Post-The Sam Willows, you’ve done a couple of collaborations. Which ones were your favourites to work on and why?

The most fun I had was this one I did with a Filipino artist, Bea Lorenzo, a duet called Good For A Time. We made it during the pandemic and had to figure out musically how to make the song make sense from an arrangement and vibe point of view. We were doing a lot of Zoom, trying to figure out how to jam with the latency. Then we did a very fun marketing series across countries where we shot the music video with two separate teams to make it look like one video that was like a love story. We also did a little bit of vlogging for marketing, took each other around our hometowns, and FaceTimed while having a camera crew. We finally met after the pandemic and promoted the song in the Philippines and Singapore. It was really fun establishing the connection and collaboration during the pandemic and then coming out and meeting for the first time.

You’re very active on social media and I particularly love your one-man choir reels. How much time and work goes into making one?

It takes a long time. That’s why I haven’t done one in a while because it took me so long. But I’ve gotten it down to a science. The first time I did it, it was one day of production and one day of filming. Now I think I’ve got it down to maybe like two or three hours, which is, yeah, chop, chop, chop. I don’t really do it much anymore because it takes up too much brain space. But thank you! It was really fun to do. It was just me, you know, going at full maximum and having fun.

If there was ever one in the pipeline someday, how would you imagine a The Sam Willows reunion performance?

I would imagine we’d all be older and wiser. It would be nice. I think we would just envision a life of having our kids come around for the barbecue, we sit around and jam, and then maybe do a little acoustic session. We’re all in a very good place individually, living separate lives, but we still meet up and we try to connect. I got to see Jon when I was in Kuala Lumpur recently because he lives there now with his wife, and I see the girls in Singapore for events and stuff like that. It’ll be fun to do a concert or a little reunion tour one day. We’ll see.

How would you best describe your style as a solo artist?

A magic eight ball. I feel like I’m always jumping around based on what I feel is best for me at the time. I used to think that I was distracted, but I realise now that I really do love many different genres, music styles, and passions that are beyond music. Maybe I’m just not good at any one of them, but it’s just the joy of being able to do a bunch of stuff that I love, not necessarily very well, that’s been the fun of it. A bit rojak, I would say.

You have an album dropping. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

It's a really fun album. I'm so excited! I decided to go super honest this year without being too conscious of my image or style because I feel like I did that with my EP. This one is called Gloomy Boogie because I love a good boogie. I love dancing with friends and having a good time, but I also get my feelings as an artist. I was like, this is a beautiful dichotomy to people. Everyone can be an extrovert and an introvert, and most of us in this industry are, right? We have to turn it on and be social and, you know, be camera-facing. But at times, we just want to hole up with a blanket and a teh tarik and just watch trashy reality TV shows. So I think it was celebrating the two parts of me. There's tension in every song. I wanted to explore that tension as a human being, the yin and yang, and to embrace it and not feel like I can only be one thing.

How long have you been working on it?

I guess, like a good musician, I rushed a lot of things, but also a lot of the songs have been written for some time. There’s a song in there called Robbed, one of my favourites that has been in the oven for like three or four years now. I just couldn’t figure out how to make it sound like part of the album or how it should come out. Then, at one point, I just stopped overthinking it. It’s one of those songs that, if you listen to it in full, it jumps around quite a bit unexpectedly. There are also songs in there that took two hours to write. That’s the joy. It’s like, you never know with songwriting and with your feelings, what’s gonna hit, what’s gonna take a while. Yeah, it’s fun.

Are there any Malaysian artists that you might collaborate with someday?

Yeah, I would really… I don’t know why I don’t do that more! There are so many artists out there that I’m such a big fan of. I got to meet Liesl-Mae, I think she’s great and a really powerful artist. I’ve always been a big fan of NYK and SonaOne, obviously having worked with him before. There are so many good artists coming up as well that I would love to collaborate with.

As an entertainer, is there anything that you haven’t accomplished and if so, why do you want to do it?

That’s the big one. I’m intrigued by the industry and world of filmmaking. I have a little company that… when I’m a bit free and more available, we like to do a little production, sometimes for clients and agencies, or on our own for comedy sketches and stuff. It’s just an itch that I want to scratch in terms of writing for series and narratives, possibly directing as well, because I feel like that has a lot of similarities with music and storytelling. I’m not particularly good at it right now, but I love it a lot, and I think that’s a good place to be.

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