Meet Yi-Chen Chiang | Film Composer and Music Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Yi-Chen Chiang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yi-Chen, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I think any creative mind would agree that pursuing your art and your passion isn’t really a choice. I love writing music and I love films, so I almost feel obligated to pursue a career that indulges that passion. That said, I do believe there’s more at stake than simply what I enjoy. As a young woman and a Taiwanese immigrant, I think it’s really important that the entertainment industry pushes to include everyone’s perspective. Art will always be more inclusive, inspiring and meaningful if you can experience it not only as a means to express yourself, but also as a window into a creative mind who is completely different from you.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve worked on several film projects throughout my education and career. I think this is the only way to really see yourself improve and grow as an artist in any field, you have to find people to collaborate with and just create works. And not just as portfolio buffer, you have to dedicate yourself to the work and really engross yourself in it. I’ve tried to do this with as many projects as possible, scoring films like “The Faithful Heart,” “Dancing Man” and “The Limbo’s Voyage.” I think I dive into the collaborative nature of filmmaking more so than many composers. One project I worked on, “Lanny,” was still in the shooting stages of production when I came in to write the score. I ended up being on site for a lot of the shooting, even filling a brief role as an extra, and that time spent with the whole production team helped me connect with and have a deeper understanding of the film as a whole which contributed a lot to my writing process. “Lanny” was a challenging film to score. It posed a really interesting problem in that it is a very melancholic film with a lot of deliberate silence, so I had to be careful not to overpower the narrative. I decided to use very sparse solo piano or guitar for much of the film, but I didn’t feel like that satisfied everything that needed to be expressed to audiences. The main character, a little girl, experiences a slew of overwhelming emotions and goes through quite a personal transformation over the course of the film, something I felt couldn’t be adequately conveyed with such simple instrumentation. I ended up using my knowledge of synthesizers to construct entirely original sounds that could portray such a complex wash of feelings.
“Lanny” was also very close to home for me, as it was filmed in Taiwan, where I was born and raised. For me, a lot of what that film expresses can represent my struggles as an immigrant in the United States. Having to pursue my dream while also navigating not only a new location, but also an unfamiliar language and culture, has maybe been the greatest challenge I’ve faced. That dedication to my passion however, and my insistence on collaborating with other artists and forming important friendships, have been my saving graces.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Truth be told, I haven’t lived in this city for very long yet. There are a couple of delicious spots near where I work at the Warner Music Group building downtown, though! I’ll usually grab a few asada tacos from Adrian’s Taco Trailer on Mateo street, and when I want to treat myself to a delicious breakfast burrito, I’ll head over to the Geurilla Cafecito on the corner of 7th and Mateo. I also frequent Pizzanista just on the other side of 7th.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d love to recognize Larry Groupé and Steven Wayne Thomas, both of whom I studied under during my time at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Larry and Steven helped me not only to better understand how the film industry works, but they worked with me to fully realize my writing style. I don’t think I ever could have made it as far as I have without their knowledge and enthusiasm for my success.

Website: https://www.yi-chenchiang.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yi-chen-chiang-701429233/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOCdd097uAAOd3ud_sfa9aQ

Other: IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12716649/?ref_=ra_sb_ln SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-679626272 Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user167104494

Image Credits
Personal photo: Jonathon Ritter Additional photos Photo 1: Jonathon Ritter Photos 2-4: Edmund Song Photos 5-7: Ian Clarke