It’s a long-held belief of mine that true artistic spirit can never be suppressed for long. Creativity demands an outlet, and creative people only deny the urge to their own detriment. Certainly, my interview with Jeffrey Liao ’20 didn’t do anything to dissuade me from my stance.
Liao graduated from the School of Hotel Administration in 2020 and now works in hotels and real estate. Although he’d always sung as a child — whether through choir, a capella or musical theater — he put his musical passions on hold during undergrad. “I was so hyper-focused on the hotel industry and getting the right internships and working in the real estate industry … that I kind of overlooked my love for music,” he shared. Dropped into the pressure cooker that is Cornell, Liao did exactly what the school encourages its students to do: resume-building. That isn’t to say Liao’s time at Cornell wasn’t extremely valuable, nor that he regrets his decision to attend the hotel school. In fact, he loved his time here and even misses Ithaca sometimes (shocking, I know).
But no artist can forego creation for long. Last year, Liao proved my hypothesis right and began making music under his artist name, Fedge. Though music creation and the hotel industry seem like completely disparate realms, Liao identified key ways that his Cornell education to this day complements his musical career: “[The hotel school] taught me to be a really good listener and collaborator. In music, … the ability to work well with others is so important. … It’s part of the hotel school ethos: being personable, being able to collaborate with others, being able to work in group settings.” For Liao, songwriting, although a deeply personal process, is also a deeply collaborative one. He’s grateful to his hotel classes for teaching him the necessary soft skills to get his points across both in an office and in the studio.
Beyond the semantics of songwriting, Liao sees his experience with hotels and real estate as fundamentally similar to music because it is audience-focused. “I like the hotel industry for the way it cares for others. It's about welcoming others into your community and showing people care,” he said, “and I do that through my music. I heal myself when I write my music, and along the way I hope it heals others.”
Liao’s most recent release is the epitome of this philosophy of care. “Wish I Saw the Signs,” which came out on Nov. 14, was written in memory of a close friend Liao lost to suicide. The song, a powerful and heartfelt tribute, allowed Liao to fully process the emotions he felt surrounding his friend’s death in an unadorned, raw way. “I think that’s why my lyrics are not super decorated with metaphors — I tend to write pretty directly about what I’m feeling in the moment. It’s sort of [a] conversational train of thought.” The healing process Liao underwent while writing “Wish I Saw the Signs” is something he hopes to transfer onto any listeners struggling with their own mental health concerns to feel less alone.
This commitment to positive impact is evidenced by Liao’s decision to release the song early on Bandcamp and donate all the proceeds to the Trevor Project, an organization for LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention. He chose the organization alongside his late friend’s sister, both of them agreeing that it was something he would have wanted. Spreading awareness and cultivating empathy is Liao’s goal. “We’re all carrying something, even though we might not show it, and I think it’s really important to me to let people know that they’re not alone,” he said.
Music in its entirety, not just this most recent release, has been a transformative thing for Liao. Songwriting came to him “at a really difficult time” and provided a much-needed outlet. “When you put your song out there into the world,” he commented, “it’s no longer just your own — your diary entry — people listen to the song, and they might find meaning in the song in ways you never even expected.” Through music, personal experience becomes variable, mutable and relatable for a broad audience. That’s one of the most powerful effects Liao discovered on his journey. And now, he’s committed to keeping that momentum going. Music, now that Liao has begun pursuing it, isn’t something he’ll ever leave behind again.
As a final note, Liao left me with the lingering sentiment that music — all-encompassing, influential, beautiful music — is capable of so much genuine, tangible good: “I hope my music makes others feel less alone in what they’re going through and reminds you to love a little louder and tell the people you love how much they mean to you.”
If you’re interested in seeing more of Fedge, you can visit iamfedge.com or @iamfedge on Instagram.
Melissa Moon is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is an Assistant Arts & Culture Editor on the 143rd Editorial Board. She can be reached at mmoon@cornellsun.com.
