We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kaye Formanes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kaye below.

Kaye, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Growing up in NYC, I was always surrounded by music. My dad plays both acoustic and electric guitar, and he would play along to songs that we loved. My mom would also sing to us in Tagalog (the language of the Philippines).

But as an autistic kid, it was harder to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. At one point, I thought I wanted to be either a video editor or horseback rider. When I was 16, I graduated from high school and moved to Seattle to attend Bellevue College. It was there, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that I realized my true path.

While with my family in quarantine in 2020, I started picking up on different chord progressions and melodies whenever my Dad played the guitar. On my 18th birthday, my parents gave me my first piano where I composed my first song. It was that moment where my family realized that being a musician is where my future is headed.

To my parents, whenever I play music on the drums, guitar or piano, my communication skills are on a different level compared to when I speak. Since then, I’ve been working on a plethora of compositions where I tell different stories through musical form, without having to speak words.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi there! My name is Kaye Formanes, and I am a Filipino-American composer, writer and artist from New York City and currently based in Seattle.

I’m also an alumni of Bellevue College, where I graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Digital Media Arts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I developed a fond interest in music and storytelling, and how music can be a perfect form of communication for autistic people.

As an independent autistic musician, I feel that composing music is my way of telling a story without having to speak actual words. My mission is to share music with other autistic and neurodivergent people. I want to show that anyone, autistic or not, is special. I wanted to let my music speak for me, because it comes out much clearer.

I mostly work at home in my studio, which comprised of my Yamaha Digital P-125 piano, and my two acoustic guitars (a Yamaha Junior and a Fender Newporter). My Dad, who’s my producer, assists with recording through Logic Pro and Spitfire Audio, and most of the sounds I incorporate in my music are digital.

Some of the projects that I’m very proud of is composing the score for the sci-fi horror short film, The Light in Their Eyes, which received honorable mention at the Seattle Horror 48 Hour Film Challenge, as well as the music of the the sci-fi/fantasy drama feature film, “I Watched Her Grow” (written and directed by my sister, Shea Formanes), which was my first feature film score.

Some of my biggest aspirations that I yearn to do in the near future is to create and write my own animated series or movie and hopefully get to collaborate with other talented creators, actors, and musicians such as Nic Smal, Lucy Heavens, Kimiko Glenn, H. Michael Croner, Adeline Hill, and more!

How did you build your audience on social media?

As of now, I am currently on Instagram (@kayeformanes) and YouTube (@kayeformanesmusic). I believe that social media is a great way to share my music with others. While my Instagram is slowly climbing (currently has 43 followers), my YouTube channel has over 400 subscribers! I also have a website in the works, which is the ultimate location where anyone that wants to contact or collaborate can find me on this page.

To anyone that wishes to build their social media presence, I would tell them this: Just be yourself and share what you are truly passionate about. The reward isn’t from how many followers you have, it’s more about the accomplishment of sharing something that you are proud of.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Whenever I listen back to any of the music that I completed, I like I’ve told a brand new story to an audience of listeners. The greatest reward for me as a musician is when I get compliments from anyone that hears my songs. The best thing about it is that their opinions can vary based on their interpretation of what they hear, which is what makes listening to music very exciting!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayeformanes
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leila-kaye-formanes-6b2277341/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kayeformanesmusic
• Other: https://kayeformanes.bandcamp.com/