Interview - Kevin Trinidad

Kevin Trinidad is a second-generation Filipino-American, born in San Diego, California in 1990. He moved to Hawaii with his mother and older brother, to join his aunt, following the traumatic death of his father when he was six years old. His father was a sailor in the Navy and his mother was an accountant. Upon graduating from high school, he enlisted for the Navy and got in for a chance of college tuition. During his decade-long experience with the Navy, he was stationed in Guam, Florida, Washington; and deployed to East Africa, Gulf of Oman, Philippines, Japan, and Malaysia. In 2018, upon leaving the military after a decade, he started a four-month experience of a nomadic lifestyle, travelling from state to state in his car with all his belongings, living in Airbnbs, during which he learned more about music on his musical journey. In 2019, he found a job at the George Bush International Airport (IAH) but was laid off at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic. He worked briefly for H-E-B as a personal shopper and now has returned to school, pursuing a degree in Music at Houston Community College.

Kevin is a freelance singer songwriter that performs in local music venues in Houston, and his music has been distributed on Spotify as “K.E.Trinidad”. He is part of the “Filipinix Artists of Houston” artist collective, and is one of the collaborator in HAAA’s spring exhibition in 2021, “Portal of Healing,” and his music was also featured in HAAA’s podcast episode “When Haru Met Saavi: Love Stories from the Houston Asian American Archive.”

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