Adriel Luis: Blog

Guys. Let’s talk about how SUCKY I’ve been at...

Sat, 11 May 2013 13:47:14 -0400

Guys. Let’s talk about how SUCKY I’ve been at updating you about my time in Asia. Actually, let’s talk about how wack Tumblr’s new interface is when it comes to bypassing VPN. But I digress.

I have so many stories to share with you about my travels through China, and also Hong Kong, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand, many of which will come in the next chapter of La Vie de DRZZL when I move to Washington DC in June.

In the meantime, please enjoy my douchey photo adorning the flyer for my show tonight at the University of Oregon. Jetlag ensues. I love you all!

at 9剧场

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:55:14 -0400

at 9剧场

Chinese New Year in China is awesome. Go figure!

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:54:42 -0400

Chinese New Year in China is awesome. Go figure!

All of the lights

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 06:52:36 -0400

All of the lights

My eyes jetted to Dahlak and Nico from beside me onstage, cold...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 23:58:00 -0500

My eyes jetted to Dahlak and Nico from beside me onstage, cold drips of sweat lining up along my forehead like a nervous frontline under the hot stage lights. We were halfway through “An Old White Man Named God Told Me Not To Say Fuck,” a performance poem that’s typically met with roaring laughter and cheers. But this morning at Columbia University, in front of this crowd of 1,200, the response was lukewarm…to say the least.

And who could blame them? For many, the East Coast Asian American Student Union spring conference is a place for serious college organizers to gather, share strategies for fighting institutional oppression, and develop a community agenda for the ensuing year. But let’s keep it real. When you get college students from over 75 campuses together for a weekend in New York City – and they’re all staying in the same hotel – the last thing anyone wants to open the morning after the first night with is poetry.

After the ten minute set that felt much much longer, we sat like deflated in the green room. None of us had gotten any sleep the night before, I was still jetlagged from China, and at 11am we still had two workshops, a meet-and-greet, and another performance ahead of us. Sitting there, I pondered what life would be like if this day marked the last time the group known as iLL-Literacy performed. After all, the last couple of years only brought a couple of bookings here and there…budget cuts to student of color organizations made sure of that. By now, I hadn’t been onstage in six months, and hadn’t shared it with iLL-Lit for even longer than that. We hoisted our backpacks over our shoulders and made the long march to the room where we were to hold our workshops. But after that flat performance, we were sure no one would show up, and we were doomed to three hours of awkward smalltalk.

My eyes again jetted at Dahlak and Nico, this time twice as wide as they were this morning. OH SHIT! Apparently, lunchtime makes a difference! The crowd of morning zombies were replaced by a couple hundred bustling bodies, perking up as we walked into the packed room. A sudden rush of energy possessed us, and we breezed through the workshops like they were daily ritual. Agendas were set! Experiences were shared! Friends were made! By the end of our sessions, all my morning woes had been swapped with an aching to get back onstage.

Back in the auditorium that evening, the difference between day and night had never felt realer. It’s difficult to describe the high that comes with a performance where every line hits, every hand in the audience is up, and you can’t even keep track of the words leaving your mouth because you’re possessed by the moment. It’s a feeling I’ve had every time I’ve been honored with the chance to take an ECAASU stage, and one that felt all the much sweeter by my extended absences from my favorite friends and my favorite city.

Sitting on the plane back to Beijing, it didn’t matter that I was squished in the back, or that my legs were cramped, or that there was a baby who promised to wail for the next 13 hours. I had gotten my hit. A show like that is an artist’s nirvana. I’ll be riding this wave for awhile.

PS: Glad to let you know that we’ve gotten 10+ booking requests since then! Fingers crossed for more gushy iLL-Lit posts in April.

Special thanks to Efal Sayed for the fantastic photos!

A performance by my friend Piotr Kurek from Poland, who I met...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:00:02 -0500

A performance by my friend Piotr Kurek from Poland, who I met during OneBeat last year. I lurrrrrrrrve his setup!

A pretty good summary of Aberdeen, SD.

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:32:27 -0500

A pretty good summary of Aberdeen, SD.

I’ve been traveling the world, but still there is nowhere...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:32:00 -0500

I’ve been traveling the world, but still there is nowhere more exotic to me than Middle America. I hopped a flight from Beijing to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to rendezvous with iLL-Literacy for a show at Northern State University. This excursion only sounds mildly exhausting until I inform you that Sioux Falls is a four hour drive away from Aberdeen, the airport I was supposed to fly into. Who knew South Dakota was such a big state?

Back in English-speaking territory. South Dakota bound....

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:46:43 -0500

Back in English-speaking territory. South Dakota bound. It’s about to get cold. (at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD))

Hong Kong survival kit (continued)

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 16:53:27 -0500

Hong Kong survival kit (continued)

Hong Kong survival kit.

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 05:53:15 -0500

Hong Kong survival kit.

Landed in Hong Kong today and stumbled upon #1billionrising. We...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:44:45 -0500

Landed in Hong Kong today and stumbled upon #1billionrising. We live in a beautiful amazing world! 🙏 (at Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong 港島香格里拉大酒店)

Ira Glass on Being Creative. Also, THIS! (via LVLY)

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 05:13:23 -0500

Ira Glass on Being Creative.

Also, THIS! (via LVLY)

Soul & RMB

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:15:29 -0500

Soul & RMB

Despite my propensity to travel to distant lands, dive into new...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:09:00 -0500

Despite my propensity to travel to distant lands, dive into new experiences, and flirt with adventure, there is one thing that I do not fucks with: The Cold.

And so after many years of anticipating my move to China, my arrival has been met with low temperatures and high smog, which is the perfect climate for me to jump onto the House of Cards bandwagon via VPN. I’m on episode 7. Kevin Spacey is a boss.

Fortunately, a couple of nights ago the winds came in like NATO operatives (or elves…or regular wind, I guess), ushering out the pollution, making way for new snow, and raising the temperature a few degrees. Time for an Ikea run.

Like many other Ikeas across the world, the one in Beijing is located far off in the corner of the city by some random freeway overpass no one would ever find themselves near on foot. It seems the Swedes are as excited to share their love for arduous hikes as they are their pastelle cabinets that never close properly.

The map told us to walk around the parameter of Taiyanggong Park, but I opted for a straight line through it, disregarding the imminent fences, creeks, and sketchy people who hang out in the park when it’s hella cold. What we found was a playground in hibernation – a place that suggests itself as a water wonderland for the summer, but that appears more as a scrapyard for childhood memories in the offseason.

What was supposed to be a 20-minute trek to the store ended up be an hour-long wander for a camera-happy tourist. Moral of the story is that my girlfriend is incredibly patient.

Takeover. I’ve yet to fully unpack for Beijing, but...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:19:00 -0500

Takeover.

I’ve yet to fully unpack for Beijing, but I’ve already begun musing over which neighborhood I’d like to settle in when I vamoose to Washington DC in June. Coming across this NYTimes piece on shifting demographics in the capital, I was reminded of the guilt that comes with every trip. My past homes have been a tracklist of Gentrification’s Greatest Hits. From Oakland to Brooklyn to Harlem and back to Oakland, I’ve wrestled with self-conflict as a young(ish) professional(ish) moving into blocks I’m quite certain haven’t been the stomping grounds of too many Chinese American poet/designer/musicians before me. At least two buildings I’ve inhabited were probably crack dens before they were renovated for my roommates and I to paint the walls burgundy and hang paper lanterns. But really, where am I to go [back] to? My hometown Union City – once a community of farms that prided itself on its lush gladiola fields – is now a hall of mirrors for townhouse developments and stripmalls. And forget about going as far back as Hong Kong, where my family’s from. The city-state has been through so many generations of architectural plastic surgery my parents walk their childhood streets like they’re distant planets. As I anticipate several more dislocations in my foreseeable future, I’ve come to accept a continuing legacy as a shameless gentrifier. I’ll shoulder past some guilt to avoid Lovely having to walk through the hood, in her suit, every night. Besides, I can’t afford to live in DC’s Chinatown…rent’s too high in the apartments above Urban Outfitters.

Such issues are both familiar and foreign here in Beijing. The capital of a nation that once held its isolation with pride, this town that built the first barricades ever viewable from outer space is the same town that shot pellets in the air to artificially clear its smog when welcoming visitors for the 2008 Olympics. It has seen intrusion, occupation, destruction, colonization, and pillage.

Gentrification? Shoo, fly.

***

So this past week Lovely and I explored this forbidden city now lined with KFC’s and Starbucks. The neighborhood Houhai is considered a tourist attraction to the locals, but low-key enough to avoid being jarring during the daytime before the street vendors start selling laser pens and blasting Mariah Carey. It is the epitome of history coexisting with revamp. A grid of ancient hutong buildings, some remain unheated homes for families who make their livings selling smoked yams, while others have been gutted and transformed into cafés enticing expats with espresso and free wifi. Hidden in an alleyway we found No Name, a Yunnan restaurant with dim red lights and a creative assortment of dishes modernized, but not by a Western touch (probably not a new concept around these parts, but refreshing for an eater sickened by the viral sprouting of PF Chang).

***

Wei Wei and Li Jianhong are a pair of noise experimentalists who operate under the moniker Mind Fiber. Like the town they dwell in, their sound is a rugged blend of the ages. Sampling from the pure nature that is so hard to find within the city limits, they take their findings back home to warp and distort on laptops and guitar pedals. When I first met Wei Wei at OneBeat this past fall, she sported thick golden shades and had her earbuds firmly planted into her ears. Once another musician asked her what she was listening to, grabbing a bud to take a listen for herself. Naturally, it was static.

I had spent my first few weeks here anticipating a meetup with the couple so we could finally get a more local feel of Beijing – so I was most overjoyed when we were led to Zajia Lab, a Daoist temple that was used as a factory for spare parts during the Cultural Revolution, and that now serves as a bar and experimental project space. An American jazz band leaked through the walls as I sipped my whisky toddy. So much history had to pass in order for this place to become a hub to showcase the new. On the cab ride back, the light atop the skyscraper we call home was like a neon Polaris guiding us past the street signs I’ve yet to know how to read. Perhaps it’s not so bad to be perpetually in migration. In the grand scheme of time, no matter where in the world we are, we’re always new here.

One of the immediate upsides to departing from web design –...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 22:17:00 -0500

One of the immediate upsides to departing from web design – finding the time to discover music again! For the artist, sometimes consumption is better than creation.

umayami: Lake Houhai is frozen.

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:20:35 -0500

umayami:

Lake Houhai is frozen.

Sino Troubles

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 20:54:00 -0500

I saved $50 on extra baggage fees for my trip to China by getting every single piece of our luggage to exactly 49.9 lbs. Unfortunately, I spent said $50 on chiropractic visits to fix the back I pulled lifting and weighing said bags over and over again the week before we left.

Clearly, my frugal Chinese-ness needs some practice. And I need to work out.

I mused over this as the aircraft floor levitated below our feet and SFO became a speck below. I gripped Lovely’s hand tightly. “Are you sure you want to do this? With meeeeee?” she’d asked countless times through the months leading up to our migration (in fact, for the six months that we’ll actually be living in Beijing, we’ve spent twice as long being anxious about it). The truth is, I’m never really sure of much, which makes me as sure as ever about this. She buried her head into my neck and kept it there for most of the next eleven hours. Oh, to be young, in love, and in possession of American passports.

I came out here to write and make art, but the fact of the matter is I’ve done a fair amount of everything except that since getting here 17 days ago. I originally had a “Bay Boy in Beijing” post planned for when I landed New Year’s Eve, but instead I got drunk on street mojitos with my cousin Curtis and spent the entirety of my first full day here hungover and wondering why I was in China – or rather, why I was…period. And then I had a plan to post photos of my first week, but came to realize that my neighborhood is packed with more American chains than my last three habitats in Harlem, Oakland & Carmel combined. Then, as a last desperate stretch, I had in my mind a post entitled “Fortnight in China” to basically just vomit out my past two weeks of experiences. But when I finally sat down to write, I realized that a lengthy piece of prose isn’t needed for a half-month that can be summed up in two simple words: PORK BELLY.

So here it is. DRZZL in Beijing. The fact that the word “fortnight” worked itself into my vocabulary is merely an indication that I’ve spent my fair share of time in China experiencing post-Victorian England through pirated episodes of Downton Abbey. The MIDI keyboard I spent so much precious check-in weight on is idly collecting dust from the city smog that pries itself into the apartment, and my only piece of writing thus far is a meta post about itself, that continues to swallow itself. Even to this moment. Right here. This one.

But let’s not let this reflection session be misinterpreted as forlorn, because if I was reciting it aloud it would probably represent itself as more on the “whimsical” side…as a piece of writing I’d use a font like Comic Sans to represent, it if I weren’t such a snobby graphic designer (snobby graphic designers hate Comic Sans, and as a snobby graphic designer I recommend you hate it too…and also insist that I’m not snobby.) Actually, it’s more on the “satisfied” and even “relieved” side of things. It’s more on the side of the fact that I’ve *for the most part* escaped a web design career that has slowly become the bane of my existence. And the fact that I can feel free to expose that truth without fear or panic that it’ll impact my ability to maintain my living. It’s in how much I love being around people who find me tangible in ways that I never feel tangible even in the diverse arenas of Oakland and New York. And in how, though it’s been painstakingly difficult to feel my way around a society whose language I don’t speak, it’s much less difficult than watching people being shitted on for not speaking English in America. It’s in the creases that grip the outer corners of peoples’ eyes the older they get, pressed by cheekbones during lifetimes of silver-toothed grinning. But maybe I’m just romanticizing. After all, it’s just my third week here and I have plenty of getting lost to do. Here’s a picture of me standing in front of a caged dinosaur.

This isn’t fog 😷 (at Beijing)

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 01:45:08 -0500

This isn’t fog 😷 (at Beijing)