Today we’d like to introduce you to Fronrich Puno.
Hi Fronrich, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Before I knew how to play an instrument, learned music theory, or even took a music class, I was annoying every adult around me with unsolicited humming, tapping, and various other modes of making noise. Important tangent; I got diagnosed with severe ADHD at 22, so looking back, my proclivity for music originated from auditory stims, but in the moment, all I knew is that making sounds helped me better understand myself and my place in the world.
The first instrument I formally learned was guitar. Nostalgia might be clouding my judgment, but I thought I was pretty good. My parents, who funded those classes, thought I was shit. Maybe I was. But as someone who’s always been slower to learn things than everyone else, I wasn’t going to let their opinions stop me from pursing music. Within the next few years, I expanded my musical knowledge to 5 chords and questionable control of my prepubescent vocal chords.
Beginning in the 6th grade, our district required us to take an elective. I chose orchestra. I originally wanted to play the viola, because I saw Jake the dog from adventure time rip it, but I called it a cello and accidentally got put in the cello section. Good news was I ended up loving the cello. I also know how to play viola now too since they have the same strings. Becoming classically trained and having to learn western notation, basic chord theory, and western music history allowed me to start formally documenting the music I was improving, and I started writing sheet music in a software called Musescore for compositions I’d make. Doing this was also a good introduction to learning instruments beyond the ones I knew how to play. I also got better at guitar because of all of the interdisciplinary skills I was learning.
As a computer nerd, I was also concurrently learning programming at the time, and was delving into the world of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). This eventually led me towards learning the Linux operating system, which also my intro to my first Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), Linux Multimedia Studio (LMMS).
I used this DAW to create my first Album on Soundcloud, post_pathos https://soundcloud.com/ii_png . It was a 22 track album about an old love.
During my junior and senior year of high school, I took an IB music theory class. It really helped my production skills. I was so passionate about it that I actually spent two years researching and writing my IB extended essay on western musical traditions that survived from antiquity to EDM. It was a 22 page junior thesis, and I was so proud of it. I ended up getting the equivalent of a D, probably because the subject matter was so esoteric and somewhat controversial that the graders on the IB board didn’t like it.
I worked to pay my way through college. I used some of the extra money I made to buy Fl Studio. It was a step up from LMMS because of all the features it came with out of the box. Technically, because LMMS was open source, I could have coded any feature I wanted into it, but at the time, I could still barely code a Minecraft mod, so I wasn’t ready to take on the challenge.
Speaking of coding, college was really difficult. I went to school for computer science, and this is where my ADHD was really starting to int me. I was learning slower than everyone else, so I put in the extra work to attend office hours, code on my own time, and work into the morning, just so that I could graduate, get a job, and not be homeless. Somehow, during my sophomore year, I was able to make time to make music again, and partnered with a Houston musician named Mario Jugulion, also known as Kouya. We would eventually form the band Habang Buhay, but before that, we released the track Lotto Love on all streaming platforms. Making music collaboratively was something I hadn’t done since my orchestra days, and I was fortunate that I got to do it.
Speaking of homelessness, when the pandemic hit, I was evicted from my dorm room, as was every college student at UT. College, in part, was actually a convoluted plot for me to legally run away from home, and it could be extrapolated that I didn’t have a good relationship with my parents. This was true. I was broke and only took out loans to pay for tuition. I was able to do a bunch of freelance side gigs, and made just enough money to live off pasta, frozen meatballs, and meal replacement. I have friends who were kind enough to let me crash at their places on occasion, and campus was semi open. I’d chill in the GDC and I wouldn’t be bothered as long as I kept a low profile.
Besides not having a home and barely eating enough to live, life was okay. Classes becoming remote meant I had the opportunity to multitask, and take notes while working on music. It was great to be able to have the time to work on music again. I had enough time to actually get good at using FL Studio, and I produced my second Album, Thank U + U, which had a combination of new songs plus some remastered songs from post_pathos.
After landing a summer internship by attending a job fare with shoes so tight I took them off midway through, I started making some adult money, and was actually able to save up for a small apartment with some of my friends. To my name, I had my laptop, about 10 articles of clothing, a small bar stool, a clothing rack, a side table that I used as a desk, a padded mat that I slept on, my guitar, and my cello. I had everything I needed. It was bliss. I produced a few more songs during those early apartment days.
For legal reasons, I can’t go into too much detail about what happened next, but unfortunate events made it so that the apartment became uninhabitable and I was once again homeless. Just know it had nothing to do with any of my roommates. Somehow, even while homeless, I was still making time to go on dates, because I like meeting people. I met my current girlfriend this way, and she’s stayed with me through literal thick and thin, which I am very fortunate for. Honestly, my strong systems kept me going.
When classes resumed in person, college became difficult again, and I struggled to find the time to make music. I was sleeping an average of three hours a night. Those upper div classes were no joke. I actually had a professor – I’ll avoid naming the class so I don’t expose them – who told the entire class that anyone who had a C should just drop the class. It was the first time I’ve ever had a teacher or mentor give up on me, and it really didn’t help when I already thought I was dumber than everyone else. Hearing that really made me question my life decisions.
Like with my parents, I felt like I needed to get my degree just to make a point, and so I did. I busted my ass and graduated with a degree in computer science, applied to over 200 companies, and got a job right out of college.
Life became a grind, and I was once again too busy to make music. My first job was actually so much work that I was often too busy to cook, clean, or even maintain my hygiene, I was miserable and swimming in debt just to stay afloat and fed enough to work another day. I spent over a year at that job before being able to land a new one in government that I loved. I worked in the USDA, helping build software that tracked soil samples. It was important work that kept the country fed, and I was proud to do it. This job happened to also be a lot more chill, and gave me the freedom to begin making music again. This was when I started heavily investing in collaborative projects, once again joining forces with Mario and creating Habang Buhay. We produced the Limbo EP and worked with very talented crews of people to produce music videos and an art market. Things were looking up again.
Then one day, this chud named Elon decided to cut government programs and slash government jobs. I was one of the lucky ones, as many people actually died from these cuts. I was just unemployed. I actually got this news on the Friday before the Sama Sama Art festival, which Nopality media did an article on. To the people there, it was probably the start of a new Austin tradition. However, to me, it was the end of an era, as I had to go focus all my effort on landing a new job while keeping a brave face as I performed.
After over 500 applications, I finally landed a jobat my current company, where I make apps accessible for people with disabilities. I’m very grateful to be able to be doing this type of work. I’m now in a more senior role, so I’m a lot busier, but I still manage to make time for music. I’m currently working on a new project, which I hope the world will enjoy when I release it.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I talked about a lot of my struggles in the last section, but there were a few I did glaze over. Along with ADHD, I actually have C-PTSD and depression, courtesy of my immigrant parents and religious trauma. I’m also pansexual, which is weird when you grow up in a church that tells you that being gay is a choice. Me being me, I thought that was true. When I found out actual straight people existed, I was mind blown, and really conflicted. I was suicidal at multiple points in my life, and didn’t think I’d live past 20. I can speak from personal experience when I say that OD’ing is not a good way to try and go out. Don’t be dumb, go to therapy, save for retirement, get your steps in, lift heavy, eat fiber, spend money on experiences with friends, and you’ll be good.
I should probably have been more specific about my ADHD, but I only found out because I was going to therapy for depression. After some CBT, I started feeling a lot better emotionally, but I was still a mess of an adult. I asked my therapist about it and she suggested I get tested and diagnosed with ADHD. I don’t remember the name of the test I took, but I scored a 98%. Easiest A I’d ever gotten. All jokes aside, I have a really severe case of ADHD. I decided against medication since I don’t have a good history with medication, and instead went the mediation and fitness route. It works just as well as medication if you’re willing to carve out time to put in the work. Also, putting the dang phone down helps a lot.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I a technically a Forward Deployed Engineer. That is a very specific type of senior software engineer who works with the actual users of products to understand their needs. It’s not something you can do straight out of college, because it requires advanced programming skills, customer service skills, and design skills. I actually started on this path as a Frontend Engineer / Creative Coder. My job basically involved making software beautiful and functional. There are a lot of analogies that exist between forms of art and engineering. Music and programming are no different. As someone with dyscalculia, thinking of the structure of code as the structure of a program tends to help my brain a lot. I believe it is a useful perspective that anyone scared of programming should try and approach it with.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Jazmine Jade Dauz – My girlfriend AND vocal coach. She’s one of the most talented singers I personally know
Mario (Kouya) Jugulion – 1/2 of Habang Buhay and an amazing performer / producer. He’s also really good with logistics, and was a big help in delegating work during the creation of our music videos
Faustin Puno – My brother. He’s always been supportive and was the only family member I talked to when I went no contact with my family.
Henry Feng – Housed me for a bit when I was homeless. Also bought me a pizza when my ex broke up with me.
Andy Le – Housed me for a bit when I was homeless and showed me around Austin when I didn’t have a car. Introduced me to the live music scene and Austin at large
I have so many friends but I can’t name them all by name. I hope that they all know how much they’ve helped me.
Pricing:
- I’m very left leaning but very anti intellectual property (IP). Art is discovered, not made. All my art is free, and as long as I am the only author, it can be modified and redistributed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://home.fronrich.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialpingmusic/
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ii_png
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6XFkqP44urfco1VyhjQJgx
