From the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Kaiwyn began songwriting in his teenage years with a wide variety of contrasting musical elements. While he was receiving medical training in Australia, the majority of these songs were kept in his vault while they were waiting to be professionally released. subsequently running into a local producer in the course of his shifting work schedule as he begins to search for the moments that he had selflessly given to hone his medical abilities.
With the soaring new effort “You’re My Kind,” Australian newcomer Kaiwyn hopes to build on his successful August 2022 breakthrough with his dynamic debut single “Dedicated To You.” ‘You’re My Kind’ is a warm and embracing pop-rock song that furthers the warm and welcoming aesthetic he is creating for himself. He is currently establishing himself as a sparkling addition to the new music scene with songs that are brimming with vibrant and euphoric hooks that are expertly paired with his own alluring voice.
“You’re My Kind,” Kaiwyn’s second produced song, was written in 2008 with significant influences from the early 2000s pop/rock/punk scene. This song expresses regret over an unexpected mutual liking between two people who were just one person late to the party. It features a variety of experimental sounds, including hiccup, mic feedback, smacking lips, and laser gun. The delay in release is the result of completing medical school from 2007 to 2014, a medical residency, and current specialty training in psychiatry. I made the decision to go back through my catalog and release them now after realizing how many songs I had written but hadn’t professionally produced after the pandemic. Check out the song and the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
KAIWYN: I’ve always been a creative being and melodically inclined growing up in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was in a household of wide musical influences from different cultures and regions across the world. During my teenage years, I started writing blogs and diary reflecting on the experiences and emotions I was going through, which eventually evolved into poetic and lyrical compilations. I was active in school bands and also joined local singing competitions back then too.
Funnily enough, life came with a twist as I got accepted into medical school in Australia when I was 18 and decided to take the leap of faith to keep these two passions side by side. I continued writing songs while going through the vigorous training in medical school and then residency, just waiting for the right timing and balance to work on all these songs professionally. And yeah, I was quite burnt out post pandemic and decided to take action with these songs, so I met up with a local producer in the nearby hospital I work at and boom, re-visiting all these works from the past now!
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
KAIWYN: There was definitely no musicians or even doctors in my family line so they were not aware to cultivate these interests of mine other than focusing on academic improvement (which can be stressful) as I am not a studious person myself (somehow I managed to pass medical school!) I absorb most musical knowledge and skills via hands-on stimulation like listening to music, watching MTV, singing competitions and recording myself to try to gain skills in song production.
I remember I was given piano lessons when I was 10 but I was just not into the graded examinations at the end of each year so I decided to quit after a few months. I felt that being restricted to theories and other frameworks limits my creativity so I developed my own style of songwriting, without mastering any musical instruments!
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘KAIWYN’?
KAIWYN: It’s hard to pinpoint a specific genre as I was exposed to music my parents put up from the soft 60s to late the 80s along with other classical Chinese folk songs. I started to tune into music more attentively around early 2000s which was lined with alternative pop, rock, folk artists such as Michelle Branch, Simple Plan, Dido and Travis. I recalled that I had an Mp3/CD player that I brought to school and we would all take turns to head bop to these tunes. Given also I could speak several other languages, I also tuned into Mandopop, J-Pop, K-Pop and other World music at that time.
Kaiwyn was picked as my name pronounced in Mandarin is “Kaiwen”, with exchange of the letter “e” to “y” to represent Generation Y! I was also told by a patient whom I delivered her baby that Kaiwyn means “Blessed” that originated from Welsh region, she was close to name her baby that too!
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
KAIWYN: I think at the moment with re-visiting my previously written songs, my listeners been consistently giving me the feedback of “nostalgia” which I would totally agree with. My current sound would be more on the vein of a warm, embracing pop-rock aesthetic along with euphoric hooks that builds up dynamically throughout the song. I mean I don’t usually stick to a format so there’s definitely a surprise element in it as well. Lyrically, it is certainly more storytelling and reflecting on own and/or shared experiences with other people that I have come across. I hope to develop more of my own sound in future as I finish up with my earlier songs from the past!
5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as POP?
KAIWYN: I feel privileged actually to start out later when I have finally come to terms with my strengths and vulnerabilities. I truly believe that originality comes from within, eliminating the demands and expectations from the outside world. As a music aficionado, I think that we all extract and pick up from parts of different music, consciously and/or subconsciously that resonates with us and continue on to have our personal building block that never stops updating itself throughout the songwriting career. I am learning and enjoying the process of song production at the moment so much that it is my oasis now after a long day working within the health sector.
Just like my medical work, I can memorize all the textbooks and treatment strategies, but ultimately, you develop your own way in effectively delivering primary care to the community that is patient-centered. Hence I feel originality is a very dynamic and an organically driven process, all about the expression of what’s internally driving your emotions, which is why I feel more inclined to develop my own interpretation of pop-rock music.
6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
KAIWYN: With advancing technologies, increasing literacy and range of creative outlets in the world, I feel music is just so versatile in all its expressions. It has been used since stone ages and continues to expand exponentially worldwide. Everyone has their own perspectives and agenda in life when using music to communicate, let it be political/ cultural/ spiritual. It is amazing how music has the power to connect with people. I feel that in my case, I infuse most of my own stories and personal experiences in navigating my personal growth. Music is part of my escapism to express and document the ups and downs in life, kind of like a diary, just more enjoyable for me as a visual/audio person rather than a simple text journal.
7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
KAIWYN: I’ve been actually holding back in my expectations from the outcome of my musical work to be honest. I genuinely just want to immense myself in the creative process and captivate as much hands-on knowledge that I can, going into the recording studio. So far, it has been exhilarating to be able to take in these experiences which fuels my motivation to continue to achieve a stable balance between medicine and music. I noticed myself starting to familiarize myself with the terminologies of music and people whom I collaborated with have also commented on my stable growth so far, which is very validating and boosting of my previously low self-esteem to continue on with more song production. I think my goals in future is to continue to preserve the passion that I have now and remain as truthful to myself in terms of my developing artistry, whilst avoiding formation of an “imposter syndrome”.
8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
KAIWYN: Now this is the fun part! I usually have a melody starting in my mind and I hum it casually to form a song. I have a tape recorder in the past to record these voice memos but now I just use the phone. These melodies sometimes come to me in my dreams, or when I am in the showers, basically when times I am not occupied with certain tasks that needs concentration. The most ironic thing is when I am under a big amount of stress, I tend to write more songs during that period of time. You have no idea how much time I’ve used to procrastinate my studies before an exam to then able to complete a song! After completing the tune, I tend to incorporate my emotions at that time into lyrics which is a similar pattern to my teenage blog postings in the past. I always seem to come up with the hook first then build on other structures as I go. The quickest I’ve completed a song this way was about 15-20 minutes, which was on a train! There is a lot of voice memos that I have still yet to go through but definitely by listening to them will invoke the emotions that I was going thru at that exact time of recording!
Recently, I have been collaborating with a local producer in my area, pitching the full song with sung lyrics to then work on the instrumentals together, developing on more sounds, so it has been such a fun process to see how the song was then mixed and mastered to its end product.
9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
KAIWYN: This feels like a popular question that they’ve asked me in my medical recruitment interview years ago, and I would say again that it’s never an easy question to answer without baring your vulnerabilities that you’ve overcome to be here in the present. I felt the departure from home country to a distant place all by myself has been both exciting and also daunting at the same time. I remember myself apologizing for everything and felt that I was always “an outsider” initially really made it hard to fit in. But in time, I just gradually become less of a “people’s pleaser” and be more confident in my transition into adulthood, validating my own feelings and being able to express them. These feelings were then relived when I came into the music production, but the people that I have come across so far in the music biz have given me a safe space to express myself despite my limited professional musical experience. I think the work in healthcare over the past few years has also grounded me and allowing me to be more resilient in coping with conflicts and difficult interpersonal connections.
10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
KAIWYN: Acquiring a medical degree, sustaining a stable employment while also being able to work on my music is all in all what I feel blessed and proud of. I always advocate that “anything is possible” if you take action along with the right support system in place. As I am only starting in the music industry, I have yet to experience what it has to offer but looking forward to enjoying the journey. I would also like to thank Illustrate Magazine for giving the chance to answer these insightful questions, it’s been such a pleasure to share my thoughts!
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Photo credits Roger Chambers