‘benie brown’ is a solo project I created myself and the support of my friends and family. During my childhood, I admired my friends and family for being able to pursue something they find passionate, whether it be playing football, writing stories or learn new languages. As for myself, I struggled to commit to one that I’d see myself pursuing. That struggle came from years of being unable to communicate with people properly (which led my parents to send me to a special needs school) and not knowing what, or rather, who I wanted to be. Although my communications skills were steadily improving, I knew I still lacked something that most kids in middle school had found.

My Dad later sat down with me for dinner to talk about a hobby I should pursue. Being quite unsure of my decision, I told him I wanted to play the drums. (Leading to one of the biggest face-palms I saw that night.) What I didn’t know, at the time, was that one night would create the road for my passion for music.

Even though I had a massive admiration for music as a kid, listening to Linkin Park, Michael Jackson and many mid-2000s classics, I was never interested in playing an instrument. The violin was a pain and the flute was just confusing for 11-year old me. So when I said I wanted to play the drums, I had doubts that I’ll be able to make it into a hobby. After much time and perseverance in honing my drum skills, I had a newfound appreciation for music. I found my passion. That passion carried my life forward! I picked up the piano, later down the line, and I was in love with how I can express myself musically in a different way.

When it came time for me to choose a subject for my International Baccalaureates (IB), I felt disappointed that music wasn’t a subject I can learn at my school. This led to a few months of “back-and-forth” between my family and friends, against the headmaster to push the music course to reality. When the course did become available, I had the privilege of being taught by one of the most inspiring music teachers. Without her, I wouldn’t even know to understand and appreciate music even further than I knew before. More importantly, I wouldn’t have the confidence to perform in front of people and express my musical side in public.

So what do I do now? Since COVID-19 is still continuing to be one of the biggest problems in Thailand, most of us are unable to seek many opportunities “face-to-face”. And with many of us still grappling to find a way to keep ourselves from drowning, within financial, social, mental and physical turmoil, we all had to figure out a new method in keeping ourselves afloat and even achieve our dreams and goals.

For me, a part of this new process is helping me and everyone else realize and express their ‘musical’ side in their personalized content, business and commercials. Either helping them record drum instrumentals or even creating new pieces of music that will express who you are! Music will always play a huge role in our daily lives, no matter how significant it may seem.