Meet Remy Kuo | Songwriter & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Remy Kuo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Remy, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am Taiwanese-American and grew up in Suzhou, a city that’s about an hour away from Shanghai, and went to a British international school there. As a third culture kid, I struggled a lot with my identity because who I am is the result of three different cultures, and I didn’t know how to introduce myself to other people. A lot of my friends in college had been brought up in their home country, and I envied how they only needed to identify with one culture. I felt lost because I felt that I didn’t truly belong with the Taiwanese kids or the Asian Americans because I didn’t grow up in the same circumstances as them. In the past few years in college, I’ve met many other students with the same background as me, and it was fun to connect with them and talk about which international schools in China we’ve visited for sports competitions or music festivals, and which years we might have visited the same school without knowing it. I used to think it was a disadvantage to be from so many places that confused people whenever I introduced myself, but then I realized that my background makes me more interesting and I can create something with the best of three cultures. I would also love to be a role model for younger people who grew up in similar situations as me; it might seem rather insignificant to others but I think to be able to have someone with the same background as you to look up to, no matter how specific or niche their background is, is very powerful.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Growing up, I’ve always loved both art and music but I had to give one up when I chose classes for the International Baccalaureate program in high school. I ended up choosing music, and I’m currently studying at Berklee College of Music (in snowy Massachusetts, not sunny California). During 2020 lockdown, I put out a lot of music and also decided to pick up illustration. That’s when I started combining both arts, and now when I put out music, I always incorporate visual arts in the process. I design my own album art and also make animated music videos for my songs as well as for my fellow musicians.

For me, I’ve always found it difficult to decide on a specific genre or sound that I like – I’m forever discovering my musical identity. Labelling your music as a specific style helps listeners who are searching for a certain genre or vibe, but it also limits your thoughts about your creations and what you might be able to do if you didn’t label the genre of your music. I struggled with this a lot because people would ask me what kind of music I make, and I wouldn’t be able to give a simple, direct answer: “Umm, I write pop songs and I also make electronic music, but I don’t really know the exact style they are in ‘cuz they don’t fit in anything”/”It’s kinda pop but not really”/”Bro honestly I just make music. The end”

Just in general, making music is very difficult; music requires you to be vulnerable and show your vulnerability to the world, it requires you to persevere when you are running dry on inspiration, it requires you to fight the self-doubt is constantly lurking at the back of your mind, it requires you to focus on yourself instead of comparing yourself to others and their achievements, it requires you to believe in yourself and what you do. Honestly, choosing music was probably the scariest decision of my life because I don’t know where it will lead me and I struggle with a lot of those aforementioned requirements; but to a large degree, even if I haven’t come to terms with it, I believe in myself and I think I can do something cool here! I taught myself how to animate and my favorite parts is creating smooth transitions between different sections of the song – it’s sometimes really tricky to figure out where things go but the end result is super fun to watch!

I think that being my own visual director helps a lot in solidifying who I am, even though I don’t identify with a specific genre. Making my own cover art and music videos helps me anchor my personality and identity to my music, and even though stylistically my creations are all different from each other, they all embody how I felt and the version that I was in that period of time I wrote the music. I’m very happy that I’m able to combine my two favorite things and provide that for other musicians as an “artist for artists”!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My best friend came to Boston a few months ago, so here is a draft for Boston Trip 2.0: – dim sum at Sun Kong in Malden
– explore Seaport again
– walk around SoWa Vintage Market
– frolic at Winthrop beach (if the weather permits)
– traipse all over Allston in search of last-minute dinner plans
– gelato at Time Out

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have so many people I would love to shout out. I would like to thank my family for their unwavering encouragement and love for me growing up and pursuing my music career. I would also like to give a huge shout out to my friends from Berklee. I’m grateful for how we can learn from each other, support each other in our own music paths, and always have each other’s backs.

Website: remykuomusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/remytaikoninja/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6VbaJs9ElY7QxaErQxEuWA

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5iWsRpih1m9ghh1cGJ5Hbj?si=5_O3LVRURK2K5J7J_JDwMg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/remy-kuo/1514764080 Links to music videos featured in this interview: “Champagne” by Remy Kuo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olid1j3ICsk “I’ve Just Ruined Your Soup” by Remy Kuo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTyl2QFpMkc “All For You” by H. Jen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR2jxurmBqw “Lost In The Clouds” by H. Jen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXfuFMxG5ws

Image Credits
Paul Zhao Music video screenshots taken from “Champagne” by Remy Kuo, “I’ve Just Ruined Your Soup” By Remy Kuo, “Lost In The Clouds” by H. Jen, and “All For You” by J. Jen