Q: Which instruments do you play?
A: The very first instrument I learned was the piano. Eventually, once I grew out of hating music, I learned about the ukulele and the guitar. My mother was the reason I started [playing the piano] at age six. I learned about the ukulele in 2013 when my family-friend taught me a few chords, and the same goes for the guitar. Time after, I self-taught the rest.
Q: When did you start making your own music?
A: I started producing my own music once I found [out about] Alex Aiono, a [guy] who makes music with only a laptop in front of the camera. When I saved [up] the money, I was able to get the same equipment [as him]. Once I got them, it was physically impossible for me to stop.
Q: What is it like to use GarageBand to produce your own music?
A: It was very frustrating to learn in the beginning and I hated every single second of it, but as I got used to it, I started realizing that there’s nothing else that I wanted to do. After seeing all these artists today and how they present their own style, it really makes me think, ‘what if that was me up there?’
Q: How did your love for music grow?
A: My liking towards music grew once I realized I get a certain feeling only when I’m making or listening to it. It’s plays as my escape from everything that’s going wrong and gives me hope for the things that could go right. I always think about how cool it is that you [can] combine all these different instruments to create something that seems to rush by, yet freeze time in a span of 3-5 minutes. Music can be so confusing yet so simple at the same time, and that’s why I love it. If you take the time to dissect each song, you’d see that so much is going on in such a small amount of time, and that’s why I have so much respect to many artists and what they do.
Q: What has been your biggest accomplishment with your music?
A: My biggest accomplishment all-around would be the supportive words [and] looks on faces that are given [to me] when I show [others] what I create. Until this day, I still have trouble believing them because I myself still have doubts. I tell those people, ‘you have no idea how much that means to me,’ and I don’t think they ever will. It’s as if every good comment is a good enough reason for me to keep going.
Q: How often and how long does it take you to make something?
A: Before, it took me weeks on end to complete even one project. Nowadays, it only takes about a few hours.
Q: How do you balance music with school?
A: I don’t. Sometimes, even during class, I just have the need to do something with music, whether that’d be listening to it or creating it. I feel incomplete even if I’m 10 minutes without it. The only thing that holds me over is when I tap my foot to the beat of the leaking sink.
Q: Which singers do you look up to? Why?
A: Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber and Hailee Steinfeld have had the most influence on me, given that they all work so independently. Watching live performances of them being oversung by their fans lets me imagine myself on stage with my fans oversinging me. I’m so in awe of how into their music they get, because when you watch their shut eyes, or the vein popping out of the neck, you can tell that they are so committed to the point they forget to breathe.
Q: In what ways have your friends and family supported you?
A: My grandma has endlessly supported me any help I need to pursue this dream. Also, and as much as I don’t want it, she helps with any financial issue I have with my equipment, but of course I’m beyond grateful for that. Another would be my friends and their kind, encouraging words, whether it’s a simple ‘good job’ to ‘I actually love this! Keep going!!’ The little things really go a long way.
Q: Where do you see yourself in the future music wise?
A: I see myself being happy, content and full of self-love. I say this because when I listen to my music, I just know that no amount of money can give me the happiness I get then when I’m doing what I love.
