This post was updated Dec. 3 at 8:12 p.m.
Emily Chu bridges the gap between everyday struggle and self-expression, blending genres in more ways than one.
The fourth-year psychology student released her latest single “could’ve been us” this past August but said she began working on it as early as February. The indie pop song tackles vulnerable themes of heartbreak and is described by Chu as one of her most personal works yet. The single marks a significant step for the artist, acting as the impetus for a number of singles she has in the works, she said.
“That song was a lot of firsts for me,” she said. “It was me getting back into songwriting and me learning I can still do it even if I don’t think I can.”
Chu said that although she has always had a passion for music, she didn’t start songwriting until the age of 12 after taking a music production course in middle school. In high school, she learned how to play guitar, she added. Entering college, the singer-songwriter debuted her first single “I’m Changing, You’re Changing” on digital platforms in 2023. However, she said her creative process has become increasingly personal over the years.
When Chu began writing songs, much of it involved experimenting with words and melodies, improving her technical ability along the way, she said. As she evolved, Chu said she started incorporating fragments of herself into her music, gaining the ability to take her feelings and translate them directly into song.
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Tessa Chan, a fourth-year studio art and cognitive science student at UC San Diego, said she admires Chu’s mode of self-expression. Chan said she met Chu while studying abroad in Taiwan over the summer and got to see her grow from a reserved – yet passionate – person to an emboldened artist, putting herself out there with numerous live performances. Chan said it’s been satisfying as an artist and friend to see Chu shatter barriers and leave uncertainty behind.
“Emily stands out with how raw and vulnerable a lot of her work is,” Chan said. “She takes this internal, emotive thought process and expresses it in a beautiful way and does it very skillfully in comparison to many artists out there.”
Chu describes her creative process as one of solitude, involving sitting in front of a laptop with a paper and pencil, writing down how she feels and tweaking it to fit her meaning. It’s in this solitude and self-connection that she’s able to reach out and connect with her audience, she said.
Something Chu said she hopes her audience will take away from her music is feeling less alone. Chu said she listens to and creates music in an environment of seclusion and that her music comes from an honest place in both her mind and heart. She describes it as something of a circular relationship, one in which two people – musician and listener – feel less alone.
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Third-year sociology student Yahir Perez said he connects with Chu’s lyricism and musical identity and feels comforted that someone can capture what he feels. Perez met Chu through an on-campus service organization, he said, and collaborated with her on a photoshoot in downtown Pasadena over the summer.
“Emily’s able to write out feelings and emotions in ways I wouldn’t have thought about,” Perez said. “Once I’m listening to the song, … it really hits, and it really resonates with me. I feel like that’s what makes her music stand out.”
As an independent artist, Chu said she has concerns about visibility in the age of social media. With the music industry looking for more and more artists on these platforms, she said it feels increasingly difficult to navigate the system alone and that it’s discouraging to see low engagement. However, Chu said she’s seen more growth and support in the last couple of months, easing some of those fears.
Chu said she often has to juggle her artistic career with her academic workload. However, she said she appreciates a balance between schoolwork and music and going back-and-forth between those two worlds.
“I would say the purpose of art is to create light out of darkness,” Chu said. “From a very metaphorical point of view, life could be considered as shattered glass or a mirror, … and art is the light that reflects through it. Once it does, people feel – one – less alone but also a little bit better about everything.”
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