Editor’s Note: “Professors’ picks” is a bi-weekly column that explores the presence of music in PLNU professors’ lives. The goal is to celebrate music as a universal language and spotlight how music inspires campus figures in their respective fields.
Powerful waves, sandy beaches and beautiful skylines — Taiwan is a country that James Wicks, professor of film and media studies at Point Loma Nazarene University, knows well. Having grown up there, Wicks said he has grown to adore the country for its environmental beauty and distinct music scene.
Although he spent his childhood in Taiwan, Wicks was relatively separated from its music industry, which was primarily focused on folk and pop movements.
“I grew up in Taiwan, but I wasn’t involved in that scene,” Wicks said. “It emerged after I moved back to the U.S., and my work and research takes me back to Taiwan.”
Maintaining a piece of his upbringing with every opportunity, Wicks buys analog music, which is in physical form, such as CDs and vinyl, and uses digital platforms like Spotify to find his favorite emerging Taiwanese artists.
“One of my favorite bands is 88 Guava Seeds — they’re a Taiwanese band who have evolved into punk and rock, and they’re in my rotation,” Wicks said.
88 Guava Seeds, also known as 88 BALAZ, are based in Taipei, Taiwan, and cleverly blend intense themes with punk rock and blues-inspired instrumentation. Although they started their career in the late ‘90s, Wicks discovered the band during his time in graduate school in 2010.
One of the largest takeaways for Wicks was the explosiveness of the Taiwanese music scene, where there are countless new artists waiting to be discovered by both natives and non-natives to the country.
Sun Yanzi, another musician currently booming in Taiwan, combines pop and folk music influences in her work. Wicks said that he thinks these artists have success in the U.S. because they include English.
“One common trait I see if you listen to K-pop and different pop music in Asia is it’ll usually have some lines or words in English,” Wicks said. “But rarely do the bands that I listen to in the U.S. have other languages in their music.”
That contrast between languages is exactly what makes the burgeoning music scene so exciting for Wicks.
“Culturally, it’s a little bit different in that way [using other languages in their music], but I think anyone can explore and find those connections even if their language is not included,” Wicks said.
Risk-taking comes naturally to Wicks, which is shown by his adventurous music taste.
“I like almost every genre,” he said. “When I was in the 12-to-17 age range, I would swear that I hated country music. But now Johnny Cash is one of my favorite artists of all time. I also listen to a variety of music — I love hip hop, EDM, and I am always willing to give a new sound a chance.”
During his time at PLNU, Wicks co-led a LoveWorks trip to Taiwan, a PLNU organization where students can go on short-term mission trips to serve communities with a Christ-like purpose. One of the biggest adjustments for Wicks is a jarring idea to many — technology is not allowed on the trip.
“That is probably the only time in my life since sixth grade that I didn’t listen to music for three weeks that I can personally select,” Wicks said. “And it was extremely odd. The extraction from social media was a welcome relief.”
The trip to Taiwan was fruitful in many ways, Wicks said, but one of the most unexpected challenges was the strange feeling of being cut off from a habit ingrained in his daily life. For someone who listens to music three to five hours a day — with dedicated playlists for every routine — suddenly losing that constant soundtrack took some getting used to.
“Not having access to music was definitely a challenge,” he said. “It felt like something was missing.”
Zoey Peters 
Olivia Roberts