After my last post on up and coming Asian Australian singer/songwriter Sophie Koh, I thought I should also do a post on my favourite Asian Australian musician: Charlie Chan. Actually, as she is half Scottish Australian and half Chinese Malaysian, ‘Asian Australian’ is a very accurate description in her case. The music of this independent pianist and composer is a lot more ‘avant garde’ than Sophie’s, but that the way I usually like it!Sadly, she isn’t exactly prolific: she released her debut album, “The Adventures of Charlie Chan”, back in 1993, and has only released two more albums since! Also, it appears as though her web site hasn’t been updated since 2003. Being a very non-commercial artist, she has been a pioneer in selling music directly over the internet, starting the “Martian method” of distibuting music online, selling it through her Martian Music site (along with several other Australian independent artists). Her own site is quite personal, discussing her other passions such as meditation, yoga and cooking.

Let’s hope her present hiatus is only a temporary one, and she releases some more new music soon!