From China via Thailand to Los Angeles: The Journey That Shaped Music Producer Yichao Liu

Long before his music reached listeners across multiple continents, Yichao Liu, also known as YI, was a young guitar student growing up in Qinhuangdao, a coastal city in China. At the time, a career in music felt distant. There were classes to attend, exams to prepare for, and expectations to meet. Like many children in China, he followed the path laid out in front of him without knowing exactly where it would lead.

Today, YI is a singer-songwriter, music producer, and guitarist based in Los Angeles. His songs have been played on radio stations in countries including the United States, Canada, and Argentina. His recent release, Set Me Free, charted on iTunes in both Canada and the United Kingdom, reaching No. 1 on Canada's Pop chart and entering the overall chart as well. He has collaborated with respected producers, songwriters, and musicians whose work has shaped mainstream music for years.

The journey that brought him there stretched across three countries and took more than a decade of persistence, learning, and belief in a dream that many people around him could not yet see.

Growing up, YI often felt different from the people around him.

He remembers being teased at school because his skin tone was darker than many of his classmates. While other students seemed to fit naturally into social groups and sports teams, he often felt left out. Those experiences stayed with him and shaped much of his early life.

At home, however, his parents made sure he had opportunities to explore different interests. They enrolled him in various extracurricular activities, including English lessons, dance classes, and music instruction. Among all of them, one activity gradually began to stand out.

At 7 years old, YI started studying classical guitar, and what began as a childhood lesson slowly became a passion.

As the years passed, he expanded beyond classical music and became interested in fingerstyle guitar and popular music. He spent countless hours practicing, learning songs, and developing his skills.

His dedication soon produced results.

Under the guidance of his teacher, Hao Tian, he began performing at local festivals and competitions. He won the championship at a local KAWAI music competition in his hometown and later earned second prize in the Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitar category at the 2019 Qingdao International Guitar Festival.

For the first time, music was giving him something he had struggled to find elsewhere, confidence.

Success in competitions did not automatically make pursuing music an easy choice.

Like many parents, YI's family valued education and stability. They wanted him to build a secure future and perform well academically. While they supported his musical interests, they were not immediately convinced that music should become a profession. YI understood their concerns, but he also knew that music had become much more than a hobby.

For more than three years, he continued discussing the possibility of attending music school. It was not a single conversation but an ongoing effort to show his parents how serious he was about his future.

Eventually, his determination paid off. His parents agreed to support his decision to pursue music professionally, opening the door to a completely new chapter of his life.

That chapter began in Thailand.

YI enrolled at Mahidol University's College of Music, where he studied both classical guitar and jazz guitar. Leaving China was a major adjustment, but it also introduced him to new experiences, new cultures, and a broader understanding of music.

His time in Thailand became an important period of growth.

He performed with bands including Tea-quila and Haggai's Boy and gained experience playing in professional settings. In 2023, he performed at the Thailand International Jazz Conference, one of Asia's largest jazz festivals. He also performed with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra as part of a choir, adding another significant experience to his growing musical background.

Outside the classroom and the stage, another interest was quietly developing.

For years, YI had been creating melodies in his mind. During walks home from school, song ideas would appear unexpectedly. While studying in Thailand, he began taking songwriting more seriously and started working on original projects. Those early songs were far from perfect, but they represented an important step toward discovering his own artistic identity.

Although Thailand helped him grow as a musician, YI felt drawn toward a larger goal.

He wanted to be closer to the center of the global music industry.

In 2023, he transferred to the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, where he completed his Bachelor of Music degree. The move represented another leap into the unknown, but it would become one of the most important decisions of his career.

In Los Angeles, YI's understanding of music expanded dramatically.

As a guitarist, he already knew how to perform. What fascinated him now was the process behind creating records. Courses in arrangement and music production introduced him to the countless decisions involved in transforming a simple melody into a fully realized song.

He became increasingly interested in production, studying everything from orchestration and arrangement to sound design and recording techniques. The deeper he went, the more he realized that producing music brought him the same excitement he once felt when he first picked up a guitar.

As his skills developed, so did the opportunities around him.

Working under his former artist name, Pivotor, YI began producing and writing music for other artists. One of his projects, "You are not the One," recorded by American singer Leanna Baxter, reached the semifinals of the 2026 International Songwriting Competition and became part of his growing catalogue.

At the same time, he began collaborating with highly respected professionals across the music industry.

Over the years, he has worked with Grammy-winning audio engineer Francis Buckley, producer John Ho, whose credits include Demi Lovato, Chlöe, and Mark Ronson, songwriter and producer Leah Haywood, known for work with Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and Selena Gomez, as well as producer Trey Vittetoe and touring vocalist Ameera Perkins.

Those collaborations provided more than industry recognition to YI. They allowed him to learn directly from professionals operating at the highest level of music production. Eventually, he decided it was time to introduce himself not only as a producer and songwriter but also as an artist.

Adopting the name YI, he released his debut single, "Just Give Me Something to Believe," marking the first time he publicly stepped forward as the voice behind his own music.

Since then, YI has continued building momentum as both a producer and recording artist.

His recent release, "Set Me Free," achieved international chart success, reaching No. 1 on Canada's Pop chart and appearing on charts in both Canada and the United Kingdom. His music has received radio airplay across North and South America, helping introduce his work to new audiences around the world.

Yet despite the accomplishments, YI views his current success as part of a much larger journey.

His long-term ambition is not simply to release songs or earn chart placements. He hopes to contribute to the future direction of popular music, becoming one of the producers who helps shape the sound of the next generation.

Looking back, it is remarkable to see how far the journey has taken him. From a young guitarist in Qinhuangdao to a student in Thailand and now a producer and artist in Los Angeles, each step required patience, commitment, and the willingness to keep moving forward even when the outcome was uncertain.

For YI, the story has never been about taking the easiest path, It has been about following the one that felt right, no matter how far it led from home.