The Cedar sat down with actor and musician Meghan Kreidler — front-person of Minneapolis band Kiss the Tiger. Meghan also curated CRAZY BROKE ASIANS. Learn about her process of bringing this special night together, the reason for the name, and what representation means to her.
Catch Kiss the Tiger at The Cedar on Friday, October 21, 2022, as part of CRAZY BROKE ASIANS. Other featured artists include: Diane, Mayda, D’Lourdes, Vulgar Tongue, and Tekk Nikk.
The Cedar: Is this the third year that you’ve been hosting this Crazy Broke Asians show? How did it start? Was it because of the movie?
Meghan Kreidler: We were thinking about doing a show that showcased Asian artists and then the Crazy Rich Asians movie was released simultaneously as we came up with this idea. We were like, “Oh, we should do a riff off of that and call it Crazy Broke Musicians,” and it would be recognizable. I feel like people understand the reference and it's pretty cool, because that movie was such a big deal. Of course, it was imperfect in a lot of ways, but at the same time, it's like, who cares? It was a romantic comedy that had all Asian people in it, and that had never really happened before. Plus it was a huge blockbuster hit, so we ripped off the name to make it recognizable.
Yes, this is our third time doing it, and I'm hoping that this will be the first time that we won't be outnumbered by non-white people on stage. I feel you know, because my band is all white dudes, and so is Diane's band. We've got Mayda who is her bass player, we've got Nikki Pfeiffer who goes by Tekk Nikk, Danielle Troiano who goes by D’Lourdes, and then the first band that's gonna play, Vulgar Tongue – i's two siblings, and they're Hmong. There's just more Asian people involved on stage, which I'm excited about. Part of the reason why we partnered with Theater Mu was to get that outreach to the Asian community that likes to go see live entertainment.
I’ve acted a lot with Theater Mu. They're my theatrical home here in the Twin Cities. It was a pretty effortless partnership and at the same time, too, I really want to give awareness to their theater as well. I see it as kind of a two way street.
The Cedar: Tell us about curating the event? How did you choose the artists on the bill?
Meghan: I wish that everybody could be included in it. But it's cool to know that there are an abundance of Asian musicians and artists working in the Twin Cities like Ka Lia Universe is the first person that comes to mind. Part of curating this was “We're friends with Diane, we're friends with Mayda,” but I think it's cool because they’re also established artists. They've been grinding the pavement for a while as musicians, but we also have up and coming artists. Vulgar Tongue is pretty new, and then Danielle Troiano released her project this year and she's gotten a lot of traction just with TikTok. Her album is super well produced; it's very experimental. Diane does rap and hip hop, and Mayda is more funk and r&b. We're [Kiss the Tiger] a straightforward rock and roll band. Then Nikki Pfeiffer [Tekk Nikk] will be doing the DJ stuff too, which will be cool just because we're showcasing so many people. I almost look at it as a little festival. It's a pretty long night with a lot of acts and it'll be nice to have Nikki create a soundscape that's carrying people throughout the evening between sets. Like it kind of is all over the place genre wise, but it all fits together.
Meghan Kreidler. Photo courtesy to Sara Fish.
Meghan: I want to point out what it’s like to be Asian. Here's an opportunity for you to come out and see a show where you're gonna see a lot of people on stage that you probably normally wouldn't see all together in one night. I think once people experience that they'll realize that they've not had that experience. I saw Japanese Breakfast about a year ago at First Avenue and she had this artist Luna Li open for her and I'm like, “Dang, this is so cool to see two Asian women on stage and sharing this experience together.” I feel like it'll be meaningful for the artists, and I hope it'll be meaningful for the people who come to see it, whether they identify as Asian or not to just be like, “Oh, this is something that we're not seeing all the time in our state on our music stages.”
The Cedar: Kiss the Tiger is seen as an artist that’s the “next big thing.” What if you become rich? What are you going to do with the show?
Meghan: If we get rich, I'd want to put on a whole festival around Asians and Asian-identifying artists and be able to pay people really well.
Catch Kiss the Tiger at The Cedar on Friday, October 21, 2022, as part of CRAZY BROKE ASIANS. Other featured artists include: Diane, Mayda, D’Lourdes, Vulgar Tongue, and Tekk Nikk.