different genres like
595
00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:09,840
hip hop and all those things.
596
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,960
And when we are listening to your music, we can still feel the classical in it.
597
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:14,960
You know what I mean?
598
00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:22,160
Yeah, that is the thing that makes you, your music very different from like if you are
599
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:26,720
a true hip hop pianist or a true classical pianist, because you're able to combine the
600
00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:27,720
two.
601
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:33,640
So it's kind of like you are having fish and chips and a side dish of lobsters.
602
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:38,320
I thought you were going to say kimchi.
603
00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:40,920
Sign me up.
604
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:41,920
It's very rich.
605
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:43,080
You know what I mean?
606
00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:44,080
Yeah.
607
00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:46,920
One of the things that a lot of people don't know, and this is probably the first time
608
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,440
I would ever say this in an interview, I trust you guys.
609
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:54,440
You are part of the family.
610
00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,120
I also am slightly dyslexic.
611
00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:02,160
So reading music was always very difficult for me and still is.
612
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:03,880
Even reading books was difficult for me.
613
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:10,280
So even now, and you know, some people can put a piece up like my piano teacher, and
614
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:14,440
shorts could put up anything and then he would just read it.
615
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:17,480
For me, it's a very slow process.
616
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,520
It's a very like, you know, one measure, of course, one measure at a time, one hand at
617
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:27,880
a time, but still it's very like the process is it has been it hasn't been easy.
618
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:32,280
Like my sister, for instance, is reader all day long, she can just do it.
619
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:37,240
And then for me, it's like that little bit of a challenge to get it done.
620
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:42,760
So I will say to anybody who's studying and has and faces certain challenges, don't give
621
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:43,760
up.
622
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:45,680
Let that be your driving force.
623
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,760
Let that be the thing that says, you know what, no matter what happens, I'm going to
624
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:50,320
get through this piece.
625
00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:55,880
You know, even if it takes me 10 years, I'm going to get through this.
626
00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:56,880
You know, so.
627
00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:03,520
And you see in a way that is actually maybe the force that brought you to this very unique
628
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:07,360
zone that most people, you know, classical musicians.
629
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:14,120
Yeah, I have friends that can read so well that sometimes, you know, they probably never
630
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,320
would never even think about this.
631
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:18,840
So that's so sometimes life is funny.
632
00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:23,080
And then, you know, that actually also makes me think about you and Ray that the similarities
633
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:30,440
like Ray, you can tell your story, Ray, but I believe you said it's because you had poor
634
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,720
eyesight at one point because of too much video game play.
635
00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:35,720
Yeah.
636
00:34:35,720 --> 00:34:37,360
Video games and comics and all those things.
637
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,400
So I end up, I can't read the notes.
638
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:47,120
And that's how he started to play by ear, you know, so which is, which is funny, right?
639
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:53,560
Because I saw your version of Squid Game and that's on my list of things to cover in next
640
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:54,560
week.
641
00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,560
Yeah, I got totally inspired by you, dude.
642
00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:58,000
Like you, it's so good.
643
00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:04,880
That whole thing that you do like, yeah, that's what I'm gonna do for the Thanksgiving break.
644
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:05,880
Yeah.
645
00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:12,120
And on the internet is very different because we express ourselves not only in the music,
646
00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:13,440
but in the video as well.
647
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:18,640
So if you notice my Squid Game is like silly and funny, you know what I mean?
648
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:20,240
I love your outfit too.
649
00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:23,680
Yeah, I'm a little scared to watch it.
650
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:27,400
Everybody's having all these.
651
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:33,280
So you guys have this, you're in a common thing where you have this big followers on
652
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:34,900
social media.
653
00:35:34,900 --> 00:35:37,160
So yeah, let's talk about it.
654
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:43,520
Then as I mentioned in the introduction, you know, Bach, you have TikTok account and then
655
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:48,400
30,000 followers and Instagram 21,000.
656
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:58,040
So and Ray, you have as we mentioned, you have 400,000 followers on YouTube currently
657
00:35:58,040 --> 00:35:59,760
and you just hit 400,000.
658
00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:02,360
Yeah, just hit 500,000.
659
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:03,360
Thank you.
660
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:04,360
Urban dictionary.
661
00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:05,360
Oh my God.
662
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:06,360
Yes, I know.
663
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:07,360
Yeah.
664
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:09,640
His name full name Ray Mack is on urban dictionary.
665
00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:18,320
So it's a matter of how you are engaging the audience, how you are interacting, the
666
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:19,320
audience.
667
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:24,600
So tell us both of you just talk, talk to each other.
668
00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:25,720
We'll be just listening.
669
00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:30,720
So well, social media is very much a trial and error place.
670
00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:36,280
The first thing that you have to do is you try you throw everything at the wall and then
671
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:40,200
something sticks and you go, oh, that's stuck.
672
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:42,280
Let me go do a bunch of that.
673
00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:47,920
So then it becomes a thing of doing, you know, exercising that muscle and continuing that
674
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:53,440
process and creating and finding interesting and cool ways to create within that same lane
675
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,960
that you've created.
676
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,760
So I'm sure Ray, you definitely know that's how it happens.
677
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:04,560
You know, it's one day you do something and it catches and you just keep doing similar
678
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:05,560
things.
679
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:06,560
Yeah.
680
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:10,920
But at times we got to do a few times, like for example, maybe a series of things then
681
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:12,600
to see whether it works or not.
682
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:17,560
If I just do it maybe once or twice, we may not be able to see the growth.
683
00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:23,960
But if let's say I continue to do like a series, maybe like 20 episodes of the same thing and
684
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,160
it may blow up like after some time.
685
00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:33,740
And the internet is very weird because some of sometimes our old videos will suddenly
686
00:37:33,740 --> 00:37:38,160
just blow up, especially nowadays with the help of TikTok.
687
00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:39,160
Absolutely.
688
00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:40,160
It's incredible.
689
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:45,760
Like you can have a video that you posted, you know, months ago and wake up one day and
690
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:50,840
you're like, whoa, like, oh, viewed it like, wow, this is okay.
691
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:52,040
I guess we had something here.
692
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:54,000
We didn't know that that it happened.
693
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:55,240
And it's like that.
694
00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:59,400
I mean, even even if we're talking about like Squid Game, I think the writer for Squid Game
695
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:01,360
have written it years and years.
696
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:02,360
Yeah.
697
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:03,880
I think like we are many years ago.
698
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:04,880
Yeah.
699
00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:05,880
Like 2016.
700
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:06,880
Yeah.
701
00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:07,880
Yes.
702
00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:08,880
Exactly.
703
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:10,880
And he pitched it to every every network and no one took it.
704
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:11,880
No one wants it.
705
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:12,880
No one wanted it.
706
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:17,440
And then all of a sudden, you know, we go through a pandemic, everybody sitting at home
707
00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:18,940
still kind of.
708
00:38:18,940 --> 00:38:22,560
And he has the number one TV show in the world.
709
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:26,880
So you know, you never know when that viral moment or that one thing that you've created
710
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:27,880
will catch.
711
00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:32,840
It's just a matter of continuing to do, you know, what it is.
712
00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:35,480
I have one of the head of my label explained it like this.
713
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:36,480
He said, it's like a bag of chips.
714
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:39,720
He said, if you know, you know, somebody gets in and give them a bag of chips and they eat
715
00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:41,240
one and then they go back.
716
00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:43,240
And you have another one, they'll eat another.
717
00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:46,920
So you have to constantly give them something to pull from.
718
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,920
And if you don't give them something to pull from, they go on to the next.
719
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:51,400
It's so fast.
720
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:56,440
So you know, kind of understanding that language and understanding that the Internet is a place
721
00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:58,320
where you have to hook people very quickly.
722
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:02,040
I mean, a matter of seconds, you have to hook them.
723
00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:07,240
So if you can kind of optimize what you're doing or how you're performing or what you're
724
00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:12,120
playing or how you're playing it or the look of it or the feel of it or the way it's shot.
725
00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:17,120
Like there's so many different techniques and tactics to make interesting and engaging
726
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:18,120
content.
727
00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:20,040
I mean, that's so interesting.
728
00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:26,640
I have so many ideas like my mind is so because I mean, I actually just found out from Ray
729
00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:33,480
a couple of weeks ago that TikTok and so TikTok is technically a Chinese app, right?
730
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:37,920
But then but in China, they call it Douyin, right?
731
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:39,560
Is that how they call it?
732
00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:41,640
There's two versions.
733
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:50,000
One for people in mainland China and but everybody like we can open it, everybody can open it.
734
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:54,800
But and then the other one is TikTok, which I think both of them is the same meaning,
735
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:55,800
right?
736
00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:57,520
Douyin means TikTok, I believe.
737
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:07,320
I don't have any of them because my mother apparently is a Douyin or TikTok like a small
738
00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:08,320
influencer.
739
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:10,320
She is like in her 60s.
740
00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,280
She does modeling and then she has a lot of fans.
741
00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:19,080
And then my 12 year old niece is also like, so I was like, you know what, let's separate
742
00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:20,320
our social media.
743
00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:23,320
It's better that you don't see my Instagram and stuff, right?
744
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:28,840
And then Ray, I finally realized, oh, the Douyin and TikTok are so different.
745
00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:36,720
So I want to ask you, Bach, do you promote yourself in Asia or do you promote internationally
746
00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:38,280
through these different platforms?
747
00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:43,360
I would love to say that people internationally are watching my videos.
748
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:47,040
If I would say, am I specifically targeting international audiences?
749
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:49,800
I would say no, but I would love to.
750
00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:51,920
That's definitely getting my wheels turning right now.
751
00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:53,840
Hey, maybe our show is going to change that.
752
00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:54,840
You never know.
753
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:55,840
Maybe this is the moment.
754
00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:56,840
You know, this is the moment.
755
00:40:56,840 --> 00:41:01,480
So, you know, I would love to channel more international audiences.
756
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:04,880
First of all, in my travels, I love traveling abroad.
757
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:12,080
There is nothing better to me than going to a new place and experiencing a new culture,
758
00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:15,380
new people, new language, new everything.
759
00:41:15,380 --> 00:41:18,960
There was actually a tradition that I did years ago with my ex-girlfriend where we,
760
00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:25,440
every Thanksgiving, ironically, we would eat in the United States and go and travel somewhere
761
00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:26,440
based on cuisine.
762
00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:29,440
Oh my God, not cuisine.
763
00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:35,360
So one year I would say ramen and then we would go to Italy.
764
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:39,400
The next year I would say pizza and pasta and we would go to Italy.
765
00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:43,560
It was, and it's the perfect time because international travel is cheap during Thanksgiving
766
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:45,400
because domestic travel is expensive.
767
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:46,400
Right.
768
00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:47,400
Very expensive.
769
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,880
And most in this season, most countries are kind of like, this is a very cool, very relaxed
770
00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:52,880
season for them.
771
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:57,760
So like I said, I hope this opens up more to international audiences.
772
00:41:57,760 --> 00:42:01,240
And yes, I will come see you and yes, I will come play for you.
773
00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:02,240
And I think it's amazing.
774
00:42:02,240 --> 00:42:03,240
Dream come true.
775
00:42:03,240 --> 00:42:04,240
Yeah.
776
00:42:04,240 --> 00:42:05,240
Let's all go to Malaysia.
777
00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:06,240
Yeah, come to Malaysia.
778
00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:07,240
Yeah.
779
00:42:07,240 --> 00:42:08,240
Ray is also part of Yamaha, right?
780
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:09,240
You're the Yamaha ambassador.
781
00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:10,240
I'm the ambassador of Yamaha Malaysia.
782
00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:11,240
Really?
783
00:42:11,240 --> 00:42:12,240
Oh yeah, definitely.
784
00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:13,240
I'm a big fan of the Yamaha.
785
00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:14,240
I'm a big fan of the Yamaha.
786
00:42:14,240 --> 00:42:15,240
I'm a big fan of the Yamaha.
787
00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:16,240
I'm a big fan of the Yamaha.
788
00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:17,240
I'm a big fan of the Yamaha.
789
00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:18,240
I'm a big fan of the Yamaha.
790
00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:19,240
I'm a big fan of the Yamaha.
791
00:42:19,240 --> 00:42:20,240
I'm a big fan of the Yamaha.
792
00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:21,240
I definitely have to do something.
793
00:42:21,240 --> 00:42:22,240
We're all going to Yamaha.
794
00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:23,240
Yeah.
795
00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:24,240
Yeah.
796
00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:25,240
That's great.
797
00:42:25,240 --> 00:42:26,240
Wow.
798
00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:32,680
So, you know, speaking of TikTok, I saw one very funny TikTok post that you made.
799
00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:34,440
It's the Holy Spirit one.
800
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:35,440
That's right.
801
00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:36,440
Oh, love that.
802
00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:42,360
That was really, that cracked me up so badly.
803
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:44,400
It was taken out of this lady.
804
00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:50,560
I think if she became a meme or something, and then the way you put together the rhythm,
805
00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:56,040
beat and then music and all that, the visual.
806
00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:57,040
Wow.
807
00:42:57,040 --> 00:42:58,040
That was genius.
808
00:42:58,040 --> 00:42:59,040
Yeah.
809
00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:00,040
That's amazing.
810
00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:05,520
This is a guy, his name is I'm R Keys and another guy named Remix God.
811
00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:10,200
And they do these memes of people and they create these funny videos.
812
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:11,960
And I've always been wanting to be on their radar.
813
00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:14,480
I love what these guys do.
814
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:17,280
So it just was the perfect opportunity.
815
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:23,000
The lady that actually sang, that did the Holy Spirit activate was, her name is Chyna
816
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:26,960
Phillips from the group, Wilson Phillips from way like back in the 90s.
817
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:27,960
Yeah.
818
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:33,160
She was on Family Feud and with Steve Harvey and she just did the whole thing.
819
00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:34,880
And it was just the perfect moment.
820
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,120
I love what they did as far as the beat was concerned.
821
00:43:37,120 --> 00:43:41,160
So it was just a matter of me kind of tacking on what I do on the piano with it all.
822
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:42,160
And the video was amazing.
823
00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:44,480
So I was just like, this is going to be fun.
824
00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:46,440
You created all these by yourself?
825
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:47,440
Like do you?
826
00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:48,440
No.
827
00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:50,920
So these are all collaborations with other content creators.
828
00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:54,960
So they did one did the video, another one did the beat and then I came along and did
829
00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:55,960
the piano.
830
00:43:55,960 --> 00:43:56,960
Wow.
831
00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:02,160
And how do you connect with other, I guess, influencers or content creators?
832
00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:03,160
Do you guys?
833
00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:04,160
DMs.
834
00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:05,160
Really?
835
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:06,160
DMs.
836
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:07,160
It's so easy.
837
00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:08,160
I love that's what I love about them.
838
00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:09,160
Exactly.
839
00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:13,880
I can just trust everybody because the reason I've been asking, you know, like I have my
840
00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:19,000
studio and I'm technically still considered to be a millennial generation, but you know,
841
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,480
I'm like Mark Zuckerberg generation, right?
842
00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:26,320
So I'm not telling the age, but so I think I'm quite okay.
843
00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:31,160
But I think Ukihime is actually much better than me, you know, when it comes to like.
844
00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:33,160
Thanks for telling me I am old.
845
00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:39,640
Because as a classical musician, we're always told not to use the phone, you know, like
846
00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:44,120
my teacher is always like, you should just get rid of your phone and just like, you know,
847
00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:46,280
and a lot of my classical musicians doesn't matter.
848
00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:49,680
They could be 10 years younger than me and they don't do anything because they're just
849
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:53,320
like, you should lock yourself in the practice room and just practice, practice.
850
00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:54,320
Yeah.
851
00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:55,880
I think it's a very classical thing.
852
00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:57,640
Yeah, exactly.
853
00:44:57,640 --> 00:45:01,040
And you know, like most of my friends, they were like, oh, I have an iPhone, but I only
854
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:04,600
use it as for I know how to do FaceTime.
855
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:06,800
I'm like, that's great.
856
00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:08,240
Not to say that's not a good thing.
857
00:45:08,240 --> 00:45:13,680
So I'm always trying to, I'm curious, how do you like find the time or like, you know,
858
00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:17,200
I have a lot of people actually writing to me on DM.
859
00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:23,400
I never answer because I'm so, you know, worried it's going to take too much time or even a
860
00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:24,720
scam, you know.
861
00:45:24,720 --> 00:45:29,280
It's very much planning out how you're using your time.
862
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:33,800
If I'm practicing, I'll say I'll practice for like two or three hours and then I'll
863
00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:38,680
say I'm going to spend an hour doing replies and I'll just sit with my phone and I'll do
864
00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:40,600
replies for an hour.
865
00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:46,000
And then, you know, one of the things that we do, like my manager and I, we literally
866
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:49,200
talk like seven or eight times a day.
867
00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:52,880
It's so crazy, like throughout the day, because it's always something, you know, something
868
00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:54,840
happening, new things coming, new things happening.
869
00:45:54,840 --> 00:46:00,400
So I also do this thing where I go on airplane mode.
870
00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:06,680
Like I love putting my phone on airplane mode and just disconnecting from it all and connecting
871
00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:11,880
with the instrument, you know, and like really, really taking the time to focus on.
872
00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:19,440
A lot of times, you know, learning new things, fixing old things and improving on what's
873
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:20,900
already there.
874
00:46:20,900 --> 00:46:23,560
So it's very much time management.
875
00:46:23,560 --> 00:46:30,080
Like definitely there are moments when you're doing social media stuff, like tonight or
876
00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:31,080
I mean tomorrow.
877
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:35,880
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, yes, but I still have two pieces of content to shoot tomorrow.
878
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:41,080
So I know that, you know, this is part of my day, regardless of what happens.
879
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:45,560
So yeah, it's just a very much time management.
880
00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:46,560
Yeah.
881
00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:49,440
Managing social media is all about that.
882
00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:50,440
Yeah, it's hard.
883
00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:52,000
It's hard to keep up.
884
00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:53,680
You can't let it get overwhelming.
885
00:46:53,680 --> 00:46:59,360
That's one of the things that I see people, the problem with social media is that people
886
00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:00,760
get too consumed in it.
887
00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:03,720
And you have to understand it's a tool.
888
00:47:03,720 --> 00:47:04,720
It's a tool.
889
00:47:04,720 --> 00:47:10,760
It is strictly a tool for you to connect and present your work to a greater audience and
890
00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:15,080
then get insights and see what other people are doing and, you know, be inspired.
891
00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:16,560
Like I always keep my Instagram.
892
00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:19,760
A lot of people, you know, they kind of get mad at me like, oh, you're not following me.
893
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:24,160
I'm saying, well, I use my Instagram as my vision board.
894
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:25,920
I use it as my inspiration board.
895
00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:28,760
So if I'm scrolling, I want to be inspired as I'm scrolling.
896
00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:32,160
So if you have pictures of your cat, that's not doing it for me.
897
00:47:32,160 --> 00:47:36,600
Yeah, I love you, but I don't want to see your cat.
898
00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:38,440
Like your food that you ate last week.
899
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:39,720
I don't want to see that.
900
00:47:39,720 --> 00:47:42,120
Like it's not helping me in any way.
901
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:43,120
It's noise.
902
00:47:43,120 --> 00:47:46,920
Yeah, it's noise as opposed to, you know, things that keep me inspired.
903
00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:47,920
Right, right, right.
904
00:47:47,920 --> 00:47:48,920
Gotcha.
905
00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:53,280
I'm learning, you know, but it's sometimes it's hard.
906
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:57,280
Sometimes I can't help but posting my croissant in the morning.
907
00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:00,280
You know what I mean?
908
00:48:00,280 --> 00:48:02,280
Yeah, yeah.
909
00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:03,280
Yeah.
910
00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:11,000
But anyways, so now we just want to go to the next topic, which is obviously we're all
911
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:14,320
going through this difficult pandemic right now.
912
00:48:14,320 --> 00:48:21,640
And as a live performer, you know, you performed with all the singers and I'm sure it affected
913
00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:22,840
so much.
914
00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:23,880
Right.
915
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:25,880
So can you tell us about that?
916
00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:31,840
Maybe during that time you had some, I don't know, we all had some wake up wake up call
917
00:48:31,840 --> 00:48:33,720
and also new project.
918
00:48:33,720 --> 00:48:37,040
But I mean, this is the reason I, we started this podcasting.
919
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,840
So yeah, can you tell us a little bit about your?
920
00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:45,720
Which is so inspiring and part of the idea of the same thing right before the pandemic
921
00:48:45,720 --> 00:48:49,640
hit my publisher at the time says, give me a call.
922
00:48:49,640 --> 00:48:54,680
And he says, Charlie, you should do a solo piano album.
923
00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:59,680
And I literally said on the phone, Billy, what in the blank does that mean?
924
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:03,760
And he said, you know, he gave me a bunch of things and he said, you'll figure it out.
925
00:49:03,760 --> 00:49:05,080
And he hung up the phone.
926
00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:13,280
So a couple of days later, he sent me a post from this marketing gurus guy's name, Seth
927
00:49:13,280 --> 00:49:17,260
Godin, who is absolutely incredible.
928
00:49:17,260 --> 00:49:19,360
He is one of the he's such an educator.
929
00:49:19,360 --> 00:49:20,360
He's amazing.
930
00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:22,280
And he had this program called the creatives workshop.
931
00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:25,480
And one of his books right now.
932
00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:27,520
Yeah, which one?
933
00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:28,520
Everything.
934
00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:29,520
What is it?
935
00:49:29,520 --> 00:49:32,400
You Kimmy, I sent it to you to the other day.
936
00:49:32,400 --> 00:49:33,400
The marketing book.
937
00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:38,160
I read the purple cow in the past.
938
00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:41,160
Now I'm ready.
939
00:49:41,160 --> 00:49:46,800
So he has the creatives workshop and we decided that that will be a great thing for me now
940
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:51,520
in a creative workshop, which you do is 100 days is 100 a commitment to whatever it is
941
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:57,520
your creative field is or your creative, your creative voices.
942
00:49:57,520 --> 00:50:02,880
It's so you can discover your creative voice and create a work in creative practice.
943
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:07,300
So 100 days you load what you do every day into the program.
944
00:50:07,300 --> 00:50:09,840
So there's accountability as well.
945
00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:16,640
This was the first time I had decided to write any music like black book.
946
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:21,840
Like I had never written classical music before or neoclassical music before.
947
00:50:21,840 --> 00:50:24,840
It was just it was totally an experiment.
948
00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:28,520
But every day I wrote little pieces, little fragments every day and I would post them
949
00:50:28,520 --> 00:50:30,320
up and in some days they would come together.
950
00:50:30,320 --> 00:50:35,520
And I'm like, after about the first 11 days, I had one piece, which is called Michelle's
951
00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:36,520
first day at the White House.
952
00:50:36,520 --> 00:50:37,520
It's on the album.
953
00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:38,880
Oh, I love that piece.
954
00:50:38,880 --> 00:50:42,640
By the way, I had never written anything like that before.
955
00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:44,360
It was just it was strange.
956
00:50:44,360 --> 00:50:47,840
And the next day, you know, people gave me real time feedback on what I was doing.
957
00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:49,840
I'd never written in front of an audience.
958
00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:53,600
You know, we go in the practice room and we close the door and then we do all we do.
959
00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:54,600
We do.
960
00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:57,400
We open the door and we go out and get on stage and we play.
961
00:50:57,400 --> 00:51:03,960
This was literally inviting the audience into the practice room, creating things and making
962
00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:08,320
so many mistakes and writing good things and writing bad things.
963
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:13,400
I mean, there were some days where I would have 20 poop emojis just going across the
964
00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:14,400
screen.
965
00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:17,120
I'm just like, today was trash, guys.
966
00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:18,120
Sorry.
967
00:51:18,120 --> 00:51:19,120
This is what I wrote.
968
00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:21,360
It's 37 seconds of I don't know what.
969
00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:26,800
But I put in my time and I say around the middle midway through and everyone had been
970
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:30,880
kind of following my progress progression as I was writing this music.
971
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:36,720
One student said she was listening to my dailies when I post daily.
972
00:51:36,720 --> 00:51:39,120
And she went into the kitchen and she was pouring her coffee and she was listening to
973
00:51:39,120 --> 00:51:40,120
it.
974
00:51:40,120 --> 00:51:42,640
And her mother said, oh, my gosh, this music is piano music.
975
00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:43,640
What is it?
976
00:51:43,640 --> 00:51:44,640
It's so good.
977
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:48,320
She explained to her mother, this was one of the students.
978
00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:49,960
And she says, well, play some more for me.
979
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:50,960
She says, well, you post every day.
980
00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:53,480
She says, well, come back and play it again.
981
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:57,400
And this became a way that she and her mother reconnected.
982
00:51:57,400 --> 00:52:01,560
They would sit down and have their coffee and they would listen to what I would perform,
983
00:52:01,560 --> 00:52:03,320
my dailies.
984
00:52:03,320 --> 00:52:06,360
So it just came just so happened I had one piece that I had finished.
985
00:52:06,360 --> 00:52:09,120
I said I had no title for it.
986
00:52:09,120 --> 00:52:10,400
Any ideas?
987
00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:12,960
And she says, yeah, it sounds like an ocean.
988
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:16,560
She says, and then my mom from the other room screamed, he should name it after me.
989
00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:18,600
So I said, what's your mother's name?
990
00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:19,600
She said, Amalia.
991
00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:22,600
I said Amalia's ocean.
992
00:52:22,600 --> 00:52:23,600
Wow.
993
00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:30,240
It was the first time that I had felt that something that I was doing was connecting
994
00:52:30,240 --> 00:52:32,560
people in a very authentic way.
995
00:52:32,560 --> 00:52:40,560
And that being the story, I immediately understood what it meant to be accountable to an audience,
996
00:52:40,560 --> 00:52:45,200
what it meant to be a performer, what it meant to be what I was really doing.
997
00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:50,320
I really got the sense of what I was doing, which is I'm here to connect and inspire people.
998
00:52:50,320 --> 00:52:52,000
And that's my only job.
999
00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:53,600
I have to continue doing this.
1000
00:52:53,600 --> 00:52:59,040
So 121 days, all during a pandemic, during lockdown, Black Book was completed.
1001
00:52:59,040 --> 00:53:01,400
I didn't know what it was going to turn into.
1002
00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:03,960
I had no idea what it was going to turn into.
1003
00:53:03,960 --> 00:53:06,580
Some months later, management agreement happened.
1004
00:53:06,580 --> 00:53:09,600
Some months later, I'll never forget it was on Friday.
1005
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:10,600
Billy Mann called me.
1006
00:53:10,600 --> 00:53:13,040
He said, hey, we have a label called Icons and Giants.
1007
00:53:13,040 --> 00:53:17,620
It's a joint venture with Warner Music and they want to sign Black Bop first.
1008
00:53:17,620 --> 00:53:20,480
And I said, are you saying you're offering me a record deal?
1009
00:53:20,480 --> 00:53:23,600
He said, yes, I'm offering you a record deal.
1010
00:53:23,600 --> 00:53:26,040
And I'll never forget that moment.
1011
00:53:26,040 --> 00:53:27,960
I mean, I fell to my knees and started crying.
1012
00:53:27,960 --> 00:53:29,440
I couldn't believe it was happening.
1013
00:53:29,440 --> 00:53:34,320
You know, when you were sharing how this mother and daughter, they were having their conversation
1014
00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:39,320
and then you just kind of got, it's almost like you're serving the humankind.
1015
00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:41,840
And now your music is going to Mars or wherever.
1016
00:53:41,840 --> 00:53:42,840
Good space.
1017
00:53:42,840 --> 00:53:51,560
One of the things that you learn in the workshop is that art is an act of service.
1018
00:53:51,560 --> 00:53:53,560
Art is an act of generosity.
1019
00:53:53,560 --> 00:53:56,720
This is what we do is for other people.
1020
00:53:56,720 --> 00:53:57,720
It's not for us.
1021
00:53:57,720 --> 00:53:58,720
It's to give.
1022
00:53:58,720 --> 00:53:59,720
Exactly.
1023
00:53:59,720 --> 00:54:00,720
Yeah.
1024
00:54:00,720 --> 00:54:02,480
It's a mission, right?
1025
00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:07,280
I think our previous guest mentioned Min Kwan.
1026
00:54:07,280 --> 00:54:10,800
She is a Steinway artist and she mentioned that it's a mission.
1027
00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:16,360
It's not really, you know, up until a certain point, it's about your ego, right?
1028
00:54:16,360 --> 00:54:20,200
And you really want to show off, but then you hit the wall.
1029
00:54:20,200 --> 00:54:21,200
What am I doing?
1030
00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:24,680
Why do I practice hours and hours for what?
1031
00:54:24,680 --> 00:54:29,960
Then it gets to the point where, well, this is a gift and I am here to give.
1032
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:31,640
Oh my God.
1033
00:54:31,640 --> 00:54:32,640
Yeah.
1034
00:54:32,640 --> 00:54:33,640
Yeah.
1035
00:54:33,640 --> 00:54:37,520
I feel that from both of you, Ray and Bob.
1036
00:54:37,520 --> 00:54:40,600
So yeah, it's a beautiful thing.
1037
00:54:40,600 --> 00:54:43,640
What do you think for you?
1038
00:54:43,640 --> 00:54:49,240
So it was great that I, I, I, obviously my favorite piece from that, your album is November
1039
00:54:49,240 --> 00:54:50,240
7th, 2020.
1040
00:54:50,240 --> 00:54:53,840
I mean, that day to me personally, it's a yay.
1041
00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:58,360
And I really love that introduction of that piece.
1042
00:54:58,360 --> 00:55:05,120
It's a really, uh, the double notes are so hopeful for as a live performer.
1043
00:55:05,120 --> 00:55:06,440
Obviously there was a downside.
1044
00:55:06,440 --> 00:55:09,920
I mean, a lot of us lost the job.
1045
00:55:09,920 --> 00:55:17,240
But at the same time, uh, creator like yourself found a way to be creative and you know, you
1046
00:55:17,240 --> 00:55:18,400
have this record deal.
1047
00:55:18,400 --> 00:55:19,860
Oh my gosh.
1048
00:55:19,860 --> 00:55:25,200
So what do you think this pandemic affected this, uh, the music industry?
1049
00:55:25,200 --> 00:55:27,280
I mean, it's, I know it's a big question.
1050
00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:33,400
It's a broad question, but I think it's, it affected us as far as being performers, but
1051
00:55:33,400 --> 00:55:37,040
I think creatives are creatives.
1052
00:55:37,040 --> 00:55:38,040
You know, we're crazy people.
1053
00:55:38,040 --> 00:55:40,320
We're all crazy people, which is great.
1054
00:55:40,320 --> 00:55:47,240
Um, it, it, it, the ability to go outside, I feel made everyone kind of go inside and
1055
00:55:47,240 --> 00:55:52,720
they had to search inwardly, like into your spirit, into your soul, into your mind, into
1056
00:55:52,720 --> 00:55:59,840
your creativity to kind of go for, you know, a voyage or journey into what that is.
1057
00:55:59,840 --> 00:56:05,360
And I think that's kind of what this pandemic did for us is it made a lot of people search
1058
00:56:05,360 --> 00:56:10,080
in ways that they had never searched before, including myself, including you guys creating
1059
00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:11,080
this podcast.
1060
00:56:11,080 --> 00:56:14,840
Like this was something that says, you know, this is another way that we can do something
1061
00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:15,840
that serves.
1062
00:56:15,840 --> 00:56:21,440
This is another way we can create something that, that speaks, um, to a certain audience.
1063
00:56:21,440 --> 00:56:24,960
I mean, one of the things I definitely learned from the workshop is there's an audience for
1064
00:56:24,960 --> 00:56:25,960
everything.
1065
00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:30,960
If you can take the time to just create something authentically, then there is always an audience
1066
00:56:30,960 --> 00:56:35,320
that will meet you halfway and be there when you're ready to present it.
1067
00:56:35,320 --> 00:56:36,320
That's amazing.
1068
00:56:36,320 --> 00:56:37,320
Yes.
1069
00:56:37,320 --> 00:56:38,320
So we have to keep going, Clara.
1070
00:56:38,320 --> 00:56:39,320
We have to keep changing as well.
1071
00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:40,320
Exactly.
1072
00:56:40,320 --> 00:56:41,320
Oh, this is something.
1073
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:51,360
And then, you know, it's, we, what was the, who, maybe that was a Chinese proverb, they
1074
00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:55,960
were saying the opportunity always lays for people that are ready.
1075
00:56:55,960 --> 00:56:56,960
Right?
1076
00:56:56,960 --> 00:57:02,880
So if you just keep on going, or that, you know, that, what was that proverb, Ray, that
1077
00:57:02,880 --> 00:57:07,960
was the one, Ray loves in Malaysia, but he's like Chinese is even better than me.
1078
00:57:07,960 --> 00:57:14,080
The needle, you know, when you have a needle on a stone or something like that, right?
1079
00:57:14,080 --> 00:57:15,080
Yeah.
1080
00:57:15,080 --> 00:57:19,080
If you keep doing it, you can even break the mountains, something like that.
1081
00:57:19,080 --> 00:57:20,080
You know?
1082
00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:21,080
Yeah.
1083
00:57:21,080 --> 00:57:26,640
And these really are, I am guilty of sometimes I, I don't know if it's just because the culture
1084
00:57:26,640 --> 00:57:31,040
I grew up or the way I was trained, you know, sometimes I have to see results.
1085
00:57:31,040 --> 00:57:36,960
Like if social media, for example, I get very, you know, personal, if I post something, I
1086
00:57:36,960 --> 00:57:39,600
spend a lot of time and then I don't see anything.
1087
00:57:39,600 --> 00:57:45,040
All of a sudden I go into, oh my God, I just waste my life away and then doing, you know,
1088
00:57:45,040 --> 00:57:46,040
not really.
1089
00:57:46,040 --> 00:57:47,040
Yeah.
1090
00:57:47,040 --> 00:57:48,040
It's nuts.
1091
00:57:48,040 --> 00:57:49,040
You know?
1092
00:57:49,040 --> 00:57:50,040
Yeah.
1093
00:57:50,040 --> 00:57:52,240
The people that see it are the people that were supposed to see it.
1094
00:57:52,240 --> 00:57:53,240
Yeah.
1095
00:57:53,240 --> 00:57:57,680
And the idea is that you're, if you constantly stay in the frame of mind of I'm giving, it
1096
00:57:57,680 --> 00:58:00,760
allows you to disconnect from personally from it.
1097
00:58:00,760 --> 00:58:02,720
You know, it's, it's, it's an offering.
1098
00:58:02,720 --> 00:58:05,800
And when you give an offering, you step away from it, you know, and you go off and you
1099
00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:08,380
find something else and you offer something else.
1100
00:58:08,380 --> 00:58:12,960
So if you're constantly staying in the mind of this is service, this is service, this
1101
00:58:12,960 --> 00:58:18,440
is service, I always, even when I, before I step on the stage, I remind myself, this
1102
00:58:18,440 --> 00:58:19,800
is service.
1103
00:58:19,800 --> 00:58:21,120
This is for somebody else.
1104
00:58:21,120 --> 00:58:22,520
This is not for you.
1105
00:58:22,520 --> 00:58:28,720
You're going on stage so you can allow someone else and give them the space to feel and
1106
00:58:28,720 --> 00:58:33,960
express in the way that they, they want to feel the way they choose.
1107
00:58:33,960 --> 00:58:34,960
And that's the beautiful thing.
1108
00:58:34,960 --> 00:58:37,480
My, my number one goal always is to make people cry.
1109
00:58:37,480 --> 00:58:39,360
I just want people to cry.
1110
00:58:39,360 --> 00:58:43,000
And then every time, you know, when I do a show and someone says, yeah, I took my mother
1111
00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:45,120
to your show and she was in tears of joy.
1112
00:58:45,120 --> 00:58:48,120
I'm going, yes, nailed it.
1113
00:58:48,120 --> 00:58:49,680
There it is.
1114
00:58:49,680 --> 00:58:50,680
Mission accomplished.
1115
00:58:50,680 --> 00:58:51,680
I got it.
1116
00:58:51,680 --> 00:58:52,680
Yeah.
1117
00:58:52,680 --> 00:58:57,280
It's not always that we have to play to a stage full of people, like a full audience,
1118
00:58:57,280 --> 00:58:58,280
you know what I mean?
1119
00:58:58,280 --> 00:59:03,840
Sometimes even one person that appreciate us that that is very beautiful already.
1120
00:59:03,840 --> 00:59:08,640
And even if there's no one for me, it's also a service to myself.
1121
00:59:08,640 --> 00:59:14,440
So sometimes when I make music and put it out on YouTube, I put it up for myself so
1122
00:59:14,440 --> 00:59:18,320
that in future 10 years down the road, I can listen to my songs.
1123
00:59:18,320 --> 00:59:21,540
And sometimes when I can't sleep, I can listen to my own songs to sleep.
1124
00:59:21,540 --> 00:59:22,540
You know what I mean?
1125
00:59:22,540 --> 00:59:25,920
So, so I don't worry too much about the numbers.
1126
00:59:25,920 --> 00:59:26,920
The number will grow eventually.
1127
00:59:26,920 --> 00:59:28,400
The number will do.
1128
00:59:28,400 --> 00:59:30,200
Yeah, it's just a number.
1129
00:59:30,200 --> 00:59:31,960
Yeah, it's just a number.
1130
00:59:31,960 --> 00:59:36,800
I think in the future, I really have to change the script and say Ray was my teacher.
1131
00:59:36,800 --> 00:59:40,520
You know, the student is now the teacher.
1132
00:59:40,520 --> 00:59:41,520
Right.
1133
00:59:41,520 --> 00:59:45,960
He's only a year younger, but you know, we won't discover our age, but you know, but
1134
00:59:45,960 --> 00:59:48,360
he was always so respectful.
1135
00:59:48,360 --> 00:59:50,160
But then this is something he always told me.
1136
00:59:50,160 --> 00:59:53,400
I think that's the thing with the classical musicians, right?
1137
00:59:53,400 --> 00:59:56,920
Like we were told, okay, if you don't do it perfectly, you shouldn't do it.
1138
00:59:56,920 --> 01:00:01,720
You know, I remember the first video he recorded on this piano, like, you know, but he was
1139
01:00:01,720 --> 01:00:05,000
like visiting my apartment that had only a bed and the piano.
1140
01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:06,000
That was it.
1141
01:00:06,000 --> 01:00:09,400
And he was like, let me record it and like, let me, you know, put up on YouTube.
1142
01:00:09,400 --> 01:00:11,200
And he was like, you should do it too.
1143
01:00:11,200 --> 01:00:14,000
I was like, no, my body is not perfect yet.
1144
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:16,120
I need to practice another 20 hours on it.
1145
01:00:16,120 --> 01:00:17,120
You know?
1146
01:00:17,120 --> 01:00:18,120
Yeah.
1147
01:00:18,120 --> 01:00:19,120
Finally, I'm changing my mind.
1148
01:00:19,120 --> 01:00:20,120
Yes, don't search for perfection.
1149
01:00:20,120 --> 01:00:24,440
Oh, that's it, you'll never...
1150
01:00:24,440 --> 01:00:26,440
You will never take the first step.
1151
01:00:26,440 --> 01:00:30,720
It's very difficult to take the first step when we are looking for perfection.
1152
01:00:30,720 --> 01:00:31,720
Right.
1153
01:00:31,720 --> 01:00:37,680
Oh, we can go on and on and on about this, but it's actually, it's time for us to move
1154
01:00:37,680 --> 01:00:38,680
on.
1155
01:00:38,680 --> 01:00:43,320
But before we go on to this fun segment, I'm going to steal your question, Clara.
1156
01:00:43,320 --> 01:00:45,280
I have a question.
1157
01:00:45,280 --> 01:00:51,160
So do you have any advice for young musicians, uprising, upcoming musicians?
1158
01:00:51,160 --> 01:00:52,320
Yes.
1159
01:00:52,320 --> 01:00:53,760
Listen to everything.
1160
01:00:53,760 --> 01:00:57,360
First thing, listen to everything.
1161
01:00:57,360 --> 01:00:59,680
Everything has its value.
1162
01:00:59,680 --> 01:01:01,080
Everything.
1163
01:01:01,080 --> 01:01:07,880
I always say I listen from Bach to Trippie Redd, everything in between.
1164
01:01:07,880 --> 01:01:10,480
Like it doesn't matter what it is.
1165
01:01:10,480 --> 01:01:14,640
There's always some musical value in everything.
1166
01:01:14,640 --> 01:01:19,160
You just have to find, maybe it could be one note or one phrase or one line or one beat
1167
01:01:19,160 --> 01:01:22,000
or one rhythm or that hi-hat.
1168
01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:24,160
I love the way that hi-hat sounds.
1169
01:01:24,160 --> 01:01:29,440
There's always validity in music across the board of any genre.
1170
01:01:29,440 --> 01:01:35,680
Like I was just telling Loris Brownlee yesterday, I listen to Chris Stapleton, but I also listen
1171
01:01:35,680 --> 01:01:36,680
to Luke Combs.
1172
01:01:36,680 --> 01:01:37,680
Oh, I love him.
1173
01:01:37,680 --> 01:01:38,680
I listen to him.
1174
01:01:38,680 --> 01:01:42,880
I've been sewing to Luke Combs in the past couple months like, dang, this guy's really
1175
01:01:42,880 --> 01:01:43,880
good.
1176
01:01:43,880 --> 01:01:46,320
My friends look at me and they're going, you listen to country music?
1177
01:01:46,320 --> 01:01:48,800
I'm like, I listen to everything.
1178
01:01:48,800 --> 01:01:51,760
There's nothing that's not on the menu.
1179
01:01:51,760 --> 01:01:53,880
That would be my first thing is listen to everything.
1180
01:01:53,880 --> 01:01:57,760
There's something that you can grasp from every genre of music.
1181
01:01:57,760 --> 01:01:58,760
Thank you.
1182
01:01:58,760 --> 01:02:02,760
All right, so kids, are you guys ready to have fun before we go?
1183
01:02:02,760 --> 01:02:03,760
All right.
1184
01:02:03,760 --> 01:02:07,320
The next segment is called the rapid fire questions.
1185
01:02:07,320 --> 01:02:13,680
Now, this segment was created after, actually we interviewed Ray Mack last year.
1186
01:02:13,680 --> 01:02:16,280
And around Thanksgiving time, we didn't have this segment.
1187
01:02:16,280 --> 01:02:19,200
So what we want to go, I know, right?
1188
01:02:19,200 --> 01:02:20,200
A year ago.
1189
01:02:20,200 --> 01:02:26,800
So this time I want Ray and Bach to answer those really fun short questions.
1190
01:02:26,800 --> 01:02:27,800
All right.
1191
01:02:27,800 --> 01:02:29,960
So make sure short, short, short, right?
1192
01:02:29,960 --> 01:02:31,440
What is your comfort food?
1193
01:02:31,440 --> 01:02:32,440
Sushi.
1194
01:02:32,440 --> 01:02:33,440
Sushi.
1195
01:02:33,440 --> 01:02:34,440
All right.
1196
01:02:34,440 --> 01:02:42,080
Next cat or dogs, cats or dogs?
1197
01:02:42,080 --> 01:02:43,080
Dogs for the win.
1198
01:02:43,080 --> 01:02:44,080
Yeah.
1199
01:02:44,080 --> 01:02:45,080
Oh my gosh.
1200
01:02:45,080 --> 01:02:46,080
All right.
1201
01:02:46,080 --> 01:02:47,080
You guys are like twins.
1202
01:02:47,080 --> 01:02:48,880
What is going on?
1203
01:02:48,880 --> 01:02:51,320
What is your word or words to live by?
1204
01:02:51,320 --> 01:02:52,320
Wow.
1205
01:02:52,320 --> 01:02:53,320
This is tough.
1206
01:02:53,320 --> 01:02:54,320
Persistence.
1207
01:02:54,320 --> 01:02:55,320
Service.
1208
01:02:55,320 --> 01:02:56,320
Wow.
1209
01:02:56,320 --> 01:03:03,560
What is the most important quality you look for in people?
1210
01:03:03,560 --> 01:03:04,560
Personality.
1211
01:03:04,560 --> 01:03:05,560
Authenticity.
1212
01:03:05,560 --> 01:03:06,560
Wow.
1213
01:03:06,560 --> 01:03:10,960
What is the worst quality in people you want to stay away from?
1214
01:03:10,960 --> 01:03:15,600
Be sucker.
1215
01:03:15,600 --> 01:03:17,080
People who like self love.
1216
01:03:17,080 --> 01:03:18,200
Oh wow.
1217
01:03:18,200 --> 01:03:22,360
Name three people who inspire you, living or dead.
1218
01:03:22,360 --> 01:03:23,360
Okay.
1219
01:03:23,360 --> 01:03:27,360
I started YouTube because of this guy called David Sites.
1220
01:03:27,360 --> 01:03:31,200
He was the first one who played piano on YouTube.
1221
01:03:31,200 --> 01:03:34,680
So when I saw him, I'm like, oh, I want to do the same thing too.
1222
01:03:34,680 --> 01:03:39,480
So I became the first 10 people on YouTube who plays the piano.
1223
01:03:39,480 --> 01:03:42,160
So it was very early back in 2006.
1224
01:03:42,160 --> 01:03:43,160
Wow.
1225
01:03:43,160 --> 01:03:46,160
You're like two years old.
1226
01:03:46,160 --> 01:03:47,160
Yeah.
1227
01:03:47,160 --> 01:03:49,640
That was like the one of the person.
1228
01:03:49,640 --> 01:03:57,760
And of course the other YouTubers as well, like Mr. Beast and another guy called Timothy,
1229
01:03:57,760 --> 01:04:01,280
Timothy De La Ghetto, which is one of the OG YouTubers.
1230
01:04:01,280 --> 01:04:03,840
So these are the people that inspired me to start.
1231
01:04:03,840 --> 01:04:07,040
So without the starting, it will be a bit difficult.
1232
01:04:07,040 --> 01:04:08,040
That's right.
1233
01:04:08,040 --> 01:04:09,040
Starting is always hard.
1234
01:04:09,040 --> 01:04:10,040
Yeah.
1235
01:04:10,040 --> 01:04:14,080
I would say first my music teacher, Mr. Schwartz.
1236
01:04:14,080 --> 01:04:20,320
I would say the head of my label, Billy Mann, very, very, very much an inspiration to me.
1237
01:04:20,320 --> 01:04:21,320
And then I would say Andre Watts.
1238
01:04:21,320 --> 01:04:22,320
One of my favorite pianists.
1239
01:04:22,320 --> 01:04:23,320
Oh, he's wonderful.
1240
01:04:23,320 --> 01:04:24,320
He's great.
1241
01:04:24,320 --> 01:04:31,800
Which historic figure do you want to hang out with at the bar if he or she were alive?
1242
01:04:31,800 --> 01:04:32,800
Bob Marley.
1243
01:04:32,800 --> 01:04:33,800
All right.
1244
01:04:33,800 --> 01:04:34,800
We got the party.
1245
01:04:34,800 --> 01:04:35,800
Right?
1246
01:04:35,800 --> 01:04:36,800
Ray Charles.
1247
01:04:36,800 --> 01:04:37,800
All right.
1248
01:04:37,800 --> 01:04:39,280
Yeah, that sounds great.
1249
01:04:39,280 --> 01:04:46,760
He is kind of like me, you know, we can't read, but he's blind.
1250
01:04:46,760 --> 01:04:49,480
And I got my name from Ray Charles, actually.
1251
01:04:49,480 --> 01:04:51,800
My name Ray is actually from Ray Charles.
1252
01:04:51,800 --> 01:04:52,800
Yeah, that's perfect.
1253
01:04:52,800 --> 01:04:53,800
All right.
1254
01:04:53,800 --> 01:04:54,800
Next question.
1255
01:04:54,800 --> 01:04:58,480
Name one piece in your current playlist.
1256
01:04:58,480 --> 01:05:00,480
Tchaikovsky 6th.
1257
01:05:00,480 --> 01:05:03,000
Permission to dance by BTS.
1258
01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:05,580
Wonderful.
1259
01:05:05,580 --> 01:05:06,580
He went that way.
1260
01:05:06,580 --> 01:05:07,580
I went this way.
1261
01:05:07,580 --> 01:05:08,580
I went that way.
1262
01:05:08,580 --> 01:05:09,580
No.
1263
01:05:09,580 --> 01:05:10,580
That's great.
1264
01:05:10,580 --> 01:05:15,800
Well, you get only one song or piece to listen to for the rest of your life.
1265
01:05:15,800 --> 01:05:16,880
What is it?
1266
01:05:16,880 --> 01:05:20,560
It's a piece called Across the Sky by Pat Metheny.
1267
01:05:20,560 --> 01:05:21,560
He's a jazz guitarist.
1268
01:05:21,560 --> 01:05:22,560
Jazz guitarist.
1269
01:05:22,560 --> 01:05:23,560
Yes.
1270
01:05:23,560 --> 01:05:24,560
Yes.
1271
01:05:24,560 --> 01:05:29,240
Mine would be Mozart, Andante, K565.
1272
01:05:29,240 --> 01:05:32,240
I think it's got...
1273
01:05:32,240 --> 01:05:35,000
Which is the second song after that.
1274
01:05:35,000 --> 01:05:38,440
Yeah, exactly.
1275
01:05:38,440 --> 01:05:39,440
The middle one.
1276
01:05:39,440 --> 01:05:43,640
That was the one that I stepped off stage and everybody went left.
1277
01:05:43,640 --> 01:05:44,640
Yeah.
1278
01:05:44,640 --> 01:05:49,840
So the song that I like, the song that I like is actually the middle one, the slow part,
1279
01:05:49,840 --> 01:05:52,000
which is the Andante one.
1280
01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:53,000
Why?
1281
01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:56,440
Because my baby sleep with that song.
1282
01:05:56,440 --> 01:05:59,000
So to me it's peace because when my baby is sleeping.
1283
01:05:59,000 --> 01:06:00,000
That's right.
1284
01:06:00,000 --> 01:06:01,000
You have two babies.
1285
01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:02,000
Yeah.
1286
01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:03,000
I have two babies.
1287
01:06:03,000 --> 01:06:05,120
So they sleep with that song.
1288
01:06:05,120 --> 01:06:07,560
So that song is wonderful.
1289
01:06:07,560 --> 01:06:08,560
Wonderful.
1290
01:06:08,560 --> 01:06:09,560
That's right.
1291
01:06:09,560 --> 01:06:10,560
All right.
1292
01:06:10,560 --> 01:06:12,040
So let me ask the last question.
1293
01:06:12,040 --> 01:06:13,720
Fill in the blank.
1294
01:06:13,720 --> 01:06:15,720
Music is blank.
1295
01:06:15,720 --> 01:06:18,000
Life.
1296
01:06:18,000 --> 01:06:19,000
Music is love.
1297
01:06:19,000 --> 01:06:22,000
Oh my God.
1298
01:06:22,000 --> 01:06:23,000
Wonderful.
1299
01:06:23,000 --> 01:06:24,000
Ding, ding, ding.
1300
01:06:24,000 --> 01:06:25,000
Ding, ding, ding.
1301
01:06:25,000 --> 01:06:26,000
So this is...
1302
01:06:26,000 --> 01:06:27,000
Yes.
1303
01:06:27,000 --> 01:06:28,280
Thank you so much for answering all the questions.
1304
01:06:28,280 --> 01:06:34,680
Now we usually have this outro and finish the show, but I want to ask Mr. Blackbock
1305
01:06:34,680 --> 01:06:36,960
to play something for us before we leave.
1306
01:06:36,960 --> 01:06:37,960
Yay.
1307
01:06:37,960 --> 01:06:38,960
It's such a pleasure.
1308
01:06:38,960 --> 01:06:39,960
I'm honored.
1309
01:06:39,960 --> 01:07:07,360
Thank you so much.
1310
01:07:07,360 --> 01:07:27,680
Thank you.
1311
01:09:07,360 --> 01:09:32,240
One, two, three.
1312
01:09:32,240 --> 01:09:37,240
Oh my god.
1313
01:09:37,240 --> 01:09:40,240
Bravo, bravo.
1314
01:09:40,240 --> 01:09:41,240
Bravo.
1315
01:09:41,240 --> 01:09:44,240
I would assume call you a classical pianist.
1316
01:09:44,240 --> 01:09:46,240
Oh my gosh.
1317
01:09:46,240 --> 01:09:49,240
I could totally feel the neoclassical.
1318
01:09:49,240 --> 01:09:53,240
Neoclassical is a minute.
1319
01:09:53,240 --> 01:09:57,240
Is that, is that the cookie waltz or?
1320
01:09:57,240 --> 01:09:59,240
No, that's the Hustle is Real.
1321
01:09:59,240 --> 01:10:02,240
Hustle is Real.
1322
01:10:02,240 --> 01:10:05,240
Okay.
1323
01:10:05,240 --> 01:10:07,240
It's from, from your, the latest album.
1324
01:10:07,240 --> 01:10:08,240
Black Book.
1325
01:10:08,240 --> 01:10:09,240
Yes.
1326
01:10:09,240 --> 01:10:13,240
All right.
1327
01:10:13,240 --> 01:10:15,240
And then the black book is available on Spotify.
1328
01:10:15,240 --> 01:10:17,240
Wonderful.
1329
01:10:17,240 --> 01:10:21,240
Amazing.
1330
01:10:21,240 --> 01:10:24,240
And thank you so much for joining us today and thank you Ray for being
1331
01:10:24,240 --> 01:10:25,240
with us today as well.
1332
01:10:25,240 --> 01:10:26,240
So.
1333
01:10:26,240 --> 01:10:29,240
I'm so glad you could join us today.
1334
01:10:29,240 --> 01:10:30,240
Oh, so good.
1335
01:10:30,240 --> 01:10:32,240
I know that was a beautiful performance.
1336
01:10:32,240 --> 01:10:33,240
Thank you.
1337
01:10:33,240 --> 01:10:35,240
And then what an incredible interview.
1338
01:10:35,240 --> 01:10:36,240
Thank you so much.
1339
01:10:36,240 --> 01:10:47,240
So this concludes this episode of the piano part.
1340
01:10:47,240 --> 01:10:48,240
Thank you, Bob,
1341
01:10:48,240 --> 01:10:51,240
for joining us today and sharing your stories, insights and expertise.
1342
01:10:51,240 --> 01:10:54,240
You can find more information on BLKBOK.com.
1343
01:10:54,240 --> 01:10:57,240
Black Book and Mixtape.
1344
01:10:57,240 --> 01:11:01,240
Cover art and angels watching over me on Spotify.
1345
01:11:01,240 --> 01:11:05,240
And thank you Ray Mack for showing up to be the guest co-host from
1346
01:11:05,240 --> 01:11:07,240
Kuala Lumpur today.
1347
01:11:07,240 --> 01:11:11,240
And please check out Ray's performance on his YouTube channel and other
1348
01:11:11,240 --> 01:11:13,240
social media platforms.
1349
01:11:13,240 --> 01:11:17,240
Thank you to our wonderful audience and the fans for tuning in today.
1350
01:11:17,240 --> 01:11:19,240
If you enjoyed today's episode,
1351
01:11:19,240 --> 01:11:24,240
please rate and review on whatever podcasting platform you use.
1352
01:11:24,240 --> 01:11:26,240
If you're watching us on YouTube,
1353
01:11:26,240 --> 01:11:30,240
remember to hit the thumbs up button and be sure to subscribe to our
1354
01:11:30,240 --> 01:11:31,240
channel.
1355
01:11:31,240 --> 01:11:36,240
You can always find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
1356
01:11:36,240 --> 01:11:39,240
The links are in the description below.
1357
01:11:39,240 --> 01:11:41,240
If you have any feedback for us,
1358
01:11:41,240 --> 01:11:44,240
please leave it in the comments or DM us via social media,
1359
01:11:44,240 --> 01:11:49,240
or you can also email us at the pianopodnyc.gmail.com.
1360
01:11:49,240 --> 01:11:53,240
We will see you for the next episode of the PianoPod.
1361
01:11:53,240 --> 01:11:54,240
Bye everyone.
1362
01:11:54,240 --> 01:12:17,240
And thank you so much, Box. Thank you Ray. Thank you.