Why give up Delta Crab?
I originally wanted a stage name that was memorable, easy to pronounce and spell, and communicated my desire to be more fun and carefree as an artist. Animals were easy to remember and I liked the idea of using orange as my brand color, so I went with Delta Crab.
Having a stage name was useful for a time. It made me recognizable on Twitch while also protecting my real identity from my work life. It helped me grow an audience from having literally zero fans. The Twitch clown persona that grew from the stage name was entertaining and added numbers to my following. I came to have a reputation for being a goofy entertainer with a creepy mannequin that would occasionally “sing” with him. The clowning on my channel continued to escalate as my channel grew, and I grew an audience that came for the jokes and the chaos.This all fit with the branding of my stage name, and it was useful. For a time.
But now I’m ready to stop being Delta Crab. While I still enjoy being funny, I’m no longer interested in comedy being the reason people join my community. I’m ready to be free of the crude sexual innuendo that came with the Delta Crab name. I’m ready to stop being a Twitch clown and to start showing my audience that I’m a livelooping wizard, a singer-songwriter that expresses himself authentically, a music producer that’s true to himself. I’m ready to stop hiding behind a stage name and be more myself as an artist.
Why go by Scott Hsu?
Going by my given name Scott Hsu allows me to be more genuine and authentic as an artist. It shows the confidence I have in myself as a creative. It shows that I embrace the way I look when I perform. It’s a statement about the respect I have for myself.
What’s so hard about going by Scott Hsu?
I used to downplay my Asian-ness to fit in to white American culture, and especially to fit in as a musician with the popular music scene I belonged to. It’s often assumed that Asian-Americans are outsiders in American culture (lookup “forever foreigner”), so I used to make extra efforts to mask my Asian-ness to gain acceptance. This was even more true for the world of rock/pop music, where male Asian-American representation is extremely rare. When I created the stage name Delta Crab, I hoped to communicate “I am one of us. I am NOT a foreigner.”
But now I don’t fear that rejection, and I don’t feel like I need to hide anymore. I’m proud of being Taiwanese-American, and I can properly show this by going by my very Asian-American sounding name Scott Hsu. I choose not to worry about negative stereotypes people might have when they’ve only seen my name and haven’t seen me perform my music.
Can I still call you Delta Crab, DC, Delta, Crab, Crabby, etc.?
I’d prefer you call me Scott from now on. I know it’ll take getting used to, but it’s important to me that you make the change.
How do you pronounce Hsu?
I prefer “shoe”, it’s a close English approximation to the Mandarin pronunciation.
Is that how it’s pronounced in Mandarin?
Hsu is the romanization of the Mandarin Chinese 許. It comes from a Taiwanese legacy romanization system for Mandarin called Wade Giles. To say 許, try to make a “sh” sound while the tip of your tongue is down, below your lower front teeth. The middle of your tongue should rise to the roof of your mouth to make the sound. This sounds is foreign to us English language speakers, hence why I go by “shoe”.
If you’re curious about how it’s actually pronounced, check out this video.
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