Photo: Serro Park
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, an opportunity to reflect on how Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made a huge impact on our culture. Asian Americans have influenced the music industry as solo artists like Japanese Breakfast, lead singers like Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and band members like Joe Kwon of The Avett Brothers.
Today’s Best Song You’ve Never Heard features Run River North, a Los Angeles band whose members are Korean American. They formed while attending California State University Northridge, originally named Monsters Calling Home before changing their name and recording a viral music video from their Hondas. The video led Honda to surprise the band with a Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance and labels started offering recording deals. They signed with Nettwerk Records and released their debut album, Drinking From A Salt Pond, in 2016.
The lead single from that album is “Run or Hide”, a rock song with a lot of passion behind it. The song’s main themes are literally in the title, essentially the decision between fight or flight. After simple keys kick off the song, the verses build up the stress of a situation before exploding on the chorus.
Jeff is a KXT weekend host and the Manager of Radio Operations for KERA 90.1 and KXT 91.7.
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