Leader Spotlight: Joe

Our next leadership spotlight focuses on Joe Chang, our worship leader! This interview was conducted by our other Cho bro, Nathan!

Nate: Okay, so let’s start with the basics. What’s your name?
Joe: Joseph Dong-Woo Chang

How old are you?
28.

You’re 28?!
Yeah!

I didn’t know that.
How old did you think I was?

Wait, where are you from?
Korea.

Where in Korea?
Hey, I’m not really from Korea. My parents were from Korea. I was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, and I grew up in, around Portland, Oregon.

Really?
Yeah.

So are you a hippie?
Uh.. No.
Are you an environmentalist? A conservative?
Conservative in what way?
I don’t know how. You tell me how you Portland-ers think.
No, Portland is a very liberal city.
Oh, is that right?
Do you litter a lot?
No, I don’t litter a lot.
Nice, very Portland of you.
So, you went to high school in Portland?
Near Portland.

So what’d you do for college?
Came down here. Went to California Institute of the Arts.
Oh, in Valencia. How’d you like that?
It was really fun.
Yeah? Despite the fact that Valencia sucks?
Yeah, but the people there were fun.

What was your major?
Uhm, it’s kind of hard to say. There are different schools at Cal Arts, and my school was Film/Video and my program was Character Animation, so I think that would be my major, character animation.

And you like animation.
Yeah.
It’s fun.
Yeah.

Doesn’t it get tiring drawing frame after frame of the same thing?
Yeah.
But you enjoy that?
I do.

So like something that would seem really mundane and boring to other people, you find it exciting.
It is because I see, it’s what I see. It’s what’s going to happen after that affects me, that keeps me working a 100%.
So you’re only focusing on the end product.
Yeah.
Nice.

What do you do right now?
I work.
Who do you work for?
A small company.

Is there anything you’ve done that’s particularly notable?
The only notable things I’ve done are animation for Curious George.
So you drew cells for Curious George?
We don’t really use cells anymore, it’s all digital. We draw it on paper and then we scan it onto the computer.
And then you edit it on the computer?
Yeah, but the animators do that.

In a movie, about how many frames are there?
Well, you’re going to have to do the math.
Each second is maybe 24 frames, and there’s 60 seconds in a minute. And on average, you draw a drawing only about every one or two frames, mostly two frames.
So it’s like 720 drawings per minute? I don’t know. You do the math.

I don’t actually like math, I actually hate math.

So you drew a lot when you were little?
Yeah. I liked to design cars and spaceships and stuff like that.

So, would you say doodling was an art to you?
I didn’t really see it as art.

You didn’t see it as art, you just saw it as a way to pass the time?
Well, I never really thought of myself as an artist.

What do you see yourself as? As you’ve moved to LA and started drawing for a living, what would you define yourself as?
Someone who happens to draw.
I think an artist is someone who really, uh.. Has something they want to express.
Like a vision.
Yeah, like a vision. Something really heartfelt. I’m not necessarily like that.

So you feel you don’t have a vision with your art? You just do it?
Spontaneously almost?
I would just say my visions aren’t really profound yet. I’m not saying I’ll never be an artist, but right now, not really.
My goal of my drawings right now isn’t to express myself, but to entertain others.
That’s cool.

So, when did you become a Christian Joe Chang?
Now we get into the deep questions, the deep stuff.
I grew up in a Christian family and I would say I always believed in Jesus but it wasn’t until later in high school, no no, earlier in high school, that I decided to really follow Jesus in a real way, because before it was sort of abstract. I think it was after a winter retreat that I made that decision to follow Jesus.

But that was kind of a decision, but I didn’t really follow through with it. Later in high school, I had a friend that really challenged my faith. He was a really strong believer and was the first person I saw that actually lived out his faith outside of church.

So when did you start getting, not necessarily involved in praise music, but when did you start playing guitar. You taught yourself right?
Yeah. I just kind of learned from friends and stuff. That was in college, about 2000? I would just grab my friend’s guitar and kind of mess around.

I didn’t actually learn guitar for praise music, I was just messing around. It just to learn those cool little pop songs, you know like “More than Words”. I think that was my first song.

“More than words”? Who’s that by?
Uh.. Street something? (starts singing)

So it’s a pop song?
Yeah, it’s old.

I honestly have never heard of that before.
Oh, and how deep? Have you heard of that?

No.
(starts singing again)

You know, this really illustrates the fact that you’re 28 and I’m 17.
How do you not know that song?
How would I know that song?
It’s a classic.

Did you ever see yourself leading praise?
No.

So you just did the guitar for the heck of it?
Yeah, just to mess around. I like to mess around with stuff.

What’s something else you like to mess around with?
Oh, magic.
I’ve been messing around with that for a while.

I was going to ask a question about magic and how some people don’t like calling it magic, they like calling it, what’s the other thing they call it?
Illusions

Oh yeah, why did you get involved in ARK?
Whenever I go home to Oregon, I would visit my old youth pastor. Who was still pastoring youth. So I had the opportunity to hang out with youth and decided I sort of enjoyed that. So when I came here I ended up volunteering for ark.

That’s it?
Yup.

How long have you been in ARK now?
It’s coming up on 2 years? Maybe? I came at a winter retreat.
Oh I remember that. That was when Pastor David came, we had the really small cabin, and it snowed a lot.
Yeah.
I think that was two winters ago.

Okay, cool Joe.

So, what do you see yourself doing in the future? Or do you not think about the future, do you just kind of live life.
Uhm. Yeah, I don’t know. Haha

Yeah. Ok.
I’m probably still going to be in animation and.. I dunno. I think wherever God leads me but I hope it’s here at the Garden.

So do you like California, like Los Angeles?
Uhm. There’s good and bad things.

But you like the Garden.
I like the Garden. I like the people in California. But California weather, I don’t like. Traffic, I don’t like. Hugeness of the city, I don’t like that either.

You’re like a regular vigilante. Kind of.
I liked Oregon because there’s a lot of greenery, a lot of trees, lots of rain.
Oh, good thing about LA is the food.

What’s your favorite kind of food?
Favorite kinds of food. I can’t say I like one food in particular. I like different ethnic foods, but I tend to like the ghetto’er versions of these foods.
Like taco carts?
Yeah, like home style food. Yeah, like dirty burritos.
Oh, like b-rated chinese food.
Oh, I don’t like chinese food that much.

When I say the word pumpernickel, what comes to your mind? The first thing.
I guess the hufflelumps, from winnie the pooh, because it sounds like a ridiculous word like that.

Weird, I think of Barney. (singing song)

What are your views on graffiti?
I definitely appreciate it as an art form, but I can’t say I really like the defacement of property but graffiti artists found an outlet that wasn’t conflicting onto other people I think yeah.

Ok, so you’re against destruction of public property, like why would you do that etc.
I mean, I know that’s all part of the expression, the statement, but still, it’s disrespectful.

But, even despite the fact that you don’t call yourself an artist who is one of your favorite artists? Someone you look up to for inspiration?
Oh. Uhm. Hmm. I don’t really have any.
Really?
I mean, there are people I’d say are really good but I wouldn’t say you know.

You just do your own thing?
Oh, I have magicians I admire haha
Alright, who’s your favorite magician?
There’s this Japanese magician named Takira . I can’t remember his name. He has this signature trick.
(explains trick)

(I don’t understand any of it
Something about you see a trick that you aren’t supposed to see. )
Alright.

What’s your favorite movie Joe?
I have a lot. I love superhero movies. I like a lot of war movies. I like comedies. One of my favorite comedies is Dumb and Dumber. I think my favorite movie of all time, if I had to pick one, would be Groundhog Day. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of that.

No, that’s why you’re 28 and I’m 17.
It’s a comedy, but it’s really heartfelt. It has Bill Murray.
Alright, let’s say you were on Rotten Tomatoes, what would you rate that movie?
Well, probably a 95.
95? That good?
It’s the kind of the movie that you can just watch over and over again.

Okay. Yeah. So I think that’s pretty much it.
Haha so you’ll edit out and compile stuff?

I’ll try to compile all of this into a, I don’t want to say relevant, but interesting and entertaining interview.