A transformation from a classical pianist to a pop songwriter
Starting one’s career in a foreign society is always worthy of admiration. Not just because the effort needed can sometimes be twice as much as the average cost in the home country, but also because of the resilience needed to deal with all the pressure coming from local competitors. Zhuowen Liang, a songwriting-focusing music professional, is very proud of her Asian identity in the US and is looking forward to introducing the beauty of Eastern music to the Western audience.
Q: Would you introduce yourself to our readers?
A: My name is Zhuowen Liang, and my stage name as an artist is Vivien L. I’m a multidisciplinary music professional with a focus on songwriting. I started to learn to play classical piano when I was five years old and majored in Classical Piano Performance at Stony Brook University. Despite my passion for classical music, my enthusiasm for songwriting showed up as early as in high school, which led me to pursue my songwriting career in junior year of college. Diving into pop music is a brand new experience for me. But I did learn a lot about composition and music production at home when there was literally nowhere to go during the Covid lockdown. And now I have a band where I play as the songwriter as well as a core member. We will have two to four concerts between February and April. In the meanwhile, I’m still playing as a featured pianist for my friends that are also musicians.
Q: What made you switch from classical music to pop music in the first place?
A: I have been a fan of performance and creation since I was a kid. And I liked to write fiction as well, which was not something uncommon at that time but I was one of the very few that could actually finish. I want to complete the story in my head and I want people to hear it. I do have a lot of respect for classical pianists. But at the same time, I don’t just want to 100 percent restore what others have already created. Instead, I want to have something of my own, something original. And that’s when I started to think about doing something that I never did before. Additionally, songwriting has subtly combined my passion for both music and words. And this is very fascinating to me.
Q: Which original song did you most recently perform?
A: On Jan. 20th 2023, I was invited to perform as a featured artist for the Lunar New Year Gala held by International Asian Culture Society (IACS). And it took place at the Davis Hall of International House. This event gathered a bunch of talented Asian musicians as well as individual artists with a wide range of expertise in classical and contemporary music. It is such a great honor for me to have this opportunity. I performed an original Chinese song called The Mountains at this event. I used the first and second person perspective to interpret a story about how I was afraid to go on the roller coaster but found it was not that scary when I grew up. All I saw was just green mountains. I was trapped within those mountains and was thus not able to see the park on the other side, which is a reflection of reminding people to be brave to go for the destination they’re looking for and fight for the goals they’re looking to achieve.
Q: Of all the showcases you’ve participated in, which one do you find to be the most remarkable?
A: I think it would be the Save the Night Show presented by Wolftyla. We actually went to the same school. When Wolftyla was picking the location for her showcase, she asked some friends from school if they’re interested in joining this showcase as guest performers. And I had some collaboration with one of our common friends before so I went with him. We didn’t really have time to figure out a name or thoughtful planning but the result was surprisingly incredible. It was absolutely an amazing experience. We met so many young musicians of different styles, including R&B, rap, and pop. And that’s also the very first time the idea that maybe I could form a band of my own ever hit me.
Q: What do you think differentiates your style from other musicians?
A: I think my identity as an Asian musician in the United States is what makes me special because I am very good at dealing with cultural collision of the West and the East as well as integrating one influence into another. Someone once called me genre fluid, which I am very proud of. I started to get to learn about all genres of music at school. So my style tends to change every half a year. From the very beginning when I didn’t know anything to when I learned about music production, my style was all about piano. And then computer composition opened up a new chapter for my career and I went into more interesting fields such as R&B. Next, I started to explore the hard core genre like electronic music, even the Cyber Punk style. People around me call me the demon child when I’m making music like that because of the rebellious elements I present in my music.
Q: In your opinion, what is the main difference between Western music and Eastern music?
A: Generally speaking, whether it’s today or the ancient times, Eastern music especially Chinese music is usually introverted, poetic and romantic regardless of the lyrics and the melody. All the beauty is shown through the expressions of metaphors while Western music has a more straightforward way of telling stories. Another difference is that the Western music is more open when it comes to sexual themes. The musicians use ups-and-downs in beats and flows to reflect the erotic attraction of sex. And the new song “Shhh!” that was released on February 16 by my band Qu!et For The Neighbors, is also an upbeat pop rock song depicting an erotic affair between two characters and their “secret love game”. But to promote our own style to the Western audience, we have to make some changes based on the characteristics of the audience groups here, just like how Kpop groups like BTS and Blackpink gained their popularity in North America.
