FOR MANY creators, YouTube is not only a platform to feel inspired, but it is also a playground to experiment new ideas virtually barrier-free.
More importantly, it is a place that lets you share your passion with a community that cares – in this case, creators with a musical flair – who are free to work for their dreams on their terms, including many Malaysian homegrown acts.
Takahara Suiko, Eb Duet, Jess Wy, and Shaddy Factory are four such local acts who got to show off their talent on the platform. The four spoke about their journey during a recent private Generation YouTube showcase.
Lui Wan Yen aka Jess WY
Pianist and singer Lui Wan Yen, whose over 9,800 subscribers on her channel know her as Jess Wy, was noticed by Jay Chou when she performed a cover of the Taiwanese singer’s Waiting For You.
The King of Mandopop shared her video in January this year on his Facebook page, approving of her take on the Mandarin track, and propelling her voice to greater visibility.
“This is definitely a highlight of my whole journey with YouTube,” said Lui at the event after her rendition of Maroon 5’s Sunday Morning.
It was just another ordinary day of editing on her computer, when the singer who does covers in her own jazzy arrangement got a phone call from a friend telling her of the exciting news.
“Is it Jay Chou? How can it be possible?” Lui recalled. A quick check on the page in question later, and her initial disbelief evaporated.
“I was literally jumping and screaming around. I woke my mum up. She was taking a nap. She thought we had a snake in the house or something,” the soft-spoken singer explained with a laugh.
“I was very excited. It’s hard to describe the feeling. I’m very grateful that he shared my video.”
Eb Duet
Comprising duo Eve Wong and Billy Ho, Eb Duet performed its most viewed video on the platform, a cover of P. Ramlee’s Getaran Jiwa, which has garnered 1,279,000 views to date.
But according to the band, its cover of the classic song was an “accident,” after intending to only record its take on Michael Jackson’s Black or White, its second most viewed video on YouTube.
The band had time to spare, and everything from the lighting to audio all set up, and so went on to record its most popular video.
“The video we planned ... didn’t do as well as the [song], which is Getaran Jiwa.”
With a love of jazz bonding their musical relationship, the two realised that the mainstream Malaysian music scene involved little of the genre, and decided on YouTube to cast their metaphoric music nets wider.
Wong said: “A lot of people like pop songs and upbeat numbers, and the songs that they’re familiar with. Jazz is mostly not the first choice.
“We really feel that that emotion of oldies and jazz, so we really want to do this more, but then it’s difficult to get the market,” adding that the platform exposes them to like-minded global brands and audiences.
“Even our albums sales is helped a lot from other countries. We don’t do any promotion stuff.”
Shaddy Factory
Meanwhile, the man behind this YouTube channel, who is better known as Shaddy Danny, has raked over 248,159 views with the first official single released on his channel Macam-Macam Malaysia.
The Tamil music singer/songwriter’s next music video on the platform Ex Kadhali 2.0 went on to amass a whopping 6,033,429 views and 38,000 likes, owing to his massive fanbase largely out of Malaysia.
“Through YouTube, we can see how many people from overseas are watching our videos,” according to the local rapper, adding that Malaysian viewers make up about 40%.
“[The rest] are from India, and other countries like Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Australia. Even Saudi Arabia.”
Producing his own music since he was 15 years old, the positive response of his music on the video-sharing site meant that he could continue doing what he loved while keeping costs to a minimum, and at the same time share his music with diverse nationalities.
“It’s quite nice. Syiok, you know,” he said about getting recognised out on the streets. But it’s recognition of his music that drives his craft like during Deepavali this year when he released Bearded Macha with Resh Wagen.
“After that song got released, people [could] sing along with us, on that day, so during Deepavali night. It was great encouragement for us, and we’re still going on.”
Takahara Suiko
You might know Takahara for her quirky style of music, underscored by original lyrics and distinctive covers with a digital twist.
You probably also know, then, that the musician who also fronts the alternative indie band The Venopian Solitude, prefers to keep her real identity under wraps.
The self-taught local act started her YouTube channel as a means of archiving her music, and escaping worry from assignments when she was a student in Japan.
From taking “two hours to write a song from scratch to uploading on YouTube,” in her earlier foray of the site, she has been dabbling in more aspects of music-making.
She was soon signed with Kasi Gegar Entertainment to produce The Venopian Solitude’s first album, Hikayat Perawan Majnun, after returning in 2013. “They said hey, do you want to produce an album with us? I’m like, sure why not, if you’re paying.
“So I signed with them for three years, and that’s how I have the band, The Venopian Solitude.”
Takahara’s musical performance is always done with great ardour, evident also in her most viewed video (Ofisial) Tenangkan Bontot Anda.
“I’ve delved in production as well, so instead of taking two hours, now it takes like two years to write a song, so it gets worse,” she laughed.
“I’m working with my band now to produce our second album. Hopefully, next year we’ll get to release it,” adding that a national and European tour is also slated for 2019.
