We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zyi Li a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Zyi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I wanted to start taking music more professionally during my divorce. Music was an escape for me at that time. At that point, I was already playing saxophone for about 25 years and played professionally with the United States Marine Corps. However, I took a few years off from really playing my horn and taking music seriously. The emotions during the divorce was a motivation for me to start playing more and to express myself creatively. Therefore, I started playing more with performing bands locally, was hired to do gigs/weddings, starting doing recordings, and wrote originals. Instead of doing things myself, I wanted to build a community of entertainers and form various bands; this is now known as Zyi Li Music and Entertainment in my hometown St. Louis, Missouri (zyilistl.com). We also host various community entertainment events free and open to the public to participate so that others going through similar emotional struggles have a safe place to go and express themselves. We are 2-years strong and have made a lot of memories and friendships!
Zyi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
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.
As to the problem, 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 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. In doing so, we hope to influence a higher caliber and quality in entertainment, both professionally on and off the stage, while ensuring artists and entertainers are properly valued and treated with respect. 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!
A little more about myself, 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 5 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 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 a 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.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
The community can have more opportunities for artists to express themselves. For example, allowing for ease of street performing, opening doors to live entertainment, and having good professional communication while also understanding the value of the artist’s time, creativity, skills, and required equipment. Otherwise, simply going out to see more upcoming original artists, tipping, following on social media, and simply being an active and engaged audience member.
: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The goal is to give people who are emotionally struggling with a life event a safe and positive outlet to express themselves through the activities that help repair their soul (i.e. music, dance, poetry, art, etc.).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.zyilistl.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zyilistl/
- Facebook: https://twitter.com/zyilistl
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zyilistl
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/zyilistl
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVS7eynEXagmSrWmzVUbU_g?view_as=subscriber
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/zyi-li-music-and-entertainment-st-louis?osq=zyi+li+music
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/zyilistl