By Carolyn Bick
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Even though Daniel Pak started “kicking to the beat of the drum” at a jazz club in Honolulu, Hawai’i, while still in his mother’s womb, it wasn’t until middle school, when he picked up the acoustic guitar, that music clicked for Pak as a transformative medium.
“I, for the first time, associated music, not only just like playing music and singing music and performing it, but a deeper purpose,” Pak recalled. “And the song that I learned on the acoustic guitar that I would say was very transformative for me was Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. I think that perhaps it has been not only one of my favorite songs, but also probably one of my most performed songs as well.”
Pak is the executive director and, alongside Thaddeus Turner, co-founder of Totem Star, a music-based arts nonprofit focused on serving and advancing young musicians who would otherwise face significant hurdles in working towards a career or continuing to develop their skills and gifts in music.
The nonprofit recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of its new studio at historic landmark King Street Station, as part of art hub Station Space’s hub-wide, one-year anniversary. Totem Star’s studio is located inside Station Space.
Pak’s own career has evolved from a musical artist to a teaching musical artist. Pak is one of six mentors for the almost 1,000 young artists who have come through Totem Star’s doors at King Street Station since the studio opened in January 2024. In that time, the organization has also facilitated more than 20 paid performances for young artists, hosted 12 public performances, and provided more than 1,600 hours of mentorship and training to young musicians throughout 2024. Since its inception in 2010, Totem Star has supported a total of more than 7,500 young artists.
From left: Greg Fields, Totem Star artist mentor, Temuulen Batbaatar, Anu-Ujin Batbaatar, Temuujin Batbaatar, and Daniel Pak, Totem Star co-founder
Anu-Ujin Batbaatar, a 16-year-old Mongolian musical artist, said that she and her brothers found Totem Star last year after taking part in one of the organization’s jam sessions last year. She is one of a trio of siblings who compose the musical group Zje Mongol. She and her brothers, Temuujin and Temuulen—twins, both 13, and both Anu-Ujin’s fellow musical artists—blend traditional Mongolian music with more modern sounds and music from other cultures.
Anu-Ujin Batbaatar said that they wouldn’t have been able to get as “out of the box” with their music if they had not found Totem Star last year, after taking part in a jam session with the organization.
“It really helps that the mentors give us different ideas on how to change it up, because I feel like we’re just so like in our own box that we … don’t know how to get out of it,” she said. “And the mentors there definitely help us a lot when it comes to giving ideas to expand our music and make it different, and to experiment with it.”
One of the highlights about the space for Temuulen Batbaatar is that the group has access to equipment they otherwise wouldn’t, and that they get more opportunities to make music. It helps that they have a scheduled time for this, Anu-Ujin said—“If we didn’t have a set time to go there and to be able to create music … I don’t think we would have been motivated enough to achieve that.”
And dedicating themselves to music, despite everything else that may be going on in their lives, is important for the group, Temuujin Batbaatar said.
“It’s important to us, because we feel like we’re keeping our heritage alive and sharing it with others,” Temuujin Batbaatar said. “The world needs more traditional music and instruments—especially for young people. Traditional instruments might seem like something from the past, but we’re showing that they’re really cool and meaningful. And we hope we’re inspiring people to learn about their cultures.”