End of an Era

After 15 years of making music together, Hmong band Paradise gets ready to call it quits

By Chhun Sun

Next to earsplitting Highway 180 situated in West Fresno, Paradise amalgamates at a recording studio to make noise—in music form. For the next four hours, the band, comprised of six Hmong musicians, ignores the world outside.

Maiku Vang sits on a stool expressionless while her bandmates intuitively prepare for practice. Her feet dangle inches from the ground, while she unleashes muffled yawns—due to daylight savings time, she, and her bandmates, lost an hour of sleep.

Still waiting, the young, petite singer sits with patience.

Nao Vang (no relation to Maiku) gently glides his fingers on his electric guitar, finding the right note. Haget Yang gophers around for parts to complete his drum set, while his older brother Phong tests the microphones.

“ Mic, check one, two,” he says, and then fine-tunes his electric bass guitar.

Cina Chang walks in with her keyboard, which is about as tall and slender as her physique. Maiku owns a large corner of the studio, one she’d share with Long Her, the other keyboardist. But he’s busy today.

Ko, who is Phong’s and Haget’s older brother and no longer an official band member, marches in slowly. He grabs a stool from a corner, and places it in front of a microphone. He’s here to give the band a strong male voice to incorporate with their music.

Now they’re ready.

But there is an itching thought in the back of their heads; the one that reminds them each practice indicates the closing of a legacy.

With 15 years under its belt, Paradise will call it quits this year.

Although the band has only achieved nominal credit outside the Hmong community, Paradise was never discouraged from creating music that articulated a dichotomy of love and inspiration. But the band can’t go on.

The pressure of the members’ outside lives is too tough to tug along; it’s too time-consuming to fit into their schedules. The band will suffer the same fate as Whyte Shadow, a Hmong band that stopped playing together last year due to related reasons.

Talent is not a factor. But an Asian band determined to have success outside of their boundaries is. However, Paradise will not fade away unobserved, leaving a paved path for others like them to follow.

The band’s final album, “Shooting Star,” a bevy of original pop and alternative songs influenced by Hmong and pop culture, is considered their best work.

The band also has a tour scheduled to open this summer in Minnesota, and then returns in December to Fresno—where it all started.

Phong and Ko formed Paradise to distract the members from the wayward activities at the time, such as gang involvement. Each member had little musical experience, but they were a band regardless.

First, Paradise was a cover band, singing pop songs. Then the band converted itself to other genres like pop, hip hop, alternative rock and even messed around with electronica. But after several band members and music styles changes, Paradise has discovered a style and group of musicians in which to end its legacy with.

Phong, at age 30, is considered the leader, the one who keeps the band together.

“ In any good band, you need someone who can keep everybody in check,” Phong said. “I’m the one who speaks most in the band. I show the most feelings in the band. If I don’t like something, I’ll tell you.”

Phong evaluates the band, and then issues suggestions. This is why in rehearsals he faces the band while playing his electric bass. He is comfortable with this role, especially when he evaluates for a living as a counselor at Fresno State.

He’s also a vocalist, submitting a smooth and solid voice to interlock with the band’s sophisticated style.

“ I started when I was 16. I didn’t know anything about music, I just kind of stumbled through it and grew to love it,” Phong said.

A couple years into the band, Phong had his brother Haget take drum lessons, a way of looking out for his younger sibling. But Haget didn’t enjoy playing at first.

“ My brother Phong would drag me along and put me in private lessons, but I skipped out a couple times. He didn’t like that very much because he paid for it,” said Haget, laughing. But after six formal lessons and a talk with his older brother, Haget gradually became interested in music.

Over the years, Haget has been keeping the band entertained with his quirky sense of humor, especially on tours. But Haget is serious when it comes to the band.

If Haget is considered the “clown” of the band, then Long is his opposite. With a more serious demeanor, Long brings a more hip hop-influenced sound as the male keyboardist.

With roughly 10 years of involvement, Long has had trouble juggling life with Paradise. He is committed to school and the Hmong community so he misses rehearsals sometimes, like the one on the first week of April.

But he still owes his life to the band.

“ As a musician, you see how your music develops, and actually how your community grows, too,” Long said. “An example is that next year will be the 30th anniversary that Hmong people came to the United States. I’ve seen how much Hmong have grown in 10 years.”

Nao is committed, too, but more in a musical sense.

His love for music started at age 12 when his older brother gave him a brand new stereo and a case full of music cassettes for Christmas. But it was suspicious.

“ I knew he didn’t have a job, so I was wondering how he got all this stuff. I figured out that he probably stole it,” Nao said, smiling. But listening to artists like Meatloaf and U2 forced him to turn his stereo up loud and utilize kitchenware as his drum set in his backyard. Then his uncle came into the picture.

“ You’re too loud, man,” his uncle said. “I’ll make you a deal. If you stop banging on pots and pans, I’ll buy you a guitar.”

It was a $20 guitar from the swap meet, but Nao’s passion for music ignited. He took formal lessons throughout high school and continued at Fresno State.

In his fourth year in the band, Nao said he hopes music will be in his future.

Cina came into the band three years ago at 16, becoming the only female keyboardist of the group. It prompted criticism from fans who knew Paradise as only a boy band.

“ Did you see the new member of the band?” they said. “She can’t play. She doesn’t belong with the boys.”

Through guidance of her fellow bandmates and her Catholic background, Cina managed to stay with the band—although she had serious intent to quit after the first show.

“ But I knew that’d be the easy way out,” Cina said. “I knew I had to be strong, because I really had to believe what I was doing.”

Finally, Maiku came into the band only a year ago, offering a strong female voice that references a young Jewel and Gwen Stefani of No Doubt.

Maiku (also known as April) knew she was destined to be a singer at age 5, when she picked up an electrical cord that was cut off at the end.

“ So I plugged one into the outlet, and pretended that it was my microphone. I was holding the other end and I was singing and I electrocuted myself,” Maiku recalled, chucking.

That was enough to start singing in high school choirs and plays—and even auditioning for “American Idol” last year. But it wasn’t until a couple years ago that her older sister introduced Maiku to Paradise. Since auditioning and making the cut, Maiku has gained valuable knowledge about music she hopes to take with her into the future.

“ I still want to keep music in my life. Music will always be in my life, and I don’t know about how I’m going to go about that yet, but I’ll figure it out,” Maiku said.

But for now, Maiku is a fashion merchandise major at Fresno State.

Although sadness is apparent in their voices when talking about their final year, Paradise is leaving a legacy for others with such dreams.

“ We’re the first generation to go through this music. It takes a lot of hard work on our behalf, and hopefully that will pave the path for the next generation to pick up where we left off,” said Phong, who will probably miss playing for the band the most.