Gravity Magazine
"Mia Park drums in a band. She also sings, plays the guitar and hosts a Chicago public access TV show (as the ghetto fabulous Miss Mia).
The show is called Chic-A-Go-Go. Perhaps you�ve seen it on Channel 19. It�s a tripped-out hallucinogenic party, part puppet show, part dance extravaganza--�Captain Kangaroo meets Soul Train, with an endearing El cheapo production value that�s downright irresistible. This Korean-American woman, 33, pony-tailed, tattooed, avowed vegetarian, is also working hard as an indie rock musician. But she�s got miles of racial, cultural and sexist stereotypes she�s been trying to beat down in her trek as an artist. She�s not alone."
�I�m an anal-retentive Asian woman�but I�m not good at math and I�m not an exotic dragon lady,� says Mia, swatting at the myriad stereotypes that buzz around her.
She�s drinking hot tea in her kitchen. The dinette she�s sitting at is metal-rimmed, circa the 1950s. Her fridge looks like it could be mid-century, too. An old menu hangs above the dinette (hamburgers: 59 cents). Above this, two black- and-white photos of rockabilly revivalists The Stray Cats hang. Then there�s Bruce Lee, bare-chested and resplendent, on a silk print on another wall.
The teakettle�s whistling. More tea? Mia asks. Brad, her out-of-town pal, wants more, but he�s in the living room.
�Do you need me to come and get it?� he calls.
�I�m not going to bring it to you,� responds Mia. Her right bicep, ringed with tattooed poppies, flexes as she pours scalding water into two cups.
�People definitely prejudge me because I�m a female and because I�m Asian,� Mia says. But it�s not all barriers, all the time for her, she admits. �I�ve dealt with some people who were extremely open and extremely fair.�
But still. It hasn�t been easy. Ask Jenny Choi, of the eponymous Chicago band Jenny Choi and the Third Shift. Or Yoko Noge, of the illustrious the Jazz Me Blues. Or even Michelle Cross, a kinetic singer/songwriter who�s been told by music execs to ape Top-40 Michelle Branch, based on her looks. These Asian-American women know. They�ve stared down the submissive, the passive, the quiet and meek, the sex-kitten, the dragon lady, the exotic Asian woman myths; they�ve battled cultural expectations; and they�ve refused to sell out and sex themselves up just to make it. It has been and will be an uphill struggle.
The drummer for the punk/pop duo Panda Panda (her other half is Sarah Contorer, a.k.a. Sarah C.), Mia turned to music when she was 19, while she was putting herself through college. Her family was hardly thrilled and, to this day, hasn�t seen her play drums live, even once. In fact, her mother and father have only grudgingly attended one of her performances. Mia explains, �I was playing keyboards in a band called The Baltimores, and they came to see the show. And my dad literally got sick watching me on stage. As soon as I was done�I didn�t even have time to break down the stage�my mom came up to the stage and said, �Oh, Daddy got a stomachache. We really have to go.��
But Mia keeps going herself, despite her family. Her pick-up gig, Rock Mime World, has her also drumming for a rock-band-cum-mime. It�s definitely a stretch from her punk/rockabilly/ New Wave leanings, but what else can you expect from a woman who has crafted a career out of defying expectations? Mia�s unspoken mantra: Fuck it.
Matt Rucins, talent manager at Schubas, says Mia�s legacy in the Chicago world of indie rock is unquestionable. �She�s probably one of the most active people in the Chicago music scene. She�s very political, is involved in causes and is a really well-rounded individual,� Rucins says.
To be sure, when Mia�s not playing music or hosting a show, she�s out advocating. One glance at her e-mail newsletter, Kick Ass, confirms this. Want to see a show? Adopt a pet? Protest a pre-emptive strike on North Korea? See Mia�s newsletter. As the former Asian-American cultural ambassador for the Old Town School of Folk Music, she booked a cool series called �Rising: Asian-American Sounds of Chicago.� And this summer, she again championed the Asian music scene during Columbia College�s Center for Asian Arts and Media�s Woman Warrior Festival.
By Jenny Seay and Jan Nguyen
Photography by Peter Thompson
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