By Jessica Nguyen
The spotlight seemed to be focused on one person: Elaine Chu. Everything disappeared in the room as her voice captured the audience with its emotion, passion and vulnerability because while singing may be just a pastime for others, it is a passion for Chu.
Music has been apart of Chu’s life for as long as she could remember. At age two, she could remember belting out Vietnamese songs, then scribbling down lyrics at six years old and harmonizing with her sister in the car. The first song she sang was “Put your records on” by Corinne Bailey Rae.
Years later, Chu even auditioned at America’s Got Talent. Even though she didn’t make it, it was an experience she would never forget.
“Being able to do something I love in front of so many people—it’s really wonderful,” said Chu. “It is always good to set goals and do what you love no matter what.”
Singing hasn’t always been easy for Chu. Growing up with stage fright and anxiety, it was hard to follow her passion; it kept her from singing in front of people and she would cry every time she was in front of someone. However over years, she has allowed herself to open up to more people and let her walls be broken down, making it easier to sing in front of crowds.
“What I usually think about is that if I can sing while I’m in my room alone, I have to just imagine that there is nobody else in the room and I’m just doing what’s best for me,” said Chu. “When I sing, it feels like I’m the only one in the world and lets me feel like I’m at peace.”
Being in the hospital also obstructed her ardor because she couldn’t get out of bed to do much, including singing, until she came to the realization of how much singing helped her and that nothing could stop her from singing.
“I should continue in doing what I love. [Singing] was a way for me to release all my anger and stress,” said Chu. “It really allows me to express myself in ways that I can’t do with anything else. If I sing, I am able to put all my emotion in it.”
Having to battle with depression, music became an outlet for Chu to recover through it.
“I’m not alone in the battle. A lot of people struggle with the same thing and writing songs, something that I truly care about helped me. I know a lot of people can relate to it,” said Chu.
During performances, mistakes forward Chu to do better. Whenever she messes up, Chu just keeps going and tries her best to improve. Practice makes progress and recently, she has been taking more time out of her day to practice.
“You just have to learn from mistakes. I think that you shouldn’t be rushing to fix your mistakes, but as a person, really take time time to think about them, think about failure, and think about how you can improve on it,” said Chu.
Chu’s practices consist of singing throughout her entire day. You can always find her singing whether it’s in class, at home, or when she has time but when she sits down, she sings for several hours. Depending on the day, like if she was feeling a lot of emotion, she would write a song but if not, she would practice on her vocal cords by singing powerful songs like Whitney Houston. Her favorite genres of music include R&B, jazz and pop. In addition, Chu practices with instruments, like the piano, guitar, but mainly the ukulele.
“I do it every single day. I’ll do it when I don’t even notice like when I’m doing my homework,” said Chu.
Chu’s greatest songs come from random spurs of emotions that make it easy for her to write a song. Although when she doesn’t feel much, it is much harder to push out lyrics. One of her proudest achievements was when she wrote her first song or when she had to courage to audition for America’s Got Talent.
“I tend to have a way with words when I sing songs,” said Chu. “It’s very passionate.”
Some people who inspire Chu are Adele and Ariana Grande but most importantly, are her sister and dad, who motivate her to continue singing. From singing in the car with her, her sister was someone she looked up to and was the first person to get her into music.
The hardest part about music for Chu is being envious of others and the way that they are able to control their vocal cords. Looking up to people, wanting to be like them, and not being able to was something that Chu struggle with.
“[Singing] really depends. Everyone is different and it took me a long time to realize that everyone is unique as well,” said Chu.
In five years, if Chu is still where she is now, doing what she loves, then she will continue pursuing her career in music. With some many difficulties, Chu has learned so much and has shown her extreme dedication to music. She will definitely make a mark on the world.
“If anyone ever wants to pursue something that they love, then definitely do it and don’t let anything hold you back because I know that there is a lot of obstacles like having the fear of failure or not going to make it as successful as other people,” said Chu, “but you can do anything if you put your mind to it.”
This story was published in the 2019 Red Magazine. Stop by room 306 for a copy.
