Andy Morris Interview

(Unlike the majority of interviews which were conducted via e-mail, this interview was conducted in person, so below is a transcription of our more conversational approach to this interview).

1. What is your name and your profession(s)?

My name is Andy Morris and I am piano content creator.

2. What is your ethnic background and what is your citizenship?

I am half Chinese and half white and I am a US citizen.

3. Are either/both of your parents musicians or somehow involved in the music industry?

My parents are not in the music industry, but my dad is a hobby guitarist.

4. Please tell us a little bit about your experience, either growing up as an AAPI in America, or as a person of Asian descent who immigrated to America, whichever applies.

Having a Chinese mom, I signed up for Chinese classes that she taught. I had Chinese school every Sunday for many years, surrounded by a lot of many Chinese kids and white people in my class. Her friends were all Chinese and so a lot of my friends were her friends’ sons and people she knew, so I was in and a part of the community a lot even though I didn’t speak Chinese. We would go to dinner and hang out with her Chinese friends, and were active in the community, including participating in events for lunar new year and mid autumn festival.

5. How connected do you feel to your heritage/culture(s)?

Not very connected. I feel very white and American--white washed even. A lot of that is based on the fact that I can’t speak Chinese and for the most part surrounded by mostly white people. Everyone assumed I was white growing up.

I feel like there’s a disconnect between me and my Chinese side as I have not been able to create a close connection with my Chinese family without being able to speak Mandarin because they don’t speak English.

6. 6a.) How did you get into music? Did you major in music in college? Where did you attend college/university (and grad school(s), if applicable) and in what subjects did you get your degree(s)?

My brother really wanted to learn the piano and my mom told him he’d have to do it seriously and wouldn’t let him quit. He agreed, so she got him a piano teacher. I wasn’t included in these negotiations but was looped in with my brother. I started lessons at age 5 initially; I really didn’t want to do it at that age and I remember thinking it was so hard that I’d cry at the piano, so my mom let me quit for two years. When I was 7, she decided I was ready to try it again and so I started piano lessons again. So for about 10 years, we had a private teacher (and he was also wasian himself). He was very strict and he pushed us really hard for those 10 years. We basically had to play piano until the end of high school, when my parents let us quit.

I did not major in music--I went to Indiana University, Bloomington for Information Systems (business degree) and also went to grad school there for the same thing. During my undergrad, I tried to take a beginning piano class, but got kicked out because I was too advanced, but I was able to take a beginning music theory class--I wanted an easy A--and didn’t get kicked out of that *laughs* .

6b.) When and how did you decide you were going to pursue music professionally? What were your parents’ reactions to you deciding to pursue music? Do they support your music career now?

In college, I bought a piano for fun because I still desired to play a bit. At the end of high school I finally started enjoying piano so I wanted to keep playing.

Then during covid I downloaded TikTok just to make fun of cringe content, but ended up really liking it and started posting videos—piano memes and videos. For about 6 months, I posted vidoes that all flopped but still enjoyed the little engagement I got. Only about a year later, I started having some videos pop off—basically I was shitposting piano videos a few times a week.

I started making money from it maybe a year and a half ago to two years in from making very viral videos; I was really the first person making very viral piano reaction videos, so everything I was posting was getting crazy views and was making me some money.

It wasn’t til my second year of grad school that I decided this might be potentially full time job for me, so when I got a job offer a job offer was very unappealing to me, I decided to try doing piano content creation full time. It was a very long process of doing it before really coming to terms that it could be a career for me — it’s was always a hobby until 2023. Of course, the whole time my mom was being a “Chinese mom”—she would say things like “Of course, this is just a hobby, right?” She never wanted me to do it as a job; she was supportive of me doing it as a hobby, but she didn’t want me to do it full time. In time, I think she accepted it when I made the decision. She sometimes will still ask if I can get a regular job. (Both our moms still do that to this day) - I know she just wants me to have good healthcare and have a stable career.

My dad, as the white parent, he didn’t express too much concern and had more of a “you can do whatever you want” job wise.

That said, yes, they’ve always supported my music career, though my mom always wanted me to do it only on the side.

7. What are a few of your (music) projects of which you are the proudest? What were your roles on those projects? Beyond those projects, please feel free to name some of your other credits as well as any brands/companies you officially endorse.

I am proud of my video that got me on America’s Got Talent—there’s a guy in Bloomington that cosplays as Michael Myers on TikTok and he has millions of followers and we decided to do a video together. I had been trying to make piano accessible for non-piano-players, so I wanted to make something cool, fun, and interesting—not just me playing the piano, but something more involved than that.

For Halloween, we planned this video in the dining hall at IU. The guy was dressed up and dancing as Michael Myers while I played the piano and that video blew up like crazy, getting something around 60 million views. Then AGT noticed the video, emailed me, and asked me to go on the show, so I did.

I think that was the first project I was really proud of.

My second one was my biggest brand deal ever, a huge brand deal with Genshin Impact. They wanted me to do a flash mob at Comic Con in New York City at their booth and gave me about a month to prepare 20 min of music. It was very stressful, the most stressed I’ve been in my career; I didn’t know if I could pull it off or not. I hired someone on Fiver to arrange sheet music, I found musicians who were down. At the end of the day, I was really proud of the work we did and how we pulled it together so quickly. It showed me what I was capable of in an extreme pressure situation.

8. What are some obstacles you have encountered (if any) being an AAPI in the music world? What are some obstacles you have encountered (if any) as an AAPI in general (non-music)? Conversely, has being an AAPI ever helped you in the music industry or in general?

I’ve been so white passing for my whole life, so I can’t really answer this question. Being an AAPI has never helped or hurt me in any way that I can think of.

9. 9a.) Who are some AAPI musicians/composers/producers who have previously inspired and currently inspire you (if any)? Why?

Bruno Mars, Yuja Wang, and Chloe Flower because they are highly accomplished and successful…and they make bangers.

9b.) What are your hopes for the AAPI music community and your hopes for AAPIs in general?

I’m not sure if I have a good answer for this… I guess I’d hope to see more unity, collaboration, and camaraderie amongst the Asian community, working together and making the identity a bigger part of the art.

10. Name at least one or two non-music-related things/subjects about which you are also passionate.

Politics, sustainability, technology, innovation in general, chess.

11. Any final thoughts? Alternatively, do you have any questions for me and/or the greater AAPI music community?

What are your hopes and dreams/ goals for doing the AAPI interviews?

[Just gaining perspective and doing my little part to help further AAPI representation -- representation is so important to me because I think of the little girls now who maybe thought/looked/acted like me 20 years ago can have someone to look up to who also looks like them and helps them realize that a music career is actually feasible.]

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Support Andy online :)

Instagram - @and.y.morris

YouTube - @andy.morris

Spotify - Andy Morris

TikTok - @Andy_Morris

Jammcard - Andy Morris

Official Website - Andy-morris.com

Images courtesy of Andy Morris