Meet Summer Swee-Singh

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Summer Swee-Singh. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Summer below.

Hi Summer, so happy to have you on the platform with us today and excited to chat about your lessons and insights. Our ability to make good decisions can massively impact our lives, careers and relationships and so it would be very helpful to hear about how you built your decision-making skills.

Developing my decision-making skills has proven to be a life-long process, and I hope to continue to make strides in this department as I age. Impressed upon me initially during my high school years, I recall first realizing the importance of thoroughly researching a topic before making a decision on how I felt about it and how I would then tackle any related work. I believe that understanding all aspects of a topic / project / situation and ensuring you are aware of all pertinent facts is key; they have shaped my approach and/or opinions to handling anything life throws my way, in my music work or my life otherwise.

I know the onus lies solely upon oneself to do the appropriate research to best understand exactly what you are dealing with and not rely upon your assumptions or one-sided input, as that is the quickest road to becoming too biased and making an emotional decision instead of an educated one. As someone whose political affiliation did a 180 from when she was a teenager to current day, understanding the multiple perspectives of all pertinent topics and being able to “sus out” fact from opinion (by determining the veracity of her sources) proved crucial to engage with those ideas in a constructive way and truly critically assess them–I try to apply this framework to all aspects of my life.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am grateful to get to pursue a career as a professional musician who wears many metaphorical hats and has worked with a variety of artists across so many genres. I love that my day to day is always different–one day may be focused on writing and/or recording studio work on keys for an artist, the next may be playing a luxury/celebrity wedding or corporate event, the following day may be working on a musical brand collaboration and doing some music analysis, and the day after that, I may be figuring out and arranging new covers by ear and then performing them at a luxury hotel as the lobby entertainment. While I do quite a bit of solo piano work, I have always loved collaborating with other musicians in the studio and/or on stage, and am still very honored and proud of my work with artists including Chon, Myles Smith, Polyphia, Bebe Rexha, Anthony Green, Naia Izumi, Kings Elliot, Circa Survive, KSHMR, Keiynan Lonsdale, Until the Ribbon Breaks, Chief Keef, Slapback Club, Roddy Ricch, Aespa, Lari Basilio, Rob Scallon, Giada Valenti, Nikitaa, etc. Each of those artists inspired me in different ways, challenging me in new ways that has helped me grow as a musician and person; reflecting on those experiences reminds me to not only be grateful for those opportunities but also highlights the importance of being present in my work as much as possible.

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

Aside from the obvious necessity of having musical chops, it is mainly my non-musical-skills that have helped me get to where I currently am in my career. The three qualities that have been the most impactful in my journey are: my love and appreciation not only for music, but also for all the people involved in bringing the music to others’ ears; my capacity for and dedication to self-reflection to find ways I can always be better; my understanding of my own worth and never tolerating disrespect.

For those just getting started in the industry, I would tell them to keep their love for music and people in mind whenever things inevitably get tough–everyone in music will deal with obstacles of some sort and genuine love for the music and people involved will give them the fuel to keep going in those tough times. I would also tell them that to become the best version of themselves–both as musicians and people–they should always be self-reflective and honest. It is easy to criticize others’ words and actions and it important to note how others’ words and actions may align (or not), but it is equally as important to do the work yourself as well. Finally, I would tell those folks to stand up for their worth; many people will try to under pay you for your work (at all stages of your career), so do thorough research of pay rates for the work you are doing in your region and do not settle for less. Some people are not true “friends” and may just be work colleagues / industry folk looking to exploit your care and good nature; do not allow any of those people to treat you with disrespect—whether tolerating their disrespectful words and/or by accepting low pay—know and respect your own worth.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

Mindy Kaling’s “Why Not Me” was a game changer for me. I read it at a pivotal time in my life, approximately one decade ago–I knew I wanted to pursue music, but because my parents had never played an instrument and only ever worked non-music-related jobs, because I did not know anyone in the music industry, and because I had not majored in music, I felt lost as to where to start. I was able to start finding wedding clients and teaching piano to students of all ages, but I did not know how to get involved in studio recordings and shows. After reading how Mindy essentially created her own career out of thin air by writing and funding her own project, I figured I might as well try doing the same. I remember discovering Mindy through her work on “The Office”; seeing someone in a creative field, who looked quite a bit like me (also a brown woman), I thought maybe following a similar path might be the way to go. Mindy’s words really resonated with me, as I too was a brown, Asian girl, a daughter of immigrants, and I figured if she could build her illustrious career from hard work and collaboration, maybe I could too. I have not achieved even a tenth of the success that she has and have lofty future goals for myself, but am so glad that I took her words to heart, as she truly inspired me to take a chance on myself.

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Image Credits

Eduardo Orelha, Hank Ford, Trishography, Vicky Le, Adam Bialik, Alex Morgan Foundation, EXPO 2020 Dubai

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