3 Reminders Behind My First Released Song

I still feel unreal that my first-written English song, Swimming and Me, is on Spotify and other platforms now.

It is my biggest surprise and gift in 2022. It was like a dream, a dream that I’d never even dreamt of before. That’s the charm of life, that uncertainty. We never know which wildflower might blossom randomly in our backyard. Looking back, there are three great reminders from this journey that I want to bring to 2023.

1. Take action on what I want to do now instead of thinking about 1 year’s time.

This produced song was really an unplanned product. It just happened naturally, thanks to my curiosity and all the kind and encouraging people I encountered.

I love writing, but I found songwriting is much harder than writing personal stories. So, I thought I might need to start writing a poem, and a free poetry workshop was the way (thanks to the City of Adelaide Council for always organising great sessions). The lyrics part, done. What's left?

One day, my friend Joshua sent me a voice message, his impromptu song in the shower. Hearing the first line, a whole melody came to me.

Then the SCALA songwriting competition arrived, which gave me enough motivation to polish my song and perform.

With many people’s great reactions and my own love towards my song, the idea of getting it produced started to come into the picture.

2.?Everything has its timing.

So, I started to try to talk to some producers, but it didn’t go anywhere for various reasons. I therefore almost gave up this idea, too hard.

However, things changed at the Wirrina Bluegrass and Acoustic Roots Festival in late November. At the end of the festival, I didn’t have much to do, I then saw Andrew Clermont, one of my very respected musicians, around the stage, packing up. With curiosity, I went to him and asked, “I wrote a song, and I know you are also a producer. Would you like to have a listen?” The next morning, he took me to a studio to see his co-producer, Quentin Eyers. They turned out to be the perfect people for me to work with. Because they are not only producers but also musicians. They used their magic to make all my ideas into reality.

That made me think, maybe everything has its timing. Sometimes, we are so caught up with what we wanted to happen is not happening, so we get so frustrated and upset. Maybe sometimes it is just because there’s a better situation we’ve never thought of waiting there for us one step further. So letting go of our expectations and trusting the process will give us more peace. I know it’s not easy, but one step at a time.

3.?Trust my heart and ability to creativity

When I was excited to send my melody to my friend Joshua, he felt it sounded just ok. But thankfully, I didn’t let his opinion stop me from there. Because of my own love towards my ‘baby’, I sent it to another friend and great lyrist Adrian, who became a very important helper for polishing my lyrics later on, because he loved my song.

During the recording time at the studio, I was not confident, it was my first time. But Quentin was very good at picking up my body language, he could tell when I wasn’t satisfied. Therefore, I could be very honest to tell them my thoughts and ideas. Interestingly, most of them turned out to be really good.

One week after the recording, I received my song via email, some small parts I wasn’t very happy with. But self-doubt came into place again. Thanks to my friends and colleagues Nick and Kieren, “Trust your instinct. It’s your song, so you need to be happy about it, not us.” That gave me the courage to speak up instead of worrying about being too demanding or sensitive. Again, after changes, Quentin told me they made the song sound better.

What a journey! When I saw Andrew also share my song and his words towards me on his social media, I felt so much warmth.

From now on, I will give more trust and confidence in myself. What I will do and what other creative projects I will get involved with this year, I don’t know, bring them on. I am excited to meet you all ?? ??