Hi, This is Plant Girl Speaking . . .
- Wen Yen Yong
- Aug 13, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 15, 2023
Star Student Aeona Became Plant Girl Turned Musician
Ello everybody! My name is Aeona, otherwise known as Plant Girl! You are probably wondering why my nickname is Plant Girl if I am currently doing music......
Well, grab yourself a snack and enjoy the childhood photos while I explain my journey!
(Cue the emotional backstory music, just kidding XD)
#1 I Gave Up on Singing (LOL)
You may be wondering if I was one of those kids with a major music background, like music theatre or drama school, the answer is NO. I most definitely did not have much of a music background. I just knew I liked to sing and I had a decent voice, nothing too impressive. A part of me wanted to be a singer when i grew up. Although I was shy, I would look forward to karaoke time and sing songs with my friends, which was when they complimented my voice! However, growing up in Singapore, where the music scene was not as established as other countries, I was always told that the arts industry was not a proper job or that it couldn't earn you a living.
So what did I do? I ignored what they said and continued to chase my dream as a singer because dreams always come tru- JUST KIDDING! I chucked aside singing dreams and deemed them as one of those unattainable and unrealistic dreams that would simply remain......a dream :") Then I threw my head into my academics as if it would make or break my world because apparently having a good academic track would help you get a good job and live a safe and stable life.
The end........NOT 😈
#2 My Love for the Environment Began (Plant Girl Era)
Mental health was always my struggle since young. As a child, I was sensitive to surrounding conflicts and felt deeply for anyone in pain. Although this helped me understand the different pains of the world, I felt responsible to find a solution and was often told I was mature for my age. Hence, as I approached my teenage years and continued burying my head in academics, the school stress, teenage vulnerability and personal chaos landed me in a pit of mental health struggles.
One thing that kept me afloat was a student initiative I joined in Secondary School called Green Ambassadors. We were an environmental group that did all sorts of nature-related projects. We managed 2 edible gardens, maintained an aquaponics, made organic detergent from fruit skins, vermicomposted fertiliser and conducted neighbourhood cleanups, etc. (I guess we kind of were nature nerds XD) But what really made me fall in love with caring for the environment was the fun I had doing these activities with my friends - from choosing fishes to throwing soil at each other to gardening in the heavy rain! While everyone saw us as a bunch of nature nerds, I found my zen in the chaos of schooling and personal troubles and decided to pursue my passion for the environment in Polytechnic :)
#3 Obsession with Grades
Studying Horticulture and Landscape Design in Polytechnic was where I really DIVED into the environment. But you see, as someone who was used to throwing her own head into academics, I became obsessed with perfecting my grades. I attained 4.0 for nearly all my terms and graduated with a 3.94 GPA, attaining a Diploma with Merit. But believe me, this is not an opportunity to brag. In fact, I felt even more lost than before. I was disappointed that despite graduating as one of the top students, I still had no idea who I was and what kind of path I wanted to walk. Needless to say, I felt even dumber. All I knew was that i wanted to make some sort of positive change in the world. So with a GPA of 3.94 and high expectations from my peers.........I chose NOT to go to university HAHA.
Instead, I took a step back from the rush of life, got a part time job at a small urban farm (as I still genuinely enjoyed environmental activities) and tried out different hobbies and interests I had during my free time. I took on a few acting classes, started a tiny floral business, made a podcast channel with a friend, practised guitar, etc. It did not matter to me if i stuck to any of them and I made it a golden rule to do them for as long as I enjoyed.
.
#4 Musician Era Started
As I played around with the guitar, I made my first song while sitting on my mother's bed in September 2022......at 3am. Realising that I kept going back to singing with my guitar, I decided this was the best time to screw the stereotypical advise of carving a safe and stable life and try out my childhood aspiration of becoming a singer-songwriter ^.^
I wrote my experiences of struggling with mental health into my songs and discovered my knack for writing cathartic lyrics that captured the bittersweet sentiments of growing up in a world bound by prejudice, judgement and conflict. I had my first performance at Jurong's BOLD SG carnival event. Upon submitting these performance clips for a festival performance, I had the honour of performing at Guddies Music Festival, a festival that had over a 100 audience members. When an audience member shared how my lyrics impacted her, I realised my music had potential to be a voice for others who are struggling or have struggled.
Later on I enrolled into a pop music school called The Songwriter Music College (TSMC) to further my songwriting skills :)
#5 Plant Girl Turned Musician was Born
Working in an urban farm while carving a music career on the side felt cool lol. Many friends found it intriguing but working in a small farm meant that I had to work and deal with the mishaps alone quite often. So, as my teacher suggested.....why not record it? I hopped on to TikTok and started turning the farm mishaps into silly parodies and singing songs to plants while I worked XD.
As I started to gain views, my colleague, Clarence began to recognise me as the 'plant girl' and as I began to write more original songs and perform them outside for work, this nickname evolved into 'plant girl turned musician'. (Tadaaa)
My music content became a mixture of comedy and seriousness, where I channeled my inner comedian through plant parodies and turning funny experiences into short humorous songs. On the other hand, I write cathartic songs with lyrics that embrace the heartbreaks and vulnerabilities of living in a world bound a chaotic mixture of positivity and negativity. My ultimate goal is to encourage social consciousness and empower listeners to break free from societal constraints, by nurturing an environment that welcomes understanding, communication and growth together :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So join me on this journey of laughter and tears and let's grow together shall we 😉 ?
Love,
Plant Girl ☘️
Comments