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ROCK OF ASIAN: Ponytail’s Dustin Wong Goes Solo
If you love Baltimore’s arty-fun-experimental-rock band Ponytail, it probably has something to do with the effervescent, super-smiley guitar wielder and vocalist, Dustin Wong.
Don’t worry, Ponytail is still going strong! But over the last six years, Wong has amassed quite a number of works all on his own, and will release them as a collection called Seasons, his solo debut album, in early June.
Seasons will be available in LP form only–with download cards included, which would be totally indie pretentious if he and his album concept weren’t so adorable. Each side of the record reflects half a year: “Spring” and “Summer” make up side A, “Fall” and “Winter” fill side B. (Ah yes, and if any of you young ‘uns who have only played music off of shiny discs or computers are reading this, LPs are novel vinyl circles with music set into the grooves! Tracks on wax, as we say! If this sounds weird, ask somebody with a mortgage or NYT in their hands what I’m talking about and they’ll explain.)
Wong’s label, Wildfire Wildfire, offers a sample from each side on their site, and what’s there are two thoughtful, instrumental trips through Wong’s year. Spring_Summer offers varied bits that range from rough to rambunctious, loaded with twinkly energy and filled with promise. Fall_Winter is dreamlike and pensive, wandering and moody but not gloomy or lost.
Do not expect the poppity explosion of Ponytail with Seasons. But do expect to see yet another side of Dustin Wong that you’ll really, really like.
[Dustin Wong on MySpace]
[Wildfire Wildfire Productions: Dustin Wong]
Filed under: Baltimore, Debuts, Dustin Wong, Indie Bands, Killer Smiles, LPs, Ponytail, Seasons, Solo Efforts, Spring Summer Fall Winter, Vinyl, Wildfire Wildfire, Youth
BABEWATCH: Sonja Sohn “reWIRED”
Name: Sonja Sohn 
Hails from: Virginia
Occupation: Actress and activist
Why She’s a Babe: As Detective Kima Greggs on the best television show of all time, The Wire, Sonja proved that she could drink, smoke, fuck, and fuck up her relationships right alongside the big boys. And now the Blasian former slam poet–who goes by her Korean American mother’s maiden name because her father didn’t approve of her career choice–is turning her experiences from the show and from filming in the bleakest neighborhoods of Baltimore into a nonprofit called “reWIRED For Change,” a life-skills, violence prevention, and self-esteem-building program targeting at-risk youth, ages 14-24. This along with The Wire being taught as a course at Harvard next year makes it almost seem like the show never died, went to TV heaven, and left me canceling HBO, watching all five seasons on DVD over and over like a fiend, and in a state of permanent mourning.
Well, almost.
[Boston Globe: 'The Wire' sparks a connection]
Filed under: Baltimore, Blasians, Groundbreaking Television, HBO, I Miss The Wire, Korean-Americans, Mixed People, One Hour Dramas, Rewired for Change, sonja sohn, The Wire, The Wire Goes to Harvard
