Half/Asian with Amy the Coda

HALF/ASIAN spent his upbringing doing everything he could to hide the Chinese-Canadian part of his identity. A result of racism and bullying in his formative years that defined Asian as “bad” and passing for White as “good” and safe. After many years neglecting his Chinese-Canadian identity, he is now creating art under a name that exposes this part of himself immediately. Allowing for conversations around racism, positive representation on stage and personal acceptance. Ian performs on synthesizers from the 1980’s purchased at second hand stores and sings in English.

Amy the CODA (Child of a Deaf Adult) was born to a Deaf mother and a hearing father. Her first language is Pidgin Signed English. She spent her childhood advocating for her mother’s inclusion and accessibility by becoming her side-kick interpreter in both private and public settings. Acting as the bridge between her Deaf mother and the hearing world in which she resides. Amy began to lose fluency in her signing after leaving her hometown in 2014 to work in the music industry. After many years of working in an industry that doesn’t often think to include people from Deaf communities, Amy is changing the narrative and making space for her identity to thrive in the Canadian music scene. Signing songs on stage is a reclamation of language and acceptance of all the experiences that shaped who she is today.