FULL COURT PRESS
Pak has been featured in The Huffington Post, The Seattle Times, King 5, Seattle Magazine, UW Magazine, and more.
Email daniel@pak.rocks for press inquiries.
Daniel Pak, who calls himself the "executive homie" for Totem Star, builds a legacy at their new home
By Shin Yu Pai
University of Washington Magazine, November 29, 2023
Daniel Pak, '02, of Totem Star recently moved the nonprofit youth recording studio and label into new digs on the second floor of the historic King Street Station. The newly renovated headquarters feature a 2,000-square-foot office space with a world-class recording studio.
Pak’s organization, which supports a diverse community of young music artists, joins a handful of youth-serving, performing arts-focused institutions that have been granted a 60-year lease at the old train station by the City of Seattle. The other tenants include The Rhapsody Project, Red Eagle Soaring, Jackson Street Music Program and Wh!psmart.
By Dominic Gates
The Seattle Times, November 12, 2023
The hustle of travelers on the trains that stop at Seattle’s historic King Street train station is set to merge with the bustle of young musicians, artists and theater groups.
Five youth-focused community organizations celebrated the opening Saturday of a new dedicated arts and culture space at the train station — a redbrick architectural gem with a prominent clock tower, open since 1906.
King 5 News, November 2022
King 5 Evening, April 2020
Daniel Pak performs his new single “Need Somebody” on King 5 Evening to close out the broadcast on Friday, April 17, 2020. The single comes out on April 22, 2020 on all platforms. Listen to Pak’s message to everyone staying home during the Covid-19 quarantine and watch his acoustic version of the song, recorded on his iPhone from his home studio.
By Gwendolyn Elliott
Seattle Magazine, December 2017
When Daniel Pak first stepped onto the University of Washington Quad as a prospective student nearly 20 years ago, he knew Seattle was the place for him. "It was a gut feeling," says the UW alum, who graduated with a degree in metallurgical engineering and was quickly recruited for a job with a six-figure salary as a nuclear engineer in O`ahu, where he grew up.
But he turned the job down to pursue his passion: reggae. He’d first grown to love the music during jam sessions on the beach in Kāne‘ohe, his hometown, and later…
By JaLynn Montes
Crosscut, October 2017
Daniel Pak has been making music for the good part of his 37 years on the planet. While on hiatus from his studies in metallurgical engineering and on a visit with friends, he had an epiphany: music was meant to be the center of his life's work.
He was feeling "sick and tired of seeing the status quo," he says, "with oppression and violence being so pervasive; it [was] maddening."
Music, he figured, would connect him “with like-minded people who really want change to happen.”
By Ashley Archibald
Real Change, May 2017
Watching the “Superhero” music video by local band Kore Ionz is a test of a one’s emotional mettle.
The pop feel, reggae beat and hopeful lyrics float in sweet contrast to the scenes playing out in front of the viewer: a police officer preparing to fire on a young person of color, rape and domestic violence.
“I will be your superhero / Fight the villains and save the whole world / Fly across oceans for you / I will rescue you,” sings Daniel Pak as each terrifying situation reaches its ultimate conclusion. Children dressed wearing capes and masks intervene in each situation.
By Sydney Parker
Seattle's Child, March 2017
Growing up on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Daniel Pak knew that music was in his blood. His father was a jazz pianist and taught him to play scales around age 6. In a few years, he had advanced to performing pieces by Mozart and Beethoven. But it wasn’t until he taught himself acoustic guitar at 13 that his passion was truly ignited. “That’s when I really found that music was more than just lessons. Music was something that would be with me every day,” says Pak.
By Erika Schultz
The Seattle Times, April 2016
Music producer Daniel Pak helps compose a guitar accompaniment with Alyssa King, 18, on her R&B song “Bluebird” inside Totem Star’s recording studio at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in West Seattle.
“Music is an outlet where I can express things that I can’t express to other people,” King said. “Oftentimes, I find myself writing about different emotions that I have that I always keep bottled up inside … Music makes me feel whole and alive and good.”
The freshman at University of Washington, Bothell, commutes more than two hours by bus to attend sessions at Totem Star.
By Ruth Kim
KoreAm Journal, June 2014
When plans to play a wedding gig in Hawaii fell through for Seattle-based reggae band Kore Ionz, the band members saw an opportunity instead of a setback. Their flight already booked, its members decided to go ahead and make the trip and film a music video for one of the band’s new tracks during the weekend visit to the island. For lead singer Daniel Pak, a Korean and Japanese American and native of Hawaii, it all felt right. He was going home.
The track for the music video they planned to make, “Feels Good,” is part of Kore Ionz’s new work, an EP of the same name, that the group just released in April. It marks the third album for the band, which, though based in the grunge capital of Seattle, carries relaxing island sounds and vibes that are central to Pak’s identity.
Banner photo by Avi Loud