By Eric The Red
With this major reunion show coming up, I finally got the opportunity to interview one of my newest and best friends. Bassist for Ming Tran and legendary promoter Ming Bob. Now, I’ve known Bob for about a year now, but I’ve never had the opportunity to hear his music. Now that Ming Tran has reunited, I’m going to get that chance. I’ve also got the chance to ask him about the future of Ming Tran, his advice on starting a band, and I even got a curveball question or two in.
Right out of the gates I was curious about why these older bands are getting back together. When asked how they made the decision to reunite, Bob stated, “[I] got a text from Orlando saying ‘Yo, we got asked to do a reunion show. You down?’ ‘I’m down,’ and so starts the jam sessions.”
Ready and raring to go, the band has been hard at work, preparing to delight their fans with a blast from the past and maybe, even the future. When asked if Ming Tran is back for good, Bob was on the verge of cryptic in stating, “We never really know. We played a lot of shows and toured quite a bit over the years. We all communicate to see if everyone is available to do a show and go from there. We pretty much like to jam and rock shows, that’s for sure. It just depends on everyone’s time schedule.”
With some business out of the way, I wanted to get to some fun. So I threw Bob a curveball. I asked how he is going to survive the coming zombie apocalypse? Bob’s response did not disappoint. “My wife, along with her gaming gear (love you babe, wink), a nice underground concrete facility with an air conditioning/heater run by solar power. Two pair of chop sticks, two good size bowls, crushed tea leaves, some roaster sauce, a lifetime supply of water and rice with a good old fashion samurai sword made by Hattori Hanzo, my choice, and the wife is going with the CO2 tank gun from ‘No Country for Old Men.’ Also clean socks, clean underwear and plenty of toilet paper.” A man who is more than happy living out the rest of his life with his wife, rice, video games and clean socks… It’s as they say, “great minds think alike.”
Even though they haven’t played music in some time, the members of Ming Tran have not been resting on their laurels. I asked Bob what he and his bandmates are up to, aside from music. “Orlando Is currently doing photography while traveling. Check out his work at www.orlandowelsh.com, it’s really amazing. Homer is the founder & owner of NYLON RECORDINGS and is living it up LA style, producing some sick talent. Steve has a beautiful family, and is also a marathon runner. He ran 68 miles in two weeks. He also loves skateboarding. Basically, [if it’s] active and hard to do, Steve is doing it. Me? [That’s a] tough question, since I pretty much lived and breathed music for seventeen years. Off time I am working with or helping with music events. My wife and I donate our time to most of the Comic conventions year round, such as [the] San Diego and Long Beach Comic Cons & the Stan Lee LA Comikazi Con.” It’s easy to see how with such busy lives, the band doesn’t get to play often. I’ll say that personally, I’m ecstatic that Bob and all the guys in Ming Tran are coming back together.
Bob requested to add this final note, “Thank you all for the many years of awesome shows and great times we got to share with you all. I will never forget the day that we met, I swear it’s the best. Take care of each other out there, support ALL local music, METAL included… I got this from CVMS, ‘Without Local bands, there would be no national bands’. On that note, I love you all, most of you know me and if you don’t know me, well, come up and say hi. If you’re a band and need some help or got a question, I am always down to help out. Last thing, I’m pretty hyped about the new Star Wars… Just saying… Til’ the next time friends & family. Much love.”
So make sure to come down to BAR in Palm Springs and catch Ming Tran, performing with Lexilust, Losing Team and DJ Infinitee. The show starts at 9 PM, with a $10 cover at the door.
