Annette Wong - Artist Statement

I compose music because it’s the only method in which I feel comfortable sharing my voice in public. To me, my music reflects my insecurities and regrets I’ve had in life, and the need to get away from them. “The Cost of Effort”, for example, focuses on my internal struggle with making music in a competitive environment and how it feels like it takes away more than it gives back. Quite often, I’ll also relate the emotions of a specific event and turn that into a song, like the confusion and panic from getting lost on a camping trip in “Wrong Path Taken (Know the Way)”.

The piano is usually at the heart of every song I create. Ideas flow naturally there, as if my fingers know how to convey whatever mood I want it to just by pressing a combination of keys. Sometimes, ideas and hooks come to me while I’m on the Skytrain or bus, which I’ll eagerly write down so I can have it with me the moment I come home. If I can’t write it down, I’ll sing it into my phone. Later, I’ll either arrange this idea for piano and record it live, or I’ll begin sequencing the idea onto the computer.

Preview of Daycare Dilemma,
a game made in 72 hours for Ludum Dare 

Images inspire me - pixelated digital art, in particular. There’s something about pixels that evokes a certain reaction for me where, if music was not attached to it before, I can start thinking of a semblance of notes to convey that particular image. The music I make from this form of inspiration often remains purely instrumental. When I compose music for games, I focus on the visuals almost entirely. Emotionally inspired music, on the other hand, relays words. The more specific the situation, the more confident I feel writing it. When I was challenged to write a “love song” for a compo, I had to imagine myself in a specific situation where love would come into play in my life. Even if the lyrics I’d produced end up being more generalized, it was at least a specific situation that drove me to construct them in a more natural and comfortable manner.

A screenshot from "Spellbound", a game made in 72 hours for Ludum Dare

I describe my workflow as sporadic. On some days, when I’m unsure of my skill and artistic practice, I’ll never make it past one bar or five notes. Yet when that idea hits in just the right spot, the ideas don’t stop flowing. I’m often stumbling at work on my computer, swapping out one instrument for another, trying out ideas that I don’t even think will work that well, because sometimes, my own intuition is incorrect. In occasional instances, a mistake will lead to better ideas. And even though they are rare, they might be the best ideas I’ll ever get.

Bio

Annette Wong is a music composer who primarily works with fixed media and vocal works. Her vocal works focus on capturing life-changing experiences and emotions from them and transcribing them into music. She is the main composer, under the alias "Random-storykeeper", of Team Spontaneous Combustion, a team consisting of four members (including her) who create video games in a limited amount of time. Annette studies music composition at Simon Fraser University and is currently in her third year. She is an avid participator in online music competitions and challenges such as One Hour Compos and MusicWeeklies. Annette lives and works in Burnaby.