Underground gem

EXPRESSING herself through her own brand of artistry is local singer-songwriter Victoria Yam, known professionally as Viktoria.
The almost hypnotic quality of her music, coupled with her trademark gloomy sound can be heard on her debut EP Good Girl, Bad Habits, where she explores topics on young adult life.
The 22-year-old Chinese Malaysian-Filipina’s music might be far from the mainstream, but her craft is a testament that underground musicians are highly underrated.
Your sound can be described as moody, sultry, and slightly depressing, but in a good way. Has it always been your signature since you started making music?
“Yeah, but I’ve kinda moved out of that. I’ve been making more upbeat songs. I mean, it’s still depressing but it’s like a different interpretation of [feelings], I think, but yeah, I think I’ve grown out of that. But it’s still kind of the same concept.”
How do you feel about the way people interpret your music? (and when they brand you as ‘sad girl’?)
“I am a sad girl [laughs]. I mean, I don’t deny it. I am a sad girl, but I’m not just a sad girl. That’s just one side of me.”
When did you write your first song, and what was it about?
“I think I was 12 or 13. I was fighting with one of my best friends, and I was like, ‘hey, you know what, I’m gonna make up by writing a song’.
“It was recorded on my iPod. It’s really old [and] I don’t think I have it any more, but yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s my first song. “
Do you have any upcoming projects after Good Girl, Bad Habits?
“I’m actually working on another EP [and] I have so many songs that I want to put in the EP but I want to make sure that it’s good. I’m still working on it but that’s all I can say for now.”
How different is it going to be from the first EP?
“I think the first EP – Good Girl, Bad Habits – was mostly about my experiences with people and about relationships. So, it focused more on the people that I was in a relationship with … but then for the next EP I’m working on, it’s more about myself. It’s about self-love and growth.”
What inspired your last single, Confessions?
“Confessions is actually about somebody. It’s somebody I really admired. It was just pure infatuation and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was [frustrated] and thought, what should I do about it? So I just wrote a song.”
Like Taylor Swift but with a different vibe in the music?

“Taylor Swift, yes [laughs]. Every time I tell my sister about something that happened to me in person, and then I have a new song and then she’ll be like, ‘you’re really like Taylor Swift’!
“I always have a song after meeting somebody or dating somebody, so … every time something happens, that’s the first thing that comes to mind, which is a song.
“There was even like this one time where I had a creative block, like writer’s block, so I was like, I need somebody to break my heart [laughs], so I could release a next best single.”
Do you feel that the music scene in Malaysia is restrictive when it comes to creative and artistic freedom as a singer-songwriter?
“Yes. I mean, now it’s growing. There are more producers who are more open about what they do, but [for] unconventional producers, and singers, and artistes, they’re paid less attention to.
“Right now people tend to pay more attention to mainstream artistes, which I feel is kinda unfair cause’ I know a lot of unconventional artistes who are very hardworking as well, and they have really good music, but they’re not given the same amount of respect and admiration compared to mainstream artistes.
“I and a few friends were actually trying to establish a community of people where we want to teach people to be more open about music and art. I have a really close friend of mine, her name is Sarah Hanan [and] she does [artwork for my music]. Her art is very different. It’s very ironic, it’s very different.
“So, we kind of want people to be like more open about it, to like what we do, and from there I think when we’re able to establish that relationship with people, I feel like, then people would … understand what we do, and then it goes to another, so it kinda spreads.”