Her parents said music was a 'risky' career. This Singaporean defied their doubts, ending up on the world's biggest stages

One evening while doom-scrolling social media as usual, I came across a video of American singer-songwriter Conan Gray trying an array of snacks that are popular here, as he visited Singapore on the Asian leg of his Found Heaven on Tour. 

After sampling a bag of Twisties and rating the corn snack seven out of 10, the former YouTuber moved on to a packet of Mamee Monster noodle snack.

Before opening the packet, he said that he was following the instructions of his keyboardist Renny Goh, who is from Singapore, to crush the noodles in order to best savour the salty, crunchy texture of the snack.

After watching the video, I was struck by two things at once.

First, I was thoroughly pleased and validated that snacks beloved by Singaporeans should and will be appreciated by such a lauded visitor.

But I was even more intrigued by the presence of a Singaporean artiste on such a prominent stage. I knew I had to reach out to learn who this keyboardist was and what it takes to play next to a global pop star such as Conan Gray.  

I met the 36-year-old musician through a video call in early November. She was bathed in the afterglow of a show in Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States.

The energy of the stage still clung to Ms Goh as she leaned into the screen, her slick micro bangs and glossy raven hair catching the light of the nearby desk lamp in her hotel room. 

She described her journey as a slow burn that started with a compromise with her parents. Worried about the risks of a music career, they insisted that she complete her university degree first.

When she had carved out a steady stream of gigs as a singer in a Singapore rock band that also did cover music at bars and weddings here, a cousin's near-death accident at his workplace in 2013 jolted her into action. 

"That event kind of triggered me," Ms Goh said. “I remember thinking, ‘I have dreams I want to fulfil'." 

While visiting her cousin at the intensive care unit, she enrolled in the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles and flew the coop to pursue her music career. There, she spent four years making up for lost time, honing her skills as a keyboardist. 

Even through the pixels from half a world away, Ms Goh exuded the kind of effortless cool that comes from eight years of commanding stages worldwide, such as the crowds of 50,000 at Lollapalooza music festival in South America or a sold-out show at New York's iconic Madison Square Garden. 

Ms Goh, a founding member of Conan Gray’s band, also serves as the musical director for Moroccan-Canadian artiste Faouzia and has performed with acts such as Filipino-Australian singer Ylona Garcia and singer-songwriter Niki. She also writes her own songs, which she eventually hopes to record.

As I spoke with the multi-hyphenate keyboardist, music director, song-writer and producer, I was drawn by a certain intensity she exuded that was part adrenaline, part quiet confidence.

We delved into her journey and the experiences that led her to share the stage with some of pop music’s brightest entertainers. 

Ms Goh detailed those gruelling but fulfilling early LA days and exhilarating nights when she performed for crowds all over the world, and I felt the weight of her early sacrifices and the near-relentless work it takes to perform on such a level. 

STARTING IN PUBS AND WEDDINGS IN SINGAPORE 

Ms Goh grew up in Singapore with music as a background hum, not the focal point. Her father is a mechanical engineering lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic, while her mother used to be a nurse and a homemaker. Now, her mother is a preschool teacher. 

She has a younger brother who works in the early childhood education industry and has a master's degree in music education. 

"He’s also very musical," Ms Goh said. "But he cleverly started studying pedagogy first." 

“Music was always part of my life. Like many Singaporean children, I started with classical piano lessons because my cousins were learning it, and I wanted to join them.”  

Yet, music was never framed as a career possibility. “When I was about 19, I told my parents I wanted to go overseas to study music.”

Her parents, however, were understandably concerned. “They said that was too risky,” Ms Goh recalled. "They encouraged me to do something more practical.”

It is a tune that nearly all Singaporean parents sing when their children suggest a slightly more creative career choice, something I know all too well. When I told my own parents I wanted to pursue English at university, their concern was palpable. “What kind of job will you get?” they asked. 

Like Ms Goh, I found myself caught in the tug-of-war between my passions and their practicality.

After some discussion, her parents came to a compromise. She would attend the National University of Singapore (NUS) to complete a sociology degree as a backup plan and if she still wanted to pursue music, she could then take a year or two to explore it. 

While she dutifully worked towards her degree, Ms Goh couldn’t stay away from the music scene, playing regular gigs on weekends and evenings. 

She began performing at venues with singing in a pop-rock band that she joined during her junior college days, even opening for Taiwanese acts such as F.I.R.

“I just soaked in every moment because I was hungry for opportunities, hungry for the stage, people to work with and create music with,” she said. "I just kind of fully fell into it and fell in love (with music) more and more."

At NUS, she would perform in pubs and weddings. “The local scene was so supportive. Everyone knew each other and there was this unspoken encouragement. Even people I met at weddings would recommend me for other gigs, helping me build a steady stream of work.”

Her growing network in Singapore introduced her to a taste of the industry, but her life was upended by an incident that would push her to pursue her passion on a much larger scale. 

In 2013, her cousin who had encouraged and supported her musical interests was severely injured in a workplace accident. 

“It was like a wake-up call for me. 

“(Up until then) I was really happy in Singapore and I thought, maybe I don't need to go overseas anymore,” she said. 

Hearing this, I was reminded just how easy it is to let life’s rhythms lull us into complacency. I couldn’t help but think about whether I have put any of my seemingly far-fetched dreams on hold, telling myself there’s always time or that it’s too risky to try. 

When Ms Goh visited her cousin in intensive care, she was struck by life's fragility and “remembered the dreams” she wanted to fulfil but "never gotten to achieve them". 

“I can't believe I just put it at the back of my mind and stopped thinking about it.”

STARTING OVER IN LOS ANGELES 

Ms Goh enrolled at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles in 2014 to study keyboard in contemporary styles.

However, this leap wasn’t easy.

“I was known in Singapore by my colleagues and in pubs as a singer, but I knew before I studied music in the US that I had to be more than that."

Her days in college were demanding, marked by “eight to 10 hours a day of just non-stop practice”.

The stakes felt especially high. “I’m older than many of my classmates and I felt like I had to play catch-up,” she said, reflecting on the pressures to excel.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me to be in the US."

Adjusting to the vast, competitive music community there tested her resolve in ways she hadn’t anticipated.

“You can’t just aim to be the best in the industry. You have to aim to be the best version of yourself, over and over again.”

While studying for her music final, she got an unexpected call at the tail-end of 2018. A drummer friend had invited her to audition as a keyboardist for the band of an 18-year-old artiste she’d never heard of – Conan Gray. 

Ms Goh explained that at her music college, performing artistes would occasionally visit with their managers to hold auditions for students.

“I didn’t know who the artiste was,” she said, recalling her audition for Conan Gray.

“They gave me a couple of songs to study. I came in, had follow-up auditions and then met this young boy ... and then received a call later on that they were interested in hiring me.”

FROM GIGS TO GLOBAL STAGES

“Touring with Conan has been surreal,” Ms Goh said. She has seen the likes of Radio City Music Hall in New York, the Forum in Los Angeles and appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon as well as Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“These were things I would watch on YouTube when I was younger,” she added. “I never imagined I’d be standing on those stages.”

“Every show is meaningful, no matter the size. As long as there’s someone who’s there to hear the songs, I want to make sure I play at my best so they can enjoy the music to the fullest.

"One crazy one we did was Coachella; that's a big one. Just a couple of days ago, we did Madison Square Garden – that was a sold-out show." 

At Lollapalooza in South America, she remembered standing on stage, staring into an endless sea of people, their faces illuminated by the glow of thousands of smartphone flashlights as the crowd swelled to 50,000, all swaying in unison to Conan Gray’s music. 

"Those are memories that I will never forget. It's so beautiful and it hits you that people are resonating with his songs, and you're part of this experience."

Ms Goh looked back on her early days with Conan Gray, starting as the opening act for Panic! at the Disco in 2018, playing at venues such as The Forum in Los Angeles. 

"This year, we're going back to The Forum, but not as an opening act, but as the headlining act," she said, cementing yet another milestone in her career.

Describing her life as a full-time musician is one thing. The amount of hard work is "unimaginable”, she said.

Then, she quickly added with candour and pride that such dedication and grind is essential for a life in music.

“That’s the kind of commitment you need if you want to make it in this line.”

Even then, sometimes hard work might not be enough.

"The reality is, I don't know if the hard work I put out into the world will be answered with new opportunities or endeavours," Ms Goh said.

"The hardest thing is knowing that but still trusting myself enough to stay and navigate through the uncertainty and the obstacles."

As for the future, she aspires to step into the spotlight with her own music and continue her role as musical director.  

“I’ve always written songs, and I still write and work on them whenever I have time,” she added.

Having already recorded much of her original music, she dreams of releasing it once her touring schedule allows.

“I really enjoy arranging and putting together a show. It is incredibly fulfilling and inspiring to envision a show from start to finish with very talented colleagues in their different areas of expertise."

A pivotal moment of late for Ms Goh was when she played her first show in Singapore with Conan Gray in 2023. Her parents came to her show and told her that they were immensely proud of her. 

“My mum once told my mentor she regretted discouraging me from pursuing music earlier, thinking maybe I’d have achieved more by now if I’d started sooner,” she said with a pensive smile. 

“But I don’t see it as a setback.

"If anything, it made me hungrier to succeed. I’m grateful for the path I took, even with its challenges.”