Next weekend, San Jose’s Music in the Park returns, bringing three days of solid sounds to Plaza de Cesar Chavez. Kicking off the weekend is “King of Freestyle” Stevie B., topping a bill on July 25 that includes soulstress Jaya, freestyle pioneer Shannon and local DJ Cutso. Following on July 26 is the Psychedelic Furs, with Rooney opening.
Then on July 27, Music in the Park throws an Island Party, with breezy tropical rhythms courtesy of headliner FIA, a rising singer/songwriter of Samoan descent via Hawaii, as well as BigBodyCisco and Westafa, collectively known as Western Conference.
First on Sunday is emerging artist Acari— no stranger to local stages.
Born in the Philippines, Carina Valdes—whose stage name is Acari—moved to San Jose in 1999 and attended Silver Creek High School. Her mother’s a nurse and her stepdad is in tech. “I’m kind of the black sheep of the family when it comes to music.”
She recalls, “I definitely went to Music in the Park when I was young. That was the coolest thing to do back then.”
Acari got her start in April Chase, an emo rock band locals may remember from the early 2010s. “They reached out to me on MySpace. Remember MySpace?” she asks, laughing. “We actually all went to the same church, at Saint Francis of Assisi on San Felipe [Road] in San Jose.”
After a hiatus from music, Acari came back as a solo artist with “No Rules,” released on Spotify. The song was “hopeful,” Acari says—a pushback against “self-doubt and all that. Can I even do music anymore? Music is so saturated; there’s so many artists out there.”
She writes in the song, “I’m searching for something honest now.” And that was “exactly what was going on in my life at that time.”
These days Acari wields the mike with a new band—a collaboration with life partner Kenny Nishikawa—including performances at Art Boutiki (where they played with former April Chase bandmate Tim Atlas), J Resort in Reno (“probably the biggest stage I’ve ever played on”), Levitt Pavilion in St. James Park and the Catalyst in Santa Cruz.
Acari also performs solo at Mastro’s Steakhouse. “I jump from the one in Valley Fair to the one on Geary Street in San Francisco,” she says, doing four-hour sets that cover a wide range of genres: R&B, “slowish songs,” Top 40 pop and “a lot of 90s early 2000s hits. ‘Lovefool’ is probably my favorite song to play.”
“I have an island set,” she says, with numbers by the Beach Boys, the Green and Maoli. And she’s also covered, “many, many times,” the FIA hit “Love Me.”
“I love FIA.” she says. ‘And I get to open for him! Love it! Excited seems like such a tiny word compared to what I’m feeling.”
Looming largest in her landscape of musical influences are Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon, but other artists also shaped her style. “Even from childhood all the way ’til now. My grandpa used to bump a lot of Bob Manning and early ’50s and ’60s [songs] and we’d go on long car rides. I feel like I’m just a culmination of all those.”
She continues to define her own musical style and has entered into a distribution partnership with Future Asian Music, an offshoot of fellow San Josean Sean Miyashiro’s 88Rising media company.
“My newest song is called ‘Soft Trailz,’” she says, her voice animated yet filled with tenderness. “It’s my favorite song that I’ve written so far. I think it’s a lot more authentic to my vibe. I’ll be playing it at the show.”
Acari says it’s the first song she’s written since becoming a mother. “I wanted to expand my self-identity,” she says. “I tried to find myself again.”
She quotes the lyrics: “We’ll dare to go higher, higher than anywhere we’ve ever been. What you do to me, it’s medicine.” She says, “Having my son, it feels like my heart has been stretched out so much, and I feel like it keeps stretching. I want to see how far I can go to make his life worthwhile by pursuing my own dreams. I hope he can take something from that if he listens to it when he’s older.”
In addition to Nishikawa, appearing onstage with Acari at Music in the Park will be drummer Jude Cinco (“he went to South Bay Music School”), guitarist Anna Macan (“she was on a Tiny Desk episode with Ruby Ibarra”) keyboardist Angelo David and “a couple of people we’ve never played with before”: Alvin Mata on saxophone and her cousin Alissa Borja on background vocals.
Acari also enlisted the help of Filipina tattoo artist Reg Estrada of Gold Leaf Ink in San Francisco, who created “a traditional mom tattoo design” that will be emblazoned on banners that will decorate the stage at Music in the Park.
“I’m trying to work with local creatives to just help me out and get more people involved. I feel like music has become so introverted because everyone just listens on their own. … At church, music is a communal thing. It should be, you know? I’m trying to get other artists to help me—maybe make some jewelry for the show. Just trying to get more people involved.”
FIA, Western Conference & Acari will play at Music in the Park starting at 4pm on July 27 at Plaza de Cesar Chavez in downtown San Jose. Tickets: $35–$85. caltix.com
