The Musician - Jyi Sim

Jyi Sim is a bubbly 3rd year aero with a enthusiasm that goes beyond the day job. Her passion for music and what it meant to her became clear as we talked. Jyi’s self produced first album Postcards from Unity draws heavily on her upbringing in Malaysia and the shock of moving to the UK. Recording and producing all of the tracks herself, she is now working on her second EP of down-tempo fusion.

Meredith - When did you start making music?

Jyi - I started making music when I was in secondary school, about sixteen. But I didn’t write anything down, I would just write on a piece of paper and play to my family and friends. My guitar is self taught but I learned piano since I was young. Its my main thing.

M - How would you describe the music you’re making now?

J - For this album I focused a lot on different languages. Like Malaysian culture it’s multilingual and multicultural. It started off in a discussion with one of my housemates, we were discussing our passion one day. He was saying that he likes writing, I was mentioning that I liked music. But we didn’t we didn’t really put out stuff in action. Then he said, we need to put our courage into action, instead of just dreams. That’s how it all started.

M - What would you say inspires you?

J - There is a lot of stuff, what I encounter in life, my feeling probably. That’s hard, let me think... One of the songs [Naan Unnai Kanalikiren], I find it very interesting. It’s not actually a Tamil song, I only know one phrase in Tamil. That song has a mixture of love in different languages. It’s actually my family that inspires the song. Because we are studying far from home, we like to express our love to our families. But y’know, from the Asian countries, the way we’re brought up, we don’t really express things. We don’t say: “I love you mum” or “I love you dad”. I like to express my love for my family, but through songs and not hugging and stuff. I don’t actually do that at home. [laughs]

M - Do you feel that language is important to the multicultural message of your work?

J - I feel it’s important, but without the language the music can express a lot of stuff as well. But with the help of the language it will make the gaps smaller.

M - Would you say there was an increasing amount of western influence in your music?

J - Actually I’m working currently on a wholly western album. So hopefully I can come up with something. Probably four songs, just like this album. I have some rough idea which is called ‘dimensions of life’..... I don’t really know how to write lyrics, I feel the music helps me out.

M - Do you think you would be making this music if you hadn’t left Malaysia?

J - I think I made more music after I left. Probably because I left home and there are a lot of emotions I would like to express.

M - Nostalgia?

J - [laughs] Yes, mostly nostalgia... But I’m trying to make more happy songs. I think people start making music because of emo. But I would like to try something new!

M - Do you feel there is any tension between your art and your studies here at Imperial?

J - [laughs] It helps me when I get bored of studying aero and flying kinds of things. It’s a good get-away to refresh my mind and get back to studies again. I couldn’t really see a link between them.

M - Your production logo is an aeroplane.

J - Oh you noticed that? And it’s the initial of a J!

M- You’re selling your music – how’s that going?

J - It’s not really, in Asia people like to download stuff illegally, but the reviews and feedback I get from strangers, it’s kinda good!

M - Where do you see your future?

J - I would like to step into the entertainment field, but probably backstage kind of stuff, production. But my parents would like me to have a stable job. My dream is to do both. Actually there is an artist in Malaysia who is a producer and he’s a pilot as well. He inspires me a lot, especially this year. He came over to London and gave us a speech. I thought, actually my dream of managing both sides is manageable.

M - When will DoL come out?

J - Actually I have plans for the four songs. Three of the four songs are in shape, I have the ideas already. One of the songs is called ‘Let go’. In Imperial we have a lot of stress in life, we reach the stage where we think, “why am I taking this course again?”. That song is to calm our souls.

M - Any recommendations to anyone hoping to match an artistic/creative interest with their studies?

J- It’s a bit cliché, but while it seems like our dreams are far away, it all starts when we take our first step.