Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Wong.
Hi Vanessa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As an empath who creates therapeutic art and music with healing frequencies, my journey has been shaped by many people and situations in life. I was born into a broken family on an island called Labuan in Malaysia. My parents struggled with their relationship and I felt very anxious and helpless when they get into conflict with each other. It was very traumatic and I still remember all the details. Normally as a child, I would instinctively side with my mum in any conflict, but because they love me equally, I was stuck in between the extreme of both worlds. I felt lost and confused.
My parents have always described me as a creative rebel because I would always trust my guts more than their words. I refuse to listen to anything that goes against my set of beliefs, and that confidence paradoxically eroded my confidence every time I made a mistake. At school, I was bullied and I remembered one instance when all the ‘popular mean girls’ suddenly became a group of ‘fake angels’ and pretended to be my best friend when they wanted to eat my birthday cake that my mum bought for me to share at school. Of course, the next day, they turned back into cold-hearted mean girls. I felt like I was taken advantage of.
As a 7-year-old kid, I experienced the toxicity of fake people and hated it. I was lonely, till I met the kids of my mum’s friends. They are a creative family who wanted to start YouTube and do skateboarding together with my family. Spending time with them shaped who I am today, a confident risk-taker and creativity embracer. I knew many things about the corrupted government in Malaysia from eave-dropping to adults’ conversations. I instantly felt a connection to people who have to suffer through injustice and ‘bullied’ by the more powerful group of elites– totally relatable to me– I know that feeling of feeling helpless, empty, and lost.
I feel very lucky that my grandparents have always been parental figures for me. My Grandpa would always give us the freedom to do what we like, bring us to travel, and give us a huge portion of pocket money — his hard-earned money from his childhood (He was a child slave) and that love meant everything to me. As his birthday is coming up, I asked him: ‘You did everything you could to make us happy, what about you? What makes you happy?’ As I waited eagerly for his answer, he said: ‘seeing you guys happy makes me happy.’ He was and will always be the very definition of unconditional love. My grandfather was like a light to my darkness.
Our family moved to Australia in pursuit of better education and life quality for us. That meant my parents had to separate for months because my dad has a business in Malaysia. I was left lonely again. Excluded from friendships groups at school and I was scared to sit alone because I don’t want to re-live the times of the 7-year-old me at school. That loneliness meant I would walk around the school blocks or hide in the toilet. I grew accustomed to solitude and honestly, quite enjoy it. That was in Grade 5. I started learning the violin and took art classes. I love being creative because I felt free for once, and I would get affirmations from people which reminded me of my self-worth and repaired my self-esteem.
In high school, I was nurtured by a very warm and loving community of staff and students. I gained the confidence to join many extra-curricular activities like mountain biking competitions, and math and science competitions and received a letter from a government representative for my participation in a French Competition. Learning became my best friend, especially in developing my skills in art and music. It gave me a sense of purpose and life. I started writing songs, making films, producing music and rollerblading.
I love innovating. I remembered winning a sewing machine after designing a face mask that doesn’t even look like a face mask. I love being unique and if that meant being lonelier, so be it, because I believe to find yourself, you need to be authentic, and you need to be willing to lose some things in order to gain new things. Losing some friends means gaining new ones too. I met very interesting people by being myself.
Now that I am 18, I empathize with people who have been abused and I believe nearly everyone has been through some kind of hurt that left them feeling lonely, empty and defeated. I am very grateful that all my experiences created me who I am today, for, without the darkness, I will never truly taste the light of unconditional love which my grandparents and parents have given me. In a way, the darkness is an essential recipe in the creation of my art song, where light can shine. That complements beautifully with my faith which teaches that light would always defeat the darkness. I want to use my art song to transform lives, to experience the love, confidence, and light we were born with. I want my art song to remind everyone we are loved, to own our story, and share our light.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I got covid at the start of my Art Song journey. The coughing that came as a long-term effect left me feeling like I lost an essential part of my creative expression. I fear that it may become a setback for the quality of my songs because I love how my voice complements my songs. It led me to realize that we should never take for granted anything we have at any moment in life. We’ll never know when we would lose it and we should grasp the opportunities to make the most out of what we have. However, I didn’t let that stop me and wrote a song for people who are struggling with covid now. Through this experience, I realized that covid is not a virus for just the body, but also for the mind. Peace and joy are robbed of our life. I believe this is a time when it’s more important than ever to be grounded rather than be controlled by panic and fear. I wrote a song called ‘Made Whole’ as part of the Art Song series called ‘Joy and Peace. This is my first art song and people I have shared with have experienced restoration in their souls.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am pursuing a Master’s Degree in Music Therapy because I am passionate about using healing sound to rejuvenate our health and wellbeing, which leads to a more fulfilled and abundant life. Many people pay attention to the visible manifestation of well-being such as body size/shape, but few realize that true well-being is a balance of having a healthy mind and body. Music is a very powerful tool used to shape our subconscious beliefs and emotions. Listening to healing music means healing our mind and soul, which helps to restore our physical health. There has been much scientific evidence of the body and mind connection.
My music is a diary of not just my experiences, but also many others. I am fascinated by people’s lives and stories, and I love co-writing songs with other people because I believe music is meant to be shared and experienced together, just like our life! As an empath, I am hypersensitive to people’s emotions and stories which is one of the most powerful tools I use to write authentic songs that connect with people.
I am proud of creating a new genre of music where healing frequencies are blended with songs that sound familiar to popular songs of today, a mix of pop, orchestral, ballad, hip-hop, and more, depending on what the song is about. If I don’t mention that I use healing frequencies, people might not even notice! It’s a subtle blend of healing frequencies that creates positive effects on top of the uplifting lyrics and instrumentals!
What sets me apart as an artist, even more, is incorporating visual art to complement the music. An Art song is an art and music becoming one. Basically, it’s music painted alive. An art song is a song born and inspired by my art. It shares the same title, inspiration, and message. An Art song is two words formed into one. It’s a new word that represents the new genre of art and medicine combined!
I have worked with Grammy award-winning songwriter Cari Cole, took classes with Fab Dupont, Greg Wells, and other top music producers and engineers, and received a scholarship to work with Mike Mangini, a Grammy award-winning mixing engineer, I am an independent songwriter, music producer, mixing/mastering engineer, painter, singer, violinist and film creator/editor.
It’s only been 3 weeks since I started this business! I started songwriting and producing last year. Many say the hardest part is starting because I have so much to figure out! But I believe, within a few months to years, I can only imagine how amazing and how impactful my art song would become. After posting my first song preview of the chorus on YouTube, I got offered a role in one of a major record labels to sing for a major project. I look forward to people experiencing light in the darkness through my art and music. I am known as Essa, and it stands for Enlightening, Shining, Soaring, Authentic. That’s my motto and message in every art song.
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I use the word ‘interesting’ to mean many different things, it is a summary of: ‘ Wow that’s fascinating, or ‘cool, I don’t care, or ‘ (swear words)’. The emoji I use when I get lazy to write ‘interesting’ is ‘…’ or ‘👀’ The coolest part about it is that when people ask me something I don’t wanna say yes or no to, I say interesting. For example, if someone asks me, do I look hot? I don’t wanna say yes or no, I’ll say, you look interesting, which sounds like a compliment to them!
Contact Info:
- Email: essaartsong@gmail.com
- Website: https://essa.contactin.bio/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/essa_artsong/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Essa_ArtSong-101682222385288
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYrXy20-7aNY1-IvNAOUiRA
