0:00

Tai: But then it gets to your question about sustainability though, like despite

0:04

how this city has sort of become like everyone against each other kind of

0:07

thing, and just very, in a lot of ways, like survival right now, it's tough.

0:13

The venues that I've had my events at, I have consistently had feedback

0:18

saying that, Everyone loves my parties, the employees in the venues.

0:24

And so it's a testament to the resilience as a community is they find after our

0:30

parties, easiest to clean up after everyone wants to work our parties

0:34

because everyone's so nice and respectful.

0:37

And that's, what's going to make this sustainable is the people coming together.

0:42

And this universal sort of supporting each other.

0:46

Exactly. I am so humbled and grateful that this is what the reputation for Nanaka events

0:53

is now with venue spaces, because the community there, everyone's there,

0:57

you know, everyone's so respectful. Steven Wakabayashi: Hi everyone.

1:19

My name is Steven Wakabayashi and you're listening to Yellow Glitter.

1:23

Mindfulness through eyes and soul of queer asian and perspectives.

1:26

This episode we're joined by an extra special guest, Tai.

1:30

In 2006, Tai first discovered the Gay API community at the

1:34

web, a now defunct NYC nightclub, which left a lasting impression.

1:38

After completing college, he settled into New York City in 2010, volunteering

1:42

with local community groups. Launched a small Friday party called Mao, was a design director at a

1:47

new startup, and built community locally and internationally.

1:52

He left in 2019 to become a freelance creative director, and his hunger for

1:55

building community ultimately led to the creation of Nodok in August of 2022.

2:00

Welcome to the show!

2:03

Thanks, Steven. Yeah, we were introduced by our mutual friend, About maybe like a year ago and

2:12

since I've known you, we've talked about, or even longer than a year, I feel like.

2:17

Tai: Almost two years now. Steven Wakabayashi: Yes. Tai: I was just recovering from my, uh, leg injury.

2:22

Steven Wakabayashi: Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

2:24

Wow. Time flies and since then we've talked about life, community work, New York City.

2:33

I absolutely love and respect the work that you do and thought it'd be

2:37

great to bring you on the podcast. Tai: Thank you.

2:40

Excited to be here. Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah.

2:43

And so you do a ton of work here in New York City in creating spaces for our

2:49

API community, , especially through your different parties, here in the city.

2:54

And I would say party is like a loose word to define it.

2:58

Really gatherings, but you also help companies, organizations

3:02

do event activations. But let's just start with some of the stuff that you're doing in the

3:05

city first, like, what are you doing?

3:09

What's taking up your time lately?

3:12

Tai: Yeah, a lot of it's been, um, as far as the event space is going, it's been

3:16

a lot of trying to set the established Friday, bi weekly Friday parties.

3:21

And also trying to branch out. I think the branching out this year is the big thing.

3:25

Trying to find more, um, less, I guess, nightlife focused events

3:29

for people who are looking for, you know, more casual social gatherings

3:33

and then brunches, bringing in other Queens for that and K pop.

3:37

Yeah. No, I'm trying to reach that whole gamut of audience.

3:41

Steven Wakabayashi: I love a good K pop night.

3:44

Don't we all? Don't we all? It's one of those things that, myself personally, I used to be a K pop fan

3:50

like way back in the day, and I feel like now you have the new generations

3:55

that make song, kind of, you know, a blend of different musical styles.

3:59

Uh, my friend Nikita was listening to, uh, some songs by New Jeans,

4:03

so I was like, oh, there's a lot of, like, trap influence. I was like, yeah, and, and back in the day it was like, hop, pop, you know?

4:11

Pure pop. Yeah. Tai: It's quite the learning.

4:13

It's been quite the learning curve for me. Steven Wakabayashi: Especially when it comes to spaces you create, I think the

4:20

first word that comes up is community.

4:23

And I'm just curious, what does that word mean to you?

4:26

Tai: Yeah. I was, you know, as, you know, in my intro, like I was.

4:30

Very fortunate to meet a lot of people who are willing to take me in as a newbie

4:34

to New York City, exploring being gay, exploring being, like, being Asian.

4:38

And having that support group as I was going through, like, you know,

4:43

college and fin and experiencing New York, it was, it meant a lot to me.

4:47

They're some of my friends who have lasted forever.

4:49

They're still my friends. And I want to be able to provide that space for our, the next generations.

4:55

Cause there really isn't. Any space like that right now.

4:59

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, especially in New York City, while we have a ton of

5:03

spaces, especially in the queer space. Oftentimes finding queer spaces at the intersectionality of queer API spaces

5:11

is quite a rarity and oftentimes, you know, it becomes relegated to this

5:17

like, very fetish driven space and I think a big part of your work has

5:22

been to create a space that is not really meant for this type of work.

5:26

It's like this fetish driven like hookup space, but really a space to come

5:30

celebrate our folks in our community. Tai: Yeah, I've been fortunate enough to meet like a lot of people

5:36

who across the world and like, it's it's the vibe and I think it's, you

5:40

know, partying in Asia and experience sort of how the community is there.

5:45

I want to bring that back here because it's just very, you're.

5:49

Asian, but you're gay, and it's not like your identity, so it's more like

5:54

bringing everyone together just really just to be themselves and just like

5:58

experience community in that way. Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, well let me ask, how did you even get started in this?

6:05

Um, Tai: yeah, so like back in the day, you know, we had the web and then

6:10

our friend Weegee, he started this party called Bond for a couple years.

6:14

That was sort of like a small bar that we were all going to.

6:17

I started Mal on the Fridays. So just again, I wanted, I was working like, 12 hours a day.

6:23

So I wanted to hang out with my friends. So I was like, this is a great chance to bring everyone in

6:28

make a buck on the side too. Um, and then I did that on Fridays for about a year.

6:32

And then, you know, this year, like 2022 post pandemic, I was like, I'm

6:38

gonna actively start looking for spaces.

6:40

So I'd been keeping my eye open. And then, um, verse, which they were just launching, opening in June of 2022

6:49

and had gotten in there and they're like they wanted to do something different

6:53

in this Hell's Kitchen space and so I'm like, yo, let's, let's connect.

6:56

We, I got the connections. Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah.

6:59

And for listeners too, during the pandemic and especially throughout

7:06

2022, 2021, we had such a huge shift in businesses, especially queer bars.

7:13

Queer spaces in New York City, most of the major bars did

7:17

end up shutting down, right? Yeah. And I think if it weren't for many of the new owners to resurrect and or to

7:28

start a new club or bar in place of them.

7:31

I think some of them actually turned into like straight sports bars, right?

7:35

In Hell's Kitchen. Yeah.

7:37

Yeah. And I think one of them was Verse and they took over another space

7:43

and just started during that time.

7:45

And what I think is quite fascinating, and maybe it's very serendipitous too,

7:51

is that Getting into creating your own spaces and spots, it just happened to have

7:58

great timing while all these different spaces were revitalizing too, right?

8:02

Tai: Yeah, it, I think it's all about timing.

8:05

Um, you know, we've talked about this before.

8:07

I, the pandemic was, yeah, A rollercoaster.

8:12

Rollercoaster. I am blessed that we had some spaces where we could have our own private parties.

8:18

Some of our fr a lot of my friends learned, started learning how to DJ then.

8:22

So as I was looking for spaces, I had musicians.

8:25

Steven Wakabayashi: Mm-Hmm, . Tai: And so I think that was part of those early days of success was having, uh,

8:30

several of our original four DJs who had already DJ'ed for us all being able to

8:35

just pop in right away and automatically created, made the night a thing.

8:39

And I think that was the really important part. Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah.

8:42

Well, when it comes to parties, let me ask, when you were thinking about

8:45

collaborating and working with these different spaces, were you thinking

8:49

of an API party to begin with, or it just so happened to end up there?

8:56

Tai: 100%. It was always about creating a space for us, our community.

9:01

And that was always, that was my, that was my selling point.

9:05

I'm like, hey, we have a reach across the country.

9:09

I think that's a challenging proving to space is that, you know,

9:12

a lot of white, non Asian spaces, they're like, oh, Asians are cheap.

9:16

So, but being able to prove to them that like, nah, we're ready to throw

9:20

down if we have a space for our own and people of our own taking care of it.

9:27

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, and you know, wealth I think can look a variety of

9:31

different means, and I do think in many spaces, especially myself, and

9:37

I've had some friends on and we talked about like old Steven, Party Steven

9:40

back in the day, and a big part of it was going to so many of these spaces

9:47

that were frankly white dominant.

9:50

White, gay, male, dominant, and feeling as though I just never belonged,

9:56

but in a way that I just always felt like I was trying so hard to

10:03

just even to exist in these spaces.

10:05

There had been times when I had been in a venue when, you know, I brushed

10:11

up against somebody in passing through crowded spaces or I might have like

10:18

bumped into someone or I might have, you know, even looked at somebody.

10:24

There was once a time when I looked at somebody and one of the party goers,

10:29

gay white man, was just so disgusted by it that he made a whole stink about it.

10:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He made a whole. And it was just that thing where it's like, you know, and the, during like

10:42

my party days too, I thought it was wild, but it's still like very tame.

10:47

It was just like getting so much disdain from other party goers,

10:52

just been existing in space.

10:54

And I couldn't help, but to feel for so many years, I was like, why, why

10:58

am I spending money in this space? Why am I choosing to use?

11:02

The free time that we have such little of, right?

11:06

Like we work so much of the day, but then, you know, we have this little free time.

11:10

Like, why am I really investing so much time back into these spaces, you know?

11:13

And I think the pandemic and just my life and so many things

11:20

took so many twists and turns. And.

11:22

It was really seeking these places out that finally I felt that I was in

11:28

spaces that I felt heard, felt seen.

11:31

Tai: That goes back to like my first time in New York City in 2006.

11:35

Steven Wakabayashi: Mm hmm. Tai: I, growing up in Virginia, was Like, who?

11:39

Asian? Oh my God, no one wants me.

11:41

Uh, all those rednecks that were hitting me up on Craigslist.

11:45

Oh my God. Steven Wakabayashi: We see you, you don't like us, and they're just like

11:53

messaging you like, Hey, what's up?

11:55

Tai: As soon as you show your face like, Oh, you're Asian. Oh no, gross.

11:58

I'm like, OK, whatever. Steven Wakabayashi: But then they're like messaging you on the side, on

12:02

Craigslist, on Grindr, and I'm like, hmm.

12:05

There Tai: was no Grindr back then. No, when I came to 2006 in New York, I met a bunch of gay Asians that were

12:13

more like me, and more like me in the sense that they were more, I guess,

12:17

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. Tai: Quote unquote normal and more like, you know, more masculine presenting and

12:23

that's who I aligned with and They took me in, they created safe space for me,

12:29

and yeah, I was Twinkie Tai back then So whenever I was at a par like the Roxy

12:35

or Alegría back in the day, everyone was like, oh Twinkie Tai I wouldn't

12:38

want a piece of that So I was lucky I made a lot of connections through that.

12:44

But so I had that, that community that I met in 2006 provided that safe space

12:49

for me to be, I explore my identity as an Asian and as a queer male.

12:54

And I, what you're saying now, I see that a lot in a lot of spaces, especially this

12:59

gap right before The pandemic even hit.

13:02

There was this kind of awkward moment for a couple years where

13:06

there was no specifically queer Asian space for us to hang out with.

13:11

There was therapy, but that was by de facto, uh, by default.

13:15

Steven Wakabayashi: But there Tai: was no space intentionally for us.

13:17

And that was something I saw that was missing.

13:21

And then when we had the pandemic, everyone was making

13:23

very strong connections just hanging out with each other.

13:26

And I was like, this is what I've been missing myself.

13:30

And I see how much post pandemic, I see how much everyone's craving that again.

13:35

And so everything just sort of happened to align right at the right moments.

13:41

And I think that's really one of the big driving forces is helping provide that

13:45

space where people just, Really just be themselves and, and the most normal

13:49

and not feel like they have to be over the top if they want to, they can, all

13:53

that, it's just everyone can be them. Steven Wakabayashi: But normal can be so different.

13:56

Exactly. You can be, were you saying top?

13:59

You could also be a bottom, you can also be femme, you could be side, you

14:04

can be none of the above, and I think the beautiful part about your space

14:10

is, is And you know, for so long we had this, like, even like in the queer

14:15

and gay and even gay Asian community, there's this notion of like, how do I

14:20

have to fit in right into these spaces?

14:22

And I think your spaces have been evolving to where Just seeing the

14:27

diversification of your space is starting to really consider like what are some

14:32

non alcoholic options, you know, and how do we have spaces not entirely set

14:38

up in just like the house music, top 40, diversifying to more K pop, and

14:46

I'm sure you're starting to see like a whole slew of audience changing as

14:50

well or who feel safe to come by, huh?

14:53

Tai: Yeah, it's exciting to see people come out to certain things that don't

14:56

come out to the big, like, the main party.

14:59

And, and like, that's the whole point of creating these different

15:02

spaces, like you're saying. It's, they feel comfortable where they can fit in.

15:06

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, feeling comfortable.

15:09

wanting to just show up authentically.

15:11

And I do think just even reflecting in my life, and I do a lot of

15:15

these deep reflections where I'm like, why did I even subject

15:18

myself to these spaces for so long? And I think, especially as queer people, right, queer Asian people, we strive

15:24

and long so hard to be a part of spaces to feel like we have belonging and

15:33

there's also this interesting notion too especially as Asian folks here in the

15:38

west right in this country that is ours but at times we don't feel like it is

15:45

ours but then we don't really identify with the motherland or countries where,

15:51

you know, our heritage from is because we haven't been born there, right?

15:55

Maybe we don't speak the country's language or we just

15:58

don't have the same customs. And a big part of us even navigating the spaces in a Western context has

16:05

been trying to find spaces, trying to find ways that we can show up.

16:11

And I would say reflecting back on myself.

16:15

I think for a long time I had this notion of, well, I really want

16:19

to be freely queer, freely gay.

16:22

And I leaned so heavily into these spaces, not realizing it was very white dominant.

16:29

And so much of me trying to show up in the space, I was like, well, if this is what

16:35

it means to be gay, right, or it means to be queer, like this is what I have

16:40

to, I guess, be a part of, be Integrated within, and the more and more I do this

16:48

work, right, of either this podcast or all these other projects, The concept of

16:53

intersectionality comes up where we are at the intersection of all these facets.

16:58

Mm-Hmm, for our personality. Right. And I guess question for you is, what does that mean to you?

17:05

What does intersectionality, intersectionality of

17:08

identities mean to you? Tai: Yeah.

17:11

that's a big one for me. I was, you know, as we talked about, I was born in Thailand and I was

17:17

adopted when I was two years old. Bounced around the country every two to four years because

17:22

my dad is, you know, FBI.

17:24

And like, grew up in a very conservative Christian, very old traditional family.

17:31

Um, and growing up in majority white areas and identity of being Asian.

17:37

I knew I was Thai from being sort of self awareness at two, but from there, like,

17:42

it just, I didn't know what it meant to actually be Asian or Thai in that regard.

17:47

So it's like explored. I went through that whole, like, that intermediate phase of like,

17:51

Oh, I'm so into anime, yo guys.

17:53

You catch the latest, uh, not a I love anime!

17:57

Same, same, same, same, same. But it was like the, it was like the nerd style.

18:02

It was like nerd level. Otaku, yeah. Totally, totally.

18:05

It was like, oh man, you know, all the black clothes, you know, everything.

18:08

I mean, now it's a different level. It's New York black clothes. Steven Wakabayashi: Well, now I just, I'm

18:11

Tai: all But it's like, and then, you know, and Like I said, I met this crew in 2006, and

18:20

like, I just, oh, like, this is different.

18:22

This is different. I like this.

18:24

I feel like I can start identifying with this and relating to it.

18:28

And then, you know, it really changes once you get outside

18:31

of the Western perspective. Um, I think the international, intersectionality of international

18:37

and American is a big one.

18:39

Your perspective changes when you start hanging out with like, Partying

18:44

or even just hanging out with like a larger international community and

18:48

just sort of just puts perspective on sort of everything else around

18:51

us as, you know, Americans, we value identity politics so much.

18:56

Um, and this idea of fitting into everything, you know, it's It can be

19:01

an extreme in other countries, but I think we're taking it to other extremes

19:05

where we try to pigeonhole each other. And I think that intersectionality of it all for me is just,

19:12

I finally feel comfortable. I think that's the thing.

19:15

Like all these growing up with all these different backgrounds and places

19:19

and people, I finally feel comfortable.

19:23

I feel like there's this, I've hit the sweet spot for myself.

19:27

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. Well, I want to.

19:29

Go a little further into what it's like growing up.

19:34

You mentioned a little bit of it, but I'm just really curious, you know,

19:38

especially as like an adoptee and learning about your Asian identity, your

19:44

Thai identity, being queer, being gay, like, What was that like growing up?

19:50

Tai: Growing up as younger years, it was fine.

19:53

I was, you know, you can say ignorance is bliss, um, until

19:58

the advent of the internet. I did not know what clearing our cache meant or clearing browser history.

20:05

And, you know, when you have an image downloading for an hour of 75 kilobytes

20:10

on, you know, the AOL dial up, It, you know, things happen and you get caught

20:16

sometimes and that's created, that created a lot of distance between my

20:21

parents and I growing up from like high school all the way through college.

20:26

You know, they did the best they could with what they had, um,

20:29

and I'm so grateful for them. I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you if it wasn't for

20:34

everything they've done for me. Yeah. But when I broke free, I think college was sort of like that ice, was sort of like

20:40

that initial crack in the ice, um, hanging out with the Christian Fellowship crew.

20:45

I think that was like a nice bridge between sort of my past life and

20:50

sort of hanging out with other.

20:53

Asians, breakdancing, like just that community, I think they really just opened

20:58

up my doors a lot more to seeing the world at a different perspective, you know.

21:02

Steven Wakabayashi: Breakdancing.

21:05

You've never told Tai: me about this.

21:08

Yes, on the breakdance crew at James Madison University.

21:12

Shout out to Circles. Steven Wakabayashi: What was, yeah, I, I, well, before we go into some

21:19

of these things, Even, you know, navigating your queer gay identity, um,

21:26

where are you with, with your family?

21:29

Have you, is it like a comfortable subject?

21:32

Is it something that they've been able to reconcile?

21:36

You've had discussions about? Tai: Zero reconciliation on that.

21:42

I, they know, I, they know it's something we don't talk about.

21:46

So it's an interesting relationship. When I started all this stuff, my aunts know, they're super proud of me.

21:53

but when I talk to my parents, I'm like, Oh, I'm.

21:56

I'm doing community building and helping network people.

22:00

So it's very vague and not specific.

22:03

So it's still, I mean, they're dealing with some health concerns, so it's

22:07

something like, I don't want to lay onto them extra, but it's, uh, it's just an

22:13

interesting dynamic where they only get.

22:16

part of my life. It's very filtered. Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, it's unfortunate that we sometimes have

22:24

to shut parts of our lives when people have blocks to be able to see

22:32

from an open hearted perspective. One, I'm actually really glad that you have aunts and other family members.

22:39

in the sphere who are proud and excited.

22:43

I'm a proud sister. I'm proud of the work you're doing.

22:47

Um, and it's just one of those things that, especially looking at

22:51

the state of the country, right? And seeing a shift in so many demographics of people starting to think about

23:02

repealing gay marriage, same sex marriage, and bringing back so much of the discourse

23:10

that I thought we had departed from, you know, when same sex marriages were

23:16

made legal and everyone's rejoicing ages ago, but it wasn't that long ago, right?

23:21

But, you know, just around the corner, Let me, hold on, I need to look at this up.

23:27

That was fairly recent. 2015.

23:30

Yeah. Ten, nine years ago. Yes, yes,

23:32

Tai: yes. Yeah, that's fairly recent. Steven Wakabayashi: And so much of, yeah, so much of the discourse coming back.

23:37

I do remember when I was coming up and at the time, back in my hometown, Chick fil

23:44

A used to be a very big thing, and when they first opened, it was this popular

23:48

joint, everyone was so popular, and I remember Prop 6 in California, proposition

23:54

against gay marriage, same sex marriages, uh, came out, and it was just a very eye

24:01

opening moment for me to look at and start seeing, you know, people who blatantly

24:06

had all this hate and all this anger. Yeah. And so much of what I'm seeing and experiencing now is.

24:12

Very reminiscent of those times.

24:15

People feeling emboldened to, and what's crazy is I was just like Why are people

24:20

spending so much money for impacting the lives of so many people around us, right?

24:27

And it's just, but it goes back to maybe the experience with your

24:32

family and just like religious beliefs or just conservative values

24:37

that might be holding them back. Tai: Yeah.

24:40

Yeah. It's, I mean, I'll just say it's like this idea that they are the guardians

24:47

and stewards of the moral high ground.

24:50

And it's, No amount of money is too small to spend to be the, to

24:55

be the vanguard of this old ways.

25:01

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a part of a system, right?

25:05

Like there's a huge system at play that truly weaponizes these tropes to garner

25:12

donation, sympathy, what have you.

25:15

And I think a big part of life is, at least in a lot of the work that we

25:21

do, is just starting to embrace the unknown, things that we're not aware of.

25:25

Even discourse within the queer LGBTQ umbrella is expanding our awareness of,

25:33

it's not maybe just these binaries of male, female, being non binary, but a

25:38

whole spectrum across the board, right?

25:41

With different sexualities and having it as a not even like you're

25:47

either gay or straight, but how do we bring like different points at

25:51

completely different angles, right? Where does asexuality sit?

25:55

Demisexuality, and I think what I'm learning more and more as I get older

26:02

is that we truly don't know anything.

26:05

Nah. Tai: Again, American politics, they love identities.

26:09

I mean, like, we love putting a label on anything.

26:12

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. And it's, it's safety.

26:14

Tai: It makes them feel safe. Right? Oh yeah.

26:16

One hundred percent. In this world right now, I think everyone's trying to cling on to what

26:21

makes them feel safe, whatever it is.

26:24

Steven Wakabayashi: I think, I think there's something interesting

26:26

that's said about, um, multiple sides of the political spectrum.

26:31

I think it can be said that I think we were spending so much time in

26:36

discourse of just emboldened to battle one another, and I think What I'm

26:42

noticing even like on YouTube, right? Of these different channels that have people from like

26:47

these dualities, polarities.

26:49

You know, having these YouTube videos made and arguing with each

26:53

other, and I can't help but to see what's really happening, right?

26:59

Like this stuff gets so popular.

27:01

It's like so, right? Tai: People aren't listening anymore.

27:05

Discourse isn't to actually have discourse and learn.

27:09

Discourse is to be like, I'm right. You are wrong.

27:12

And I think we can thank a certain former president for really codifying

27:17

and making that part of American culture.

27:20

Steven Wakabayashi: And Tai: I think it's. Just coming back to just listening and being open and like discourse is good

27:26

and when it's healthy when we're able to learn and see, Oh, maybe I am thinking

27:31

about things differently or, you know, maybe I need to, you know, change

27:35

my opinion, but being open to that.

27:38

And I don't think we are open as a society anymore.

27:42

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. You know, especially.

27:46

Myself, uh, you know, I attend protests, I'm all for, yeah,

27:52

speaking truth to so many things.

27:55

But I think sometimes what isn't really explained to so many of us

27:59

is there's a very big gray area of like, it's not one or the other,

28:05

and it's very circumstantial, right? And especially with a lot of what I've been seeing lately is a ton

28:11

of community infighting, you know? Where, especially within the LGBTQ umbrella, we're all fighting and

28:20

arguing with one another and there's even this like subset where it's like

28:26

the LG B, Umbrella, who wants to like distance themselves from the T and Q.

28:32

And I'm like, what is, I'm like, what is happening?

28:35

I'm like, there's just, exactly. There's not that point of it.

28:40

And, and they're starting to align with more right leaning Republican ideologies.

28:48

And it's, it's just very sad to see so much is happening around us.

28:54

That's how a lot of Just really harmful discourse.

28:58

And I think a big part of even like the podcasts that we have, um, and we'll

29:03

definitely talk about it later on, but this like vision for the future,

29:07

or maybe let's take off, talk about it now, but a big part of how we even

29:11

root ourselves in a conversation is.

29:15

Thinking about what is the future that we want?

29:17

Let me ask you. Tai: Yeah. Steven Wakabayashi: What is the future that you want, Tai

29:22

? Tai: I mean, for myself personally, you know, I want a future where I'm able

29:29

to build a space for everyone to feel safe no matter what spectrum they're on.

29:34

You know, I think To that conversation, to that sort of like infighting

29:38

within the community, people have asked me, well, are you competing

29:41

with so and so or this or that? I'm like, no, I'm not competing.

29:44

My goal is not to compete.

29:47

My goal is to provide an option and a space.

29:50

And if you want to use it, think twice. Use it.

29:52

Thankfully, I appreciate it. That's my, at the end of the day, that's what my moda operanda

29:57

is and how I see everything. I'm not trying to go after anybody.

30:02

It's more like, Steven Wakabayashi: yeah, Tai: I'm proud of the space and the community is the ones who fill that

30:07

space with the energy they want it to be.

30:09

And so I'm very fortunate that everyone's been able to use that sort of like

30:13

idea of it being like a hollow vessel.

30:16

I set the bounce, sort of the intention of it.

30:18

And then the community fills it with their own energy.

30:22

And I want to continue being able to expand that and be able to do that.

30:26

Tap into other communities that aren't feeling like they are being heard

30:29

within the Queer API community space.

30:32

Expanding it outside of New York.

30:34

Being able to bring it to other cities.

30:36

Because, you know, there's a, I talk to my friends in Philly or DC.

30:40

There's a large, there's a decent sized Queer Asian community there.

30:44

But there's no organization. There's no sort of, "Hey, this is where we can all be ourselves", kind of thing.

30:50

Less, you know, they're, they have like sort of activist

30:52

groups, let's say social space.

30:56

So being able to provide, bring that to other cities and stuff across

30:58

the country and even the world. That's, uh, that's the, that's a long term goal for NOC.

31:04

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, I love that. I think what I really resonate with is, I mean, one, I love your projects,

31:13

expanding outwards, diversifying, adding more texture into the landscape

31:19

of different places to go out, things to do, spaces to be a part of.

31:24

But I, what I really appreciate is what some will call like abundance

31:28

mindset, but it's really this notion of wanting greater for one another.

31:33

And I think, call it mindset or what have you, but.

31:39

We as individuals have to ground ourselves with that, and that belief of

31:45

wanting more for everyone collectively, and that in turn I think is going to

31:50

impact the way that we see our work and maybe where it sits in lateral with

31:55

other businesses, and in the future.

31:57

I'm sure you're very familiar with like, you know, working in the corporate sector

32:02

and people like, we have to compete. We have to be number one and da, da, da, da.

32:05

And the more that I'm doing work with our organizations and our work, the

32:11

more I'm realizing like it's about sitting alongside all these amazing

32:16

other people doing work together, doing work that they're uplifting,

32:21

that you're uplifting their work. And I think our work becomes so much richer in that way.

32:27

Tai: Oh yeah, yeah. Especially as like a minority group within, traditionally

32:32

marginalized minority group within, uh, within the queer space.

32:36

Like we all gotta work together cause it's, it's, it's It doesn't

32:41

behoove us to work against each other.

32:43

And I've been blessed to meet so many of the drag queens.

32:45

So like the Red Pavilion girls, they're so amazing.

32:49

Coca Cola. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Felicia, um, they're, they've worked with them on several of my events.

32:54

They're just like such good energy. And it's like, Steven Wakabayashi: yeah,

32:57

Tai: giving that back to each other. And it helps each other. Helps each other's events grow and it's sort of like, you know,

33:02

Steven Wakabayashi: Mm-Hmm , Tai: I can't make one. I'll send people to that one theirs.

33:06

Or they can't see vice versa. And so it's just

33:08

Steven Wakabayashi: Mm-Hmm, . Tai: We just help each other out. And I think that's, as long as we can maintain that sort of mindset as we all

33:15

get bigger, I think that's gonna just, that's gonna make sure we're unstoppable.

33:21

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, I think that's really the way forward of

33:25

how do we coexist with one another.

33:28

And yeah, so much of like my work now is undoing a lot of this like harmful

33:33

corporate brainwashing that happened where it's like, like, how can any

33:39

company have qualms or issues with wanting to support your competitor, right?

33:44

Like, wouldn't you want to be in a space with other people who are co

33:48

creating with you and that you can help have friendly competition or friendly

33:54

support with each other, you know? Yeah. And at the end of the day, I think our products are better, our communities

34:00

are better, our people are better. And yet what we're seeing also in like the tech, the, especially in the tech space.

34:10

So many monopolizations of industries and organizations and I think that's

34:17

been really top of mind is this concept of sustainability, right?

34:21

Not just the environment, but sustainability of our work, our community,

34:27

ourselves, and How we maintain it, because right now I feel like there's so many

34:32

things happening where it's like, are we going to be around for 10 years, 20 years?

34:38

And right in New York, you and I are here, and we're like, like this year

34:42

in particular, like, when have we seen the weather shift back and forth?

34:45

Literally one weekend is 20 degrees, right?

34:48

And next weekend is like 50 some degrees.

34:50

And it's just, to me, just even being in the city, you're already

34:55

noticing so many of these changes.

34:58

Tai: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, the changes are, changes are wild in the city, you know, I think, seeing

35:06

where everything's going, um, there was this nice little blip post pandemic

35:11

where New York felt like a community. Um, and now it's just everyone's for themselves.

35:18

I think the economy's gotten so, it's very interesting, sort of like,

35:22

probably it's all hypothetical, but you saw how the stock market crashed

35:26

and how businesses crashed, like large corporations totally crashed during the

35:31

pandemic because people weren't out. using their services that they had us addicted to.

35:36

And as a society, we all became closer and we all became friendlier and sort of

35:41

like more accommodating of each other. And then I think going back to smaller local roots and

35:47

more community based things.

35:50

And so now it's almost like they were cranked it up on us and be

35:54

like, all right, you guys are getting too chummy with each other.

35:56

Y'all need to be in competition with each other. Y'all going to drive our sales up higher.

36:02

So. Go battle royale it out or something.

36:06

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, it's, and during the pandemic, I remember when a

36:10

pandemic first started, everyone's like, it's zoom, Friday hangout, it's amazing.

36:16

So great. Tai: Like drunk at 10am on Saturdays.

36:19

It's amazing. Steven Wakabayashi: And it's, um, I, I, I, Really appreciate it.

36:26

At least in New York City, you felt a big sense of camaraderie.

36:30

And I think it was because we're like piled on top of each

36:32

other and we have to figure out.

36:35

How to survive. And I think we did actually a really great job socially distancing.

36:41

Um, people stopped taking public transportation when they could.

36:45

Right. And when people are out and about, when it wasn't tourist heavy,

36:50

right, people were actually spaced out, giving each other space.

36:55

And it's just one of those things that it was a really good reminder that

37:00

it wasn't about like, who owned what clothes, what, you know, things you

37:04

did that was just lavish, what food you ate that was so fancy, right?

37:10

Even like the real fancy restaurants, like even like Park, like.

37:14

Was it Park Eleven or like other fancy restaurants?

37:17

All Top in Madison, yeah. Yeah, they all did like takeout, you know, and like, all these restaurants

37:23

went back to the roots and the basics of like, what does it truly mean to show up?

37:29

And I think it really helped to bring it, like, humanize everyone

37:33

with each other, you know? Yeah. Tai: It's a common struggle to work against.

37:37

And I think that just, that's what made it such an, a unique, once

37:41

in, honestly, hopefully a once in a lifetime experience, knock on wood.

37:47

But I guess to your question about sustainability though, like,

37:51

despite how this, you know, City has sort of become like everyone

37:54

against each other kind of thing. And just very, in a lot of ways, like survival right now.

38:00

It's tough. The venues that I've had my events at, I have consistently had feedback

38:07

saying that everyone loves my parties, the employees and the venues they are.

38:14

And so it's a testament to resilience as a community is they find all.

38:20

are after our parties, easiest to clean up after.

38:24

Everyone wants to work our parties because everyone's so nice and respectful.

38:28

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. Tai: And you know, I think that's, what's going to make this sustainable

38:33

is the people coming together. And this universal sort of Supporting each other.

38:39

Exactly. And I'm, I am so humbled and grateful that the community, this is what the

38:46

reputation for Nanak Events is now.

38:48

With venue spaces, because the community, they're, everyone's there,

38:52

you know, everyone's so respectful. Steven Wakabayashi: And I don't think, I mean, for our listeners too, to

38:58

give so much more detail into Tai and just like, how far the extension of

39:03

like, queer Asian ness really extends.

39:06

Like Your performers, your musicians, the DJs, like all of these folks are all

39:12

typically, uh, Queer API identifying.

39:15

And you're creating this space, and even the bartenders, right?

39:19

And you put in these requests and you build this infrastructure.

39:24

And I think that all plays into why the community, when they show up, feel safe,

39:30

feel seen versus having, let's say, our identities commodified as a part of

39:37

like, what comes up for me immediately is like, all these companies celebrating

39:40

Lunar New Year, you know, and putting all these like, envelopes here, there,

39:45

and going, Oh my God, look at us. And I get like, like nothing to do with any Asian thing, right?

39:52

Where sometimes they'll do these Lunar New Year celebration stuff.

39:55

And you know, Lunar New Year is practiced, uh, broadly across many different spaces

40:00

and Um, beyond also Asia, like I think there's something to be said about like

40:08

showing up, creating space intentionally, bringing people, community together

40:14

with a ton of intentionality, right?

40:16

Yeah. And what I really appreciate about you is that You almost don't give

40:20

yourself an excuse of like why you shouldn't extend that into

40:24

like different people or whatnot. Like you're really trying hard to make this a whole ecosystem for a community.

40:31

Yeah, Tai: I think it comes from my experience as a brand development

40:37

and advertising and marketing and experiential design, all that.

40:42

I want everyone else to be seen and heard. I'm okay being in the background because that means I'm doing a good event.

40:49

If there's not like a lot of complaints, things like that, you know, it's like,

40:51

if everyone's able to just have fun and let loose and just be themselves, I try

40:56

to hardest in the background, making sure that like technicalities are out of

40:59

the way, making sure the performers have everything they need, making sure any of

41:02

the staff is taken care of the venues. Okay.

41:05

And so that way it just creates. And everyone just be there to have fun without having to worry

41:12

about X, Y, and Z or whatever.

41:15

Um, that's really how I run the events and then just, Building that seamlessness

41:20

into the larger ecosystem of like NAROC and future events is going to

41:26

be, that's how it's all going to be.

41:29

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, yeah. And also, I think what's top of mind, going back to what you mentioned

41:35

around the space being clean. The media analogy I have is, so I used to go to Burning Man like way

41:41

back in the day for so many years.

41:43

And there's this whole notion of Burning Man around like

41:47

you clean up after yourself. You make it sustainable and over the years, you've just seen this influx

41:55

of just garbage and trash and people dumping everything and while on the

42:01

outside it might be just as simple as like clean up after yourselves.

42:05

But in practice and in theory, it extends it so much further, right?

42:10

People keep clean and people take care of the spaces that they love, they resonate

42:15

with and they feel nurtured by, right?

42:17

Yep. Versus they come in and have to use it, you know, up and make the most

42:24

of it and get the fuck out, right? Yeah. And I, I think, There's something to be said about using that also

42:30

as a gauge of am I creating some space that people feel as though it

42:35

is almost like their home, right? That they feel enticed to clean and care for as well.

42:42

Tai: Yeah, that's exactly it.

42:44

I think it's like, when I was starting all this, all these out, I was like, I want

42:48

to feel like, I'm inviting people into my space or like my home or something.

42:54

Just that's the attitude and friendliness and sort of welcomeness

42:57

that, you know, I, I, I approach all, I approached it in the early days.

43:01

And to your point, and you're right, like people come in,

43:04

they're so grateful to have. the space.

43:07

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. Tai: So, and they treat it well.

43:09

And I think, yeah. Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. I'm laughing because I was like, next, uh, all NAROC events, you gotta

43:14

take off your shoes when you come. Tai: Imagine at the rooftop of the hotel, there's just like shoes

43:21

lined up in the lobby of the hotel. It's a home.

43:24

Steven Wakabayashi: Uh, it's, yeah, it's, um, it's, um, It's great, and I also think

43:35

you really strive hard to think also about the organization, growing it, thinking

43:41

about in terms of like the operations side, and really creating a sustainable

43:46

environment, and I think out of so many things that I've been a part of,

43:52

I do appreciate so much intentionality.

43:55

That you put into the space and I think it's a part of

44:00

why New York is the way it is. We have so many people that just care about nurturing the city

44:06

and our people and yeah, it's especially having gone through stuff.

44:11

I love it. I think folks should attend.

44:16

Tai is hosting events. In New York, primarily, but also host some in like, what, Singapore, Thailand.

44:24

Sisters, yeah. All the sister cities.

44:26

Sister parties. Yeah. Yeah. And let me ask you after having run all this and having done all of it,

44:31

and it's a part of just your day to day, how has this changed you

44:35

personally, impacted you personally?

44:38

Yeah, Tai: I think one of our early conversations we were at, um, at dim

44:44

sum place and you mentioned the people who I'll meet, I think that has been

44:51

one of the biggest changes, the people I've been meeting, like I'm now really

44:55

close with the CEO of this premium soju company, people are building things.

45:00

You start attracting other people that are building things and those

45:04

conversations just start becoming about growth and , helping each other, like

45:08

what we originally said, like helping each other, like, Oh, I know so and

45:11

so those kinds of things to help grow each other and support each other.

45:14

I think that's been the coolest change that I've seen so far.

45:18

And it's just like this other energy.

45:20

I think I have new energy for life in a lot of ways.

45:23

I think knowing that I'm building something of my own and my own dream

45:29

that I am truly, truly passionate about, it gets me up out of bed.

45:33

You know, I think sometimes it's hard. Yes.

45:35

But at the end of the day, I am so, especially now with the bed right here,

45:41

um, I am so grateful and that in living up to the community's expectations,

45:47

I think that I put that on myself a lot too, you know, making sure that

45:52

they, enjoy the best event possible and make sure that they're building

45:57

their own communities, you know? Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, it's, you know, people I don't think sometimes like on

46:03

the attendee side are aware it's like, it's tough to do this stuff, right?

46:09

Because it's easy to be like, I'm just going to make a new space.

46:11

It's for anyone and everyone. And we're going to just make a ton of money, right?

46:16

Which is like most of the parties and most of the venues, right?

46:20

In the circuit space, like, Like, I know it's hard to believe, but the

46:24

circuit space, like way back in the day, decades and decades and decades

46:29

ago, was this underground enclave of queer people, more diverse, right?

46:35

Of all different backgrounds, different body shapes and sizes.

46:38

And I think when it started turning into who's who, it started like

46:43

self selecting for these spaces. Once you really get into it, you realize like a lot of the people

46:49

who are like, you know, the quintessential type of beauty, right?

46:53

Light skin, white, masculine, muscular, they don't even

46:57

pay to go to these parties. And so it's like, it's not even like who's who, it's like who got free entry into it?

47:03

And then they self select. But going back to the point is, even getting funding to

47:09

run for this is hard, right? Finding a venue that is really excited by this is hard.

47:16

And a lot of spaces will be like, oh, we want to, you know, champion diversity

47:22

and equity and all these people. But the minute you're like, okay, but I want this space and let's

47:26

do this and will you pay for it? They're like, yeah, we'll get back to you, you know?

47:31

And so, like, I want, listeners to really understand that this stuff is

47:38

hard, you know, and really securing spaces, especially in New York City,

47:43

when businesses feel as though if it's not catering to everyone, i.

47:47

e., like, mostly primarily Still like white community here in larger America

47:53

that they somehow might be losing money. Yes.

47:55

You know? Tai: Yes. That is a big, that is a big thing that a lot of venues, um, have mentioned.

48:02

Especially for the weekends, they have a high bar minimum.

48:05

And, you know, I think with that, they're not as open to experimentation.

48:12

I get it. They're business. They have to worry about their bottom lines.

48:15

And I think part of why I've been able to be so successful is I've been

48:18

able to find, build relationships with venues and people that are

48:22

willing to let us experiment. Like last summer, I was at High Bar.

48:27

I introduced the owner there and I had a Sunday party every Sunday.

48:31

Um, it did great for a couple months and then just kind of petered out, which.

48:37

But it Steven Wakabayashi: was the winter time, but it was like,

48:40

Tai: it Steven Wakabayashi: was, it was fall. still Tai: warm, but it was still, but they were still willing to let me have it.

48:46

And I think that's a testament to the relationship is they

48:50

were letting me like, Oh, cool. Yeah. They were, they were still letting me like, cool.

48:54

We know we trust you. We know how much you can bring in.

48:58

Yeah. It's slow. We get it. Everybody's slow. They're willing to work with me.

49:03

Other venues, like. You know, they're very much so, Oh, uh, you didn't hit the minimum.

49:10

So can we do it a different space or different room?

49:14

Um, and then you get bummed because that part of that larger space that's

49:18

more public, it's not, it's louder. So, you know, I think,

49:21

Steven Wakabayashi: yeah, Tai: I am very, very fortunate to have established the relationships

49:25

that I've had to be able to have. Space to experiment.

49:29

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. Well, you know, the spaces that you've had, like, like people

49:35

show up, people are spending money being a part of the festivities.

49:42

And I think sometimes it is really short sighted of people to equate,

49:48

like, unless your community is making me cash, like you mean nothing.

49:52

But the other part is like, we live in a world where you've got to figure

49:57

out how you're making these spaces. And especially as a person who, is actively thinking about these things,

50:04

developing businesses, projects.

50:08

I think if we don't do, like, the alternative, right, is if

50:13

we don't do this homogeneity, like what, what great is that?

50:18

Is that inspiring us, right? Is that getting us out of our bed in the morning?

50:22

Is that, is that making New York City, New York City, especially in that case, right?

50:28

And is that the legacy?

50:31

Let's say we're not even here anymore. Is that the legacy that we want to leave behind?

50:34

You know. And I read a lot of books about a New York City culture from back in the day.

50:41

And how often is a space revered for sticking to the norm, right?

50:49

Yeah. Like, that venue.

50:52

Tai: Always the weird Steven Wakabayashi: wild Tai: ones. Steven Wakabayashi: Exactly.

50:54

Yeah. The ones that really push the boundaries.

50:58

The one that was more inclusive towards, you know, folks coming in

51:04

who were, at one point, it was like, they're like, oh, this is wild.

51:08

It's not this like, you know, Thai establishment.

51:11

It's like musicians and artists and, you know, which I feel like is like

51:17

everyone's audiences are trying to cater in Brooklyn now, but I feel like these

51:22

venues that were creating space for so many people who at one point, right?

51:27

Even like all the different nightclubs from like Studio 54 era, right?

51:34

Like, all of those places were catering towards A lot of these people, right,

51:41

who were in the fashion scene, were in the nightlife scene, who were more avant

51:48

garde in personality at the time, right? But those are now revered, right?

51:52

And people are like, oh my god, like, look how amazing that was.

51:55

But it's so funny how it's like people, people try, don't realize that they're

52:01

like really upholding like homogenating just like one bland, like, you know,

52:08

like emptying inclusivity, right?

52:10

Inclusivity is everything for everyone, right?

52:13

All lives matter, right? It's like all this stuff, right?

52:16

Um, and not realizing that really what moves the needle is when we constantly

52:20

keep looking for spaces and communities that really haven't been served, right?

52:26

And then we're actively creating space for them.

52:29

Tai: It's such a catch line too, I think. It's like, we start off with creating those unique spaces that

52:36

are breaking out of the norm. Over the years, or as they say, get bigger, it becomes the norm.

52:45

And so it's like how do I think the challenge for me and is like how do

52:51

we make sure that it's evolving in a way that is still feeling fresh, but

52:56

also in a way that it's intentional. And I think that's a challenge, you know, I think for as, as we, as I

53:03

grow and sort of move forward, I think that's also why I'm Writing out into

53:06

different things like social specific sort of events, different genre events

53:11

specifically, is how do we keep it fresh?

53:14

How do we make it feel intentional and wanting not just the homogeny,

53:20

like, you know, we see a lot of the community sees each other.

53:23

There are a lot of them are friends with each other. So everyone sees each other during the week already.

53:27

So like, why do we still want to come out?

53:30

And I think that's, the New, interesting side is, and thankfully

53:36

we're in New York, is there's always someone new coming into the city.

53:40

There's always visitors. There's always someone from out of the country.

53:43

So it's, that I think continues to help inject new blood every

53:47

time an event's going on. Just, it's nice to see new faces.

53:51

I think that's the homogeny side of things, is you get used to seeing

53:55

everyone's face and you're like, oh, I've seen them, like, last week.

53:58

Steven Wakabayashi: Mm hmm. Tai: Right. With New York being New York, I think that's, I am blessed and

54:03

very lucky in that regard to have that high sort of like, turnover.

54:08

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, and I really resonate with what you mentioned, like

54:11

once it could be like this radical space, and like a radical space, When

54:16

we think about the who's in the margins for our spaces, I think we always

54:21

have to constantly reflect on that. And I think what's resonating with me is queer spaces in New York, right?

54:26

There was a time when literally queer spaces were like the

54:29

underground and were demonized.

54:32

Police were coming in, arresting people in these spaces, where being in

54:38

a same sex relationship was illegal.

54:41

And, yeah, at one point in the U.

54:43

S. And now we're seeing queer spaces, frankly, a ton of

54:47

them, which is amazing, right?

54:50

But even like yourself, like having to pitch this concept of, well, queer

54:54

Asian space is important, right? And then being turned away.

54:58

And what makes me think about two things, like one, it is

55:01

like the need to constantly reflect, even when we're in the.

55:05

It's like the populations with power, resources in these communities, right?

55:10

Specifically in the queer communities with especially the

55:12

white dominant spaces, right?

55:15

Learning to make space for the margins within the LGBTQ space.

55:20

But I do reflect on the flip side could be also in our queer Asian spaces, right?

55:25

Like, do we stay more relevant in terms of being open minded, welcoming, accepting

55:32

who are our margins, you know, and I think a few things that's coming up

55:38

that I see you immediately implementing is this notion where it doesn't have

55:42

to be based around hookup culture, it doesn't have to be based around alcohol,

55:47

drugs, it doesn't necessarily have to be around the need for dating, right?

55:53

And diversifying these spaces and creating spaces that have different intentionality

55:59

and also even like music genre.

56:02

Tai: Yeah. Steven Wakabayashi: Right? Yeah. Tai: It's, I think it's the sort of, New York is such a diverse space.

56:11

And the, I'd say a lot of the established queer Asian community

56:15

has found their lifelong friends and their sort of groups in the city.

56:21

And I, part of what I hope and am seeing happen is people are

56:26

moving outside of their groups. They're meeting other people, at Nanak events.

56:30

Um, and I think that's, you know, we're leading towards the more social side

56:33

is like getting people out of that and like, Hey, cool, let's go, like.

56:37

I don't know, make pottery or stamp paper or something.

56:41

But, um, just like something where they can meet other people

56:44

with their fellow queer Asian. Yeah.

56:47

I know. It's like, what? There's also like this whole entire.

56:50

Older group of the queer asian community that isn't like loud music.

56:54

They don't want to be out in sort of like all that space.

56:56

So like, how do you tap into them and make them feel like, because they want to also

57:00

build fellowship within the community. Um, from conversations I've had with other people, you know, it's like, does that.

57:06

Does that look like a yacht party where you, we, for one Sunday for

57:10

like two, three hours, you pack some money and we get some champagne and

57:14

it's an older group of queer Asians.

57:18

And so it's just like, you know, it's what is, what are these

57:21

spaces look like to cater to?

57:25

All these different groups within our space. Steven Wakabayashi: Wait, business idea for you.

57:29

I feel like this can easily turn into like Narrak social.

57:32

And it's like, okay, there's this new venue in New York City and

57:37

I think it was like one in LA, but you just make phone cases.

57:41

And then they have all these charms and all these things and

57:44

they sell clear phone cases.

57:47

That you can put as many charms as you want, and then you, they give you like,

57:52

this thing that almost like frost, like cake frosting, and it dries and

57:55

it hardens, um, and then you could basically make your own phone cases,

57:59

and I could just see like, I love that, like that activity, stamped,

58:04

like the little wax stamps, like that's popular, painting night, paint night.

58:11

Yeah. Tai: Yeah. There's a lot of things.

58:14

Yeah. And I think people will. And I think it's intimidating.

58:16

New York is intimidating. And I think.

58:19

I am very fortunate that people trust me and the Narrak brand and

58:25

know that I've vetted whatever experience you're about to walk into.

58:29

I've vetted it thoroughly and you're going to have a good

58:32

time and it's with intention. So I think that puts people's minds at ease.

58:38

So whenever I'm like, oh, there is something new, we're going to

58:40

do stamp, rubber stamp making. They're like, cool, I know it's going to be fun.

58:44

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. Okay. A few questions for you.

58:47

I think we touched on so many things.

58:50

I absolutely adore you, the work that you do.

58:55

A few quick questions. What is one thing that is resonating for me from this conversation that you

59:04

want listeners to be taking away with?

59:07

Tai: For listeners, be open minded and think listening to each other and

59:13

different opinions, truly listening.

59:15

I think that's the only way we're going to move forward.

59:18

Steven Wakabayashi: Mm hmm, and What is inspiring you lately?

59:23

Everything. Tai: I honestly, it's just like, there's so, I'm working on a client,

59:27

uh, for a synthetic bio client, doing an event in April for them.

59:32

I'm inspired, like, genetically engineered plants to glow.

59:36

So it's like, I'm inspired by a lot of stuff right now.

59:38

It's just like, Steven Wakabayashi: yeah, Tai: and it's trying to contain it.

59:41

I think it's trying to contain it. That's the big thing. Steven Wakabayashi: Favorite K pop song?

59:48

Tai: Oh, it's one of the Chungha songs, Bicycle.

59:56

Stay. Stay. Bye, Chungha. Steven Wakabayashi: Okay.

59:59

Yes. Stay. That's so funny because I haven't been listening to as much, uh, K pop in the

1:00:05

past, like, few weeks, but I started, I, I listen to so many and I was like texting

1:00:09

him to you, I'm like, Tai listen to this. I Tai: know, I'm sending it to, adding it to my list of, for my DJs.

1:00:14

But Steven Wakabayashi: the Thai pop girlies, their stuff is so good lately.

1:00:20

I'm like, oh my god, it's, it's, it's catchy, huh?

1:00:24

Yeah, Tai: sometimes I play some of the groups and they're like, oh, who is this?

1:00:27

I'm like, it's Thai. Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:00:30

It's, it's so good. So if anyone's listening and wants to check out some new things, there's

1:00:35

a bunch of, it's just a Thai pop. I usually use YouTube.

1:00:39

Allie is a really good one, um, and there's a few others, but.

1:00:44

Really, really, really good stuff.

1:00:47

MX Fruit is my favorite. They're like the new jeans, but Thai, but they're so cute.

1:00:54

Tai: That's very cute. It's very distinctly Thai as well.

1:00:58

Steven Wakabayashi: Yeah. And I, I think just in terms of even the curating of the members.

1:01:03

I feel like the people that they have represent so many facets of

1:01:08

Thai populations really well too.

1:01:10

Yeah. And even like the skin colors and the diversity of like faces, I

1:01:16

think they did a really good job.

1:01:18

Yeah. Definitely. How can people find you and your work?

1:01:23

Tai: Yeah. Follow us on Instagram, uh, naroknyc.

1:01:27

Also if you're looking for tickets and more party event information, naroknyc.

1:01:31

com. That's where we're at. If

1:01:34

Steven Wakabayashi: you're going to expand beyond NYC, are you

1:01:36

going to get a different handle? Tai: So I'm going to register as corp

1:01:40

Steven Wakabayashi: Narrak Tai: and so that way I can expand and obviously want to set up a

1:01:47

specific handle for each location. Ooh, Narrak.

1:01:52

I gotta start, I gotta start, I gotta start booking accounts now.

1:01:56

Yes, you do. Steven Wakabayashi: So TBD, more to come.

1:02:01

Um, and if you as listeners took a lot out of this conversation, uh,

1:02:07

definitely leave us a rating review in your favorite podcast platforms.

1:02:11

That's how folks will discover us through your kind words.

1:02:15

And also if you visit our website at yellowglitterpodcast.

1:02:19

com, you can learn more about Tai. And we'll add links to his website, his social, and other

1:02:26

projects in there as well.

1:02:29

Thank you so much for this episode, Tai.

1:02:31

I love the work that you do.

1:02:34

I'm a huge fan of just you as a person and all the work that

1:02:38

you're bringing out into the world. I just really appreciate the conversations we always have.

1:02:42

Tai: Yeah, likewise. Thank you. It's been a blessing meeting you.

1:02:45

Um, and I'm really grateful for this opportunity to share a

1:02:48

little of my story with everyone. Steven Wakabayashi: Awesome.

1:02:52

And for all those listening, thank you for listening.

1:02:55

And we're excited to host you on our next episode.

1:03:01

Thank you, Tai and we'll talk to you later.

1:03:04

Bye now.