Rising Music Star Zight On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Music Industry
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
Don’t try to build your own song structure from the ground up. Listen to tracks on the Billboard chart and use them as references. There’s a reason why instruments are arranged in limited combinations.
As a part of our series about music stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Zight.
Zight is an emerging EDM artist hailing from Hong Kong. His style is distinctly upbeat, fusing feel-good melodies to euphoria-dripped soundscapes and thunderously thumping rhythms. His creative process is unique in the way he crafts his iconic sound. The artist suffers from the disorder “Synesthesia”, which means his emotions are often transferred into melodies in his mind. The result is something authentic and oozing with originality.
Zight managed to secure his first collaboration with Disney singer Sonna Rele. He composed, produced and wrote the lyrics of the timeless, inspiring track. With its motivating message, it’s hard not to smile when listening to the song.
Originally from Hong Kong, Zight has his eyes set on making a major impact on the global dance music scene. He aspires to be the first Hong Kong name to make it on a UK billboard chart. His mission is to create timeless classics that outlive him so the world will have something to remember him by.
Zight is an active member of PRS Music (UK) IPI #1061611990.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in Hong Kong, in the British era. It’s a pretty unique city, where East meets West and old meets new. My father loved to collect CDs of all kinds of music. I remember there was a huge CD cabinet in the living room. Back then I was so addicted to the Eurodances. Vengaboys, Aqua, 2 Unlimited, you name it. I played that music so loud that one day my mother busted in, unplugged the power cable and hid it somewhere.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I started to publish music in 2010. By today’s standards, they were terrible, really poorly-mixed rock music tracks. I uploaded them onto YouTube. I must have gotten so many negative comments! Since then I’ve focused on improving my production skills. I attended London’s Pointblank music school a few years back, and over time I transformed myself into an electronic music producer.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
When I started producing EDM (electronic dance music), I was really eagerly scouting for a collaborating singer, a female vocalist to cover on my latest track “Fly Away.” I sent two or maybe three hundred emails and messages (with the song demo) to singers on Facebook and Instagram. I checked my inbox every day and it was always empty. I was so desperate. And then one afternoon, I remember, I received a message from Sonna Rele, who performed the theme song of the Disney movie “Cinderella.” She agreed to cover on “Fly Away.” I swear that was the happiest moment of my entire life.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The lesson is, don’t get too confident with your first few songs. They suck (usually). It takes years to master your production skills to the mainstream standard.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Right now, after “Fly Away” and “Everybody Keep Running,” I’m working on a new EDM track with American singer Adam Christopher. It’s a song about Formula One racing, named “Number One.” It’s in the final mix and mastering process. We’re planning to work on a music video too.
We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
Skip. (One question that I do not have experience with.)
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.
One, don’t try to build your own song structure from the ground up. Listen to tracks on the Billboard chart and use them as references. There’s a reason why instruments are arranged in limited combinations.
Two, don’t build your own (electronic) synths from zero. There are billions of combinations to this. Finding the right sound is like finding a needle in a haystack. Instead, try to modify your sound from existing samples.
Three, make a detailed collaboration document for the song. List all your requirements for the collaborating artist.
Four, require the vocalist to deliver at least 3 versions of the lead vocals, with at least 5 trials of adlibs each time so you can select the best one.
Five, when you finish mastering, you’re only halfway to the song’s release.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Don’t limit yourself to producing in one particular genre. I know a pretty cool producer who focused on making just one kind of trance music. The structure of his songs was pretty similar. One day he announced he was going to stop making music; he said he was bored of it. That was the worst case when a musician was too afraid to break the mold and brought himself to a dead end.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
In that case, I would motivate more Asian musicians to write and sing in English.
As an Asian producer, I listen to all kinds of Asian music to keep my mind refreshed. Chinese, Korean, Japanese. The standard of Chinese music is already beyond expectation, and they’re definitely up to the electronic trend. I hope that one day we can all sing in the same language, so good melodies and good music can be spread out to every corner of the world.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I really want to thank Sonna again. After the release of “Fly Away,” she worked so hard to promote our single on Tiktok and Instagram, posting live covers. “Fly Away” wouldn’t have come this far without her.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I would refer to a line of my latest single “Everybody Keep Running” — “Life isn’t one lesson, you can be who you want to be.” People asked me, what the H does that mean. I said, don’t let anybody, especially your parents, teach you to become who you are. Being who you want to be is totally up to you.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)
Marshmello. Marshmello, you are my guidance.
How can our readers follow you online?
Follow me on Facebook @djzight or Instagram @zightmusic. You can also watch my music videos on YouTube by searching the keyword “Zight.”
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
