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Tim (Cheng Ting) Liao Takes The Road Less Traveled

By on June 17, 2019

At this time of year, we are reminded of an important milestone children face – graduation.

Some graduating high school students this year will most likely be overwhelmed by all kinds of suggestions by their parents about what to study next.

While many (if not all) parents will convince their children to pick profession over passion, some will choose to leave this decision up to their children.

When Taiwan-born Tim (Cheng Ting) Liao first told his parents that music was what he wanted to study at university, “my parents were fully supportive,” says Tim.

“To this day, I am still grateful for all the help my parents constantly provide, and with all the advice they have given me, I am glad to say that I am very satisfied with the path I chose,” he confidently adds.

Tim with his mom, dad and younger brother

Tim admits that his love for music came about through self-discovery.

“I have been playing the piano and the violin since I was about five years old.”

“Back then, I never thought I would consider music as a career. But when I got interested in singing and wrote my first song when I was fifteen, that all changed.”

Tim was just 11 years old when his family moved to Tokyo because of his father’s job. He attended Saint Mary’s International School where he first learned English and Japanese and he picked up the language pretty fast.

“I did not speak any English nor Japanese when I first came here. I still remember trying to speak Mandarin to my classmates. Nobody understood me. From there, I spent about a year learning both languages before I was able to actually carry on a conversation with people. It was surely a stressful year!” recalls Tim.

But having to put up with all the unwanted stress eventually paid off for Liao when he got his foot on the door of Berklee College of Music, a contemporary music school in Boston where he spent the next few years studying Music Production & Engineering, and Contemporary Writing & Production.

Tim graduated Summa Cum Laude in his class and was consistently in the Dean’s List. Summa cum laude which translates to “with highest praise”, is given to students who graduate with honors. To earn a Summa Cum Laude, “one would have to maintain a high GPA throughout the school years, and that’s usually just the top 2-3% of the entire class,” explains Tim.

After graduation, everything did not go as planned.

“To be honest, my first plan was to move to Los Angeles, where the main entertainment industry is,” says the music enthusiast.

By some twist of fate, a job offer to work at a music production company in Tokyo came up which eventually brought him back to Japan.

The passionate youngster who now happily works as Associate Music Producer for Emmy award-winning music production house Syn Music in Japan, manages and directs projects for TV commercials, web and all media.

“Everyday, I go to the studio to work on music production projects for commercials. These include TV commercials, online campaigns, in-store music curation, and many others.”

“Walt Disney, Sony, Toyota, Amazon, and P&G are some of our most recent clients. Other than music production projects, I also have had the opportunity of working with the Grammy-Award winning group ‘Clean Bandit’, and got to be a part of an upcoming Netflix film called ‘Earthquake Bird’,” he proudly tells Tokyo families.

Tim (L) with Clean Bandit and the Syn Tokyo team

Tim’s job isn’t for the unprepared. From running and engineering recording sessions to composing jingles and producing successful materials that raise the brand profiles of the company’s A-list clients, his work is not a walk in the park. The job constantly requires tough 21st century skills most people without proper training and experience would not be able to cope with.

Despite the long hours at Sync, Tim also manages to juggle his regular job with freelance work for Taiwan and USA where his Mandarin and English are put to use.

When asked about his ultimate career goal, Tim says, “My goal is to continue building my career as a Music Producer and an Audio Engineer to work closely with artists, and create impactful music that would influence the world.”

Try telling your parents you want a career in music and more often than not, you would get a sad look on their face. The perception that it does not pay well is flawed.

The truth is, there is a wide range of jobs and roles for music students to do in various disciplines similar to what Tim does for a living. To parents with children wanting to chase the same dream, Tim Liao has this to say:

❝Building a career in music is not easy. It takes a lot of lonely hours and effort in order to master the craft. I am still on the road to perfecting my skills and musical creativity. However, if your child has enough passion to fight through all the difficult times and obstacles ahead, I would fully support them as much as possible. In the end, it’s all about whether you enjoy it or not, and if you can bring an impact to the world with your passion in music.”

Inspiring words from someone living his dream.

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