YST STORIES
Student Stories: Flourishing Passions - Development
“From a little spark may burst a flame”. The natural next step after kindling these budding interests would be to develop them into something larger; at the same time, like sparks, the process of forging something that we can be proud of often involves friction. The journey of going beyond the surface to pursue any interest, passion or craft inevitably brings trials. Such is the case for both Likie Low (BMus.3, MCP) and Wayne Oh (BMus.3, Audio Arts & Sciences).
“In the current climate of being a song writer, you submit songs every month. But you can’t be sure whether these songs would be chosen by singers. Even if they do choose your song, it takes a lot more to sell more songs and establish your career as a songwriter.” expressed Wayne, who mainly works within Chinese Pop.
Using the genre Electronic Dance Music (EDM) as her medium of expression alongside her training in Western classical and Chinese music (as an erhu player), Likie has also faced challenges, noting, “I want to create music that is fun and easy for many to enjoy, but writing it well to suit the various instruments involved is always an ongoing and important challenge.”
But despite the challenges, both musicians do enjoy being in the strides of their various fields. For Wayne, “What keeps me going is that I really enjoy writing songs, and being more focused on the process rather than being concerned with the complete product.”
“I think collaboration is a very vital part of being a musician – working with other musicians to refine and realise my works as well as make them more fun is what keeps me going,” a statement very fitting for MCP major Likie.
This openness towards collaborating with other musicians has led Likie to work with various ensembles such as contemporary music ensemble K口U Musik, in addition to forming her own groups to record works including her upcoming EP. Through Wayne’s perseverance and talents, his song, 《如果那天 What If》, has been released by Taiwanese Mandopop singer, Freya 林凡. He has also scored a contract with local song label, Funkie Monkies, a subsidiary of major record label Warner Music.
Similar to Fang Po-Yu (interview available in the previous section), Wayne has also found that YST theory classes, which focused on arrangement, have given him a great set of skills to work with in his song writing. “Because of the classical foundations that we learn here – such as writing for strings, or brass instruments, I can incorporate these instrumentations in my Mandopop songs to enrich the texture. These are things that can set your song apart from others.” Likie echoes some of Wayne’s points, sharing, “for my third-year Project, I’m doing EDM and a large ensemble consisting of brass instruments and a string quartet. It really has helped me to have this opportunity to experiment and showcase my ideas on a stage.”
Both Likie and Wayne hope to continue bringing their music to bigger stages, as they keep exploring the various nuances of both their crafts.
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