We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Mak a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far is writing and producing my first single Were You There. I grew up in Tennessee and the song is about the confusion of being a queer teen growing up in a small Southern town. When you aren’t affirmed as a queer person you can start to question your own reality and the song is about that cycle of questioning. I love pop music and I wanted to write and produce a pop song! With some help from a mentor, I was able to produce the whole song from home.

Emily, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a songwriter and producer, music has always been important in my life, even though I’ve had a lot of starts and stops along the way. As a child, my journey with music began with the classical piano since my grandmother was a piano teacher. Singing in a children’s choir taught me the foundations of vocal harmony and performance.

After high school, I put music away for many years and I didn’t sing or play the piano for at least a decade, which I deeply regret. After college, I joined a women’s choir which helped me rediscover my love for music. I knew I wanted to write my own songs but I had no idea how to start or how I would even get them out into the world.

Five years ago, I learned that people were producing music from their computers at home, and I decided to take an online class on music production! I learned how to use a digital audio workstation (DAW), building songs by layering instrumentation and polishing the tracks with mixing and mastering. One of the most rewarding outcomes of learning to produce my own music was having my instrumental pop dance tracks accepted into music libraries for film and TV.

This year, I wrote, produced and released my first song with my own vocals! After blending my voice into choirs for many years, I wasn’t sure if I had the courage to sing by myself on my track. But I did it and now I can’t stop! I’m currently working on my next song and I plan to continue releasing music regularly to develop myself as an artist.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Authenticity is at the core of my mission. As a queer artist, I believe in the power of music to convey the complexities of identity, romantic love and family relationships. Growing up in the rural South, I felt forced to be someone that I was not and hiding took a toll on me. It took me many years to feel more comfortable with myself as a queer person. Now, my music serves as a medium to express myself unapologetically. One of my long term goals is to produce other musicians to amplify their voices and support them on their journey. I understand the experience of feeling like it’s too hard to get started in the music industry, especially if you are marginalized. I want to help other musicians follow their dreams and share their art with the world.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had known about mentorship in music production earlier! I spent many years feeling frustrated that I didn’t go to school for music. By the time I realized that I wanted to study music production and songwriting, I was deep into my career and it didn’t feel feasible to go back to school to study music.

And then I discovered online mentorship from a successful producer working in the industry! I have gained so much knowledge from my mentor, Joseph Capalbo. It’s like attending a private, individualized school for learning how to produce where you get to work on your own songs! The support I received is a huge reason I was able to release my first single.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @emilymakmusic
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/30GLiDLnC0U1Sp765SnQCT

Image Credits

Virginia Hernandez