It’s never really too late to do what you love, even if the road to that discovery is reached through an uneasy path. American-Chinese artist Allen Ling is making his formal debut as a musician, decades after his first trysts with music, which is born out of a broken heart on the path to recovery. Ling teams up with Dave Lopez, the fellow San Francisco-based world-renowned Guitarist/Producer from the popular American Alternative Hip-Hop/Rock group – Flipsyde on his musical journey.
By the age of 20, Allen who was born in California, US to immigrant parents from China, had written over 200 songs and played the roles of the lead singer and rhythm guitarist in a 13 piece band. The arts, soon after took a backseat as Allen focussed on his professional pursuits as a healthcare professional (he runs a successful Physical Therapy Business which has worked with the staff of Pixar Animation Studios and Steve Jobs to name a few), only to be brought back and reunited with his creative passions after a sudden healthcare crisis a few years ago.
The multi-faceted artist, with a special love for comic books and music, has been working on his creative projects for over a decade. Now he feels he’s ready to share it with the world starting with a trilogy of video singles that chronicle heartbreak and healing.
This very personal and autobiographical set of tracks, both witnesses and chronicles various phases of the artist’s recovery. The music video is rife with landscape visualisation and entangled love stories.
The first track of the trilogy, Straight Into The Ocean was released in June 2023. The video single, like most of Allen’s earlier projects, was never released publicly or formally and yet managed to win big at several international film festivals such as the Paris Film Festival and the Cult Critic Movie Awards among others. The video also features popular Ms. Marvel star Aramis Knight, known for his much-loved portal of the Kareem- Red Dagger alongside Ms. Marvel – Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani).
Straight Into the Ocean, is succeeded by the video single titled A Name In Your Book** **The second single, (which released globally in July 28th, 2023) while following the same plot as ‘Ocean’ serves as a prequel to it. The video also features Allen’s collaborator and friend Dave Lopez in a guest appearance.
The trilogy meets a fitting conclusion with an earworm aptly called Remember which is out globally now and climbing up the charts, reaching No.5 on the World Indie Music Top 100 chart, No.14 on the Euro Indie Music Chart 2023 and No. 56 on the DRT Global Top 150 Independent Airplay Chart. Allen describes it as “a song worth listening to for anyone who remembers a past love.”
On how “Remember” came about, Ling explains; “I was listening to instrumental tracks with Dave Lopez at the Soundwave rehearsal studio. The one produced by Ed Claire stood out for me. I immediately started singing a melody with lyrics at the same time with the instrumental track. It had been 3 plus years since ‘the break up’, but I still had to squeeze that last little bit of tragedy out of me.”
“I believe some of the best works of art and music are born from incredible suffering. I try not to seek out heartbreak, but if you truly live and take chances it will always find you,” he further reveals.
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