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

How did you get into music?
It all starts with the big cassette player in my family’s living room. My parents love music, especially my dad. He had a few huge drawers full of cassettes and CDs. And I remember he always played different songs after work and on weekends. My grandpa is also a Chinese opera singer. So I’ve been listening to a lot of Chinese opera since I was little, and he taught me how to sing and perform. I’ve been singing and performing on stage since I was five. I started to learn piano in middle school and later picked up guitar and other instruments like drum sets and CDJs.

Who’s your influence on your music?
I would say my family’s music choice greatly influenced me when I was younger. My family loves listening to different types of music- my grandpa sings Chinese opera, my mom loves Cantopop from the 1980s, and my dad loves songs from Billboard and Oscar movies. So I grew up with different influences that shaped the way I compose. I listened to a lot of Mandopop and Cantopop when I was a kid, and then I fell in love with pop music from the 2000s, as well as rock music, hip-hop and EDM. I listened to Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Linkin Park, Eminem, Zedd, Calvin Harris, etc. Right after I went to college, I started listening to Jazz and R&B. So yeah, I basically listen to everything now, and all of these musicians affect the way I write songs at some point

     

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career?
I’ve always seen the vision of myself being an artist. And I enjoy doing creative things every day, like writing, composing, and painting. I used to have a wardrobe full of paintings and clothes I designed when I was little, and I have an mp3 recorder to record myself composing songs and singing during my teenage years. So for me, pursuing an artistic career is a natural choice that I always knew since I was a little kid. After I graduated from my first college, I tried different types of work. Some of them are nothing related to music. And something always pulls me back to the artistic path and reminds me of what I want to do with my life. And now, I follow my heart and go on the path I’ve always wanted.

What inspired you to start making your music?
To me, it’s the need of expression. I’m the kind of person who keeps a lot of things in my mind, and music is one of the ways I feel helps me to release these emotions and understand myself better. Also, when I make music, it’s like you don’t feel the time passing by; you are just simply being with yourself. It’s like another format of meditation. And whenever a great melody or a great lyrics line comes up, this kind of great excitement and passion makes me feel so good. And this feeling I got during the creation process keeps inspiring me to write more.

What’s the best piece of advice another musician ever gave you?
Be a nice person. Be nice to the people you work with, be nice to the other musicians you collaborate with, be nice to your fans. I used to ask this question to one of my mentors back in college. She’s a singer-songwriter, has been in the music industry for many years and collaborated with many great musicians we could call names. And she told me, “There are so many talented people in this world. So many musicians. But most of them didn’t make it in this industry. Because they see their talent as a gift and treat others badly. So you gotta respect whoever you work with, respect the people who support you and show you love, and not see everything as granted.” That’s the best piece of advice I’ve ever had from another musician.

Where are you from and how did your background and upbringing impact who you are today?
I was born in China and moved to the US in my early 20s. I grew up with the Chinese culture influence, and I would say some of the values I learned back there still greatly impacted me, for example, the Taoist spirituality. It guides me daily in my lifestyle, also reflected in my songs. One of my songs “Da Di Da La” talks about living in the moment and letting things flow. Besides, I feel that compared to the culture in America, Chinese culture is more implicit. The way people speak in China is not straightforward, and sometimes even prefer to keep their opinions to themselves. When I listened to pop songs from the US as a teenager, I was always so surprised by how those songwriters expressed their emotions and feelings openly in the lyrics. That’s not what you see often in Chinese poems- they use a lot of metaphors instead of saying their minds out loud with those straightforward words. So when I write my own songs, especially when I come up with the lyrics, part of me is still greatly impacted by the Chinese expression culture.

What has been your career’s most affirming and standout moment so far?
I think the most affirming and standout moment for me was not about the rewards I got. It’s the moment I realize if I put my heart into something, I can make things happen. I remember back in college, there was a time when I was obsessed with hip-hop music, and I really admired some rappers and lyricists who could express themselves so smoothly and flawlessly. And English is like a second language to me, and I felt so hard to express myself, not even mention rhyme. So I joined a hip-hop ensemble in my college, and on the first day in that class, the instructor who is a great hip-hop DJ and rapper from New York, asked me to freestyle, and I freaked out. And then he told us, the group of people in his class, that after two months, there would be a hip-hop showcase, and we all gonna go on stage to perform. And after that, I just started listening to a lot of hip-hop songs, I practice and practice rapping and also sometimes freestyle with my own words. It’s like the first time I pushed myself out of my comfort zone music-wise and tried to learn a whole new skill in such a short period. After two months, our music group went on stage. I’m one of the singers and rappers of that group. We performed eight songs and many rappers and hip-hop producers were in the audience looking at us. And I’ll always remember the screaming and shocking reactions people gave me and my group because I don’t look like a rapper to them at all lol. Even though that show was a part of my college but after that I felt so different on stage when I performed and I will always remember that night because it brought me great courage and faith.

Work-life balance: how has your balance changed over time? What do you think about the balance?
I think balance is extremely important, not just for work and life, but for everything. Sometimes I feel it directly affects the condition of my mental health and spiritual growth. You know, there are days you feel so good about yourself and extremely positive for the future, and then there are days you feel low self-esteem, and everything is just like chaos. I always feel my balance is changing all the time; it’s never like I totally figured out or I can just manage it well every day. Especially when you are on the way to pursuing something. When you are on the way to building the life you always wanted, but on the other hand, there is realistic stuff hanging you, and you can’t just totally ignore it. And here comes the balance. It’s definitely challenging. So I feel it’s really important to take good care of ourselves. Because when you truly take good care of yourself, your mind will become much clearer. And with a clearer mind, it’s not you trying to balance your life intentionally, but the balance will find you.

What’s the end goal? Where do you want to be professionally by the end of your career?
I hope my music can take me to see the bigger world and help me build connections with others I meet on this journey. I have always dreamed that one day, I could live like these big singer-songwriters and DJs, travel around the world, do tours, play their originals and remixes, and bring this amazing energy to people they probably would never have met. It’s all about connections and energies; we all need each other. I hope my music can take me on this journey and leave some good memories and experiences for others.

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