139 – Ian Chang: Making Technology Feel Organic, Drumming With Son Lux, Developing Sunhouse Sensory Percussion

Ian Chang was born in Hong Kong and moved to New Jersey as a teenager to attend boarding school. He had studied classical piano and percussion in Hong Kong, but quickly became interested in all the other genres New York had to offer. He had begun a pre-college classical percussion program at Julliard, and was on track to attend there after high school, but decided against it at the last minute to focus on drumset, jazz, hip hop, and beyond. He is the drummer for Son Lux, an acclaimed trio whose compositions, recordings and performances are a mix of acoustic and electronic mediums. He was one of the beta testers for Sunhouse’s Sensory Percussion, a new electronic percussion system that gives the drummer an unprecedented range of sounds, sensitivity, customization, and improvisational possibilities.

In this podcast, Ian talks about:

The process of creating his new solo album “Spiritual Leader”

Making electronic music sound less “gridded.”

The development of Sunhouse Sensory Percussion, and what sets it apart from other electronic percussion

Ways to approach electronics that make them seem less daunting and lower the wall between electric and acoustic

How Sensory Percussion has changed his approach to coordination, speed, orchestration, etc.

Some musicians’ preoccupation with sound and timbre rather than groove and melody

His first exposure to music, an extremely regimented classical program in Hong Kong

Chinese attitudes toward a career in music, and current music trends in China

His first years in New York – catching the jazz bug and playing tons of hip hop gigs, and how those both contributed to the drummer he’s become

The origins of his band Son Lux, and their creative process

How music’s focus has shifted from melody, harmony and groove, to sound and timbre

Finding ways to use electronics that make the most sense and are the most inspiring to YOU.

Ian Chang endorses C&C Drums, Vic Firth Sticks, Istanbul Cymbals, Sunhouse Sensory Percussion, and Roots EQ

This episode is sponsored by Crush Drums.