In The Blood

You’re a musician! Tell us more about how you first got into music.
When I was in Secondary 5 and the whole COVID thing happened, I had to do stuff at home when there wasn’t school. I’ve always had a guitar at home, so I just went “Yeah, I’m going to do it,” and that got me hooked. Last year, I formed a band and we’re now making music and playing shows.

Is this something you see yourself doing for a long time?
Yeah, definitely! You know when you’re living as a teen, then you suddenly gain consciousness? It’s like that with music for me. I was about 17, and in the middle of my sec 5 year, I went “Oh, shit, this music thing is pretty cool,”. Last year, I went to school for business but never really had the passion for it, not like I do with music, so yeah, I think I’d love to do this long-term.

How did you pick up your skills, and how are you continuing to hone them now?
I think I was lucky because I picked it up really quickly. I didn’t find myself stressing over not being able to play stuff. It’s good for me now—not worrying about learning new stuff—because then I can really just focus on the music. The stuff my band does is more focused on the texture of the songs as opposed to more technical things like weird scales and stuff.

Going back to what you mentioned about that moment of clarity you got in secondary 5, what was it exactly that made you realise music is what you want to pursue?
I just woke up one day with that thought. I was still learning guitar at the time, but I think the difference between music and anything else I’ve ever learned before is that I really went into this out of interest, and not because I was made to or anything. So I think that’s what really made it click for me—that interest.

What does it feel now going into your 20s soon?
It’s a bit weird in the sense that I feel like I’ve only actually been living for a year, since discovering and making music. Other than that, I don’t really see the big significance of entering my 20s. If anything, I’m a bit excited because when I turn 21, I won’t get IDed for cigarettes.