Known as King Fear to musicians now, Roy Ashlyn to musicians a few years ago — and hailing from North Carolina — it’s singer-songwriter Richard Yuan ’25. During his time at Stanford, the 21-year-old has been part of two bands — the eponymous Richard and the Red Flags and Superbloom (now disbanded). Yuan has also performed as a solo artist, even releasing singles of his own like “Today’s Youth”.
His first stage name, Roy Ashlyn, is a play on both his initials, R.Y. (with the O representing his lack of a middle name) and the name of a dear friend. He released “Olema,” his five song extended play (EP) as Roy. After using his real name for some time, Yuan then decided to go by King Fear. The change was partly inspired by Shakespeare’s “King Lear”: Yuan, who finds “lyrics to be the most important part of [his] songwriting,” considers the bard a natural wordsmith to admire. Yuan said he identifies with the dichotomy between “king” and “fear” — a balance between dominance and submission — since carrying ambitions along with uncertainty is central to the journey of a musician.
True to what he calls the “quintessential Asian American child experience,” Yuan began his music journey learning to play piano. When piano competitions — with their focus on perfection and comparison — burnt him out, Yuan found himself at a crossroads: stop playing piano for good, or pivot.
And pivot he did. Yuan began composing music in middle school. By composing, he means he “would print out sheet music, put it in a binder and scribble in it during music class.”
After an inspiring class with a band teacher, those scribbles turned into song lyrics set to piano music. Since that first composition, Yuan has released two EPs and a handful of singles, his most recent being “Today’s Youth.” Yuan said he wrote the song during a time when he was “struggling with issues of confidence and masculinity” exacerbated by Stanford’s culture of comparison.
According to Yuan, “Today’s Youth” came to him “in a flash of inspiration.” The lyrics discuss YouTube creators who prey on the insecurities of young men, the culture of excess drinking to cope with intense feelings and the difficulties of being young and unsure of how to proceed in life.
Yuan’s creative process involves “a lot of exploration” and “riffing on” various musical skills. He comes up with instrumentals, pens lyrics and takes the time to record verses in Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).
As a shy freshman, Yuan found his start in Stanford’s music scene through his dorm’s spring concert, live Friday evening performances at The Arbor and the acappella group Mixed Company. Sophomore year, he formed a band, Superbloom, which disbanded as members graduated out.
In these artistic spaces, Yuan had chance encounters with his future Red Flags bandmates — he met bassist Indigo Hu ’24 M.A. ’25 through Mixed Company, banjo/mandolin/acoustic guitar player Peter Muhitch ’25 through his frosh dorm concert, Nathan Sariowan ’24 MA ’25 (who helped produce “Today’s Youth”) through an on-campus musical production, electric guitarist Andrew Nevarez ’25 lived in Yuan’s dorm and Yuan met drummer Yanav Lall ’26 in senior year. Violinist Barr Dolan ’25 was introduced to Yuan through Muhitch.
According to Yuan, the amazing musicians he’s met on campus are the rule, not the exception: Yuan described the musician community on campus as “cracked and humble.” Instead of competition between bands, Yuan sees camaraderie; groups show up for each other’s performances and sub in when needed.
As for the future, after graduation Yuan has his sights set on New York City — the goal is “to just keep music going” and pursue music full time, he said. While not having stability is a little scary, going for a more traditional job right after graduating “was never really who [he] was.”
“Hopefully, I’ll make people proud, and I’ll make myself proud,” Yuan said.