Meet Chong Heng Li

We were lucky to catch up with Chong Heng Li recently and have shared our conversation below.

Heng Li, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

I don’t have a compelling story or a dramatic event that drives my optimism for the world, or the things that I do. Where it simply came from was the music that I listened to, the friends that I hung out with, my wife, and some simple conjectures.

Just like everyone, I had teenage angst about 10 years ago. During that time, many people and things were driving me nuts because I felt that everyone was somehow terribly self-absorbed, impatient, or judgemental. Many things in the world also made me very angry and upset at that time, specifically poverty, capitalism, politics, and corruption. I was very cynical about everyone and everything, and I began to change for the worse; why should I try so hard to be a lawful, ethical, or subjectively-morally-upright person in a world where it punishes them? When I was beginning to lose hope and change my core values, the music that I was listening to during that time really saved me first.

Hiromu Akita, the lead singer and lyricist of a Japanese band called amazarashi, wrote incredible songs that touches on the transience of life, the worst and best in people, but it never fails to express hope and resilience. Listening to those songs felt like he pushed me to continue striving to be the best person I can be. He made me feel that I should become the change that I always wanted to see in this world.

So I decided to really open my eyes and look around me; my friends, my wife (girlfriend in the past) and us, humanity as a whole. My friends were there from me from the start; always hanging out and talking about whatever is above and below the ground and sky, and they entertained all my ridiculous thoughts and cynicism. My wife supported me throughout all my ordeals, stood by my side and fought for me, and listened to all my rants about the world and more. And then there is us, who progressed and overcame insane struggles over the course of history.

Yes, we are not great as a whole (and neither am I), but we’re likely arguably a lot better than before. Just like with many things, there is good and there is bad. The world may seemingly be going nuts right now but I believe we will come out stronger than before, just like we always did. To put it simply, I truly believe in change, and changing for the better. I’m sure that my life is worth living for the change I want to see, and most importantly, be. In the same way that I was given hope and comfort from the songs that saved me, I want to do the same for everyone else. And together, we can change the world slowly.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I struggled a lot with music and what I wanted to do with it, but now I’ve found my path as a songwriter and music producer! I’m about to complete my Masters at Berklee NYC, where I met a bunch of amazing people. Afterwards I will turn on the loudspeakers to create my profiles, release my music, and hopefully touch those who have heard my songs. I will be going under the artist name of NeoC, but currently named as dere_construct on instagram. NeoC tributes to the cool surname of my wife, and the initial letter of my own surname. I will be having a listening party on 6th June at 7pm (GMT -5) in New York GMT, and I will try to stream it on Twitch! I would love to have people check it out 🙂

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Critical thinking has to be the top 1 most important skill to have. It helps to break down complex problems into steps that make it achievable, and gives a deeper understanding to various things you will learn in the future. It also helps you reflect on your past knowledge and clears up assumptions you may have made and taken for granted. It allows you to question the validity of what people tell you or the things you read, and understand how situations or events came to be in the first place.

The second most important skill is objectivity when it comes to yourself. It is easy to point out all the flaws you have and feel terrible, but it is also important to understand the strengths you have too. I agree that there is wisdom in the saying that “comparison is the thief of joy”, but that is likely because you are comparing yourself to various people on their best strengths. They may have done things way longer than you have, and they may have also put in that much more effort than you have. If that is the case, it is simply unfair to think that you suck in every aspect because the comparison was already skewed in the first place. You must discover your own strengths through fair comparisons, even if this strength of yours is, at best, slightly above perceived average. Instead of kicking yourself down every step of the way, time is better spent in developing your own strengths, or buckling up your weaknesses. This could become a slippery slope of overworking yourself, so know that there is science behind the fact that taking a break is quintessential to productivity, and life is not all about production.

The third most important skill is listening / empathy. I don’t mean in a way of simply just reflecting another person’s emotions or affirming them, but really understanding the root cause of why people expressed certain things a certain way, or are terribly stubborn about something. I think it helped me get out of my own head and realize why conflicts sometimes occur between me and others, or how to solve interpersonal relationship problems or tensions too. Practicing and having this skill helps you make a ton of good friends and meet lovely people, and others will be comfortable and love to be around you.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I would love to know more musicians, songwriters, or producers who are into the kind of music I make, which is a combination of future bass, math rock, and J-pop elements. I am especially looking for acoustic and electric guitarists who do fingerstyle-tapping, and singer-songwriters! You can definitely shoot me an email or DM me on Instagram if you are looking for a songwriter & music producer for the above-mentioned type of sounds!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dere_construct/
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/hengzz