We Talk Music

There’s something about singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata that destroys you. It might be that smooth voice that glides over your bones for a chilling effect, or her fingers gently tapping on the piano with such poise and the intricacy and thoughtfulness you can hear in each note that resounds. Or maybe it’s the wonderful combination of the two, and the distinctive feeling of intimacy that her music brings you.

www.rachaelyamagata.com
www.snakeweedsessions.tumblr.com

Local singer-songwriter Inch Chua is perhaps better known as the voice of Allura. But now that she’s made waves on her own, there’s no stopping Inch as she proves her point and conquers the world.

Here’s the interview with Inch:

Tell us something about the first song you played, ‘Have It Your Way’. What was going through your mind as you were writing it?

It was actually a pretty childish thought (laughs). The whole song started with me wanting to take my bike license. But I wasn’t allowed! So I was really, really upset. But at the end of the day, I sort of surrendered. and it came to a point where I said, You know what? At some point it’s not going to be my will at all. It’s probably some higher calling. And everything else pretty much followed through. It’s about surrendering everything that I have.

What about the second song that you played, ‘Hurt’? Is there something you’d like to share about it?  

‘Hurt’ was really one of those songs you’d write in a minute or two. It started with me feeling recently that I’ve sort of lost one of my best friends. ‘Hurt’ is my daydream of reconciliation. It’s was really difficult, because this friend of mine and I have been friends for the longest time, and this isn’t our first fight or anything like that, but I think the friendship sort of came to a point of conclusion. So I guess this was like the funeral song for our friendship. It’s a bit of a sad song.

Was it a conscious decision to go into a more solitary writing process?

I guess I’d say that it was a semi-conscious decision. I generally love and enjoy writing. I’ve never really written for a particular reason other than the fact that I find it as a cathartic process, so everything else was a sort of natural progression to where it is.

With regards to that, were you writing separately while you were still with your previous band?

Yeah, generally when it came to Allura’s stuff or for group situations, I prefer to write with and around them when it comes to the lyrics, so that everyone agrees with it, and to add any other contributions to it and stuff like that. But when it came to my own personal things, it was literally like a page from my diary. It’s more personal in that sense, which is great - I wouldn’t mind sharing or working on it with other people, but maybe at that point it’s a bit more self-indulgent…(laughs)

What would you say is the main difference between writing by yourself and writing with a group of people?

It’s a big difference, I guess. It gets a little lonely writing by yourself sometimes (laughs). I mean, I really enjoyed writing by myself initially, but at some point, you kinda feel like you miss the interaction with other people and how I like to bounce of ideas. But the downside of working with a group sometimes is that you can get a lot of conflicting directions, and sometimes it gets a bit confusing as well. So… there’s a lot of pros and cons to it, and I definitely like doing both, but I would probably get bored if I stick to just one for too long.

A couple of Singaporean bands have gone overseas to play for festivals, with you included as well. Do you see this as a sign that the scene here is improving?

 Yeah, I get really happy when a lot of local bands get to go out and try to do as much as they can, because I think that although Singapore’s great, it sometimes feel that we need to prove ourselves to people here. It gets very difficult to a point where it seems easier to receive acceptance from somewhere else than here. And I think in general that it sort of seems in Singapore we’re wound up in this little box where we don’t really know what goes beyond our own waters, so it’s great that bands get to go out, experience it, and I definitely feel it really does show that I think in general the musicians here are maturing into that stage - which is a good thing.

What do you think is a lesson that you’ve learnt from playing overseas to a different crowd?

Wow, there’s so many things I’ve learnt from going overseas! I’ve realized what a gigging culture really is, as in the full extent of it - what it means to play in a show, what it means to go out and lug your stuff and what it really means to get a response from the audience as well. And it’s really interesting because one of the things that I’ve learnt is that it isn’t that far of a shot for us, really. Like, in terms of creativity, in terms of how innovative we are as musicians - we’re just on the same level as a lot of other musicians overseas. It’s kinda interesting because it demystified a lot of my thoughts and preconceptions that I had before I went overseas - like, probably international standards were here (hand up high), and I am, like, here (hand held low), but it didn’t seem that way after awhile. So it was kinda interesting to be able to finally get a realistic view on how the global stage really is. And yeah, Singaporeans have a chance. A good chance.

How has a strong presence on YouTube helped you share your music with people?

I think YouTube’s a really good platform. At the same time, a lot of musicians have been fully utilizing it and I think it’s one of the platforms that all musicians can use. I mean back in the past, we all had to send out demos and stuff like that, but now it’s as easy as giving out a YouTube url. And I think YouTube’s really good, but there’s a lot of problems with it as well - you can get very dependent on the YouTube channel, which is what I kinda feel. It should work hand-in-hand. YouTube should help you in what you do by creating that extra platform and presence online, and at the same time you should continue to do as much live shows as you can to sort of have this whole ‘cycle of life’.

Would you say that your album ‘Wallflower’ was the personal soundtrack of you struggling and growing into who you wanted to be?

I guess so. I wrote ‘Wallflower’ very recently, in fact, about a year ago. I guess I would say I was a ‘problem kid’, so growing up wasn’t easy. I was just reflecting on how it was. Looking back, my outlook seems relatively postive, and I kinda like the way I’ve turned out. I didn’t do too bad. My momma taught me good.

Thank you for being with us, Inch!

Thank you!

www.inchchua.com
www.snakeweedsessions.tumblr.com