I caught up with Taiwanese-Australian singer-songwriter Kim Yang when she was in Australia briefly to perform at the 2024 National Folk Festival. Kim started writing songs in her mid-twenties partly to articulate important issues in her life. Kim says that, as a shy person, she finds it challenging to initiate conversations but that writing songs can break the ice for her and get her voice heard.
Kim loves the connection with people that songwriting brings and she enjoys collaborating with other musicians. She particularly loves it when the audience sing along at gigs.
She has a disciplined approach to song writing. She often starts with a five-minute brain dump of words related to an idea or story she wants to tell. She then sets herself a time limit, say one hour, to form up the lyrics. The music comes next and the emotional vibe Kim gets from the lyrics influence the music she creates around the story of the song.
Kim performed a new song live in the studio - "All good when I'm with you" which tells the story of musicians helping and lifting the spirits of others through their songs. It's a gentle, beautiful song with plenty of spaces for you to sing along - which you'll want to!
To check out more of Kim's music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kwuujRrUf8BEBpqsruKiW
