Show Yourself, A Benefit Residency: MILCK, Alex Wong & TONIE

Alex Wong & Keepsake House present SHOW YOURSELF: A Benefit Residency Celebrating AAPI Stories

Celebrate the stories of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) artists through music and conversation in this residency that runs during AAPI Heritage Month and benefits The Quiet Voice Fund. Tonight, hear from MILCK, Alex Wong, and TONIE as they lift their voices and show themselves to New York and beyond.

Can’t come in person? Virtual tickets also available at Keepsake House

Alex Wong creates music to help people remember who they are and show themselves to the world. He has always had a complicated relationship with his own memories, unable to remember his own childhood birthday parties yet possessing many vivid, sensory memories from dreams, places he’d never been, and what seemed almost like isolated vignettes from another life. That dissonance led to the songs on his latest album, “The Elephant and the Seahorse.” As he looked closer at his memories from the past, he was forced to acknowledge that he had been “hiding” his identity as a second generation Chinese-American for much of his life. Memories of being told to downplay his ethnicity in school, social groups, or in the mostly-white music industry, assimilate to white culture, speak with no accent, and keep himself small rushed to the surface, along with waves of shame and anger for buying into this conditioning. A lot of deep questioning followed, which he chronicles for the first time in his song “Show Yourself.”

Alex is a Latin GRAMMY-nominated artist and producer known for his work with Delta Rae, Vienna Teng, Melissa Ferrick and Morgxn, among others. Alex’s music has been featured in movies including “The Last Song” and TV shows including “True Blood.” Alex has toured all over the world, performing at festivals like Coachella, Outside Lands, and Corona Capital, in arenas in Mexico City and theaters in Europe and Japan, and on NPR’s Mountain Stage.

MILCK is a singer, songwriter, producer, and advocate who is known for co-writing and performing “Quiet," the viral sensation that became known as the unofficial anthem of the Women’s March, Billboard’s No.1 Protest Song, and a featured selection on NPR’s American Anthem Series. The City of Los Angeles featured MILCK as a leader in positive change and influence for the AAPI Community in the Together WeSpeak Exhibit. In 2020, her single with Atlantic Records, “If I Ruled the World,” was named song of the week by Time Magazine. Her 2021 song “I Belong” was featured in the CBS special “See Us”, a nationwide special to bring more tolerance and safety for the AAPI community. Other songs of MILCK's can oftentimes be heard on major TV shows, trailers, and international commercial campaigns.

Vietnamese-American producer TONIE is doing their very best to make you cry, in all the best ways. The LA-native writes and produces each synth-pop track from the comfort of their skylit home studio in Brooklyn, NY—a perfect backdrop for the emotional vulnerability that colors their lyrics.