How do you handle a breakup with someone? The generic answers would be to delete every trace of them on social media, drink yourself into a coma or to burn everything they’ve given you into a fiery heap. Just joking regarding the latter. Sort of.
But if you’re singer and songwriter Jason Yu, you take that pain and mould it over the course of time into a single that documents these emotions.
Jason’s latest single “Now I Know” isn’t your classic post-breakup angry banger and neither is it a “woe is me” single. It’s a lyrical thesis of a failed relationship that hammers home a lesson with a story — while there is pain that comes with a breakup (and it must be said that it is a pain that is felt equally by everyone), don’t paint yourself as a victim but instead, think about what made you fall in love with that special someone.
It’s a-ok to reminisce on everything that made you fell in love with the person because those are the memories you choose to keep that makes you a better person.
Here, we speak to the songwriter on the inspiration behind the track.
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Hi Jason, please introduce yourself!
Hey everyone, I’m Jason Yu and I am a singer and songwriter. I’m also finishing up my bachelor’s in music in university.
Like most musicians I know, I’ve loved music since I was a kid, and playing and listening to music were my favourite ways of making time pass.
I always knew I wanted to become a singer, because who doesn’t want to do what they love for a living, but it wasn’t until I started dabbling into busking, when people started seeing more of me and my music, that opportunities to perform started to come up, and having a career centred around music started looking feasible.
And so here I am!
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What do you do in your spare time and how does it influence your music?
When I’m not doing anything music-related I spend a lot of time video gaming. And I mean, a lot.
I’ve been a fan of video games ever since my older sister got her Gameboy colour, with a fresh copy of Pokémon Blue.
Modern video games to me are the pinnacle of consumer entertainment, because they engage you in so many ways, from beautiful visuals, a captivating narrative, and even having stellar soundtracks.
Game designing is as much a creative endeavour as filmmaking or songwriting, and I’m constantly reminded how these different forms of art are able to touch, inspire and sometimes even educate its audience.
Knowing that, when I’m writing music I feel responsible to create works that my listeners would be able to find meaning in, or resonate deeply with.
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What are your favourite genres of music?
My favourite genre has got to be Pop. Sure, there’s some thrashy stuff on the Top 40s, but for the most part I think most pop songs are really well-produced.
What’s most attractive about Pop music to me is how those fundamentally “simpler” songs (when compared to other genres), can evoke such strong emotions and feelings in its listeners.
Say what you want about Ed Sheeran being overplayed, but man, there’s some magic in the way he writes.
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How did you start writing your latest single, “Now I Know”?
Now I Know was written about a failed relationship I had. I was in the very midst of the fallout with all these thoughts in my head, and then I just took a pen and basically started vomiting my emotions into words and melody onto paper.
Most of the time I write retrospectively, but for Now I Know it was all very in the moment, and that made the songwriting process very natural for me.
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Realisation, loss and regret — which of these emotions comes through the strongest in “Now I Know”?
These three emotions are all closely interwoven in the writing of the song, but I’d say realisation comes across the strongest.
The things I’ve done, the words I said but never meant, were all things I regretted but I think what’s most important was realising where I went wrong, and it’s that realisation that helps me change to become a better person and move on.
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“You wrote a story, Of a love rhetoric” — This might be one of the strongest lines in “Now I Know”. What is this rhetoric?
With that line I express how deeply enamoured and swept away I was by the other person, that with every move they made I was only more and more captivated.
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The album cover and press photos are beautiful! Was there a story behind it?
Thank you! I had the privilege to work with Jayden from HeadQuartors for this release and he really did an amazing job.
The body of water represented how deeply submerged into my feelings and emotions I was from the relationship, the reflection symbolising how my actions merely created a persona, a front that was not honest to who I really was.
I was in pain but I let my pride get in the way of showing how I truly felt, merely casting a shadow of silhouette of my true intentions.
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What can we expect from your upcoming EP?
I can’t say too much yet, but the songs off the upcoming EP all tell stories of very real personal experiences, ones I hope my listeners would be able to connect with, and which I’m very eager to share with the world.
Stream “Now I Know” by Jason Yu on Spotify today.
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