connie lim: keeping the faith

There is something striking about UC Berkeley fourth year student Connie Lim when you first meet her. She exudes a down to earth, no-fuss attitude despite the fact that she has accomplished so much in such a short time. Earlier in November, Lim released her first EP entitled Shifting, promoting it by performing at Blake’s to a sizable crowd. The Connie Lim Band calls their style reminiscent of Fiona Apple, U2, Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman, and the Counting Crows. It is pop music mixed with blues and powerful vocals.

by pauline sze

Growing up in Southern California’s Palos Verdes, Lim began studying classical piano at a young age. She recalled fond memories of her piano teacher, “She’s 90 some years old now but still rides a motorcycle. She is a really unconventional woman who always encouraged me about music and encouraged me to write songs.” Yet, this soon stopped when Connie got involved in other activities such as dancing and tae kwon do. Connie indicated that her parents were very strict and conservative and didn’t want her to “get too into music and art,” because “they didn’t see music as a stable career.”

With strict and conservative parents that did not support her musical endeavors, Connie says that they are slowly becoming more encouraging. “When you really want to do something that’s unconventional, the people that will discourage you the most are the people that really care about you—well at least for many conventional Asian American families in my experience,” says Connie. “Now my parents are saying, if you really want to do this, you should go to music school since you’ve never really studied music. So now I’m applying to Berklee College of Music.”

Connie revealed that she was brought back to music during high school when she developed anorexia and was forced to stop dancing. This led her to start writing more songs. By her second year of college, Connie had made the bold choice to stay in Berkeley for the summer where she let the pieces fall together. This was the first time she truly devoting herself to her music. “I’ve always felt like I wasn’t doing what I really wanted to do,” Connie expressed.

That summer gave Connie the time to truly focus on her music and writing. The inspirations for Connie’s songs are heavily influenced by outside observations. “I carry a journal with me, I’ll write something down that I hear on the bus, for example. Also, novels are a big inspiration for me, such as Toni Morison’s Sula. There’s a phrase in it, ‘second-hand loneliness,’ and I wrote a song about that.” While she admits that her songs are usually not personal, she is beginning to write more personal songs and has started o interweave them with the things that she sees or hears. “But at the end of the day, you just have to write stuff that moves you, that gives you chills. So it’s definitely become more emotional and also more meaningful and more put together—more natural,” she asserts.

This past summer, Connie worked with childhood friend, James Blashaw, to produce her debut EP, a six-track disc entitled Shifting. Cooped up in James’ bedroom working on a computer that had a knack for overheating, Connie calls the experience challenging but worthwhile, “We didn’t know what we were doing; we just wanted to record these songs. So it was a lot of stumbling and it was a very humbling experience. I’ve learned that there’s no evidence that you’re going to do well, you just got to keep faith and that’s not something I grew up with.” The recording process took only a week, but the editing took over two months. Connie recalls, laughing, “When I had to come back to Berkeley for school, James and I would work over the Internet. I’d have my iTunes on listening to the songs and would go—James, three minutes and twelve seconds, did you hear that? We need to change that!”

Connie and her band kicked off the debut of the EP by performing at Blake’s, which she says has been her favorite show so far. “I’m still learning a lot about being a performer. For the first time, I just got lost in the music,” Connie exclaims. “I wasn’t thinking. The crowd was awesome, the setup was good, and we had great opening bands.”

Connie has had gigs at various venues in the Bay Area, but she has also performed at some events geared towards Asian American issues such as the 17th Annual API Issues Conference this past April. These events reminded her of her childhood, especially because her mother is active in the Chinese American community. Yet, she confides that she feels “like many Asian Americans go through a phase where they hate themselves for a little bit and they try to adopt an Abercrombie and Fitch culture. That was frustrating for me and I don’t try to be Asian or try to be white. I go with family values because that’s all I know. So meeting people that were confident [at these events], not trying to prove anything, but having organized events that meant something—that was cool.”

In the end, Connie has learned it’s not just about the music. It’s also about being a strong person. “This was not the path that I was going towards—I was pre-med, then pre-law and then I realized, I need to be honest with myself. It was the most liberating thing. It’s okay if I’m not doing what I’m ‘supposed’ to do. I still have time to do the things that I want.” Connie is also a big proponent of having faith. “I didn’t grow up religious but being able to have faith is a good way to live life,” she reckons.

Author’s favorite songs off Shifting:

To purchase Connie’s EP, Shifting, please visit www.cdbaby.com/cd/connielim

To listen to tracks off of Shifting and to find out where Connie will be performing, please visit http://www.myspace.com/connielim

Upcoming Event: Catch Connie at the Los Angeles Orpheum Theatre as she competes in Kollaboration, an Asian American talent competition, on February 23, 2008.

For information on the contest and to buy tickets, please visit www.kollaboration.org