USC senior explores heritage in first EP as singer-songwriter

Truth, healing and love: three words Leo Xia, a senior majoring in industrial and systems engineering, used to describe his music.

“Truth, for me, is learning a lot about Asian American history and social justice. It’s about me learning about how I exist with my own history,” Xia said.

Xia’s music conveys themes of social justice, stereotypes toward those of the Asian American heritage and the personal struggle that Asians encounter when integrating into American society.

Music, to Xia, represents the range of emotions he has experienced in his life. His featured title tracks on Spotify, “Split Down the Middle” and “Yellow,” touch on topics closest to his heart and heritage.

“For “Yellow,” it was learning about the Chinese Massacre of 1871,” Xia said.

He reflected on how these historical and cultural events affect his existence and how he has been prompted to address that in his music.

Though his featured tracks focus on the topic of being Asian American, Xia’s music can speak to a wider audience on topics like love and jealousy. In fact, one of Xia’s first self-composed works was a love song in 8th grade to his girlfriend.

Now, Xia is preparing to release his first six-track EP titled Hyphenated in the coming spring.

“We’re so starved of Asian artists speaking out artistically,” Xia said about his path as a singer-songwriter.

He hopes that his talent, not only his voice for social justice, will carry him far in his music career.

Junior year was when Xia’s music career finally took off and he began to see a future with music, playing at night markets and smaller gigs. He began to perform at other universities, usually for Asian organizations, and landed a gig in Little Tokyo that connected him to a production company.

Xia is looking forward to his EP release, which will set the stage for his post graduate future.

“First off, I plan to travel with friends and hopefully book a fall tour after I graduate around the U.S. with different college organizations, Asian organizations and maybe conferences,” he said.

Meanwhile, his music video for “Split Down the Middle” is currently in the works, and Xia has been using his remaining time in school to focus on his music career. Besides music, he is involved with Asian Pacific American Student Services and dances for Chaotic 3, which has formed out of USC’s Chinese American Student Association.

“I want to help people in the way I’ve been helped,” Xia said, in regard to his involvements with various Asian organizations and nonprofits.

He’s passionate about sharing his unique experience as an Asian American. He was raised as a young boy in San Francisco, spent his primary education in Beijing and returned to the United States for college.

“I’m kind of like a third culture kid,” Xia said.

Xia hopes to use his music to not only share experiences, but create empathy and understanding from those outside the Asian American community. He hopes to spread messages of social justice in his music and combine it with elements of love and healing.

Xia’s funding for his debut project, Hyphenated, can be found on Kickstarter. His music can also be found on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and Google Play.