#SoCaltech: Amy and Angel Wang
“Singing has been important to me and my sister, Angel, since we were young. It started from just singing to Hannah Montana and Taylor Swift on road trips, and we realized we're kind of decent. So, we continued it and then expanded to posting videos on YouTube. We found that our voices sound really good together. We actually taught ourselves how to harmonize and about all the different aspects that go into growing YouTube channels as well as music production, finding the right mics to use, the right software. It was great to be able to bond together, to be a team. A lot of the videos we make are centered around songs in different languages that we turn into English renditions. People really appreciate them and are grateful to be able to understand and sing the songs that they love. It all began when Angel started translating a song by the K-pop band BTS into English lyrics because she wanted to sing it. And I was like, ‘Wow, this is a great idea.’ So, I identified this as a niche that we could fill. The way we do the videos is that we make karaoke videos of lyrics and then we also sing the songs so people can learn how to sing them. What we've learned from all this is that you can really try and be multiple things. You don't have to be put into one box of, say, just STEM. You can do other things as long as you care enough about it and put in the time.”
Amy Wang is a Caltech senior majoring in chemical engineering. She and her sister, Angel (who is in her first year at Caltech, majoring in computer science), collaborate on music videos. At this year’s virtual ASCIT (Associated Students of the California Institute of Technology) concert, the sisters performed a cover of “Sucker” by the Jonas Brothers that was played before the headline performance by rapper Desiigner. Find more of their videos by searching for “BTS English karaoke” on YouTube.
#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.