Showcase Sunday: Anna Chim

Anna Chim Interview

by

Alisa

This month we have a Showcase Sunday special, an interview with an Army from Russia.

Hello! First of all, thank you so much for joining me for this interview. I am very glad that I got to meet you, though so briefly and unexpectedly.

So…shall we begin?

Let’s start with a few facts about yourself: Could you please introduce yourself and share a few interesting facts?

My name is Anna Chim. I'm an 18-year-old high school student in Russia. I love to express my thoughts and feelings through music. I also make piano arrangements of the popular songs (Holland - Neverland, BTS - Dope, Butterfly and others).

How long has music been part of your life?

I've been passionate about music since I was 6 years old but started composing simple melodies at the age of 11. My childhood dream was to become a piano composer but my skills were always too far from ideal. Instead I became a pianist but still kept the dream of becoming a composer. I had to quit singing when I was 12, due to a health problem. The doctors said that if I were to continue, I would lose my voice completely. So I stopped.

That must’ve been horrible…

Have you done any professional training or was singing something you’ve always had a tendency to?

I graduated from a Music Academy about 3 years ago and now have a Diploma in Piano

Education. I studied singing for 4 years, but unfortunately not always do you get a chance to study with a professional. If for example, any Maths or Literature teacher can not deliver the material properly, a vocal coach on the other hand can seriously damage a student’s health, if they don’t consider the student’s strengths and weaknesses. My biggest pain was the fact that all my friends could all sing properly and I couldn’t. I put all my efforts into my training but ended up simply copying my friends’ way of singing. In reality, I wasn’t the worst student, I just needed a bit more encouragement and emotional support than others. However, my coach would just scream at me: "Wrong! Why did you come here at all! You can’t even sing!"

I suppose one of the the biggest hardship students have to face when they’re doing

something professionally it’s the never ending criticism. I have to ask you about your illness…How serious is/was it? And how are you feeling at the moment?

Right now, it’s nothing serious. I take good care of my health and there shouldn’t be any complications. Everyone knew that I would have to quit singing when I was first diagnosed; I had a soar throat after every lesson and the never ending criticism from my teachers only made it worse. Now I know that the illness wasn’t that severe, however because all those lessons that I’ve had did more harm than good, I couldn’t have acted differently.

Have you ever performed on stage in front of a live audience? Could you tell me more about your first impressions?

My first ever live performance happened at school, when I was 10 years old. It was an unforgettable moment, despite me messing up the first lyrics at first. But I managed to get a hold of my nerves and carry on with the performance. When I think about it, I’ve always fallen into the state of panic whenever I needed to perform live. And was never happy with the quality of my performances, despite receiving positive feedback from the audience. I do like singing on stage. It gives me energy from the audience and allows me to express myself in my true element. Unfortunately, because of my self-conscious and perfectionist nature, performing in front of an audience, big or small, always gives me a lot of anxiety. 

As far as I understand, Anna Chim is a pseudonym and not your real name. Why such

secrecy? Unless it is a way of building your personal confidence.

To be completely honest, I would love to have a gap between the me that does music, the me that lives a normal life. Even the slightest exposure to the public gives me a lot of stress. As far as I remember, I didn’t spend much time thinking about the chosen pseudonym. I just chose the name that first came to my mind. In that moment, I couldn’t even wish to receive support from anyone. However, now that I think about it, I can’t say that the release of the album has given me more confidence in myself. This album was an important and difficult step for me and whether it’s noticeable or not, it did have a big impact on me as a person. It’s an unforgettable experience and will forever be a huge part of my life.

Speaking of confidence…How do you prepare yourself before you record new videos? Has it turned into a some kind of routine for you or do you still need to mentally prepare yourself?

A few hours prior to the recording I do vocal exercises and drink a lot of water. I always get a bit panicky right before I start recording, and that’s when I listen to BTS. Their music calms me down when I need it most. I can’t promise that this whole process will ever become a routine for me. Every new song I record, can’t be performed in the same exact way. I always prepare myself for the best performance possible and end up spending up to 2-3 hours per each recording.

How long have you been listening to BTS and what was your introduction to the world of Army and Bangtan?

I came across BTS in 2016, through a "Russians react to Korean Music” video on YouTube. There was a lot of K-pop MVs, but I got really hooked on the Dope video. I could feel their passion even through the screen. I’ve never seen such impressive dance skills combined with such wonderful vocals.... I was totally impressed with the deepness of their lyrics, sincerity and passion. I started to dig into their TV-shows and just kept falling in love with the band more and more. 

What made you create a YouTube channel and how did the idea of releasing an album, dedicated to BTS, come about? 

The initial purpose of my YouTube channel was to make piano covers and piano arrangements and share them with people, who can’t play their favourite songs without sheets. So I just wanted to compose those piano arrangements and post them online. I never really thought about making an album. As I said earlier, I was only a pianist, and had already given up on my ‘singing career’. So I never had the confidence to produce one song, let alone a complete album. BTS is a wonder and they do, in fact, help ARMY to find their inner wonders. And I was no exception. They helped me to believe in myself and my composing abilities when I was making music, even for a short while. When I finished my first song (For Jimin), I deleted it. It sounded so bad and stupid that I just couldn’t stand it. I started hating myself even more. A few days later, I calmed down and got back to the song. I realised that all my efforts shouldn’t go into nothing even if I’m not satisfied with the end-result. So I released my first single. A year later, when I only had one more song (For Namjoon) to release to complete the series, I thought of releasing a full album, with all the previously released songs included. The fact that I managed to find strength to release my own work to the public is a miracle, that only became possible with the support of ARMY and BTS. 

Any interesting stories about the preparation process? Was it a solo project or a collaboration with someone?

Yes, it was a solo project. It wasn’t much of a ‘project’, at the beginning; the idea came about on Jimin’s birthday. I saw a post on Twitter where it said that anyone could send a gift to Jimin... I got so excited! So I expressed all my gratitude to him in a letter. But then felt like the letter was not enough. After a long "thinking process" I came up with a crazy idea of producing a song for him. Why did I think it was crazy? Well, I was convinced that my level of musicality wasn’t enough to make a good song. But I thought I’d give it a try anyway. So yeah, never ever have I thought of releasing anything, let alone a WHOLE ALBUM. Luckily, I managed to find my inner confidence and ended up starting a new chapter for myself. I would’ve never done it, if it wasn’t for BTS and the messages they spread. I am forever thankful for that. Lots of people ask me if I produce the songs by myself. Well, yes, I do. I work on the lyrics, then I record all the instruments by myself. The recording process is the hardest for me because I am not very good at technical stuff.

There are a lot of people that helped me along the way and made this dream real. As I said I'm not good at technical stuff, so I had difficulties with the montage for my videos. But I met great person with a beautiful soul named Yor Sovvier. He has a YouTube channel with really good crack videos, and I thought he was very talented. I enjoyed his work so much never even imagined that I would get a chance to work with him. Despite all the trials along the way and him not having enough time, he still ended up making a beautiful montage for me. There are not enough words in the world to express how thankful I am to him. 

Another person I met was BAELiC. She is absolutely wonderful. She did Korean translations of my songs and made sure they were as accurate as possible. Those people are, indeed, the most precious gifts in my life.

About your meeting with Yor Sovvier! If you could tell me more about how it came about and how you ended up working together? Should we be expecting more projects from you both?

I’m not exactly sure how to put it into words. We became friends first, he is genuinely a very nice person, but also very intelligent and motivated. I had lots to do before Jimin’s birthday and I was trying to learn how to make a nice video montage. That’s when I asked him for advice on video editing. I couldn’t even imagine that he would agree to help me with this, let alone make the entire montage himself and THAT WELL! I definitely wasn’t expecting that.

About projects…I wouldn’t call any of my previous work ‘projects’, because most of the them happened throughout the course of making rather spontaneous decisions, which all lead to a certain result. Obviously I would have my own deadlines, but the album release has never been my priority. However, it instantly became one after I released my first song for BTS. I don’t think I can promise any future collabs [with Yor Sovvier], pretty much everything happens spontaneously. But maybe one day we might end up working together again.

Why did you decide to release your first album in English and not in your native language?

To be completely honest, I wanted my album to be in the language closest and most comprehensible for BTS. Since I’m not fluent in Korean, I chose to write it in English. Music in English has always been closer to me than music in Russian, so I chose to produce the album in English.

Has your life changed much since the release of the album?

Before Jimin’s 23rd birthday, I never even imagined that anyone could like my music. ARMY helped me gain confidence as a musician and I am forever thankful for that! Truly! 

Did you receive any support from the fan bases? Or was there more attention from the fans individually?

To be honest, I don’t remember receiving any support from any of the fan bases. Only individually, from ARMY. Every single person that liked my music, even for a little bit, has given me confidence and made me extremely happy.

Any plans to release an album in Russian in the future? 

As I mentioned earlier, I feel better when I write music in English. Although, I’d be lying if I said that I’ve never tried to write in my native Russian. I wrote lyrics in Russian up until I was 14 years old, but I wouldn’t consider any of my past work successful. I’m not going to give false promises and say that I will never make music in Russian again, however at this stage I’m only planning to release more music in English.

Do you keep in touch with any of your fans? Do you ever ask them for advice or if there’s anything they would like to hear from you?

‘Fans’ is too big of a word, I think. I would rather call them listeners. Once in a while I would get messages from my listeners and we would start talking about random things. I try to always reply to those that are interested in my work. Not sure if you could call that ‘keeping in touch’. All the decisions regarding my work I make myself. I prefer to do work that I am drawn too. Not too long ago, I was asked to produce a song for Chanyeol’s birthday. I took the task very seriously, but then realised that I couldn’t invest myself as much as I wanted to. From that day onward, I only sign up for work that I feel confident in doing.

Who are your biggest inspirations, when making music?

My biggest inspirations are BTS and ARMY. Those together create an unbreakable bond that is capable of destroying all prejudice and stereotypes; together they can unite the whole world! I’m sure, if it wasn’t for BTS, I wouldn’t be able to convince myself to release any of my work. They always taught us to follow our dreams and not give up until the very end. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to perceive my dream of being a musician. The gratitude that I have for them will forever be my driving force.

Any plans for ‘Army’s Song for BTS pt.2’? Should we be expecting the legendary comeback of Anna Chim? 

I can’t promise much, but I don’t think there is any reason for me to release a second part of the ‘Army’s Song for BTS’. Everything that I wanted to say I put it in the first album. However, I do want to continue making music and releasing more songs for the audience. Knowing that there are people out there, listening to my music on the way home or school, is the greatest feeling ever! It truly makes me the happiest and I will forever cherish that.

Thank you so much for joining me for this interview. I had a wonderful time. Hoping to see more of your work in the future! And who knows, maybe I will be back to interview you about your new project…

You can follow Anna at the following:

VK: https://vk.com/public119881178

Youtube: Anna Chim


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