How Aldrich Turned His Passion for Music into a Full-Stack App That Helps Musicians Thrive
Sigma School
17th June 2025
Before Aldrich became a developer, he was a passionate musician deeply embedded in the Klang Valley’s indie scene. Like many artists, he juggled between making music and finding accessible, affordable spaces to rehearse or perform. His journey into software development started with a simple desire: to empower fellow musicians with better tools.
With no formal tech background, Aldrich joined Sigma School to transform that desire into a fully functional digital product. What started as a personal itch soon became a capstone project with the potential to help thousands of musicians across Southeast Asia.
While chatting with musician friends, Aldrich noticed a recurring issue, booking a music space is frustratingly manual. Musicians often relied on word-of-mouth, Instagram DMs, or Facebook posts to find rehearsal studios. There was no centralized, modern solution for finding and reserving spaces, let alone booking instruments or handling payments.
Inspiration struck when Aldrich looked at similar apps in Tokyo and Hong Kong, where musicians could browse available rooms, view layouts, and book instantly through a mobile app. He realized: Klang Valley needed its own version—an app built by someone who understands the rhythm of the industry.
To bring Melkro's to life, Aldrich used a modern full-stack architecture:
Users can log in as either musicians, space providers, or admins—each with their own dashboard and functionality. Musicians can book rooms, choose instruments, and make payments, while providers manage listings and availability.
The journey wasn’t easy. Aldrich ran into multiple challenges—starting with his old, broken computer that nearly derailed development.
But the bigger hurdle? Learning an entirely new UI framework from scratch. “Understanding how each component interacts and renders took me weeks,” Aldrich shared. Debugging state management issues and learning how to implement dynamic booking features tested both his patience and perseverance.
When he hit a wall implementing date pickers and preventing overlapping bookings, he didn’t give up. He broke down the logic, wrote cleaner database queries, and planned future enhancements like slot conflict detection and Google Maps API integration for precise studio locations.
With Melkro's, Aldrich didn’t just complete a capstone project—he built a working solution that fills a real gap in the local music ecosystem.
“Being both a musician and a developer gave me the empathy to build something truly useful,” he says. While the app isn’t live for public use yet, the foundation is strong, and Aldrich hopes to continue developing it after graduation.
At Sigma School, Aldrich found more than just technical skills—he found a platform to channel his artistic soul into something functional, impactful, and scalable.