‘Your Story’ is a collaboration between SquareFixed Photography (@squarefixedphotography), alongside various creative individuals in Singapore, in hope to spread more awareness of the local art scene and to inspire more individuals on their creative journey.
This week’s feature is Shaun Goh, a talented Singapore-based composer and producer. He has had numerous commercial releases, including with Knightvision (distributed by Warner Music), and leading Singapore-based label Umami Records. Let's get to know more about Shaun with an interview below.
When Did You Start Your Music Journey?
My journey as a producer/songwriter began probably just like many others in this age of bedroom producers.
Once upon a time (but actually not that long ago), Skrillex - Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites was the hottest dance track on the internet, a young lad, like many others, was entranced by the heavy bass and wicked sound work, by music and sound he's never heard before. That energy, that feeling eventually grew into a knack for listening to Liquidcity (liquid DnB) and Monstercat, for making beats, messin around with samples and synths and what not.
If you're talking about my journey in music, I credit my parents for getting me interested and started playing the piano early on. You've probably heard this story before.
Does your family supports you in pursuing your passion in music?
Yes, though they are realistic and want me to have a professional degree so my backup plan of sorts is software (did my degree in computer science).
Now that that's over with thankfully, I'm planning to focus 100% on making, learning and breathing music.
What type of music genre do you enjoy making?
I really enjoy writing music for orchestra, especially with more eastern instruments
(Chinese, Japanese etc.). Grew up listening to electronic music, so I also do enjoy producing dance numbers.
As a song producer, where do you get your inspiration from?
Influences these days tend to be pretty diverse since everyone's listening to everything from everywhere, so I've split them along genre lines for your reading convenience.
On the electronic/dance side, I enjoy ZHU, Porter Robinson, The Glitch Mob, Reol, Myth & Roid. On the more soundtrack side, I really like Yu-peng Chen, Kenichiro Suehiro, Kevin Penkin, Hiroyuki Sawano. Some more classical composers I really like are Debussy and Rachmaninov.
Some other major influences include Ryu (songwriter for EGOIST, Supercell), Slipknot and JJ Lin. (Speaking of which), I also wanna name a few Singaporean artists that have been a big inspiration: Foxela, MYRNE, Linying, Jasmine Sokko, Charlie Lim, Gentle Bones, and many many others.
Does making music in Singapore sustainable for your living?
As of right now, not quite. To support myself, the software and hardware I need to run this music production business, I teach part-time.
That does mean full-time music while juggling part-time work, but it is part of the journey! Just gotta manage your time wisely.
What’s your definition of music?
Music to me is that beautiful space and place where emotions shine through.
Any advice to people who want to pursue their passion in music?
The journey is long and hard, but not as hard as you think. Be brave, press on!
Do check out Music Composer Shaun Goh's Instagram (@brittlebearmusic) or visit https://www.shaungohmusic.com/ for more of his work. All photographs are taken by SquareFixed (@squarefixedphotography).
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