Meet Joyce Oh | Artist & Entrepreneur

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

Hi Joyce, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My background is in film scoring and I worked as an assistant in Hollywood. At the same time, I was working on other projects as a contracted composer and producer. I found myself incredibly dedicated to the process of working with my clients to fulfill their needs, and I realised that in order to grow in this niche, I needed more time to give these projects the attention that they deserve. I wanted to be an entity which serves and provide value to other businesses. That was when I decided to start my own business as a music producer.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

Sure! I am a music producer, composer and pianist. My music is used to tell stories through the vibes it gives. In the US, I compose film/ TV scores for library music companies and indie directors. I’ve also recently ventured into making songs for ads. In Asia, I have a company called Storycraft Music Production, and it is primarily music for ads, jingles, and theme songs for business and corporate, which is a rising market for business owners who want to give their brands a presence on social media and stand out from the crowd.

My values in business are tradition and culture, open-mindedness, and focus.

When I work on scoring music with a film director,  it starts with a spotting session (taking timecodes on the director’s vision for each scene, whether each scene needs music or not, and the moments of “MX in and MX out”.) This is an integral part of scoring where we pinpoint the mood and colour of the scenes, and where the director explains the situation, characters and poeticism of the moments. It can also be very exciting, especially when I work with directors who have a strong vision or preference. It’s like a deep dive into their mind and their creativity…and it’s also a delicate process because they are showing their brainchild for one of the very first times. What happens next is a highly collaborative process where I start the music composition and get frequent feedback from the director. It is an art of combining my musical vocabulary and breathing life into picture.

For library music, I get briefs and I try to imagine a specific scenario in which the music I’m composing will be playing out. With song production, I blend my background in film scoring with my love for making pop songs according to my client’s needs. I take care in honouring their authencity and identity, while focusing on the practical aspects to achieve the outcome we desire, like the market and target audience. My favourite part is meeting with the clients, because I immediately get the inspiration for the music within a few days.

This year I’ve had multiple drastic events happen in my life, which was really a culmination of hardship and trials I’ve faced for the past 6 years, and I just..surrendered. To be honest, I actually have no idea where my career is taking me, because these events have caused me to reevaluate what is truly important to me. I want to work on what I love and I also take pride in providing value through my work.

One of my hardest challenges was, and still is, overcoming my fear and my limiting beliefs. I did not know how to value my skills which resulted in my saying yes to too many things out of insecurity, being underpaid for my work, and I was attracting people who were also disgruntled in the industry, or were very confused with the ever-changing landscape of the music industry. It was honestly a very low point in my career and nearly killed my passion for creating music. I am learning my boundaries rather than being stuck people-pleasing. Above all, I am learning how to take up more space, speak up, and advocate for what I’m worth, because your relationship with your self-worth is imperative when you are a business. I also believe that by raising the status quo, I am not only protecting my passion but also protecting it for others.

Over the second half of this year, I have had wonderful opportunities in making music come my way. That was when I realised everything I’ve gone through had been preparing me for this moment. The experience, the skills, the mindset and the confidence.

I’d like the world to know that I am so dedicated to giving the love and attention needed when it comes to solving creative problems – both in fulfilling the clients’ wishes and in the music aspect. I am highly intuitive of what solutions to give, and I get the strongest inspiration when I meet people and places. I truly hope that my voice empowers and inspires the people around me.

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?

I was without a car in LA for a year and so most of these places can be travelled to by foot, public transport, and enough sheer will, with the occasional spots that my friends drove me to.

Sawtelle Boulevard has great Asian restaurants. There’s a Filipino dessert stall called B Sweet, and one time they had Boba Fett dress up while promoting Star Wars and a wonderful live band singing upbeat romantic songs.

You have to try the Nasi Bungkus and Crispy Calamari at Simpang Asia in Palms.

Liberation Coffee is an LGBT community coffee shop which has the best Verve coffee.

Porto’s Bakery in Glendale has the best Milk N Berries cake.

There is this karaoke place where you perform in the crowd. My friends took me there for my birthday last year and we had such a great time entertaining the crowd with our shenanigans. I believe it’s called Cafe Brass Monkey.

West Hollywood has a special place in my heart. I love the houses and the pavement with sunlit trees. The aesthetic of the architecture was giving urban zen mediterranean surrealism. They have parades during Pride Weekend, where you get to see everybody fabulously dressed up and showing off their hot bods.

Hike up the Hollywood Sign.

Exploring Mulholland Drive through the valleys and overlooking the ocean is a must.

Thien Hou Temple in Chinatown to pray for luck and abundance.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to my family gives me unconditional and unwavering support, along with my relatives. They accept me and always find the opportunity to express their pride for me. This has been the source of my strength since the beginning of my musical career.

Shoutout to Alvin Wee, whom everyone in the film music industry in LA knows haha – and it’s with good reason. He introduced me to the community in LA, which connected me to people who gave me a chance to join their team. He also made the time to offer me emotional support, encouragement and practical advice during my hardest times in the city. I’ve also seen the way he supports our community time and again, which makes me feel really proud to know someone like him.

Pei Pei Chung from What Up Pitches has been a great mentor and resource for my introduction into the sync world. Her background and the way she got into music is quite interesting. Meeting her has opened up my perspective in this career.

I’d also like to highlight the AWFC and FCSL for their work in gender inclusivity, education, safety and awareness for female composers.

Instagram: @jovelure

Image Credits
Annatasha Saifol (Annatasha Visuals)