Making his own noise

After graduating from Harvard in 2000, Liang found employment at a consultant firm called Bain & Company. He worked at its New York office for two years and spent another six months in Hong Kong and Bangkok before returning home and quitting his job to pursue music as a full-time career.

In 2003, Liang received an e-mail from former classmate Ryan Leslie. Leslie was a producer for Bad Boy Records.

“I went to visit him in Harlem and brought a few songs I had written,” Liang said. “After listening to a few tracks, Ryan asked me if I'd be willing to work with him on some of his projects in exchange for teaching me the ropes of the business.”

Leslie lived up to his word and soon after that, Liang secured a spot on R&B singer-songwriter Carl Thomas’ album, Lets Talk About It. He followed it by working with independent artists, some of whom are featured on The Shanghai Restoration Project.

Kingmin said Leslie expressed interest to work with Nemesis Records recording artist J. Cabrera. When he met Leslie, Liang was there as well.

“[Dave] played some of his music which led me to suggesting he work with Kristine Sa,” Kingmin said. “After he heard some of her songs from her album I Never Knew, he was game. When Kristine came down to New York to work with Dave, there was instant chemistry and they did a number of songs together.”

Sa thought Liang was “really corporate” when they first met. Kingmin said that Liang loves to talk business, but Sa doesn’t, but after the music started in their first working session, they found a way to communicate.

“I played my unfinished version of ‘In My Mind’ for him and I think that was when we found a form of communication that clicked,” she said. “He got really excited and picked up his bass guitar and we jammed for a bit. I know it may sound corny but he really does speak the language of music.”

She said Liang is detail-oriented when he works on his music. She teases him by calling him “The Pitch Nazi” because of his sensitive ears.

“If anything is even slightly off-key, it drives him crazy,” she said. “Though recording with Dave isn’t always a day at the beach, his insane attention to detail is what makes his music so good.”

Liang's latest project has him working on remixing The Shanghai Restoration Project. He said he's taking a completely different approach on re-creating five or six of the tracks. He’s also working on Sa’s latest album, Hopeless Romantic. Both projects are slated to come out later this year.

“He is certainly the only Asian American producer who is building a signature sound rather than aping the Neptunes like nearly everyone else out there,” Kingmin said. “The individuality he is expressing will soon become our musical identity as Asians. Dave Liang is the future.”

For more on The Shanghai Restoration Project
Check out the website at http://www.shanghairestorationproject.com/

Joe Nguyen is a staff writer for asiaXpress.com. You can reach Joe at joe@asiaxpress.com.