This week's Encounter is a Demi Encounter. For this Encounter, I am sharing my first original song with lyrics entitled Waiting. Waiting is my first professionally recorded song so a big thank you to my friends at The Loft Recording Studios for helping me bring this song to the next level. If you enjoy reading, I encourage you to check out the story behind my songwriting below.

And now, without further ado, I present to you, Waiting. Here's to the first of many more Demi songs to come on Encounters! :) (If you would like to skip the intro, the song begins at O4:52).

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Q: How can we elevate our words?

My Answer: By uncovering the music behind them.

Since high school, I have been composing on the piano for fun. I love creating melodies on the piano (which often times end up sounding like the soundtrack to the life of a fairy) but in the past, I would get frustrated that I could never sing with the piano. First off, I never thought of myself as a singer and secondly, the notes that I determined I could sing, for some reason magically seemed to not exist on the piano. It was a love-hate relationship that I had with my piano for the longest time because, while it spun out beautiful ethereal melodies, it refused to let me sing with it. I am a loquacious person and for me, words are how I emote. They are my strength and writing has always been "easier" for me than other things. I mean this in the sense that, when I do allow myself to let go, the words will flow out of the pen on their own and know exactly how to stand in a line to form that precise feeling that cuts through the air and into the soul. This entry is not the best example of it but when it does happen, it is, ironically, indescribable but wonderful.

4 years ago, I was given a gift. Interestingly, it came at a time of pain and loss and I was looking for a way to release and find some solace. So I sat down at my piano and played 4 chords. I kept playing these 4 chords because I wanted to sing. I was desperate to put words to the emotions; to describe my internal world and make sense of what happened in the outside world; and to find connection again. I wanted the music to speak. And somehow, magically, that day it agreed to do just that and Waiting was written.

Waiting was the tipping point for an overflow of songs that poured out of me in the following four years. Songwriting was this gift that comforted me and allowed me to go on an adventure, exploring the relationship between melody and lyrics, how to develop beats, and, most fun for me, developing harmonies. Although Waiting was written at a time of sorrow and sadness, it has ironically led me down a positive and enlightening path as I learned about music and myself.

This year, I decided on a gut feeling to professionally record some of the songs that I have been writing over the past few years. As a chemical engineer, I had no idea where to start to record music. The music world in general was an unknown to me but learning about it this year has turned out to be an exciting adventure that I am happy I get to experience together with my family (they are music aficionados as well). I have learned so much about music and recording this past year and I give a big thank you to my new friends at The Loft Recording Studios who recorded Waiting. Matt and Al at The Loft are such great and talented people to collaborate with; they understood my song and instinctively knew the vision I had, even if I couldn't put it into words. They are the masters of their craft and the coolest and nicest guys I have met in the music world. Collaborating with the team at The Loft has been one of the greatest gifts for me this year.

There is so much more I could write about music, songwriting, and this experience but I think I will stop here for now. I have been recording over the past 6 months and I look forward to sharing with you these songs. For me, music elevates words and I look forward to sharing my musical stories about loss, love, poverty, hope, and dreams in the coming months.

This creative endeavor has been a dream and I am so grateful to share it with my family. My sister, who is affectionally now called "The Producer", has come to every single recording session (some lasting as long as 4 hours!) and always lets me know when we need to drop a beat, add a snare, or an "egg shakey thing". My mom, "The Manager", as the most curious and adventurous one of the family, was the one who discovered The Loft and planted the seed of this idea. My Baba, "The Fan and The Founder", places a dollar on the fireplace every time he listens to Waiting - his version of iTunes. I recently discovered Baba's own musical recordings from his university years when he was a drummer and singer in a traditional Greek music ensemble; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Without these 3 pillars in my life, I would not be living out this dream and so I thank them for raising me in a world of creativity, curiosity, passion, and magic.