ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - GLASSE / Evelyn Yeh

by Sam Chun

Evelyn Yeh (they/she) is a graphic designer, DJ, and producer from Southern California. They graduated from Johns Hopkins with a degree in Biomedical Engineering in Dec. 2018.

Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans (APIDA) are notoriously underrepresented in music and media in

the United States. When many of us were growing up, film, TV, and the Billboard Hot 100 rarely featured APIDA individuals. The little representation that existed often portrayed APIDA identities in unflattering and offensive contexts. Even successful APIDA artists like Bruno Mars downplay their Asian identities altogether. People of color have continuously fought to be recognized and respected for their art, but the focus tends to remain on recording artists in ‘mainstream’ pop and hip hop. In this post, I’d like to highlight APIDA artists in different aspects of the music industry – specifically, producing, DJing, and design in electronic music – by introducing Evelyn Yeh, a previous IAC president and Hopkins alum.

Evelyn currently resides in Southern California where they work as a graphic designer. They create album art, festival posters, and commissions while actively DJing in the virtual and SoCal electronic music scenes under the stage name glasse.

Evelyn loved art from a young age, eventually teaching themself Photoshop, but didn’t consider a career in design until their senior year. In Spring 2019 they began creating and sharing art based on their favorite songs via Twitter. Record label Dripping in Roses noticed their artwork in September and began to actively commission them on a weekly basis. Evelyn eventually built a portfolio and name for themselves.

Transitioning from STEM to a Career in Art

In their own words, “I always knew I liked music, but didn’t realize how much it meant to me until the summer after sophomore year. Until then, I was definitely in denial about how much I loved music. That summer I went to Lollapalooza and saw Alison Wonderland... During the set, I just started bawling because [in that moment] I realized how much music meant to me… I realized I needed to stop denying [my passion] and make music a bigger part of my life. I decided then that I wanted to DJ more and make an artist name for myself. I knew I wanted to work in this space forever and make music my whole life.”

Evelyn shared with me that they have always been a creator. Creating art and music speaks to them emotionally, which is something they never felt when studying STEM. In high school, they excelled in the sciences and actively competed in Science Olympiad. Although they “liked succeeding” and winning at competitions, they “didn’t really care about science - just success.” Like most college freshmen, they weren't sure about their future and applied to Hopkins BME because of its strong program, originally intending to follow the Pre-Med track. At the time, they felt pressured to “live up to” their brother, a medical doctor.

Their turning point was a marketing & design internship their sophomore summer, incidentally the same summer they saw Alison Wonderland at Lollapalooza. It was “the first time they felt fulfilled by work.” Junior year, Evelyn quit research, and by senior year, they were set on graphic design. To anybody considering a creative career, Evelyn’s advice is simple: “If you’re struggling to figure out what you’re passionate about and always coming back to art, it’s something to seriously consider.” Of course, skills and income matter - many people strike happy balances between financial stability and pursuing music or art as a hobby. However, if you have confidence in your skills, it’s time to confront your doubts and ask: Would I be happy not pursuing an artistic career?

IDENTITY AND ART

There aren’t many APIDA-identifying individuals in music and art, much less queer, nonbinary, Chinese/Taiwanese American femmes like Evelyn. It’s extremely clear that many of the communities and spaces they inhabit are often very white and very (cisgender) male, particularly in the visual arts. Although Evelyn believes art and music can be appreciated universally, operating in the current space can be extremely excluding: “Although I don’t have the worst of it,” they explained, “it can be tough as a member of many communities where I don’t fully fit in.” For example, select music spaces may have other POC, but little LGBTQIA+ representation, while Queer POC spaces may be limited to activism and fail to intersect with electronic music or graphic design.

Evelyn also talked about industry-wide racism. Whether in mainstream pop record labels or smaller communities, the music industry is structurally racist – especially towards Black and Brown artists. For Evelyn, being active in the community and pursuing a musical career revealed not only pervasive racial and gender bias in who is promoted, platformed, and invited to festivals, but also the exploitation and appropriation of Black artists - especially in the EDM scene.

RACISM IN INDIE AND EDM

When we think about stereotypes and popular culture, EDM is generally considered a pretty “White” genre. However, I learned from Evelyn that Black musicians pioneered many EDM genres, including House, Techno, Jungle, Drum & Bass, and more. EDM is merely marketed via Whiteness, and decades of appropriation Whitewashed the genre and allowed White artists to dominate EDM.

Evelyn explained that as an APIDA musician, they and others like them exist in a “liminal space.” APIDA artists are poorly represented in media and music, but our representation increasingly comes at the cost of exploiting Black culture. One only needs to look at BTS and Higher Brothers to see problematic culture vultures at work. APIDA creators need to give Black culture its due recognition and respect - Evelyn cites Zoom Lens (2009-), a record label which platforms Asian Artists, as an excellent example of good, intersectional Asian representation in music.

For casual listeners of music, it’s good to be aware of whom you patron when considering structural racism. Preferential platforming in indie/electronic spaces excludes people of color. Evelyn recommends examining your own playlists and then actively searching out more artists of color, buying their music and merch, and streaming their music. To get you started, here are a few of their personal favorites:

RamonPang - https://soundcloud.com/ramonpang https://soundcloud.com/plurgatti-boy-420

neras - https://soundcloud.com/neras https://soundcloud.com/artbyform/neras-park-confluence

Chong the Nomad - https://soundcloud.com/chongsongs

Artisan - https://soundcloud.com/project-artisan

Acloudyskye - https://soundcloud.com/acloudyskye

WORK DURING COVID-19

Working from home means that Evelyn’s graphic design work hasn’t been strongly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, but the suspension of live shows means that DJing has moved online and many artists are struggling because they can’t play shows. Additionally, the majority of virtual events and festivals during this time directly support charities and, although well-meaning, the nonprofit nature of such events means that many artists must perform without compensation.

While we continue to maintain social distancing, Evelyn recommends that fans with the means support smaller full-time artists via BandCamp, Patreon, and buying merchandise.

UPCOMING SETS

Evelyn is playing three upcoming sets this summer!

OMNI (June 26) - This will be Evelyn’s first time DJing a set for which they also curated all of the visuals! 100% of the donations from OMNI will be given to the NAACP. You can tune in from 6PM-1:30PM PST (9PM-4:30AM EST) at twitch.tv/embracepastel

PASSIONFRUIT TECHNIQUE (July 3-4) - You can hear Evelyn DJ at twitch.tv/michelangelosquarantine. All proceeds will be donated!

ANDROMEDA FESTIVAL (July 10-12) - Evelyn is playing an orchestral set at the multi-genre virtual festival alongside 100+ other artists on andromeda.noknt.net. All donations from Andromeda will go to the Pasteur Institute and the Black Visions Collective.