Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Yun-Chih Tsai.
Michelle Yun-Chih, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in Taiwan and started playing piano at the age of seven. At age 12, I entered a local music school in the neighborhood and went through three years of intensive piano training. I was miserable. I remember crying to my mom and begging her to let me drop out because I did not want to play piano ever again. I remember my teacher asking us to raise our hands if we intended on pursuing music after graduation. No one raised their hands. Little did I know music would find its way back to me after all these years.
In university, I went out a lot to listen to music, whether it be concerts or night clubs. In turn, my friends would always be asking me for recommendations or to put together a playlist for school events and parties. I slowly began to realize that maybe I had an ear for it, and maybe I could turn this into something I did on a regular basis. I started creating more and more playlists and eventually decided to just get into DJing once and for all. As soon as I started learning how to DJ, I fell in love with it helplessly. I immersed myself fully in the music, studied the song structures day and night, and wracked my brains out thinking about how to blend songs together seamlessly yet creatively. I will never forget my first performance; when I went on stage and played all the songs that I loved, the crowd was having crazy fun and singing along…the energy was contagious. Addictive, too. After the show, the feedback from my friends was amazing. That’s when I truly felt, for the very first time, what it was like to have a passion.
At that time, however, I never considered pursuing music as a full-time career. Sure it was fun, but there was no way I could support myself doing music. When I graduated, I decided to “get a decent job” like everyone else did. After six dreadful months of clocking in and out at a 9 to 5 desk job, I finally decided that it wasn’t my thing. It was only when I DJ’ed that I could forget about every little trouble I had and just fully liberate myself. That’s how I knew that I was destined to pursue music…It was the one and only thing that made me truly happy.
Fast forward to now, I have moved halfway across the world, currently studying Electronic Music Production in LA. When I first moved, I didn’t have a single friend and my parents were both back in Taiwan. I had to start from scratch. During the day I attended class and absorbed like a sponge. At night I would go to networking events and engage in as many conversations as I could. In a few weeks, I received my first opportunity to play open aux at a small event held by some friends. There were no words to describe the sense of achievement and the glimmer of hope that I felt.
Now I play a couple of gigs a month at events or bars, and I’m having the time of my life. I am finally able to dedicate all of my time to music, whether it be producing or playing shows. Although I still cannot support myself fully at the moment, I feel like I am consistently moving forward and that big things will come for me. Moving to LA was one of the most eye-opening experiences that I’ve ever had. I have made many new friends and been able to celebrate and share my love for music with these beautiful people. It is here that I find it possible to have a full-time career pursuing music. Everywhere I look, it’s a city full of possibilities…as long as you work hard enough to get it.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely hasn’t been easy. Like I said, in Asia, it’s very hard to pursue music or art as a living. It is also very difficult to obtain support and approval from family and friends, especially the parents. However, I consider myself very lucky to have both my parents super supportive of me chasing my dreams.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am an open format DJ that spins on turntables, controllers, and CDJs. I specialize in Hip Hop, RnB, and Neosoul, but I also play a range of different music such as Soul, Funk, Trap, Dubstep…Nowadays a lot of new DJ’s don’t spin on turntables anymore, but that’s how I started out learning how to DJ, and my love for turntables will always top any other DJ gear. I love the tactile experience of touching the turntables and the control vinyl; when it moves, it has a life of its own, and we need to respect the equipment and caress it carefully…not smash the cue button on the CDJ like a robot. When I perform, I always try to play all genres of music and not limit myself to just one tempo. I switch things up a lot, playing flips and remixes of popular hip hop songs and watch people be like “Wow this is a dope remix!” I love sharing my music with other people and help them discover different types of music they probably didn’t know about before. To me, music is life; it’s my biggest passion, and my mission is to share this love with the world.
What were you like growing up?
Believe it or not, I was a total introvert growing up. It would take some time for me to warm up to others and I never actively engaged in a conversation until someone asked me a question. I never liked sports either. I was that typical Asian girl that always sat in the corner and read a book quietly by herself, never participating in group activities. However, as I grew up, I realized that I was always so scared of what other people thought of me and that stopped me from going after many things I wanted to do. I had a huge curiosity and was always wanting to try new things, but because I didn’t have many friends and wasn’t always the most popular girl at school, there would be a tiny voice inside the back of my head telling me that if I tried something new and didn’t work out, I would just become a joke and utterly embarrass myself in front of everyone.
In my second year in high school, I decided that it all had to change. Every day I made a mental effort to ignore what other people would think of me and just actively seek out what I really wanted to do. One day, I decided to try out for the Girls Acapella Group at my school, and to my surprise, I got in! That was the turning point for me. I realized that if I could just throw away my fears and muster up the courage to at least “try”, something amazing could come out of it. Ever since then, I have become much more outgoing and have been embracing the mentality of “not giving a fuck”. It has yielded amazing results. I have made so many more friends and experienced so many different things that I never thought I would try. My passion for DJing is the perfect testament…Never in a million years could I imagine I would be living in LA studying music and playing shows right now, but here I am, fulfilling my dream.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.djmishhh.com
- Phone: 7025762344
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/i_mish_uu/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DJMishhh/
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/djmishhh
Image Credit:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/cathy_keng/, https://www.instagram.com/cytherial_/, https://www.instagram.com/kishicreative/, https://www.instagram.com/horeilly_autoparts/, https://www.instagram.com/chiiiii_0116/
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
