Your questions answered

Up close and personal with TroisNyx*.
In case there are questions you wish to ask about me and my songwriting, I have laid down the most frequently asked questions here.

1. How long have you been singing and playing music ?
Singing ? For as long as I can remember, sans training of course. I started playing the piano when I was three, and I picked up the drums when I was sixteen.

2. Where are you from ?
The heart of all things fast and vibrant, the garden city of lights - Kuala Lumpur ! I was born there, I was raised there, and I would not want to move out of this place. There are just so many things that I love in KL.

3. When did you start writing your own songs ?
If you are talking about the very first song I attempted to write, it was when I was ten. That was in 2001. I wrote this for a young composers' project in Yamaha Music School. After all the prompting, chiding and kicking and screaming, I got a dismal three-star rating from the Yamaha Headquarters. Sad, eh ? It was an instrumental jazz number called Twilight Blues. You can listen to the mp3 at http://virb.com/annettetroisnyxinofficiel

I wrote my first proper song - i.e. 100% my own effort - when I was in Form One and I was twelve. It was supposed to be a passionate love song, and it was in Malay - the song was called Kasih - the lyrics are on my Blogspot page. From the time of writing till now, it has been subject to lots of changes in words, such that I cannot remember what the original lyrics were. Heck, they might have been incinerated by now. All I do know is that the tune and the lyrics for the chorus and the first verse remain with me.

4. How musically involved were you ?
I was quite musically involved, but back in my school days, people knew me as a pianist and an arranger rather than as a vocalist. Back when I was in primary school (I spent my primary and secondary years in Convent Bukit Nanas) I was taken places ! Not only did I perform in school and in choir competitions, I was taken to the Putra World Trade Centre book fair several times for performances, then in 2000, I was taken to Sabah for this talent quest thing. Back then, I performed with teammates Edelin Johanna (you might have heard her name in Alam Ria loooooooooooong ago) and Tee Foong Tsin. We represented KL. We did not win, particularly because the judges were looking for cultural stuff. Nevertheless, we got a rousing reaction from the audience.

When I was in secondary school, there was much less involvement. If it were not for the choir competitions where I went outside KL, I'd have been totally inhibited. People knew I could arrange songs for the school choir and such, and so they asked me to try out songwriting - but I told them I've already started ! I tried my hand in songwriting competitions but before I could even think of participating, the senior assistant would cancel my entry without my consent. The first time where I performed my first song Kasih was in this place called Taman Budaya. It is something like a small auditorium, where competitions for school students are held. A lot of students were there. I performed with another teammate, Zafirah Azman. But that was not for a competition - it was just a show. The only time where I got to take part in a musical competition was in 2007, in school. I teamed up with another friend, Naili Jamal - and we rendered Kris Dayanti's "Menghitung Hari." As she did the lead vocals while I was stuck with the backups, we made a great pair and we became champions. But owing to the fact that she was more well-known than I was, and that people would rather listen to her than listen to me, she took the trophy home.

5. What do you intend to do with your songs ?
Okay. I'd like to do the usual - cut singles, albums, stage gigs and stuff. But ultimately, I want to go international, and I want to touch people's hearts. You might think I'm hinting on going international - partly owing to the amount of French songs I have written to date. *smiles* As for touching people's hearts, I don't want to do it only on stage.

See, I was talking with a friend, whom everyone calls Fad, and he suggested that I sing in the orphanage - these kids and I have something to share. They lost either one or both parents. I lost my mom when I was 17. Perhaps if I can sing to them, and spread the love......

6. Do you have French descent in you ?
Er, no. I may have friends and relatives in France but I don't have French descent. I just happen to like languages, and thus I can speak French fluently. (YouthSayers, I am writing this just in case you were wondering why some of my comments have French words in them - I know three members who are French-speakers - TPK, Neo and crax. And sometimes, putting words in English is hard.)

7. Which would you rather do : sing, dance, play the piano or play the drums ?
Any one of these options would do. But honestly, should there be a drum kit around, I'd try to grab an opportunity to play the drums. And that rule always applies.

8. What are your tastes in music ?
Be prepared for some names which you might not have heard before.
Alizée, Utada Hikaru, Ayumi Hamasaki, TVXQ, Westlife, David Archuleta, Mylène Farmer, Enya, Siti Nurhaliza, Taylor Swift, Evanescence (only their latest album The Open Door).

My favourite composers are Andrew Lloyd Webber, Laurent Boutonnat, Jean-Phillipe Pilot, Nobuo Uematsu (known for his Final Fantasy works), Yoko Shimomura and Kaoru Wada (key composers for the Kingdom Hearts series).

9. Why do you not have any songs in audio yet ? We want to hear you sing !
I wish I could put it all in audio. But right now I want to concentrate on finishing my A-Levels. Although sometimes, I could just sit in lonely corners, sing, and be the person I want to be.