Speaker 1: You've got to throw yourself like fifty million percent into
Speaker 1: the one thing. I guess the philosophy that I love
Speaker 1: to go by is like nothing's impossible and don't be
Speaker 1: afraid of the word no. The biggest thing was my
Speaker 1: mom telling me, don't wait for someone to offer you
Speaker 1: the album and just create it. Welcome to the Sees
Speaker 1: the Yay Podcast. Busy and happy are not the same thing.
Speaker 1: We too rarely question what makes the heart seeing. We work,
Speaker 1: then we rest, but rarely we play and often don't
Speaker 1: realize there's more than one way. So this is a
Speaker 1: platform to hear and explore the stories of those who
Speaker 1: found lives they adore, the good, bad and ugly. The
Speaker 1: best and worst day will bear all the facets of
Speaker 1: seizing your Yay. I'm Sarah Davidson or a spoonful of Sarah,
Speaker 1: a lawyer turned unentrepreneur who swapped the suits and heels
Speaker 1: to co found Matcha Maiden and Matcha Milk Bar. CESA
Speaker 1: is a series of conversations on finding a life you
Speaker 1: love and exploring the self doubt, challenge, joy and fulfillment
Speaker 1: along the way. Hello, Lovely Yahborhood, and welcome to our
Speaker 1: second guest, episode of the year. Continuing on our musical theme.
Speaker 1: To kick off twenty twenty three, we are chasing our
Speaker 1: classical singer Josh Pittman, with a classical pianist and one
Speaker 1: of the country's very best at that. You might remember
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago, Andre and I were lucky enough
Speaker 1: to attend a candlelight concert where we cried our way
Speaker 1: through an hour of Van Annuin's spine tingling renditions of
Speaker 1: Disney's Best and Brightest, accompanied by cellist Ali Partridge. Well
Speaker 1: earlier that day we actually recorded an episode as well
Speaker 1: on how one actually goes from a musical childhood which
Speaker 1: is not especially uncommon to an internationally successful career, a
Speaker 1: deal with Universal Music, eleven albums accounting Arian nominations, and
Speaker 1: a dream live between LA and Australia, which is definitely
Speaker 1: less common. You'll hear quickly how much I loved getting
Speaker 1: into the nitty gritty details of life as a professional pianist.
Speaker 1: You guys know I love to get into a niche community.
Speaker 1: How do you train your fingers? Do you have to
Speaker 1: get insurance for your hands? Can you play any song
Speaker 1: that you hear without any sheet music? And of course
Speaker 1: Van ann is one of those people who can just
Speaker 1: play any song straight after hearing it, which is incredible.
Speaker 1: We nearly got to put her to the test at
Speaker 1: a piano shop over the road, but of course she
Speaker 1: had her show straight after, so when run out of time,
Speaker 1: I could have sat with this incredible woman for hours
Speaker 1: and watched her play for many more hours than that.
Speaker 1: I'll include some snippets of her playing actually in the
Speaker 1: show notes and on socials so you can experience her
Speaker 1: exceptional talent and unique ability to fuse Beethoven with Brittany
Speaker 1: and somehow make it work. Her take on classical music
Speaker 1: and ability to do both the conventional and the war
Speaker 1: modern is just unrivaled. And I really enjoyed this one
Speaker 1: so much, so I hope you guys like it as
Speaker 1: much as I did. Welcome to CZA Excited. I'm so
Speaker 1: excited to have you and in person, because you're a
Speaker 1: Sydney gal. We've well, I followed you definitely for many
Speaker 1: years and then just like slid into your DMS one
Speaker 1: day and was like, hey, are you in Melbourne anytime soon?
Speaker 1: We made a word, you know, finally you've got like
Speaker 1: two days here. I managed to grab you for an hour,
Speaker 1: so thank you so much. Thanks for having me. So
Speaker 1: before we get into the chat, I'm sure you already
Speaker 1: know one of the big things that gets me so
Speaker 1: excited is exploring a niche community and explaining also how
Speaker 1: you got there and the fact that you didn't wake
Speaker 1: up with the career you have now. But before we
Speaker 1: get into that, your life is so beautiful and glamorous,
Speaker 1: and you're always performing and wearing beautiful gowns, and like
Speaker 1: the piano in itself is just such a glorious instrument.
Speaker 1: But I'm sure there's some really down to earth, grubby stuff.
Speaker 1: What I hope there is, because I have nothing to
Speaker 1: relate to you about absolutely. What would you say is
Speaker 1: the most down to earth thing about you? I guess
Speaker 1: it's not. Kind of the dresses are pretty, right, and
Speaker 1: that very pretty. I don't always get to have someone
Speaker 1: to do my hair, for instance, like you're doing your
Speaker 1: own hair, you learn how to do your makeup, all
Speaker 1: those little things like if they're big shows, then you
Speaker 1: get someone to do them for you. But like and
Speaker 1: then getting from A to B, like how do I
Speaker 1: work out my uber eats? Like between shows? You know,
Speaker 1: normal things. The funniest thing when you arrived here is
Speaker 1: you were like, it looks like a moving house, but
Speaker 1: I've just got my clothes for the concert tonight. And
Speaker 1: I've just laughed so much because there have been so
Speaker 1: many days, especially on a hot day, where I've got
Speaker 1: like seventy five coat hangers over one arm, Like whenever
Speaker 1: I'm shooting here and i rock off and I'm sweaty
Speaker 1: and I've been in an uber and I've got food
Speaker 1: out of my mouth, I'm like, it's just it looks
Speaker 1: polish on the outside, but most of it is the opposite, totally, totally.
Speaker 1: And then like if I'm selling merch, for instance, and
Speaker 1: I have to set up the merch table, do I
Speaker 1: have any help? Am I going to hire a friend
Speaker 1: who's like a promo friend just help sell it? Or
Speaker 1: am I standing there signing seats, chatting to people and
Speaker 1: using this little square making sure the tech works because gosh,
Speaker 1: they update those things all the time. So do you
Speaker 1: do all that sometimes all of it yourself? Yeah, Like
Speaker 1: to my god, I'll be like play piano, run out,
Speaker 1: Oh hi guys, yes, it's finals. I'm a checkout chick
Speaker 1: as well. Oh well, multi talented to say the least,
Speaker 1: so let's get into how you got to where you
Speaker 1: are today. And I think it's safe to say you're
Speaker 1: one of the most successful musicians in Australia. We just
Speaker 1: were talking about the fact that you have eleven albums,
Speaker 1: which is wild, have won all kinds of awards, some
Speaker 1: as the youngest Australian who ever achieve those accolades, and you're,
Speaker 1: you know, just an incredibly sought after concert pianist. But
Speaker 1: I think people who walk into your life now where
Speaker 1: you're getting huge gigs, you're signed to Universal, it's like
Speaker 1: the dream forget that you were once a little kid.
Speaker 1: You once had no idea if you'd end up here.
Speaker 1: And I think we also assume with music that anyone,
Speaker 1: because you started so young, that this you know, pathway
Speaker 1: was straightforward, like you start a piano and now you're here.
Speaker 1: But I'm sure or it wasn't like that. So can
Speaker 1: you take us back to the very very beginning, even
Speaker 1: your pathway through school and whether you thought the arts
Speaker 1: would be a career and how you kind of navigated that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: tell me about yourself. So I guess I was lucky
Speaker 1: enough to have parents both who are musicians. Oh they
Speaker 1: really Yes, My mum's an opera singer and my dad's
Speaker 1: a classical guitarist. Oh so, like literally born into this
Speaker 1: world of music, never forced into taking it as a career.
Speaker 1: But of course everyone's like, oh, you had Asian parents,
Speaker 1: Like did they force you to parents? Exactly, No, they
Speaker 1: didn't force me to practice. I probably did honestly half
Speaker 1: an hour a day up until the age of about
Speaker 1: eight or nine, which may sound weird that it's not
Speaker 1: a lot, but there were many other peers who were
Speaker 1: like two hours a day. I had friends whose parents
Speaker 1: were like crazy, They're like, if you don't do an hour,
Speaker 1: you're not getting breakfast. That kind of like craziness. So
Speaker 1: I was like, I had a kushi life in terms
Speaker 1: of likely half an hour a day, you know, but
Speaker 1: I enjoyed it. I remember mom was like, oh, you
Speaker 1: would ask me to give you a lesson, you know,
Speaker 1: my mom would like, go off and teach all day,
Speaker 1: come back, and then I'd be like, teach me. So yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's sort of how it started. Did all my grades,
Speaker 1: got all of that out of the way, started doing competitions,
Speaker 1: became really obsessed with competitions, not because he was the
Speaker 1: obsession or I think it wasn't the obsession of winning.
Speaker 1: It was never about winning. It was actually about being
Speaker 1: in a space with very like minded people. And everyone
Speaker 1: was there playing piano, and I made this amazing group
Speaker 1: of friends who I'm pretty much still in touch with.
Speaker 1: And yeah, and some of them aren't doing music anymore.
Speaker 1: Some of them went and did law or became a doctor,
Speaker 1: then ditched that went back to music. Like we have this.
Speaker 1: It's a conflict, right because with music, especially as a pianist,
Speaker 1: it's pretty lonely. Yeah, you're playing by yourself. It's not
Speaker 1: like you're a violinist and you can audition to join
Speaker 1: an orchestra and play with a group. I guess you can.
Speaker 1: It's still a piano in the orchestra, but it's a
Speaker 1: slightly different role. Like you're kind of in the background.
Speaker 1: I want to be out the front playing and there's
Speaker 1: one of you, not like exactly seventeen pianists sitting next
Speaker 1: to like the violinist. Yes, exactly. So I always knew
Speaker 1: that I wanted to be a pianist for sure, But
Speaker 1: at the end of high school there's always that question,
Speaker 1: like what are you going to put down for what
Speaker 1: university is you're going to go to and I literally
Speaker 1: just had music as my number one and I had
Speaker 1: nothing else, Like what else should I do? And then
Speaker 1: I guess, like I enjoyed writing and being creative in
Speaker 1: that way, so I was like, I guess journalism would
Speaker 1: be one. But this is after having gone to America
Speaker 1: to trial college. It wasn't what it was that I thought.
Speaker 1: It was, like, it was very competitive. I didn't like
Speaker 1: that kind of competition. Was just kind of in it
Speaker 1: for themselves. So then it came back did a journalism
Speaker 1: law degree, but then dropped out on the law like
Speaker 1: four years in. Yeah, I know, I just had another
Speaker 1: year left here. My mum will never let me live
Speaker 1: that one down. Wow. Okay, that was so interesting because
Speaker 1: I think there is so much to be said for
Speaker 1: that expectation at the end of school, even for someone
Speaker 1: who obviously had shown talent and promise and passion ye
Speaker 1: not having been forced into it. I mean, you started
Speaker 1: what at thirteen months I think I read or fifteen months.
Speaker 1: It's been quoted as yes, still very young, yes, And
Speaker 1: it kept going all this time. The fact that you
Speaker 1: even still thought, but I should put down something like
Speaker 1: and even with my parents being musicians. They were like, Oh,
Speaker 1: you should just put something like that's safer. Yeah, even still,
Speaker 1: but I guess it's always that like security. You know,
Speaker 1: being musician is literally especially a freelancer. Yeah, you're constantly
Speaker 1: either having to find work or that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: So and I didn't want to be a teacher. I
Speaker 1: was teaching like that was kind of like my part
Speaker 1: time job. But eventually, as the travel picked up and
Speaker 1: as the show's picked up, it wasn't fair on the
Speaker 1: students to have random lessons like once every month. You know,
Speaker 1: that's not fair on them, and I knew that. I
Speaker 1: think what I understand now is you've got to throw
Speaker 1: yourself like fifty million percent into the one thing. You know,
Speaker 1: you can't have a safety because if you have a fallback,
Speaker 1: it will always be safe. And I think by throwing
Speaker 1: yourself fully, it's like that's how I'm going to survive,
Speaker 1: Like I need to survive, So what am I going
Speaker 1: to do? Oh? I love that so much. And I
Speaker 1: think that is why while people still allow themselves a
Speaker 1: safety net, they often don't get they don't do as well,
Speaker 1: and then they're sort of they use that as proof
Speaker 1: that they should never have jumped in the first place,
Speaker 1: but you're like, no, no, no, you just never let
Speaker 1: go fully, you never gave it a chance. And I
Speaker 1: think it's so interesting that you went down the journalism
Speaker 1: law path, even invested four years of your life in it,
Speaker 1: and must have hit a point where you were like,
Speaker 1: even though I'm so close, it like obviously hasn't disadvantaged
Speaker 1: you at all that you didn't finish. And I think
Speaker 1: there's so much pressure on us to like the should well,
Speaker 1: I should finish because I've come this far, and the
Speaker 1: whole idea of but I've wasted four years. But I
Speaker 1: don't think anything's a waste if that's what it took
Speaker 1: you to realize that what you want is music and
Speaker 1: you can make that work without a plan by like
Speaker 1: I imagine it was a really scary decision at the time,
Speaker 1: But how did you kind of push yourself to being
Speaker 1: okay with the scary position of having no plan B
Speaker 1: like ripping the band aid and leaving a debrisity You're
Speaker 1: so far in so at the time doing journalism and law,
Speaker 1: I was still going away to do piano competitions and
Speaker 1: still doing concerts, and it was actually it just got
Speaker 1: to a point where it was too much. I'd have
Speaker 1: to come back after two weeks of say being in Germany,
Speaker 1: and then have like four thousand pages of black Letter
Speaker 1: Lord to read and digest. And it's like constitutional law
Speaker 1: and it's so dry, and I was like, at least
Speaker 1: favorite subject, right, I was just like, I actually can't.
Speaker 1: I'm not basically, I just wasn't passionate about it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so then why do it? That was it. But I
Speaker 1: would advise any musician. I really wish there was like
Speaker 1: a subject like contracts that was in a music degree,
Speaker 1: because I mean, it's helped me so much just to
Speaker 1: be able to read through and slightly understand. Obviously you
Speaker 1: still need the professionals in the end, but at least
Speaker 1: it helped me like just draw up simple contracts just
Speaker 1: for basic gigs because musicians get screwed over so much.
Speaker 1: Because yeah, totally totally, And I think that again is
Speaker 1: like being able to look at an investment of time
Speaker 1: in something and think like, I never became a lawyer.
Speaker 1: I didn't finish my degree, but I learned valuable things,
Speaker 1: and I totally nothing is a waste if you learned
Speaker 1: something from it, absolutely, even if it's to learn what
Speaker 1: you don't want that still is more information to figure
Speaker 1: out totally what you do. All right, So then sort
Speaker 1: of not allowing yourself to have a plan B and
Speaker 1: going all in, like five hundred percent into this career,
Speaker 1: particularly a competitive one and particularly one that isn't known
Speaker 1: for stability or you know, there's so much risk going
Speaker 1: into the creative world as an artist. How did you
Speaker 1: get from oh my gosh, I'm taking this leap, I'm
Speaker 1: going full time and then you know, building your name,
Speaker 1: Like to any aspiring musicians out there, how do particularly
Speaker 1: in something like piano where you can't work your way
Speaker 1: up inside an orchestra. If you want to solo perform,
Speaker 1: how do you make a name for yourself? How do
Speaker 1: you make the right contacts to you know, get a
Speaker 1: contract with univers or do an album? Also being I
Speaker 1: think classical music has had such a resurgence, but it
Speaker 1: was daggy for a little while as what we did
Speaker 1: in school, and you've made it like you did. I
Speaker 1: think it was techno to Chopine like I was like,
Speaker 1: you are using the coolness with like your technical like
Speaker 1: it's amazing, but people don't listen to you until you've
Speaker 1: made a name for yourself. So how did you build
Speaker 1: your pathway or path Ya as I called yes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So the biggest thing was my mom telling me to
Speaker 1: don't wait for someone to offer you the album, right
Speaker 1: and just create it. And I was like, what do
Speaker 1: you mean, like it just like it's costly and it's
Speaker 1: you know, you need to go to a recording student.
Speaker 1: And at the time, recording was not as easy as
Speaker 1: it is now. You know, like you really had to
Speaker 1: go into a proper recording studio. I mean you still do,
Speaker 1: but the means are a little easier now there's tools.
Speaker 1: But yeah, you know, hiring recording studios, all of that.
Speaker 1: And she's like, well, put a concert on, raise the
Speaker 1: money for it, and then use that money to create
Speaker 1: the album. And so that was the very first album
Speaker 1: that I did when I was twenty one, and it
Speaker 1: was purely classical. I was like training really hard for competitions,
Speaker 1: so it was really good to document that. I feel
Speaker 1: like that peak of being just like classical, solid classical
Speaker 1: solo piano playing. At the same time, I was sort
Speaker 1: of battling like identity because like I love classical, but
Speaker 1: I really wanted to relate to a younger audience. I
Speaker 1: wanted to not just see white hairs at a consonant,
Speaker 1: you know, like how do you do that? It was
Speaker 1: really frustrating for me because I really wanted more people
Speaker 1: to love classical. So then fast forward like four years
Speaker 1: and I get to I was like, I'm going to
Speaker 1: fuse like beats in and that was the journey of
Speaker 1: this crossover. And even then it was still quite classical,
Speaker 1: but it was just like, how do I inject a
Speaker 1: little bit of like hip hop beats in there or
Speaker 1: just like other elements. That's when crowdfundings started from me,
Speaker 1: and this was fun twenty twelve, so craft funding was
Speaker 1: quite new at the time as well. And I used
Speaker 1: this platform called Potsable and it was amazing, Like I
Speaker 1: just raised a ton of money and it really helped,
Speaker 1: and I decided that I wanted to do at the end,
Speaker 1: if you donated enough money, you'd get tickets to my
Speaker 1: album launch, which was at the Sydney Opera House and so, oh,
Speaker 1: my your first album. That would have been my first
Speaker 1: crossover alb work yeah, but still self funded, independent released
Speaker 1: all of that jazz wow. Yeah, So just like it
Speaker 1: was aiming for, like hi as high as you could right,
Speaker 1: it was like, what was my dream? I totally went
Speaker 1: trifold over budget, of course, because I didn't know how
Speaker 1: to necessary learning curve. I had no idea how to
Speaker 1: budget for anything, but had all these dreams like I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: I want this Australian designer to create address for me,
Speaker 1: like I love fashions, and then had that element in it.
Speaker 1: I wanted to dress my orchestra, so I had like
Speaker 1: ten musicians that were all dressed by this one designer
Speaker 1: and so like just that's why it went, you know,
Speaker 1: Trifold and all that. But yeah, so essentially like building
Speaker 1: all of those projects and then I guess word spreads
Speaker 1: and you know, nothing's better than word of mouth, I think,
Speaker 1: and then kept going, kept evolving. Universal came along four
Speaker 1: years ago, and again it's by creating and using all
Speaker 1: the tools that we have right now, like YouTube and
Speaker 1: all the social media elements to put yourself out there consistently. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that they ended up seeing a video and it's actually
Speaker 1: the most hilarious way it started. I was on a
Speaker 1: cruise ship about to sail out of Sydney and I
Speaker 1: get this email from one of the execs and he
Speaker 1: was like, oh, can you come in for a meeting.
Speaker 1: There's this album that you sent a press release about
Speaker 1: two months ago that we'd like to talk about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I was again going to self release, and this
Speaker 1: was the Pop Alchemy album, which is me like fusing
Speaker 1: Destiny's Chwer with Brittany with Beethoven. And again I was
Speaker 1: just like, I'm ready to just self release because that's
Speaker 1: what I'm used to and it's worked. And so literally
Speaker 1: they did this skype call with me on the boat
Speaker 1: whilst I was in the middle of the ocean. You
Speaker 1: was so sketch, but yeah, I guess they saw the
Speaker 1: bridge that I was trying to create between the generations
Speaker 1: and also just trying to make classical music relevant. But
Speaker 1: also it's my personality in that, like I love the classical,
Speaker 1: I love the pop stuff, and yeah, so that's sort
Speaker 1: of where it's at. I love that you started by
Speaker 1: self releasing, because I think there is such a fear
Speaker 1: and self doubt around putting yourself out there. But particular,
Speaker 1: I mean everyone has it. Let alone when you're doing
Speaker 1: it public, let alone when you're a performer, and let
Speaker 1: alone when you're a solo performer. That's doing something that
Speaker 1: the industry has traditionally like I imagine purists are like, what
Speaker 1: are you doing exactly? And then like pop an R
Speaker 1: and B singers are like, wait, why is there a
Speaker 1: piano in there? Like when you're doing something so different,
Speaker 1: the doubt and then comparing to what everyone else is
Speaker 1: doing and the fact that no one else has done
Speaker 1: it before, like how did you back yourself enough? And
Speaker 1: even crowdfunding like you're kind and selling tickets like I
Speaker 1: feel like my biggest fear is always selling tickets to
Speaker 1: an event because what if no one wants to come
Speaker 1: or totally will I look silly? Like the fear of failure. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you know that you're technically amazing, but did you ever
Speaker 1: have that imposter syndrome or that worry of like what
Speaker 1: if it flops? What if everyone hate? What if no
Speaker 1: one comes? Like how do you get through that? As
Speaker 1: a performer? I mean, I guess from the classical world,
Speaker 1: we grew up playing to like ten people in a room,
Speaker 1: so anything is a bonus. The bar is loan my
Speaker 1: mom and dad, but also ten very critical people. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know they're listening to every single note watching you,
Speaker 1: So yes again that identity crisis of and also letting
Speaker 1: go of this whole idea of do I have enough
Speaker 1: integrity in the music? Are they going to blast me
Speaker 1: for mixing these things? You sell out? Exactly. I've had
Speaker 1: those trolls, but I don't care. And it had to
Speaker 1: get to a point where I didn't care. Like, if
Speaker 1: you believe in what you're doing, like five thousand percent,
Speaker 1: then hopefully other people like it. Emits the same energy
Speaker 1: out and someone will connect you know. Yeah, I guess
Speaker 1: it's like believing in yourself silly, yeah, one hundred and
Speaker 1: I think, Yeah, the minute you don't care is the
Speaker 1: minute you excel because suddenly you're not controlled by those opinions. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Just I mean, obviously you care about what you're doing,
Speaker 1: but not other people's perceptions. Yeah. Yeah, Oh that's such
Speaker 1: good advice. So from a day to day perspective, what
Speaker 1: does it actually evolve to be a full time concert pianist,
Speaker 1: Like you know, Josh was mentioning that he doesn't speak
Speaker 1: from a certain time during the day, because I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, wait, your voice is your tool, Like
Speaker 1: you can't just chat on the phone for hours, so
Speaker 1: you like, your fingers and your hands are obviously your tool,
Speaker 1: but also like how do you balance concerts with album
Speaker 1: recording with you know in house private corporate stuff, Like
Speaker 1: what is the balance of and practice and writing? Yeah,
Speaker 1: how do you divide your time? That's hard to It's
Speaker 1: different on a day to day basis. I guess you
Speaker 1: do have certain seasons where things are busier. Like corporate
Speaker 1: season for instance, was like October through to December. It
Speaker 1: was just nuts, like events bleeding out of your ears. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so then I kind of prioritize those things first during
Speaker 1: that time, and then in terms of practice, Yeah, obviously
Speaker 1: trying to keep a practice every day. I probably don't
Speaker 1: practice as much as back when I was competing, for instance,
Speaker 1: but you know, a solid hour and a half to
Speaker 1: two hours every day just to like keep your repertoire going. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then if I'm learning new stuff for new shows,
Speaker 1: for instance, then yeah, that amount of time will increase.
Speaker 1: Usually the first thing in the morning is the best.
Speaker 1: That's when I'm clearest and I'm not like distracted by
Speaker 1: emails and those sorts of things. As you go along,
Speaker 1: it's just you know, trying to deal with scheduling exactly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So yeah, scheduling shows. Usually shows do get scheduled I'd
Speaker 1: say like at least six months in advance, so I
Speaker 1: do have my calendar for that long. It's a little
Speaker 1: different to say musical theater where they've blocked in you know,
Speaker 1: we're doing a season in Sydney for this long season.
Speaker 1: But having said that, I do have sort of my rotation,
Speaker 1: So six months in Australian, six months based in the US.
Speaker 1: I saw, like, so you're living between amazing, so never
Speaker 1: a winter I know, I'm going to say summer chasing amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So by having that, that definitely gives me a parameter
Speaker 1: of what time I'm you know, your what country. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so there's a system already that kind of we just
Speaker 1: roll along with it. Now, Yeah, do you not play sport?
Speaker 1: Like are there things you don't do because you're like
Speaker 1: my fingers might get Yeah, so insurance, so insurance for fingers.
Speaker 1: They'll they'll tell you like what you can encope do
Speaker 1: for instance, like I'm like I'm not day Loo's bum
Speaker 1: but but almost but yeah, so like no basketball, Like
Speaker 1: my piano teacher in when I was in year eleven,
Speaker 1: for instance, she was like, you can't play tennis anymore?
Speaker 1: And that like broke my heart because She's like, you're risks.
Speaker 1: It's too risky. It's too risky, and it's true. So
Speaker 1: do you have to do any particular like moisturizing now,
Speaker 1: like do you cramp? Like how do you train your fingers?
Speaker 1: I guess that's just the practice, right, like, because I
Speaker 1: actually do compare musicians to athletes because it's literally if
Speaker 1: you don't train consist then you go into doing an
Speaker 1: hour and a half show like yeah, and you'll have
Speaker 1: and you'll get you know RSI or yeahs like is
Speaker 1: the piano elbow? No, but it's basically like RSI or tendonitis.
Speaker 1: It's notorious pianists get them all the time. It's so
Speaker 1: up here, the paint up here, joints here. What do
Speaker 1: you do about it? Like rehab or like pilates. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's a lot apparently luckily north Wood. Yeah, I've not
Speaker 1: had it, but yeah, a lot of people go through
Speaker 1: it and it's really sad. Wow. Yeah, and then God
Speaker 1: forbid arthritis later on, and you see that a lot
Speaker 1: in sort of older musicians. But yeah, I think the consistency,
Speaker 1: and I saw this a lot through the pandemic, is
Speaker 1: that some musicians just kind of sat back and was like, Oh,
Speaker 1: I don't have any gigs, I'm not going to do anything.
Speaker 1: But then once things opened up and they went slammed
Speaker 1: into like back to back shows, that's, of course you're
Speaker 1: going to injure yourself, which is the set. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: same as anything is. If you're out of practice, you
Speaker 1: can't expect to perform that at the same level that
Speaker 1: you have before. Exactly. I'm so fascinated by also, like
Speaker 1: the really fine distinction between loving something and learning to
Speaker 1: be good at it through practice, and also being born
Speaker 1: with an innate talent, particularly in the arts, because I
Speaker 1: think there are people who are not necessarily the technically best,
Speaker 1: but who have the most heart when they perform, and
Speaker 1: then vice versa, and then there are people who don't
Speaker 1: read sheet music but can play by ear and also
Speaker 1: the reverse. Do you think that you were born with
Speaker 1: an amazing musical ability and then have honed it or
Speaker 1: do you think you learned it? Do you read sheet
Speaker 1: music innately? Do you play without it? Like how has
Speaker 1: your repertoire built itself? And now if you hear a song,
Speaker 1: could you just like sit down and play it or
Speaker 1: dold you need the sheet music? I can definitely just
Speaker 1: play it from just hearing it. Yeah, it's a little
Speaker 1: fun party trick when you press like a cord and
Speaker 1: then I'll be like, yep, that's GF shops. Yeah, your
Speaker 1: brain just does that, and it always like was it
Speaker 1: easy for you when you were younger? So I really
Speaker 1: believe that this So with that kind of stuff like
Speaker 1: being called perfect pitch, that I think you're born with it,
Speaker 1: but you have to have had someone develop it, otherwise
Speaker 1: it just sits there dormant. Yes, So I was lucky
Speaker 1: enough for my parents to just nurture all of that.
Speaker 1: And I'm the oldest of three and I'm kind of
Speaker 1: I was like the guinea pig, right, Mum was like,
Speaker 1: let's see what we can do. Yeah, you know, so
Speaker 1: I think I was lucky enough with that. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, I love those diagrams where it's like
Speaker 1: how much of it is talent, how much of it
Speaker 1: is hard work, and how much of it is luck
Speaker 1: And it has to be a combination of the three.
Speaker 1: I think the hard like talent is great, but if
Speaker 1: you don't work with on your talent, like it's just
Speaker 1: going to go to waste. I think, yeah, it will
Speaker 1: only get you so far. As well. So true, And
Speaker 1: I think luck is the same, like people off and
Speaker 1: attribute too much to like they're like, oh, I was
Speaker 1: so lucky to get here, And it's like maybe that
Speaker 1: pushed you a third of the way, but without talent,
Speaker 1: but also the you know, dedication and hard work in
Speaker 1: the hours and bloodsweat and tears like it does. It
Speaker 1: takes all three of those things so much. And I
Speaker 1: don't think we think about that as much, no, I think,
Speaker 1: And it's a constant struggle for classical musicians. I think
Speaker 1: because there's so many talented musicians out there, and I
Speaker 1: get frustrated seeing some of these talented musicians. I'm like,
Speaker 1: but why aren't they like biggest stars, you know, why
Speaker 1: aren't they doing the world tour. It's like, you're so
Speaker 1: freaking talented. But it's the networking as well, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: and I hate to say it, but it's it's compulsory, yeah,
Speaker 1: like engracing your profile as well as your technical proficiency.
Speaker 1: I think that's the same with a lot of people.
Speaker 1: They find like they hate social media, oh yeah, and
Speaker 1: they get resentful. But then it's like, well, if you
Speaker 1: harnessed it, and I know that it feels like a
Speaker 1: distraction from what you're doing, But it's actually really complementary
Speaker 1: to what you're doing, because no one knows about your
Speaker 1: talent unless you promote the talent. Like, even though it
Speaker 1: feels weird, it's so necessary. Yeah, and then they're like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, but now I'm like commercial and you're
Speaker 1: hardly commercial, darling. You're not making any money's commercial. But
Speaker 1: it's like kind of old conservative, classical mentality, and I
Speaker 1: just it's really tough. Yeah, hard to see. What is
Speaker 1: your favorite kind of performance and favorite composer to perform
Speaker 1: or favorite genre? Like do you prefer the big auditorium
Speaker 1: or do you prefer the intimate? Do you prefer like tonight,
Speaker 1: I'm so excited tonight we get to come and see
Speaker 1: you play Disney. Like what is your ultimate dream? If
Speaker 1: you had no money, expectations, no time restraints, nothing, what
Speaker 1: would you do? That's a dream question. It's such an
Speaker 1: interesting one too, because of course other things come into play,
Speaker 1: But if you could just do you know, one thing
Speaker 1: over and over again, what would it be? So I
Speaker 1: have this concert series that is called Perfect Pairings where
Speaker 1: I pair music with wine. Oh my god, why would
Speaker 1: I come to that? Yeah? I know it's really hard
Speaker 1: to put on though. So essentially I started in twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: and I have a very keen interest in wine, Like
Speaker 1: my dad fed me wine from when I was twelve
Speaker 1: years old. Like that's why I'm so good a piano,
Speaker 1: because I've wasted all the time. I don't deal with nerves.
Speaker 1: I'm just drunk. Yeah, it counts the nerves. Yeah. So essentially,
Speaker 1: because of this love of wine and then this love
Speaker 1: of piano, I wanted to put it together and in
Speaker 1: a way where the language and the words you use
Speaker 1: to describe wine is very similar to how you describe
Speaker 1: certain pieces, And so I would take people journey and
Speaker 1: so you think, like champagne is like bubbly, so like
Speaker 1: you'd play something light and bubbly, and then you take
Speaker 1: them on that journey of a wine tasting flight, and
Speaker 1: you go into the whites a bit heaviert, lighter reds,
Speaker 1: heavier reds, and so you take them on a journey.
Speaker 1: It's the same way I would create a concert without
Speaker 1: the wine, with or without, but this now is adding
Speaker 1: that extra element of sense of taste, right, not just
Speaker 1: listening and watching, but it's taste as well. So I'd
Speaker 1: work with some alias, i'd work with chefs, And since
Speaker 1: then we've done six different countries in vineyards and then
Speaker 1: in like cellar doors and that kind of thing. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, but that's that's literally my dream job because
Speaker 1: I get to drink on the no because it's like that,
Speaker 1: that's my love language. That's amazing. Yeah. So I have
Speaker 1: this big thing on this show that not only do
Speaker 1: most people have more than one passion or more than
Speaker 1: one joy, but someone out there is looking for exactly
Speaker 1: what you have. Like even if the combination of your
Speaker 1: two passions is kind of weird or they don't necessarily
Speaker 1: automatically go together, someone out there wants you to combine
Speaker 1: them in a way that's really unique and different. And
Speaker 1: I think often we think, well, wine doesn't help my music,
Speaker 1: or music doesn't help my wine, So unless it's related
Speaker 1: to my job and it's going to make me more successful,
Speaker 1: like I won't waste time. Whereas I think, like, put
Speaker 1: them together and find a way to unite them, because
Speaker 1: that makes you so happy, it makes you. I think
Speaker 1: it's like being more conscious as well, because for instance,
Speaker 1: if you were cooking at home, yeah, you turn music on, right,
Speaker 1: I think, Yeah, one hundred percent would your poor glass
Speaker 1: of wine the Valdie right, Oh amazing, there you go.
Speaker 1: So then and once you sit down like shit in
Speaker 1: the pan ya that's me summer. And then you sit down,
Speaker 1: you might change your music and then you have dessert
Speaker 1: or like at the end of the night, you might
Speaker 1: change your music again and you change your wine. But
Speaker 1: this is done subconsciously. Yes, I think for the most part.
Speaker 1: I don't want to generalize, but you just turn it on,
Speaker 1: like what am I feeling right now? But once you
Speaker 1: make it a conscious thing by marrying the two things together,
Speaker 1: it changes how you listen, It changes how you taste things. Wow.
Speaker 1: So okay, follow on to that question about like dream scenarios.
Speaker 1: If there was anyone you could play with if he's listening,
Speaker 1: like dead or alive or even just sit with, who
Speaker 1: would be like the five composers or musicians who you
Speaker 1: would love to do either a collab with or just
Speaker 1: be or learn from or be around or to play
Speaker 1: Who are your favorite people to play? Marry Well Chopin's
Speaker 1: my favorite classical composer because he pretty much dedicated his
Speaker 1: entire life writing music just for the piano. So I
Speaker 1: think that's so unique and he only lived for thirty
Speaker 1: nine years, so really yeah, he was really sick a
Speaker 1: lot of the time. So you know, just to think
Speaker 1: like what he gave us and what he could have
Speaker 1: for maybe another thirty years given us. So I find
Speaker 1: that fascinating, Like I'd love to sit down with him
Speaker 1: John Legend, as I mentioned, because I'm literally going to
Speaker 1: try and get this into his ears somehow, like the
Speaker 1: six groes of Separation. I'm like, if they don't collaborate,
Speaker 1: I have failed. We're putting it up, we are putting
Speaker 1: a manifestation. Yes, yeah, And then I think Lang Lung
Speaker 1: as a pianist is just he's ticked everything, Like he's
Speaker 1: done everything. He's played with John Legend. Okay, so yeah,
Speaker 1: you together, you do a little trick exactly piano six hands,
Speaker 1: It's okay. Yeah. I just think he is incredible as
Speaker 1: a pianist and everything he has done in business wise
Speaker 1: as well. You know, he's got his own line of pianos,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's just cool. That is so cool.
Speaker 1: The reach that he has been able to create with
Speaker 1: classical music is amazing to see. Wow. So that's three.
Speaker 1: So do you find that one of the things we
Speaker 1: talk about a lot. There's a section called playta, which
Speaker 1: is the idea that even if you love your job,
Speaker 1: maybe especially if you love your job, you still have
Speaker 1: to always have some kind of joy or play or
Speaker 1: hobby or whatever you want to call it that's not
Speaker 1: related to in your case, music, because otherwise you get
Speaker 1: all consumed, you can't get distanced, you don't remain fresh.
Speaker 1: But also then if everything is about work, you know
Speaker 1: you'll burn out. And there's you know, you're not meant
Speaker 1: to even if you love what you do, We're not
Speaker 1: here to just work and die. There's meant to be
Speaker 1: a place where you're just you know, totally forget what
Speaker 1: time it is or where you're just doing things for enjoyment.
Speaker 1: But because music is everywhere, like I imagine even watching movies,
Speaker 1: you'd be tuned into the score in a way that
Speaker 1: other people aren't. So how do you wind down from
Speaker 1: not thinking about music? And what do you do just
Speaker 1: for fun other than play the piano? Drinking wine is
Speaker 1: like yeah, yeah, like going to vinyards. Yes, yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't have a drinking problem process, no problematic, normal level drinking,
Speaker 1: like actually spending time in vineyards. I think I'm talking
Speaker 1: to again, it's the I love the process. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: love the making process. I honestly, I couldn't care about
Speaker 1: the end result. Once you get there, it's done. But
Speaker 1: for me, it's the process and the challenges the whole way.
Speaker 1: Like that brings me so much. I don't know, it's
Speaker 1: not gratification. It's just like the struggle. I love the struggle,
Speaker 1: and I love seeing it in others as well and
Speaker 1: learning from that. I know it's still work related when
Speaker 1: I'm learning things, but I really enjoy I don't know,
Speaker 1: vineyards for me are it's a happy place. Beaches. Love
Speaker 1: the beach, So that's also like clears my head for sure.
Speaker 1: And then actually after like doing a concert or being
Speaker 1: in the studio for so long, I actually don't turn
Speaker 1: on any music in the car. Yeah. You just need quiet,
Speaker 1: like absolute silence, and it's like a crazy person, but
Speaker 1: like you're a psychopathic no, Yeah, it's amazing. We need
Speaker 1: to sit in stillness more often. Yeah, Like and sometimes
Speaker 1: I just sit in the car silently, not driving, just
Speaker 1: over by myself, just sitting in the car. Yeah. I know,
Speaker 1: now I sound really crazy, but not at all, especially
Speaker 1: given that sound is your everything. Yeah, like the idea
Speaker 1: of not having sound stimulation is probably your brain's way
Speaker 1: of just like chilling out, It's true, Yeah, like you
Speaker 1: just subconsciously analyze everything. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like
Speaker 1: once like whatever you love, whatever that happens to be,
Speaker 1: you start seeing that in the world everywhere around you.
Speaker 1: And so unless the world is never going to go
Speaker 1: by the way, here is a way for you to
Speaker 1: switch off. You actually have to choose to block it out.
Speaker 1: Otherwise you could continue being stimulated forever and never come
Speaker 1: down from that high. So I feel like for you
Speaker 1: that would be cutting off music. Otherwise your brain would
Speaker 1: just be like yes, yeah, sometimes, I mean sometimes I
Speaker 1: try to listen to other genres of music, but even
Speaker 1: then I'm like analyzing it. Yeah, how can you think this? Yeah,
Speaker 1: or be like, oh, that's an interesting sound. I'll add
Speaker 1: that to the next light production. So yeah, so what
Speaker 1: is next for you? What is like I was looking
Speaker 1: at a schedule before, and you literally have a different
Speaker 1: state every like day and a half. Then are on
Speaker 1: a boat, then a back, then you're back in Melbourne.
Speaker 1: You're doing the Candlelight series. Is I went to for
Speaker 1: Valdi four seasons, so it was the first one I
Speaker 1: went to and that was a string quartet. But tonight
Speaker 1: we're coming to see you for Disney and you're doing
Speaker 1: a series of those. What else is coming up? What
Speaker 1: else do you hope? Like, is there any big bucket
Speaker 1: list item in your career or in life that twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three holds for you? Like, so it's very much.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Candle Light series is continuing and I
Speaker 1: do that throughout Australia and over in the States as well,
Speaker 1: So this is light but everywhere, don't they? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it kind of like started in Madrid. Funnily enough, it's
Speaker 1: started in Spain, but then they have their American company
Speaker 1: and then it's spread to Australia. But it's Fever. Is
Speaker 1: that the company? Yes, yeah, right, yeah, so that's kind
Speaker 1: of the platform. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, So yeah, a
Speaker 1: couple of those. There's a really big actually a big
Speaker 1: free one that they don't like to advertise. But what
Speaker 1: is that fed square on Valentine's Day? Gosh, it's really beautiful.
Speaker 1: There's like I actually think there's ten thousand candles out there. WHOA.
Speaker 1: We did it last year and it was wild. It
Speaker 1: is for anyone who doesn't know what these are it's
Speaker 1: a series of concerts all around the world in different
Speaker 1: locations like at the Athename Theater. I think I went
Speaker 1: to one at the State Light as well. Yeah, tonight's
Speaker 1: is the National Theater. Like they're all over the place
Speaker 1: and they're done by candlelight. And in Australia because of oterness,
Speaker 1: they're done by not real candles. No, no really, yep,
Speaker 1: they're all they're all the flickering LEDs. I think because
Speaker 1: I was like typical Australia Europe that just be like
Speaker 1: oh no, but it feels like real. It would be
Speaker 1: in flames my dress. Yeah, yeah, I have not so
Speaker 1: many of us. It's so magical, the know, like lights light,
Speaker 1: normal lighting. Yeah, again it changes how you listen. But yeah,
Speaker 1: then then there's different programs. It's classical programs and then
Speaker 1: there's sort of more tribute programs like last week I
Speaker 1: did Fleetwood Mac Friends. Yeah, and it's like it's super
Speaker 1: nice and just to be able to create instrumental versions
Speaker 1: of these songs, I think for me again, it's that
Speaker 1: cross pollination of classical upbringing and learning these instruments, but
Speaker 1: trying to emulate like a band or trying to emulate
Speaker 1: a vocal line, you know, So creating interesting versions and
Speaker 1: arrangements of these songs is what you write them all for?
Speaker 1: These rite for a lot of well for my shows definitely,
Speaker 1: oh yes, because I enjoke because then again it's sort
Speaker 1: of of me that they're hearing. Yeah, I can totally
Speaker 1: play someone else's arrangement, and I have done that for
Speaker 1: various other shows, but part of the enjoyment is putting
Speaker 1: a part of me in it. Yeah. Oh, I'm even
Speaker 1: more excited. Yeah. So these arrangements yeah, which then, funnily enough,
Speaker 1: translated into the Princess and the Piano album which came
Speaker 1: out last sight. Yeah, and that is what else is
Speaker 1: coming and unnamed as yet fourth album with Universal, Yes,
Speaker 1: which is coming out. When is that I think we're aiming. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I'm starting to kind of demo ideas and play
Speaker 1: around with arrangements, yeah, and just creating. So essentially the
Speaker 1: idea behind it is creating a Lullabis album, but we
Speaker 1: don't want to do the traditional lullabies, you know, we
Speaker 1: want to again make it a little more relevant, but
Speaker 1: create classical mellow versions of late nineties and early two
Speaker 1: thousand R and B tunes. Oh my gods so excited. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: or the mummas, can you sing along to their babies
Speaker 1: or not? Just play for yourself, just by myself my
Speaker 1: car at the side of the road. You're silent on
Speaker 1: one side of the road. I'm on the other side.
Speaker 1: Does it just come to you, like will you just
Speaker 1: be in the shower and suddenly you're like, I hear
Speaker 1: the composition for this particular R and B song in
Speaker 1: Lalla by form on the piano, like, how do you
Speaker 1: convert it? Definitely some more melodic and lyrical ones. I
Speaker 1: always try to find those, because like, you do need
Speaker 1: the melody there in the first place. But that's why
Speaker 1: the nineties and two thousands are great. It's that I
Speaker 1: find R and B these days is very different, Like
Speaker 1: it's really like one note you just be on the Yeah,
Speaker 1: so slightly different. But then I definitely have to sit
Speaker 1: at the piano to flesh it out. And yeah, so
Speaker 1: like Neo's so Sick, for instance, It's like that works
Speaker 1: for sure, I'm so excited, so yeah, just flashing it out,
Speaker 1: And that's that's the thing. It does take time. You
Speaker 1: can't just sit at a piano and suddenly be like, oh,
Speaker 1: I have a free hour. Let's do this because your
Speaker 1: brain also might not be inspired at that point. Yes,
Speaker 1: So if I've got a lot on my plate with shows,
Speaker 1: it's again, yeah, it's It's definitely a juggle. But I'm
Speaker 1: very passionate about this album and I can't wait for
Speaker 1: it to come out. So it will come out hopefully
Speaker 1: by the middle if not, yeah, middle of this year,
Speaker 1: or we'll be following along closely. I'm so excited too. Well.
Speaker 1: Second last question for you, just to finish up, what
Speaker 1: are three interesting things about you that don't normally come
Speaker 1: up in conversation. Oh my gosh, only someone who lived
Speaker 1: with you would know, Like, weird habits, middle names, quirky
Speaker 1: like party tricks other than being out of player without
Speaker 1: reading the sheet music. I set my alarm clock at
Speaker 1: really weird times. Yeah, like eight forty two. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: all nervous. I'm like a round number gap. Oh really yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: even my volume has to be on an even number.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, yeah, are you superstitious? No, it's not
Speaker 1: even for that reason. It just looks gross, Like I'm
Speaker 1: just like very mildly OCD. Sometimes, like if someone leaves
Speaker 1: it at like forty seven, I'm like, oh no, no,
Speaker 1: I can't do that. But I kind of like trick
Speaker 1: my own brain. I'm like, if I set my alarm
Speaker 1: at eight forty two, it means I've got three more
Speaker 1: minutes to just hang to, just just chill, just snoop
Speaker 1: in the bed. Three minute. Yeah, I get it. Like
Speaker 1: if it's if I say I'll do something at seven o'clock, yeah,
Speaker 1: but it gets to like seven o three, I'll be like,
Speaker 1: oh I have to do it at eight o'clock. Like
Speaker 1: I'll just wait, stop it. I'm like very even, like
Speaker 1: round numbers. Yeah, how weird. Yeah, kind of odd. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's a good one. That's but I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: generally like quite organized, and you know, like, yeah, but
Speaker 1: that's that's an odd one. Are you good at languages?
Speaker 1: Because of music? So I learned German? Right, yeah? And
Speaker 1: I did it for my HSC again because I thought
Speaker 1: it would be handy for music to All great composers
Speaker 1: were German, right yeah. So I thought I actually thought
Speaker 1: I would end up in Vienna to study. And so
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, let's get ahead. I love me
Speaker 1: just organized. Do you speak Vietnamese? I do? I don't
Speaker 1: speak read and write actually you have to speak anti Vietnamese.
Speaker 1: No way, Oh I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 1: guys can have a chat later. Ah yeah, my mom again,
Speaker 1: she's amazing. She's a teacher, right, she's got all the
Speaker 1: patients in the world. So in our school holidays, she
Speaker 1: she had a great way of like getting us to learn.
Speaker 1: She'd be like, Okay, so we'll learn Vietnamese today, and
Speaker 1: then I want you to write an email to your
Speaker 1: uncles and aunts in Vietnam and for every hundred words,
Speaker 1: I'll give you a dollar. And I was like, oh, sweet,
Speaker 1: smart lady. That's like, that's how I'm going to earn
Speaker 1: my puppet money. It's all about incentivization. That's all you
Speaker 1: need to do. Put some food or money and I'll
Speaker 1: do anything. Yeah. Absolutely, so yeah that was That was
Speaker 1: in our school holidays. That's what we do. And like
Speaker 1: for the third thing, this is a random question that
Speaker 1: I actually should have asked earlier. I just didn't think
Speaker 1: of it until now. Did you find when you were
Speaker 1: younger that there was any particularly because you did music
Speaker 1: from such a young age. Was there, ever, did you
Speaker 1: ever experience any racism when you were younger for being
Speaker 1: like the typical Vietnamese with Tiger parents learning piano or
Speaker 1: doing classical music, Like it's so stereotypical. Did you ever
Speaker 1: find growing up in Sydney hard in that respect? So
Speaker 1: this is the wild thing. And because I guess this
Speaker 1: conversation is definitely in the forefront in the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, I find with Asian hate and whatnot that
Speaker 1: I had to question myself and then I asked my
Speaker 1: parents as well. I said, did we experience any bullying
Speaker 1: or racism? And the answer is actually no, not until
Speaker 1: I was joining a cruise ship in Perth, sadly, but
Speaker 1: after school, oh yes, well and truly oh yeah. And
Speaker 1: we grew up in a very white Australia area. We
Speaker 1: were the only Vietnamese kids in the school. But it
Speaker 1: was never did I feel polarized or never do. It
Speaker 1: really was beautiful, like especially having heard other people's stories,
Speaker 1: and never like oh, she just plays piano, she's a freak,
Speaker 1: like you know, none of that either. I felt really
Speaker 1: lucky for somehow magically we I don't know, dodged it.
Speaker 1: But I also think that's beautiful because I think because
Speaker 1: it's become such a big conversation as well, it's almost
Speaker 1: like everyone's not says that it happened, but it's almost
Speaker 1: like you feel like it should have happened because everyone
Speaker 1: else said it happened. So it's like even though you
Speaker 1: said you had to dodge it, yeah, like it should
Speaker 1: be that way. Yeah, you shouldn't have had that experience.
Speaker 1: But it's unusual for someone, I think, to say, actually, no,
Speaker 1: I didn't when I was. I did in high school
Speaker 1: when any kind of difference was, you know, something that
Speaker 1: we were all trying to suppress and all look the
Speaker 1: same whatever. But primary school kids just don't even I
Speaker 1: don't even notice. And I love that about young children
Speaker 1: that don't see. And I think I even till now,
Speaker 1: I'm I don't really notice if you're the only Asian
Speaker 1: in the room, Like I don't that the sage're not
Speaker 1: aware of it. Men, Yeah, until someone points it out
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, yeah, I guess it doesn't
Speaker 1: have to be a big part of your identity and experience. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but for sure, I'm proud to be Vietnamese, and I'm
Speaker 1: even more proud now, like when I see, you know,
Speaker 1: the representation that is out there, Like I'm the biggest
Speaker 1: campaigner for it, you know, but I do feel super
Speaker 1: lucky that that was how I was raised and I
Speaker 1: had beautiful, full friends around me and support. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: oh wonderful. Well, very last question, because I love quotes
Speaker 1: so much, what is your favorite quote if you have on?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I should have thought about this coming
Speaker 1: on to here, because you are the queen of quotes.
Speaker 1: Only if you have one, or even just like a
Speaker 1: philosophy or a motto, gosh, I actually don't, and I
Speaker 1: read them every day, you know, and I get inspired
Speaker 1: by them every day. But I wouldn't say I have.
Speaker 1: I guess the philosophy that I love to go by
Speaker 1: is like, nothing's impossible, and don't be afraid of the
Speaker 1: word no, like if rejection love, Yeah, just don't be
Speaker 1: afraid of it. I love that. I always say, rejection
Speaker 1: is simply redirection. Yes, it's amazing. Yeah, it's usually like
Speaker 1: that actually, just wasn't meant for you, right, go on
Speaker 1: to that other thing, right right? And yeah, and don't
Speaker 1: be afraid to cold email someone and they don't reply.
Speaker 1: It's okay. Also, you know, not replying is rejection, but
Speaker 1: it's okay. It's not like no one knows. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: not that embarrassing. Yes, that's fine. Yeah, we're so scared
Speaker 1: of that feeling of looking silly. Yes, just do it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for having me so fascinating and
Speaker 1: I'm so excited about that. I will be. If you
Speaker 1: hear some random singing in the broad or dancing or
Speaker 1: like coming out, It'll be like, oh my god, get
Speaker 1: that chick out of the back row. Love it. Make
Speaker 1: sure to include the links to everything your website, your pages,
Speaker 1: tickets to your shows whenever your album comes out, or
Speaker 1: make sure to share with the neighborhood. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining. Thank you what an amazing woman with
Speaker 1: such a special talent. As promised, I will put the
Speaker 1: links to van AND's pages and upcoming shows too for
Speaker 1: anyone interested. As usual, please shower van And with some
Speaker 1: neighborhood love. Were so generously giving us her time, especially
Speaker 1: just hours before a double show, tagging at van an
Speaker 1: official and us so we can keep growing the neighborhood
Speaker 1: as far and wide as possible. Meanwhile, Melbourne family, our
Speaker 1: first sold out IRL date is coming up next week
Speaker 1: and I'm so excited to meet you all. And Sydney.
Speaker 1: As promised, we are coming up the week after and
Speaker 1: there are only a few tickets left for that. I
Speaker 1: think that's maybe only two or three at the time
Speaker 1: of recording this for Friday, February twenty fourth, so don't
Speaker 1: miss out on snatching those last tickets out. We are
Speaker 1: so excited and already have done way more in the
Speaker 1: first two months of this year than we did all
Speaker 1: of last year. So we're up and up at the moment.
Speaker 1: The state that makes the most noise is the one
Speaker 1: that we will visit next. Oh my god, I'm starting
Speaker 1: a fight, So start pestering us if you're keen for
Speaker 1: a neighborhood catch up near you, if we haven't booked
Speaker 1: your city already. In the meantime, I hope you're all
Speaker 1: having a wonderful week and are seizing your yay