Daily Inspiration: Meet Alexie Weinzapfel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexie Weinzapfel.

Hi Alexie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Hello, I am Hapababi, an EDM artist based in NorCal, originally from SoCal. I got my start in the Music & Fashion industry through being the lead assistant to my brother, celebrity stylist, Joey Thao for 4+ years in the greater Los Angeles area. We worked endless hours to make the impossible a reality for live music events, music videos, ad campaigns, red carpets & more. It was an honor to learn & work alongside some of the best creatives the industry has to offer. I took every chance to ask insightful questions, observe the flow of a set, took note of the importance of each position/crew member and the minute details that make a project go from great to TIMELESS.

This position gave me the opportunity to travel around the country, work with artists I have always admired like Victoria Monet, Ariana Grande & BlackPink, attend prestigious events and grow rapidly, not only as a professional but, especially as a person. The accolades were nice but what I value most from this time was bonding with my brother while being a supporting role in building his career and profile. But as every chapter has an end, I came to a point eventually where I needed to have a dream of my own & stand on my own two feet. I started as an eager creative with no direction and left the position with a laser focus goal to pursue music with a practical gameplan.

Eventually, when I departed I applied all that I learned from behind the scenes to my own music project HapaZin with my partner Jaezin, and have been releasing music & performing live shows for the last 5, almost 6, years. We’ve steadily been growing our fanbase since 2020 but as of this last year, we have hit a stride & exponentially grown in our reach but especially our artistry.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The journey has been anything but smooth, however, I appreciate how every moment has molded and shaped my artistry. In the beginning it was difficult to find my identity as an artist and my authentic sound. Some of my most discouraging moments are when some ideas would seem incredible in theory but in practice wouldn’t land. And even more so when the quality of my songwriting felt elementary and I had massive writer’s block stirring up my imposter syndrome.

I had to break the cycle of self-doubt & overthinking to unlock my potential as an artist. I had to radically choose to express myself through my art & every live performance no matter how I would be perceived or what anyone would think. There was an alter-ego burning to be unleashed that I’ve caged up for the sake of respectability and acceptance. When i chose to step into that internal fire is when everything changed. When I began to write with intention, seeking real connections with passionate fans and step into rooms with confidence instead of fear, my world shifted.

As a completely independent artist we have opened for Little Miss Nasty at the Bourbon Room Hollywood, performed at Michael Ngo’s Runway Experience: ETERNAL in WeHO and just played our biggest show to date as support for Junkie Kid in Sacramento. We have collaborated with International Wrestling Popstar B3CCA, local LA public figure Aaron Valenzuela, and have some very big plans for the rest of 2026. All of which came from betting on myself, my business skills & talent.

As any artist will tell you, it can be lonely at times. Family and friends still watch from afar or insinuate this is just a short-lived hobby, whilst strangers on the internet or in the crowd show out and see the vision. The dichotomy of these two experiences coexisting can be draining or discouraging. But my advice to any other creative working towards their goals, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE DOUBT & NEVER STOP! Success comes to those with tenacity, that know the importance of resilience and can cash the checks their mouth writes. Take those once in a lifetime opportunities, believe in yourself to a fault and know your time can only come if you press on and don’t quit.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the frontwoman & songwriter for HapaZin. We are an energy driven, genre-bending duo. I am the voice & personification of our sound whilst my partner, Jaezin, is the brain of the project: Dj, Producer & Cinematographer. Our hope is to bring a new energy to the Rave/CLUB/Festival space while remembering the importance of the PLUR established by those before us.

We hope to inspire others to be unabashedly themselves and to find their community. As a Bi/Pan Hmong woman in the very white cis-male dominated Dj space, I hope to create safe spaces for those of the LGBTQIA+ community to dance, sing and be our CVNTY selves! Our music is for the outcasted, the sex-positive, the girlies, gays, theys, the gamers, the feral party animals, the divas, the dolls, the bitches, and anyone who calls the dancefloor their home.

Our live shows are like a live concert & a festival dj set have collided to create the HapaZin Experience. We take our audiences on a sonic journey with heavy bass, concise synths, witty lyrics and more for a full spectrum experience with moments to headbang, to throw it back, to sing-a-long, to cry and hug your friends. During our sets not one soul is cooler or better than another. Our goal is to make every person in the crowd feel that we are present and sharing this moment in time together as a collective. Attending our shows you are guaranteed an hour of freedom to be present, express as you want & let go of any fear of perception.

And to top it off, you can only hear the tracks on our setlists at a HapaZin show as every set we play is 95% to 100% self-produced originals & remixes by Jaezin. We never repeat a full set either, so you will always have new music to experience at any of our shows.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I am the queen of a side quest so a fun fact is that I am also a valet for a pro wrestler in Oakland, CA, the Dungeon Master: Dave Reckoning with his Chain Maiden: Peaches. I loved pro wrestling as a kid and rekindled that passion in my late 20’s. Last year I attended my first live wrestling event, the accidental phenomenon Hoodslam, in Oakland and immediately became a super fan. They have campy storylines, powerful women against meaty men slammin each other, tables, ladders, gooning and all ran by an inspiring trans woman Sam Khandaghabadi (known professionally as Dark Sheik).

Over the course of 6 months of attending I slowly became friends with the wrestlers and have found myself checking off bucket list moments like doing a spot in the ring and taking my first “bump” in front of a live audience. My favorite event I have gotten to be a part of as a chain maiden is the CaveRave in SF because it combined my two loves, Raving and Wrestling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hapazin.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hapababi/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hapazin
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/hapazin
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1y6LOnYpoINjg0sZ1YfXpj

Image Credits

Reonell Gloria
Jaskaran Mudhar
Tracy Hang
Joey Meier