Seattle-based electronic music producer, Alda Agustiano—aka Chong the Nomad—knows how precious a single note can be. This is especially the case when that note is personal, unique. Hers. Upon playing one of her elaborate tracks, listeners can identify Agustiano immediately.
It wasn’t always this way.
For a time, Agustiano tried to mimic other musicians and musical styles: a productive, if over safe strategy. Still, it was also a bridge to a new sonic vantage point. From there, Agustiano saw exactly who Chong the Nomad was as an artist: a singular purveyor of sound. One track in particular of hers pointed the way.
A Song Changed it All
“If I could pinpoint a certain song,” Agustiano says, “it would be ‘Pompelo.’ With that song, I took everything I learned in the seven years prior and applied it in a way I stubbornly wanted to create. I wanted to make this thing in my head instead of something I’d heard before. The second I did that I just went crazy!”
“Pompelo,” which Agustiano released in May of 2018, is equal parts club hit and Merrie Melodies cartoon soundtrack. There are sprinting slide whistles, blurring hums, and clinking glasses. It’s a veritable “everything jar,” the kind in which one store nuts, bolts, screws, and loose change.
“If I could pinpoint a certain song...
it would be ‘Pompelo'"
Still, the way Agustiano layers and arranges each element flips the mood from unruly to superlative. Like in a wild cartoon, the sound evokes confetti shooting from the artist’s pupils when no one’s looking.
“Once you home in on your sound, oh man, it’s magical,” Agustiano says. “It’s something I can’t explain, a combination of a lot of things. Like, I learned that if I chop up my claps, it leaves a space in the mix and that, combined with 950 other things, is how I got my sound. Now, I take everything I’ve ever learned and apply it in my own context.”
Over the past few years, Agustiano has produced content for Universal Audio and Singapore Airlines, and shared stages with both Death Cab for Cutie and Odesza. Nevertheless, her road to music success and creative achievement wasn’t always charmed.
Following Dreams and Defying Expectations
Agustiano, the daughter of Indonesian immigrants, grew up in a home that valued music, but only as a hobby. As with many families, hers encouraged the pursuit of work as a doctor or a lawyer. Pushing against expectations to find her own space remains a theme for Agustiano.
"It’s all about experimentation—knowing what you want in your head and trying to produce that."
Agustiano, who loathed the piano lessons she took as a child, still had an interest in music. She picked up instruments here and there and plucked out melodies–teasing out each artifact’s theme song. However, it wasn’t until she discovered electronic music and the production software, Fruity Loops, that Agustiano truly found her calling.
As a producer, she didn’t have to master the piano, guitar, ukulele, harmonica, or trombone. (The latter two of which she plays.) Rather, Agustiano had to discover where the instrument’s sound was most applicable in a Chong the Nomad track.
"I’ll start humming an idea or beatboxing
into my phone. I’m basically a huge nerd!”
“I just wanted to make cool sounds,” Agustiano says. “At 14 or 15, as I tried to figure out how to work with Fruity Loops, the tech intimidated me. People kept saying to do this or do that. I learned that’s all bullshit. It’s all about experimentation—knowing what you want in your head and trying to produce that. That took me six or seven years to figure out.”
What’s in a Name?
Agustiano, whose moniker comes from Avatar: The Last Airbender, has made quite a name for herself. She drops a new Chong the Nomad EP (with rumoured special guests) at the end of this month. In the meantime, a single from the record is out now.
“Take Two,” features Grammy nominee, Hollis, and is receiving airplay on tastemaker station KEXP. In the studio, Agustiano works with the Roland SP-404A sampler as well as a Roland keyboard. She also utilizes the voice memo function on her phone to help in the never-ending quest to compose.
“I’ll be out with my partner, in the passenger seat, and be like, ‘Excuse me, babe, I have to turn down the radio,'” she laughs. “Then, I’ll start humming an idea or beatboxing into my phone. I’m basically a huge nerd!”
For a composer on the edge of wider acclaim, Agustiano is quick to acknowledge there is still much to learn. Hers is a constant balance of progress and recalibration. For example, during quarantine, she’s learned to find her voice when collaborating with other accomplished musicians. Agustiano is grateful for her good fortune. On her artistic journey, she works hard to elevate voices that might not receive attention.
"I can listen to each and remember where and how I was at that time. It’s a bit of self-indulgence I can share with the world."
“At the end of the day,” she says, “I’m happy to be able to make music. This is my job. I have a loving partner and two cats. I’m very fortunate. That’s why I’m placing my focus on other things in the community, like Black Trans youth and making sure they get a bigger spotlight.”
An Oceanic Sound
There are myriad electronic music producers but only one Chong the Nomad. The artist’s unique sound is dreamlike. Picture an ocean monarch blowing bubbles which pop and rain cotton candy precipitation. Chong the Nomad is Bach playing sheet music made of Skittles. Surreal metaphors aside, Agustiano sounds like herself, and herself only.
In fact, whatever Agustiano sets her sights on, she’s likely to achieve. “I don’t think I’m great with my words,” Agustiano says, reflecting on her writing process. “My first EP, Love Memo—that was my diary. I rant on the internet sometimes, but I don’t normally keep a diary.”
The vulnerable nature of her work connects with listeners. “The songs on that EP, I can listen to each and remember where and how I was at that time. It’s a bit of self-indulgence I can share with the world.”
