A Chat with Composer Danna Yun
We are excited to premiere a brand new work – ‘Minigames’ by Danna Yun for VYSO, made possible by the City of Melbourne Triennial Arts Grant. ‘Minigames’ evokes a fantastical sense of adventure inspired by 1990s console RPG video games music. The idea of progressing through levels is emulated through recurring themes, “unlocking” new sections in the piece. Performers follow and react to musical cues to create a musical minigame.
We spoke to Danna in 2021 about ‘Minigames’. Here is an excerpt of that conversation.
Hi Danna, we are so looking forward to everyone getting to experience your piece ‘Minigames’ in our upcoming concert! What are your thoughts on working with VYSO?
It's a huge honour to be able to write music for VYSO. The VYSO are a fantastic bunch of musicians who are not afraid to have fun and try new things – I absolutely love that about them, and hope that my piece encapsulates a bit of their playfulness!
Can you talk a bit about your creative process when it comes to composing?
I usually come up with a main motivic idea, plan a rough structure for the whole piece, then fumble my way through the mess in my head. You get into that zone, and something else guides you – that intuition is what makes composing fun for me.
I’d gotten used to overthinking structural complexities to the point where composing began to feel like solving puzzles rather than self-expression. So, I am now purposefully trying to set aside many compositional techniques I’ve learnt in order to rediscover my inner child again.
What are some of your musical influences?
Stravinsky, Ravel, Vaughan Williams, Joe Hisaishi, and John Powell are my biggest orchestral influences. Other core inspirations include video game music from The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon.
And what else do you take inspiration from?
Other than the existing media that I consume, I take inspiration from happiness, the sky, and scents carried by wind.
Finally, tell us about your upcoming projects. Where can our audience follow your work?
I'm currently making game music for Melbourne-based indie games Spiritwell by David Chen and Letters To Arralla by Pink Clouds
I'm also part of Sinister Creative – a live video game music company that we launched this year. We want to promote video game music through local live performances as a valuable, enjoyable, and respectable form of art!
Under the pseudonym "Pekoe", I have been releasing indie-pop / cinematic-pop / folk-pop songs since 2014. My discography includes "The Florist" EP (2014), "In the Wilderness" (2017), and a collection of singles uploaded to YouTube and Spotify sporadically throughout the years.
I am also active on Twitter as @dannadot_