Melbourne born and raised, designer/songwriter, Minhy (pronounced Min-ee) uses visual and audio creative design to craft her story into a unique artistic masterpiece.
Minhy’s life journey has been significantly shaped and inspired by her family’s history. Following the Vietnam war her family’s journey led them to live in Australia.. A journey filled with sacrifice and much hard work, providing the freedom for a better life.
This sense of freedom also came with a certain pressure that had Minhy spending many years hiding her desire to live the life she truly dreamed of.. a life full of creativity and expression.
At 31 years of age.. after many stepping stones towards her dream and years developing the combination of design, creative and musical skills, Minhy found herself living the life and path that she always knew she was destined to lead.
Now 3 years later, Minhy has found her creative groove!
Minhy has now released her haunting debut single, ‘Dead Of The Night’, influenced by artists such as BANKS, FKA Twigs and The Weeknd.
The vampire themed single is an ode to creative night owls, shining a spotlight on the lengths creators go to bring their ideas to life.
It’s a single that Minhy wrote after a night in December 2020 ticked past 3am and she had been caught up musing in her journal.. it was a theme oddly familiar to her uni days of late night studies and completing assignments, in which she concocted the metaphor, ‘my muse is a vampire’.
Listening to the song, you will be swept away into a mysterious world of vampires and night time haunts, with a unique sound mixed with elements of R&B, Electronica and Pop.
You can watch the film clip to Dead Of The Night below:
Tell us a little about your background..
Where do I begin!
Well my creative adventure started in the visual arts. I studied Industrial Design at uni and went on to work in automotive design. All whilst keeping my musical dream a complete secret – buried for another lifetime.
Pursuing design was already culturally challenging for me, so music just seemed a bit too wild..!
My parents and sister were refugees after the Vietnam War, braving through an incredible journey.
Even though our household carried traditional values of academics and “security”, I realised that in order to really appreciate the life that I have, I have to make the most of life and live truly.
And so a few years ago I left my job to pursue music. It’s been challenging shifting into this world, but I’ve never been happier.
I’ve also grown closer to my parents and my Mum has even said “I’m proud of you”, which is a big deal in Asian culture!
What does it mean for you to be an artist right now?
Good question!
To me, artists play an important role in society.
Artists of all disciplines are storytellers and through stories we can feel what it’s like to walk in the shoes of another person, to feel understood on a visceral level and expand the spectrum of our emotions and experiences.
Art has the power transport, transform and shape the values of our world.
Being an artist has allowed me to heal and discover so much about myself, about life and to be a better person.
How would you describe the feel of your music?
I’d say my music feels like all the music I love mashed together. My fave artists range from Alicia Keys to BANKS to Rufus Du Sol and many more oh my gosh!
And growing up on a diet of 90s pop, R&B, hip hop, electronic, and more recently lofi hip hop, these sounds are definitely shaping my music!
You have now released your single, ‘Dead of the Night’. Are you able to tell us a little about what inspired this single?
For ‘Dead Of The Night’ I was given the prompt ‘first light’ from “I Heart Songwriting Club” – a songwriting club, as the name suggests!
I was supposed to wake up early and watch the sunrise for inspiration, but being a night owl, that wasn’t going to happen!
And so it got me reminiscing about my uni days, when I’d often stay up all night completing my design assignments.
I’d lose track of time, so when the birds starting chirping in the morning, that would be my cue to crawl into bed.
That’s when I created the metaphor “my muse is a vampire” and wrote the song from the perspective of a vampire slave waiting for inspiration to strike…or bite 😉
It became an ode to my fellow creative night owls.
I love that you have created the metaphor, ‘My Muse is A Vampire’.. What does this vampire represent to you?
To me this vampire represents the mysterious, seductive, yet frightening force that creatives can experience.
When I’m about to start a new project, when I’m staring at the blank page, there can be this feeling of hesitancy…of fear – for what kind of creative adventure I’m about to get lost in or perhaps not go on at all.
And as I work through the night, it’s as if this vampire is feeding off me, leaving me feeling drained, yet gratified when I eventually drag myself to bed.
Also with this track, you have now released your video.. This is an amazing creation, using real time rendering.. Would you be able to describe the creation process of this video?
The idea for the music video came to me in the shower lol!
It’s based off the concept of a zoetrope – a physical device that produces the illusion of motion and explains how animations work.
So I called on my amazing vfx and animation friends to help create a digital zoetrope.
There was a bit of math involved to achieve the concept, so I gave my friends a bloody good challenge haha!
We used Unreal Engine, which is typically used for game development, for its real time rendering function, so that we could test and make changes instantly.
It also meant that we could output the final animation over night as oppose 10 days. I share bit more about the process on my Insta 🙂
What is your creative process like when you are creating your music?
I often start with journalling!
I do one page of ‘stream of consciousness writing’.
Then jump straight onto the piano, let my fingers find chords that feel good, set 10 minutes on the timer and improvise melodies on top of the chords.
I hum, speak gibberish or sometimes words just come out. I let the muse come through me hehe. And I record this process on my voice memos.
A lot of the time a song idea forms during this 10 min session, which I’ll then flesh out over the next few days.
When I’m lucky I’ll randomly get song ideas in the shower or when I’m waiting for the kettle to boil haha.
After I have a scratch demo done, that’s when I get a producer to jump on board.
Bringing ‘Dead of the Night’ out in time for Halloween, how has the response been to the track so far?
The response has been great!
I’ve been getting lots of messages saying how perfect it is for Halloween and some Tiktokers have made videos using the song!
That’s been so amazing!
If all the stars aligned, what would you like your future musical journey to look like?
The future is full of possibilities, so I’m excited to see where it could lead me!
I’d love to hone my production skills, be able to write for other artists, and maybe explore sync too – I want to try it all!
But in the end if I’m able to make music that’s true to me and can also be enjoyed by others, I’m happy 🙂
From your experience, what advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
Ah it’s so strange being asked this question!
I still feel like I’m an aspiring musician haha.
But through this release process, my advice would be to trust your intuition and to not rush your projects.
Learn through action and keep taking little steps.
A mentor or community is also invaluable if you’re starting fresh like me.
Where can listeners find more about you and your music?
Everywhere!
‘Dead Of The Night’ is available on all streaming platforms.
Definitely watch the music video for the full experience too.
Otherwise, hit me up on Instagram or Facebook! I’m always up for a chat about music and life, so feel free to message me!
You can find more of Minhy at:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/minhymusic/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/minhymusic87
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYKLg1K0PM90zXn0oe9hdnA
Spotify http://open.spotify.com/artist/4T2L1RNrIzlVzstBNQ2osU
Karen Harding is a Melbourne, Australia based singer/songwriter, founder of Sounds On The Couch, and founder and operator of boutique music PR service for emerging and independent artists, Rise Indie.