By: Tyler
Pages: 1 2
Artist: Ken Oak
Format: CD
Release Date: February 17, 2005
Label: jd8 Records, LLC
It’s a pairing you rarely hear: Cello and rock.
In all honesty, I didn’t know much about Ken Oak, but had heard a few tracks, and thought they were really quite good. His music is of a mellower sort, with notes that flow over and around one another with great ease. Though he describes the sound as “pop-rock, based on a lot of bass, drum, and electric-guitars,” I can imagine a quiet night with his music playing in the background.
Though Ken is a classically trained cellist, most of his musical development happened during a stint as the music director at church. It was at that time he “realized that a career could be made out of music.” Ken worked at two different churches, one in LA and, about a year later, in 2000, a church in the Virginia/DC area where he lived. This is also where he met Chris, his co-writer and co-guitarist, “Somewhere during that period, Chris signed me up for an open mic night.”
That open mic night was the first time he branched out to play for a general audience, as most of his previous gigs took place in smaller settings. After some good luck and good music, Ken signed a contract for his band’s debut album, “Half Step Down,” which was released in February, 2005.
Along with Ken, the band is comprised of Chris Ramos, who co-writes the songs and plays the guitar, and Ed Gorski, also on guitar. Ken plays cello most of the time, and the music is a “transitional thing we’re doing.”
In American media, it seems as though artists are commonly labeled, not only by their genre of music, but also by their ethnicity, “I think it has helped us in some circles,” Ken notes, though would really “rather race to be a secondary thing.” Ken notes that his primary Asian-American audiences “wanna have a movement, more representation.” “They’ll embrace you pretty easily, as someone who can represent them.”
At this time, he’s opted out of his previous contract and is again independent, and, as he puts it “taking it back into my own hands.” “We’re at a point where we want to extend our audience into the mainstream. We’re developing really quickly, songwriting is become a lot faster. It helps that I’m in a band with friends of mine. We’re able to trust each other and travel together.”
Some parting words to some musical artists who just aren’t getting what they want, when they want: “All you have is the Internet. Think of the Internet as your radio. What got me out there, and a lot of people interested, was one song, End Credits.” Ken made this track available for download online. “Find your one strongest song that has the most pop, mainstream feel, get the best recording you can, even if it means hiring, make a really strong EP, make it available.”
Ken keeps a Xanga, and recordings are available on Ken’s MySpace. 
Tyler is the Halfway Editor-in-Chief
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