Jenny Choi:
Sweet and Fierce Indie Rocker
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Jenny Choi is backed up by Sanawon drummer Phillip Stone.

Sweet and Fierce



GS: Which one of your songs are you most pleased with?
JC: I am very pleased with "Pretty Horses" because it most accurately encapsulates what I had in mind when I had first envisioned the song as a completed piece of work.

GS: Which one makes you throw up your hands in despair?
JC: You know, this record is the first record I have ever released in which I don't really have a song that makes me want to cringe and die. I am pretty thrilled about that! But if I had to choose, I guess it would be "The End" because it is definitely the oldest (and in my opinion, most dated) song on there.

GS: Give us a rundown of some of your more memorable performances.
JC: Playing at SLIMS in San Francisco last summer was a blast...opening for IDA at the Knitting Factory in NYC was a dream come true for me.... opening for VERSUS at the Abbey Pub was also thrilling for me.... I've been lucky to have had so many wonderful experiences in my short adult life.
Tiny Airplane
In addition to keyboards, vocals and songwriting, Choi plays cello as well.


GS: How did you and Phillip come together?
JC: We went to college together.

GS: Are you more than band members?
JC: No thanks!

GS: How much of your time do you spend on Sanawon?
JC: This is as of late January my full time job, so...quite a lot.

GS: Are you able to support yourselves with music yet?
JC: Yes!

GS: When and where were you born?
JC: I was born in Chicago, and I've arrived at the age where it's rude to ask a lady the latter question.

GS: Give us a few memorable moments from your childhood.
JC: I was a Birdman for my first Halloween parade in the first grade...my bottom vinyl sheath was Big Bird, and my mask was the bald Cabbage Patch kid. Another time the neighborhood kids made me lick cat diarrhea. Yes, these would explain a lot.

GS: Tell us about your school/college experiences.
JC: They were your quintessential school experiences...I studied to be a high school English literature teacher and did exactly that straight out of college. I played music the whole time and started touring when I was 19.

GS: Do you speak Corean? Eat Corean food?
JC: Yes I do, and yes, I eat the shite out of anything that remotely smells like pungent garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and red pepper paste.

GS: How did you get into the indie rock scene?
JC: My group of friends since high school and into college was always into the subculture.... the scene in which I formally began my music career (and released my first record, yadda yadda yadda) was in a thriving indie rock scene.

GS: Do you have any ambitions outside of music?
JC: I have activist goals... I'd like to promote Asian American artists (any form of art, really) and help foster a supportive community for Asian American artists to find their voice in mainstream US culture. I am also very passionate about the desexualization and de-fetishization of Asian women. Through Sanawon, I'm able to do exactly that.

GS: What is your parent's attitude toward your music?
JC: They weren't all about it when I was growing up, but that's all water under the bridge now.

GS: Other than the name, do you recognize any Asian influence on Sanawon?
JC: SANAWON means fierce in Corean... I'm not sure how much more Asian you can get beyond that! It encapsulates the values my family have raised me with growing up... to be able to have a core of inner strength. PAGE 3

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“Another time the neighborhood kids made me lick cat diarrhea. Yes, these would explain a lot.”