I was drawn to music because it speaks to my desire to connect with the world. I can literally sit alone in my room, compose songs, release them and have people from all over the world relate to something so personal. It’s a great feeling to see my songs pop up on people’s vlogs, gaming sessions or IG stories. I also love meeting new people, traveling and learning about different cultures. Music is a great medium to achieve all of that. I’ve still a very new producer but I’ve already made a lot of great friends, met amazing people and gathered many new perspectives. I hope this trajectory continues.
Your track “Perfect Symmetry” is absolutely amazing! How did you achieve such a great signature sound in such a short time? Also, what is your creative process like?
Thank you! I’m really glad you like it. I
think a good way to improve quickly as a producer is to allocate one hour each
day listening to music, writing down specific parts you like and incorporating
them into your own productions. The fact is no two individual’s musical
influences are identical. I know if I let my musical influences shine through,
I’ll end up creating something unique.
All my songs start with a theme. It can be about a breakup, carpe diem, or a life lesson I recently learned. With usual, overdone tropes like romance, I try to nuance it to make it less cliché. For example, “Perfect Symmetry” is a song about love but I nuanced it with themes of patience, perseverance, and gratitude. After coming up with a theme, I write the lyrics, chords and come up with an arrangement. I know I label myself as a producer but my creative process emphasizes songwriting and puts production in a supporting role. It’s a bit counterintuitive but lyrics are the most important to me haha.
Going over your Soundcloud we can tell you love experimenting with new sounds. Can you tell us more about your studio setup and some of your favorite plugins/instruments?
I’m still honing in on my sound so a lot of my songs are quite scattered, especially the older ones. I even released a melodic dubstep song, a genre I doubt I’ll produce again. Currently my studio consists of an acoustic guitar, electric guitar and bass guitar. Guitar is my main instrument. It’s what I’m most comfortable with and the instrument I was formally trained in. I compose my melodies and chords on the guitar and copy it to different instruments. Outside of instruments, I use Yamaha HS-8’s for my monitors, a midi keyboard, an Apollo Twin Duo, a couple of mics and that’s about it. For plugins, I love Serum and Omnisphere. Fabfilter is great for FX and you can’t go wrong with UAD’s set of plugins for mixing.
Your music sounds very organic and authentic. Do you play any real-life instruments?
I do! I play guitar, bass, piano and drums,
listed in order of proficiency. Including organic elements in music is
something I like doing. I find it quicker to get ideas across when playing
instruments rather than tweaking parameters on a soft synth or notes on a piano
roll.
What are your musical goals for the future?
The main goal right now is to make a
full-time living with just music. I still hold a day job to keep me afloat.
It’s difficult to make a living with music but I know it’s a matter of patience
and hard work. I’m undeterred!
In the long-term, I hope to travel the
world playing music, collaborating with musicians and creatives from all over
the world, even with those outside my genre and line of work. Music is
everywhere and creative processes differ from region to region. For example, the
chord progressions in Japanese music are incredibly unique, while Africa houses
such a great variety of percussive instruments. The intersection of culture and
music is fascinating to me.
On a less “meta” note, a collaboration with Manila Killa would be a dream come true. He’s my favorite producer.
What are your goals for the coming months? Any upcoming projects we can get excited about?
I’m releasing music on a monthly schedule.
The goal is to maintain the cadence, keeping my momentum on the up and up. It’s
too easy to give into inertia. I see it all too often in the music industry,
especially among newer artists.
In terms of new projects, I just released an English cover of BLACKPINK’s Hope Not with Lee Ka Si, who is a long-time collaborator. Be sure to check that one out! As for originals, she and I are also working on another track that is due around the beginning of October. It’s honestly the best song I’ve written. I’ve never been as excited as I am for a track before. Stay tuned!
