Today we’d like to introduce you to Zyi Li and Jenny Wu of Zyi Li Music and Entertainment LLC in St. Louis, Missouri.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In a nutshell, “Our entertainment activities repair our soul. However, there are not enough positive opportunities, support groups, and network interactions that enable everyone to have a safe place to express and recover. We are here to influence change and build our community in STL.”
The mission of Zyi Li Music and Entertainment LLC (ZME) is to improve music and entertainment in STL. This is an all-inclusive community entertainment organization that provides opportunities for others, networks and connects entertainers, forms new and innovative groups that are also for hire, creates next-level events for the community both free and paid (these events mix entertainment activities, cross genres, and utilize new technology), and produces, influences, and encourages greater entertainment for everyone to enjoy in the community.
I feel like St. Louis, Missouri (and the surrounding area) is a great city with great people. However, not many people outside of St. Louis say they would want to come travel to STL. Besides the Arch, our crime rate, and maybe a couple of sports teams, the rest of the world does not know much about STL or have interest in visiting, except for maybe family and school. Our young adults and those making headway in entertainment seem to want to leave (either no opportunities, no money, or no support given with the various “clicks” in groups), I hear people in the city say there is not much to do or there is more of the same, big shows and events come from other cities to perform here (where is STL’s big names of today?), we want to travel to other cities to see performances and get that vacation feel, kids are not as interested in the creative arts and therefore get into trouble or waste time on other things (not enough good examples or opportunities for them that channel growth), and the community network seems to just be a lot of small, try-hard, out for themselves, non-responsive, money only, only “when I have time,” impenetrable circles. With all that said, it’s not like we do not have the manpower, the talent, the resources, the property, or interest, to build that go-to city, creating must-see talents, and building an infrastructure to influence positive growth in the creative arts for all ages. We just need to do it more as a community and see the potential of supporting better music and entertainment (creating jobs by attracting people here, giving children and those lost more and better outlets in being active and creative, and create better community unity because these activities of music and entertainment do not discriminate and bring people together).
As I get older and experience difficult events in my life, I realize how these hobbies of ours help repair our soul. Whether it is family issues, a loss, or some emotional event, that one song that show that positive thing we enjoy doing is something we turn to. But at times, what is currently available in the world is not what we need to fill what it is we are trying to seek. People troll others, people are denied opportunities, people get made fun of, events are not available, things are produced only to make money and loses genuine emotion, and opportunities are only available to the elites, certain clicks, and disconnected across regions. This hurts people and creativity. The sense of community is lost. Furthermore, in a world growing more socially isolated and segregated with technology and social media, you never know what positive interaction can do for someone. We are who we are by our experiences and influences. However, not everyone has certain opportunities and exposures. Especially for upcoming generations, certain interests are phasing out, and certain opportunities or areas are not available anymore or emphasized. For myself, many people and experiences have shaped me into who I am today. But that is only because I had the opportunities afforded to me, which were then readily available. Not everyone has this, and life has a way of putting dreams on hold. With all that said, I find there needs new positive energy creating something better for a city that has given me a foundation to do so.
Overall, given my entrepreneurial spirit, education, and unique background, I wanted to take what I learned in my past and do something positive for the community. Therefore, I picked an area I am passionate and skilled at. I like playing and making music. However, I also had phases of dancing, gaming, video producing, art, magic, and other entertainment hobbies in my youth. I have come across shows that incorporated such various hobbies together and thought I could make something like that, something that was more entertaining. However, I have experienced how difficult it is for normal people, “weekend warriors” so they may be called, to have opportunities to perform, connect, and have unique experiences. So since I have the basic knowledge, experience, skill, support, and time, I decided to create Zyi Li Music and Entertainment LLC to help others and the community.
The immediate goal is to create new community events, build various unique groups, and create positive networks. Over time, we hope to create larger shows (performances, musicals, concerts, benefit concerts, and talent shows) while mixing groups and genres and showcasing local talent. In the end, we would like to create a large commercial property venture that puts STL on the map for music and entertainment. This is a place where we can constantly host one of a kind events (conventions, world record attempts, flash mobs, etc.), have shows and performances, allow and highlight street performing and busking, have unique activities to do (arts, crafts, carnival games, ax-throwing, etc.) across diverse cultures, opportunities to learn and educate, have local eateries and drinks, have competitions, and have good local and family-friendly fun for all people and walks of life. We all want to go to other cities to see things, experience things, and get famous. Let’s make that here in STL!
All in all, we started the community organization ZME last summer in 2020 in the middle of COVID. We wanted to give people a location to express their entertainment art, to be a part of a larger group that aspires to create something memorable on stage, and also aid people in their personal search and journey along the way. Therefore, we networked with people virtually, posted up ads in search of musicians and entertainers, went to other events available in the community to meet people, then started to form our own lineups (bands/teams) in different entertainment activities, started performing small events while reaching out to various businesses/venues, acquired equipment, built our virtual presence (to include community pages highlighting others in the community), started hosting events (open mics/karaoke/virtual collaborations), and helped give people consulting expertise as desired.
It started small with not knowing anyone, hosting events in the park with no attendance, and having lineups fall through. However, after consistency, grit, and a lot of time spent and hard work, we now have a strong community network of people we regularly work with, have hard-charging performing lineups, are working on increasing our professional multimedia content, and regularly host events that draw in a decent crowd. Most importantly, after a year, we have a decent understanding of the entertainment scene in STL and are able to reflect and adjust accordingly to become the most effective community entertainment organization for our community.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not been smooth. We struggled with keeping lineups together and keeping people who joined engaged. Promoting events and bringing people in the door for performances are always a struggle. Especially with COVID, even engaging people virtually is a pain. Headbutting with venues and businesses was also a struggle. For example, booking places to play music is difficult if you are a new band since you do not have content.
However, certain places will not even reply to you without having a large following, are signed with a large agency, or tailor music specifically to as desired for their location. That is understandable for a business owner. However, places seem to take live music for granted (by how they speak and treat musicians), do not help promote, provide minimal pay if at all, and do not make it easy to even set up equipment prior to a show. The same critique goes similarly for many entertainers and musicians who only join something that has a lot of gigs lined up who are able to play well, only desire to play a certain kind of music, do not care to rehearse, over-promise on their capabilities skill-wise, and are not professional as far as being on time, being communicative, or even “flaking” out on their word.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We call ourselves a community entertainment organization. We plan to be an all-inclusive entertainment organization. We do not consider ourselves a label or agency. Rather, we build our lineups (like bands) from the ground up, handpick people of skill and character, and focus our reach specifically on the Greater St. Louis Area. Our mission is to improve music and entertainment in St. Louis.
Basically, we want to up the caliber/quality of entertainment in the area, influence people and businesses to invest more and appreciate entertainers through support and a monetary contribution (especially original content), and provide more opportunities for the people that live in this city. As such, we host events open to the community, create lineups, and have an open network (a willingness to give people who ask consulting or work together with other venues, agencies, and event hosts in the area to work together rather than compete and be a “shark”). The biggest things that set us apart from others is our experience, knowledge, education, organization, approach, and professionalism in how we treat people.
What were you like growing up?
Zyi Li: I go by Zyi Li (pronounced “Z Lee”). This is a mix of my given Chinese (I speak Mandarin Chinese) and family names (Zheng & Li). My given English name is Andrew. I was born and raised in STL. I started playing the saxophone around the age of five after telling my parents about a picture of a bear playing a saxophone at a park. My private teacher was the band director at my mother’s school and was formerly a saxophonist for Ray Charles (I currently play Mr. Merry’s personal saxophones). I would grow up with music as part of my life. With my private teacher, I would play in various ensembles in my youth around the city of STL. During high school, I tried startup groups in various activities as dance (Aerofluct Creed). Upon graduating from Parkway North High School, I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a saxophonist and was stationed at Camp Lejeune. During that time, I would play in a various band and small ensemble settings, perform various styles, travel around performing for many events, and create my own bands. I would obtain my Bachelor’s in Business Administration Degree from Campbell University while attending mixed night and online courses on base.
After my about 4-year enlistment and obtaining the rank of Sergeant, I returned to STL to attend law school at Washington University in St. Louis and started a start-up social venture (Patch Life Utilities). After graduating law school with a JD, passing the Missouri Bar, and obtaining an MBA from Webster University, I eventually moved to Washington D.C. for a new job working for the federal government. While in D.C., I performed in various bands ranging from original music groups playing in bars to high-end agency bands playing for large weddings. I also began writing and producing my own original music. I then decided to move back to my hometown, the great city of St. Louis.
Jenny Wu: I started my journey with music at age three in Kao-Hsiung, Taiwan, and received professional-level training in both piano and violin throughout my youth. I started competing with the violin at age 7. During my childhood, I moved to Los Angeles, California and Denver, Colorado.
Between the ages of 13 to 16, I went on six rock and jazz concert tours in Taiwan with acclaimed musicians of Asia. I graduated with a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder. I eventually moved to Maryland to obtain a Masters and Doctorate degree in Violin Performance (DMA) at the University of Maryland, College Park. As a classical musician, I won numerous national competitions and performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia. I have also made numerous recordings in all genres of music for even Grammy award-winning artists.
Throughout the years, I studied and played with many prestigious teachers and professional musicians: Dr. William Starr (Founder, Suzuki Association of the Americas), Dr. Gerald Fischbach (Author, Viva Vibrato! & Artistry in Strings), Oswald Lehnert (University of Colorado, Boulder), and members of the Takacs Quartet (Grammy Award Winner), Guarneri Quartet, Cavani Quartet, Borodin Quartet, and Cleveland Quartet. I also received masterclasses from Yo-Yo Ma, Izhak Perlman, Dorothy Delay, Jonathan Carney, and Hilary Hahn.
In recent years, I became a director for Kushner Entertainment’s PopCulture Strings, Productions Coordinator for Kushner Entertainment company, and Entertainment Designer for Kushner Entertainment company and Washington Talent Agency. I am passionate about people. My goal in life is to create memories with the people I love, for the people I love, and for all that they love. In motto, “I want to live for other people so that when I ultimately leave this earth, my stories live on.”
Contact Info:
- Email: zyili.stl@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.zyilistl.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zyilimusic/
Image Credits
Joshua Katz Jim Turner
