about Diodes

What would you like to know about me?

I'm a person, besides being a musician. I have a day job. I have a husband. Like everyone, I try to keep everything balanced: my creative life, my work life, my social life, my physical and mental health. Sometimes it's a struggle, other times it feels like things just fall into place.

But I am very serious about my music. I work hard at it because music is hard work. The moments of joy that come from performing on stage or releasing finished new music for others to hear are also backed by hours and hours spent practicing and turning musical ideas into finished, polished songs. The process involves some combination of passion, inspiration, frustration, excitement, demoralization, self-doubt, confidence, elation, discipline, sheer joy. Like any other creative process, I suppose.

Mostly I consider myself a songwriter or composer. I also sing and play instruments, perform, and do some sound design and production (though the instruments come much more naturally to me than the production for some reason). But if I had to choose just one of these things to put into the world, I would write songs. Lots and lots of songs.

my instruments:

Mainly voice, piano, and guitar. I also play violin, viola (though my viola needs a lot more love), flute, and bass. If bass-playing were a school, I'd be in about second grade, but I'm working on it.

my musical style:

I'm all over the place because I listen to and am inspired by a lot of different kinds of music. Good writing is just good writing, whether it's played by an orchestra, or by a synthesizer programmed to sound like a video game. My last album, departure, was an acoustic singer-songwriter coffee-shop-style sort of thing. The new music I'm currently working on is some combination of indie/punk/pop/rock. (Maybe I'm no good with labels.) I've also been known to write music for piano, string quartets, flute ensembles, and anything else that inspires me.

what I listen to:

In the 90's, I was obsessed with 80's new wave synth pop. (I was not a popular kid.) Video game music also always holds a special place in my heart. These days, it's some combination of indie pop and bossa nova. My name-drop list of favorites: New Order, Foster the People, Iris, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Tame Impala, Neon Indian, Ellie Goulding, Bebel Gilberto.

other music I've done:

I have made some video game remixes on OverClocked ReMix. I was also a member of the bands OverClocked University (OverClocked ReMix's live band), and Flickerfall, a synth-pop duo that made mostly original songs.

my day job:

Since I mentioned it — I'm a web developer, and I'm quite passionate about that as well. I designed and made this website.

other fun facts about me:

I'm a living hippie stereotype: an ovo-vegetarian who does yoga and meditates. I also love running.
I am a crazy cat lady, just without any actual cats.
I am proudly Taiwanese-American.