Music always fascinated me from an early age. As I learned to play and produce music, music has developed into ways for me to share my creative ideas, emotions and stories via connection and collaboration with others.
Music as a storyteller of emotions: I see music as a story and the instruments as the ones telling the story. FKJ is one of the artists that inspires me greatly because he makes his music sound like each instrument is a person conversing together with distinct character and perspective. In his live version of US on COLORS, I hear a sad piano next to a pond and telling the story of a quiet night where the percussion mallets sound like tapioca pearls bouncing on the sleek water surface of the pond. The saxophone sadly talks to the night sky about its worries and desires while the trees sway in the dark. The guitar sounds like wind chimes that blend in with the night ambience. In my opinion, FKJ is the best artist that captures melancholic emotions and its beauties. Another musician I admire is Bill Evans because he has mastered the art of piano harmony to express emotions. I am amazed by how he expresses hints of emotion in every note he plays through the subtle changes in his touch of the piano. Each note in “My Foolish Heart” selected beautifully alters the chord’s character changing how we feel.
Music as a connector: Growing up, I used to struggle with a sensory processing disorder and found it difficult to connect to others. However, by middle school and high school, I was belting out Sinatra during concerts and formed a jazz quintet with close classmates, bonding over our shared passion for music. As my community grew, so did my interest in producing music. When one of my songs hit 40,000 streams, I was stunned. Sharing my music in this way offered me a live wire connection to listeners, some in countries extending well beyond my hometown.
Music as a collaborative creation process: Music to me has also been a collaborative medium bridging across people from different genres and backgrounds into one project. I have been fortunate to attend several fantastic music programs such as NYU’s Summer Institute of Music Technology and Grammy Camp NYC that have encouraged deep musical collaboration. Through a collaborative creative process, we can create a song beyond any of our individual imaginations.