Introducing Yongkytown: My artist journey, artist goals, and how you can support me

Yongkytown: My Artist Journey

My artist journey began a little over 7 years ago, cutting my teeth on the streets as a musician busker. Busking gave me an invaluable perspective of what an artist and entertainer should be - passionate, engaging, expressive, resilient and relentless in pursuit of one's dreams.

As a keen introspect with a certain flair for writing, the decision to pick up a pen and start writing original songs came quite naturally. Driven by personal and creative expression, I started a journey of self-exploration which culminated in (probably) a few hundred song drafts that will likely never see the light of day.

A firm believer in grasping every opportunity that comes my way, I plucked up the courage to foray into the Singapore songwriting competition scene in 2018. The experience was eye-opening - within 5 minutes of the judges' feedback session, a judge said something to me that I might remember forever:

"Actually, your song is quite boring, I don't think you stand much of a chance against the rest of the entries."

The comment, albeit passing, left a deep impression on me. Beyond the initial shock and disappointment, it motivated me to make numerous iterations to the song before the final competition showcase. My determination ultimately paid off, as I was awarded the second runner-up award in the 20th Edition of The Dream Composition. Poetic justice, I guess.

From then on, I have sought to adopt a growth mindset in my songwriting and artist journey, and have never looked back. Joining a music band club and an A Cappella club in university, I had the pleasure of meeting many talented, like-minded individuals who schooled me (musically).

Fast forward to 2023! To date, I have written and released 5 original songs on all major streaming platforms. My debut single 'Rainy Day' was also featured on 987FM's 'Fresh Music Live' programme alongside esteemed radio personalities Sonia Chew and Joakim Gomez. A full-length original album is in the works, with a pop, folk and indie focus, and is scheduled to be released in Jan 2024.

I have also accumulated an extensive performance portfolio, having performed at Singapore Night Festival 2019 and 2022, Light to Night 2020, and at the Esplanade Concourse in 2019, 2021 and 2023.

So, what's next?

Yongkytown: Artist Goals

Yongkytown performing at Singapore Night Festival 2022

It is incredibly hard to describe what I truly want to achieve in music, because it doesn't fit into a checklist or boxes to tick. Am I a dreamer, trying to aim for the stars and land among the clouds? Am I a realist, aiming to rise a little higher every single day?

I don't have grandiose ambitions of becoming the next (insert internationally acclaimed musician here), but simply wish to inspire my generation and the next - to go forth and write the story of their lives. I want to show that it is possible for a modest musician like myself to chase down a dream until I live in it.

That being said, there are some short and medium-term goals that I would like to achieve as an independent artist in Singapore, within the next few years.

To grow and nurture the Yongkytown brand

What does it mean to grow and nurture the Yongkytown brand? Beyond superficial metrics, I would like to connect with a wider audience - to tell them my story, share my music, and hopefully make a little difference in their lives.

To me, the Yongkytown brand represents a community, a townspeople of music-lovers - where residents are comfortable to be open, honest and vulnerable with each other; where residents dare to dream and take steps to realise their dreams, no matter how big; where residents know that at the end of the day, there is always solace to be found with Yongkytown.

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Last month, despite having a Night Festival performance scheduled that night, I accepted a performance request from my university friend, Ivan, to perform at his Peer Support Day event. Performing 2 original songs, I explain my motivations behind writing the songs 'a month and a day' and 'everybody's positive':

- 'a month and a day' was borne out of separation anxiety - would our social relationships remain as it was after the pandemic?

- 'everybody's positive' was a lament of being around people lacking situational awareness, and who only wished to talk about their own accomplishments.

To my astonishment, half of the participants followed me on my social media page after the event. It dawned on me that I had created a strong connection with my audience that day, and now I seek to be more open and honest in my interactions with the audience, every time I step on a stage.

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To me, the Yongkytown brand represents a community, a townspeople of music-lovers - where residents know that at the end of the day, there is always solace to be found with Yongkytown.

To create this community - lofty ambitions, for sure, but it would be something really heartening to work towards.

To release a full-length album with an album launch party

With my previous song releases, I was always caught up in the commercial aspects of the release. Would I be able to achieve X streams/views? Would my songwriting be palatable to my audience? How do I increase the visibility of my songs to a larger audience? While these are important considerations, being obsessed with results and growth took away the fun and purpose of creating art in the first place, for personal and creative expression.

In deciding to write for and release a full-length album, I intend to block out the noise and trust my artistry, by putting out a complete collection of songs to define myself as an artist, to the world. The songs will reflect the growth in my artist journey, both in terms of substance and style. It will continue to be heartfelt, relatable and lyrically-driven, intricately woven together with melodious and purposeful intent.

An official album launch party will also be in the works - for the Yongkytown community to come together in a merry night of music-making, together with some of my favourite artists I'm heartened to call friends. Get excited!

To search for and perform at more artist-focused gigs and festivals

If there's one thing I learnt about the music industry over the past few years, is that sometimes, you just have to ask. Public relations is such an underrated endeavour in today's world, but so, so important. By mustering the courage to ask, I managed to snag a feature on-air, got invited back to the Esplanade for a second time, and was featured on a few articles for my original releases.

I intend to set aside time to research on upcoming opportunities to pitch myself as an artist, and my originals. The aim is to feature my original music more, on platforms that draw an audience already inclined to support local, original artists and their music.

This may also entail cutting down on promoting and performing at non-artist focused gigs, and creating more artist-focused content online.

How You Can Support Me

Friends who came to support Yongkytown's performance at the Esplanade Concourse

I'm writing this portion of the post to share, candidly, some challenges that artists like me face, but find it hard to say out loud. I find it hard to reach out for support, but I hope that by sharing my thoughts here, those who genuinely wish to support me may find it easier to do so.

Please don't feel obligated to do any or all of these if you don't feel comfortable, I'd just like to share why these actions mean a lot to me.

Joining my #yongkynation Telegram channel

This is my main channel to post song snippets, artist updates, and also share my songwriting process. I want to bring y'all along my artist journey - you'll be the first to know about any upcoming showcases or releases!

I'd greatly appreciate feedback as well - let me know which songs you think need improvement, and which songs you'll like to hear on Spotify sooner rather than later.

#yongkynation Telegram channel link: https://t.me/yongkynation

Becoming my advocates on social media & beyond

Herd mentality is real y'all.. I'd greatly appreciate if you could help to leave a like/comment, and repost my social media content when you resonate with it! This really helps my music reach a wider audience, and when people see that others are sharing it, they'd be more inclined to check my music out and share it themselves.

If you can, do share with your followers what you like about me as an artist, or what you like about my music. It doesn't matter how sizable your following is - in fact, the smaller your following, the more likely your followers will care about what you'll have to say, and I'll really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart if you could help me spread the word.

Presave my original releases on Spotify and add it to your playlists

The reason why I usually publicise my original releases a month before the release, is to give the Spotify curators time to assess if my song is good enough to be placed on curated playlists. A part of that will be attributed to the number of Spotify presaves an artist can get, as an indication of how hotly-anticipated the track is.

Spotify usually takes into account the activity surrounding a track before it is released, and about one week after release. By presaving the songs and streaming the song on Spotify when it drops, it all helps the song perform better on Spotify :)

Epilogue

If you've read this far, I would like to thank you sincerely for reading the musings of a 25-year-old aspiring artist ~ I hope to have given you an illuminating peek behind-the-scenes of Yongkytown in his artist journey through this blog post.

Do let me know what you'd like to hear me share more about, and that could be my next blog post. Farewell for now, Yongkytown Townspeople :')

- Yongky