About two months ago, we raved and raved about USA band and part of the International Secret Agents (ISA) concert series, New Heights. And now, as the date draws close (it’s only a month away!) we thought we’d finally let all y’all have a piece of the boys Travis (lead vocal) and Chris (guitarist).
But first, you absolutely have to watch this. Look what happens when Travis gets together with a bunch of his bros (fellow YouTubers David So, Paul Kim, and Jason Chen):
[youtube id=”YlcJnbf_05I” width=”600″ height=”350″]
Oh wow. That was magic!
We know what you’re thinking – there must be something Travis and his entourage of talents isn’t good at. Right? Let’s find out!
We take it you’ve known each other since your late teens. Which begs the question, how different do you think your life and career would be if you didn’t meet each other?
“We started the band at such a young age that it’s pretty hard to tell where we’d be if we hadn’t met each other. We’d like to believe we would still somehow be involved with music in some way.”
What instrument that you don’t already play, that you wish you could master in?
“For me (Chris), I always regretted not doing piano lessons when I was younger. I play a little bit here and there for some of our songs that have piano in it, but definitely am no piano player by heart. I think Travis always wished he could master the piano as well and drums.”
What was it like to be part of the ISA (International Secret Agents) Seattle?
“The ISA concerts as a whole (Seattle, San Jose, and LA) were incredible. Everyone involved (from the staff to all the performers) were so nice and welcoming. It really felt like a big family and every time we got together for an ISA event it felt good to be back with everyone. The ISA Seattle concert was probably the most nerve wracking experience for us because it was the first ISA concert took part in and it was in our hometown. It was also our first time meeting Ryan Higa, Kevin Wu (KevJumba), WongFu Productions, Cathy Nguyen, and Far East Movement (among many others) so it was a bit surreal to meet these people that you watch from a computer screen more throughout the week. But we got along with everyone and are happy to call all them friends now.”
Are there any ISA acts that you more often than not draw inspiration from?
“I think our biggest inspiration out of all the ISA acts would have to be Far East Movement. They’ve done so much for the Asian-American community and their hard work has made them better musicians, entertainers, and human beings. They’re probably some of the most humble people you will ever meet. They’ve already made such a huge impact in the music industry and it inspires us to work harder and be as humble as they are.”
What were the oddest jobs you’ve ever had? Pray tell!
“My first job growing up was working at a Thai food restaurant and Travis worked for years at a cell phone accessory online store. Both are pretty random jobs and have nothing to do with what we’re doing now! Haha.”
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
“If we could change one thing about the music industry it would probably be to go back in time and bring back the era of ‘albums.’ It feels like we’re living in a ‘song’ generation and not an ‘album’ generation. There’s something very nostalgic about listening to good records from start to finish and going through a journey with it. Those days are long gone and mostly what we see is the ‘hits’ by artists. This, too, is great because fans are able to hear exactly what they want but we still miss when the music industry focused on records.”
We’re really excited about your debut performance in Malaysia! What can we expect to see and hear at Bentley Auditorium come July 2012?
“We’re so lucky to play with some amazing musicians and it definitely helps for a great live show. We’ll play a ton of our own songs but also try to incorporate some popular covers that people might know. We’ll also be trying out some new songs that we’ve been working on and haven’t released yet!”
Fact: The boys from New Heights are coming to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 13th July 2012 (Friday) for the first time ever. Fact: This is all thanks to the ever so hardworking troopers of M.E Malaysia. Fact: You need to be prepared to be amazed by these amazing YouTube talents:
[youtube id=”aVHO90m4QPc” width=”600″ height=”350″]
And, fact: Hype Malaysia (that’s us!) will be taking you through a play-by-play. Yay!
Deets for their show are as follows:
Venue: Bentley Music Auditorium, Mutiara Damansara
Date: 13th July 2012 (Friday)
Time: 8pm
Ticketing: RM65 (General Admission), RM95 (VIP)
See all y’all there!
For more information, hit up M.E Malaysia’s Facebook page and remember to LIKE New Heights while you’re at it.
