Vivien Chan (born June 17 in Nottingham, UK) is a UK-based artist and YouTube musician. Part of an upcoming 6'th generation of YT musicians including the likes of Kevin Kaho, Robyn Yip and Andrew Lumapas, Vivien relies a lot on her artistic passions to express herself and music is one of those ways. Find out more about what she's like here!
How long have you been doing music for? Are you doing it professionally or independently?
I've been doing music for a while now, I would say since about 11 or 12. I do a little bit of both, mostly professionally, I play flute and sing, of which I both do grades for, and I used to play piano for grades too. However, most of the activities I do are all for fun and have been doing for a long time now.
What style of music do you generally perform?
Performance wise, I rarely perform on my own as I am in a lot of choirs and fairly big bands. As for my little band The Projects, we've never performed other than on Youtube. We're working on that. Generally, I perform showpieces, classical pieces, and with Projects, it's all about acoustic.
How did you first get involved in music?
I took flute lessons and sang in my school choir in 6th grade, but quit both in secondary school for about a year. My friends are very musical and I saw them at a school concert, which fortunately encouraged me to start things up again. We have a steel drums group, of which we're all still involved, that started it off. And then, my parents bought me a flute after a lot of persuasion and I joined our marching band, which is now about 7th or 8th in Europe. From that I got flute lessons, and seemed to have a knack for it which never showed before. From then I joined several bands and choirs, all of which I am still involved in.
What made you decide to starting YouTubing your musical talent?
I got most encouraged by Andrew who wanted to see what my piano skills were like, which of course didn't match his natural talent. From then, it interested me what people would say about it and a lot of people liked my singing. Then, my friend Alex and I began The Projects.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
I would say Regina Spektor is one of my idols. Her lyrics and melodies are all so unique and completely make sense to me, and it's so difficult to play!
How does it feel to be getting all this support from people for doing what you do?
Music is not really my first love, and although it is such a big part of my life, it's not where I want to go in my career. There is alot of support, yes, but Music for me is one big hobby. Nothing much more.
Is there ANY musician that you would like to do a collaboration with in the future?
I can dream, but who wouldn't want to collab with Lady Gaga? She's just incredible.
I heard you're part of a music project now. Tell us more about that! What has been your most popular cover on YouTube? Your most popular original song on YouTube?
My covers are not that popular; among The Projects, our cover of Friendly Fires seems to be the most popular, and rightly so as it's the best one we've done yet! Of original songs, we only have one which isn't so popular called El Pastel, which I wrote on a whim.
I imagine you have a lot of music tastes; what do you normally play on your iPod and/or when you’re at home?
I usually put my iPod on shuffle and see what it brings. It's a big habit of mine, I don't want to leave any songs behind! I think it's sad when you can forget some songs that you once loved.
Where’s the one place where you can go and get your creative flow going in order to write/create music?
In my room, in the middle of the night, and can only be written in one notebook :)
Who is your closest musician friend, and how did you two meet?
I'd say Andrew Lumapas is an inspiration to me and I admire his ambition; funnily enough we met at marching band in Italy when we competed against eachother. And of course, my bandmate Alex, we also met at marching band and finding we had similar taste, grew very close musically and friendship-wise.
What do you do in your spare time when you’re not playing music?
I am an artist first, and spend alot of time doing so. I am also very outgoing and like to spend a lot of time with my friends. But A LOT of time is spent on music.
What do you hope to accomplish while being involved in music?
A few more subscribers on The Projects Youtube would be nice :) a few small gigs maybe, and all the big grades on my instruments.
Do you have any final words for the readers?
Music is such a source of friendship and passion. Use it well, and let your creativity soar.
Thanks to Vivien for the interview, and until next time, adios!
J~
Vivien Chan
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