Making his own noise

Dave Liang is a superhero in disguise.

At least that’s how Nemesis Records president and CEO Minh-Dan Pham describes him.

Courtesy of Dave Liang Dave Liang in a promotional photo for The Shanghai Restoration Project.

Pham, who is more commonly known as Kingmin, said Liang is “a pretty regular guy.” Regular until he gets his hands on a musical instrument.

“A cape sprouts from the back of his neck and his clothes magically change color and he becomes a superhero,” Kingmin said. “I would describe Dave Liang as a cross between Quincy Jones and the Silver Surfer.”

“Dave is brilliant,” recording artist Kristine Sa said. “He is absolutely brilliant. I mean, he somehow manages to make music of every existing genre.”

After producing music for a number of artists, including Bad Boy R&B singer-songwriter Carl Thomas, he went to work on a solo project. However, he said it was difficult identifying with any single genre of music as an Asian American.

“I could never produce these genres the way someone who fully embraced them could,” he said.

After a lot of experimentation, Liang decided that the only way for him to truly be comfortable musically was to combine the sounds he enjoyed with a flavor of his heritage. This became The Shanghai Restoration Project.

“In many ways, this project mirrors my upbringing as a Chinese-American,” he said, “delicately balancing Eastern and Western influences.”

Liang said his inspiration for the album stems from the old 1930s jazz bands in Shanghai, an early example of eastern culture meeting the west.

“I wanted to restore this spirit in a modern-day context,” he said, “by incorporating traditional Chinese instruments into contemporary Western rhythms and harmonies.”

With budget restrictions, he said he paid for samples of the Chinese instruments used on the album. Although it still cost a significant amount of money, it was less expensive than bringing in musicians to play the actual instruments. He plans on using real musicians for his next project.

To provide vocals on the tracks, he enlisted the help of artists he worked with in the past, many of whom have had stellar careers. Shayla Steele, who sings the track “The Bund,” is featured on two tracks on the Moby album Hotel and was cast as the first replacement of the Broadway production of “Rent.” Sasha Allen, who sings on “Nanking Road,” was a semi-finalist on VH1's "Born to Diva," and Chester Gregory, who sings on “Shanghai Express,” played lead roles in the Broadway musicals “Hairspray” and “Tarzan.” continue >>