Do you have a favorite memory from childhood with music?
Johnny: “One of my favorite childhood memories was always doing talent shows. I loved singing for talent shows, and I also loved some years [when] I would do a drum set act or a piano act. Every single year, [I was] just preparing for the talent show in front of all of my friends. It was cool that everyone got to see my talent on display. There was a moment when I sat back and [thought], ‘Oh, wow, I’ve been training all these years to really have an impact on people.’ When people think about Johnny back in middle school or high school, I know they’re thinking, ‘That’s the kid from the talent show. And now he’s doing music full time.’
It’s just such a great connection from those memories from your childhood to what you’re doing now as a grown adult.”
That’s so full circle! I love that. I know you started posting covers on TikTok, so what was it like going from that to signing with Columbia Records?
Johnny: “Everything happened pretty crazily. I started my TikTok about two and a half years ago, and basically what happened was my best friend told me, ‘Wow, you have a really good voice! You should start posting on TikTok.’ The first week I started posting, things got pretty crazy. I just thought, ‘Screw it, let me start posting every single day.’ I started thinking about what the next step after singing songs for fun would be, which is obviously making original music.
I took the time to find my own music equipment and found all the appropriate music software, and learned how to produce by myself. I [taught myself] how to mix vocals, and I became addicted to learning. I would watch YouTube videos everyday on videos about creating a vocal chain, how to create stacks on vocals, how to record piano into your computer, and stuff like that. I learned all of that by myself and went on to record my own song.
I ended up releasing that song, and it did pretty well. It got 4 million streams, and it got the attention of a few labels. From there, I started doing a bunch of label interviews. I decided to go with Columbia because I just felt like I connected with them the most. They believed in me as an artist so much. Even now as a Columbia artist, they give me so much creative freedom and the sound I landed on. They let me find myself through doing a bunch of studio sessions. They never said, ‘You have to be a pop artist,’ or, ‘You have to be this kind of artist.’ They just allowed me to be whoever I was, and they were going to support that either way.”
That’s awesome to hear. Shifting gears a little bit, what parts of your identity do you feel are reflected the most in your music?
Johnny: “It’s kind of ironic, but I feel like my Asian-American background really reflects inside my music. Usually in Asian-American families, it’s important to be the ‘strong man’ in your family and be the rock. The reason why I say it’s ironic is because my music is so vulnerable and emotional. I’m kind of going against what it means to be male in an Asian-American household. I think it’s the most freeing thing ever. It’s actually helped me connect with my family more. They see me as braver and they respect me for talking about those things.
Another aspect in my music that I really connect with is the community feeling that I always have. I always think about, who am I making these songs for? For a lot of my songs, they’re relationship type songs, but while I’m writing, I always think about how it might relate to other things. So I might write a relationship song for me, but other people might [say], ‘This reminds me of the family member that I lost,’ or ‘It reminds me of a drug addiction I used to have,’ or something difficult like that. I always make sure that my music is broad enough so that everyone can relate to the chorus or [something], and find something in it for themselves.”
I have two follow-up questions… First, just out of curiosity, how did your family react to you getting a record deal?
Johnny: “When I entered college, they were like, ‘We gotta chill with the music stuff and focus on a reasonable career.” Mechanical engineering is such a solid career choice, and I was doing really well as a student. I was top of my class, and they weren’t too supportive [of my music] at first. They saw everything happening and all the followers and stuff happening, and they were supportive to an extent, but they were wary of me doing it full time. After a while, the thing that really changed my parents [minds] was flying them to LA and showing them everything that I did. Like, it’s very different to hear about something, but to actually see something is so different. When they met my manager and people from my label, it really opened their eyes. [They realized] it was going to be a gamble, but it’s something that’s so special. When you’re young, you want to be doing these type of things. For me personally, I didn’t want to just sit at a desk all day and do a regular 9 to 5 job.
So, me and my parents definitely had many talks about it and what things would look like in the future. The thing that was the hardest for them was me moving away to LA. It’s always the hardest thing as a parent just to see your kid go, so I’m sure that was why they were a bit more critical of my career choice. But yeah, now they are fully supportive and they’re doing everything they can to help me in any capacity.”
You talked about being vulnerable in your music — what’s your favorite song that you’ve ever made? What’s your favorite lyric or anything that stands out to you in your discography?
Johnny: “One of the best lyrics that comes to mind is my recent release. I just came out with this song called ‘LOCK ME OUT,’ and one of my favorite lyrics is: ‘It’s some sick fetish just to watch me drown.’ I just thought that lyric was so crazy, like the idea of a fetish of watching somebody drown [metaphorically]. Like, I’m constantly sinking in this relationship and it seems like you like seeing me that way. I just thought it was such a powerful lyric. Whenever I’m writing, I always keep it pretty broad and try to add a colorful line. For ‘LOCK ME OUT,’ that was the colorful line. It makes things more exciting.”
Speaking of which, how does your creative process work? Do you sit down and know you’re going to start a song, or does it come to you randomly during the day?
Johnny: “Music is a very collaborative process. Usually what I do to prepare for a studio session is I’ll just listen to music in my car, and I’ll go to my voice memos on my phone and just click record. I’ll hum a chorus idea for like 30 minutes while I’m driving. So many ideas [live] on my phone, and I’ll listen back to it later just so my ears are ‘fresh.’ I’ll walk into the studio session with at least a melody idea or some sort of concept to talk about, and then from there, the producer will be like, ‘How do these chords feel?’ Or sometimes I’ll play some chords as well. I’ll be like, ‘It feels something like this.’ We’ll slowly build the percussion around it and start writing lyrics for it.
I find the most important thing about songwriting is the melodies. Usually when you listen to a great song, you’re left humming the melody after you finish listening to the song, right? So the most important thing to me is having a great chorus melody, and then [I] fill in the words after that. That’s kind of how my creative process goes, and then sometimes I’ll also walk into the studio and I’ll just talk about my life and things that have been going on. Either the songwriter or the producer will be like, ‘That’s interesting, let’s dive deeper into that.’ We’ll [end up] making a whole song about it. Sometimes the creative process is one thing, and sometimes it’s another.”
How do you know when you’re done with a song?
Johnny: “The best thing about music is that people listen to it and can give you their opinion on it. Personally, I don’t want to listen to my own songs so much and be the final critic. Sometimes I’ll think, ‘Oh my God, I sound horrible,’ but somebody else might think, ‘This is the greatest song ever,’ you know? I have a process of sending it to like seven or eight people to have multiple ears on it. If everybody can generally agree that it’s a good song, that means it’s a good song and I can release it!
So, it’s kind of a filter process. My manager usually has the best ears, so I’ll always send him [the songs] and have him be my final say. I’ll also send it to a lot of people at Columbia as well, and sometimes I’ll just play a song for my friends in the car. My friends are the most brutally honest people, so they’ll tell me if a song is horrible or if it’s good and I need to release it ASAP.”
Who would you say are your biggest musical inspirations? Do you have any inspirations outside of music?
Johnny: “One of my biggest musical inspirations is definitely Adele. I listen to so much of her songwriting. I think it’s amazing. Even though she usually makes pop ballads and I don’t really do pop ballads, I do draw a lot of inspiration from the songwriting angle. Another huge inspiration sonically is ZAYN. I love his music a lot. I also listen to a lot of James Arthur, even though he’s also more pop leaning. I also love listening to a lot of new upcoming artists. Like, I love listening to Isabel LaRosa and d4vd. Sonically, they sound a bit newer to me, and they’re always good references to go to. I love grabbing little bits and pieces from wherever I can.
Life wise, I would say Jackie Chan [is an inspiration]. I found something so interesting in the fact that he made it so big in China by making such big films, and then he came over to America and dominated the American movie market as well. His background of not knowing much English and still finding a way to succeed is like one of the most inspirational stories to me. My parents are also immigrants from Vietnam, and they have such a similar story of not knowing any English and making it over here. It just connects with me so much. [It resonates], because there’s that story of, ‘I’m in a new place, how can I find a way to succeed?’ In my life, I use that as inspiration so much. Like, signing with Columbia — I was like, ‘I’m given this new opportunity… How can I use this to my advantage?’ So, in general, I’m always inspired by a lot of Asian-American actors and artists as well.”
So, you talked about your inspirations musically. Do you have any dream collaborations that you’d like to make happen?
Johnny: “My biggest dream collab wise is definitely d4vd. I think his music is really pushing boundaries. The one thing I do love about his music is he takes something old that was so cool — like maybe something from the 90s or 2000s — and he’ll bring that sound forward and put a modern twist on it. Also, the way he does his vocals in his songs sounds so nostalgic and dreamy, and it’s something that I also love about his music so much. That’s definitely a dream collab for me. This is also probably way out there and would probably never happen, but ZAYN would definitely be a a dream collab.”
