To be able to sing in multiple languages is a great accomplishment. But being able to touch the hearts of those listening while doing so? That is a feat that only a special few are capable of pulling off. 

When one is thinking of artists who belong to this category, one of the names that will come to mind is none other than Shila Amzah. Hailing from Malaysia, the singer-songwriter is someone you would be familiar with whether you are into Malay tunes, covers of English favourites, or Mandarin ballads. 

During her recent stop in Singapore to promote her concert at the Capitol Theatre on 3 June, the 32-year-old showcased her gift by treating Bandwagon to short covers of her favourite Mandarin, English, and Malay songs.

Despite the brevity of her renditions of JJ Lin's '記得', Miley Cyrus' 'The Climb', and Sheila Majid's 'Sinaran', they were filled with so much emotion that it would have been easy to mistake the tracks as Shila's own.

"Some people may think that music is universal, but I figured that my singing style will be different when I sing in different languages, " shared Shila, who has — in addition to picking up accolades at the 19th Malaysian Music Awards and the 20th Malaysian Music Awards — won the 2012 edition of the Chinese reality singing competition Asian Wave and participated in the second season of I Am A Singer (我是歌手).

She elaborated: "For instance, even the tone of my voice changes. I think you can hear that when I sing in Mandarin, English, and Malay."

In an interview with Bandwagon, Shila talked about her ongoing Journey to The Future tour, connecting with people through different languages, and being a mother. 

Hi, Shila! How’s touring been so far? What are some songs that you have to listen to whenever you’re on the road?

Oh, it has been great actually. So our tour started off in Kuala Lumpur — it was on 4 March — and it was my very first concert that was more focused on the Malay market after my debut in the Mandopop scene. And to be able to sing perhaps 70 percent Malay songs — being Malay myself — in my very own concert, [that] felt amazing. 

I'm also really looking forward to my upcoming concert in Singapore, which is going to be on 3 June. And the reason why is [that] I did a New Year's show recently in Singapore and the fans were amazing and I had a blast performing [there]. So I'm really looking forward to what's going to happen on 3 June.

I think listening to Harry Styles always keeps my mood happy and [keeps me] really outgoing these days. So I would say Harry Styles is the [artist] I listen to the most these days.

Take us back to the very beginning. When did you realise that you had a gift for singing?

Well, it was not me solely. [I also realised it because of] my dad because he was a singer. I was told by my dad that I had mimicked some advertisement songs from TV since I was two. He noticed that I had a very good tone and that I could memorise melodies quite well. I first sang in [a] studio officially was [when] I interrupted my dad's studio session when I was four or five years old. It was really early back then, but I started singing officially when I was 10. So it has been 23 years. 

When you were growing up, who were some musicians that you looked up to? 

I grew up with all of the 90s music. We have the boy band era — Backstreet Boys, [and] NSYNC. [We also have] Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, of course, and Michael Jackson. And I would also listen to lots of Queen and The Jackson Five growing up and Mariah Carey. 

My biggest Asian inspirations, of course, would be Wang Leehom and Lin Junjie (JJ Lin). For female artists, I would say A-mei and Sun Yanzi (Stefanie Sun).

You’re an artist who’s able to express herself in multiple languages. What is it like to be able to connect with listeners of different tongues through your music? 

Some people may think that music is universal, but I figured that my singing style will be different when I sing in different languages. For instance, even the tone of my voice changes. I think you can hear that when I sing in Mandarin, English, and Malay. So of course, it feels really good. And for someone who loves languages, to be able to connect in such beautiful languages, like Mandarin or even Tagalog, [that's] such an amazing thing to do. And I felt like someone shouldn't just limit themselves [when it comes to] languages and should just explore more. I would love to explore more in the near future if I have the opportunity to do so.

What languages and genres are you hoping to take on next?

Well, I would love to take on Tamil and Korean and perhaps one more, either French or Spanish. These are the three languages I would love to take on once I have the opportunity to do so. Obviously, I would have to do [them] one by one, but yeah, that's that.

Let’s talk about your Journey to The Future tour. How will your performances in this tour differ from what you have done before? 

Well, for the song list, I would say it will [have] more Mandarin songs here (Singapore) than in the Malaysia concert because it was more Malay mass market-focused. So here, we will be having Mandarin [songs] and the songs that I sang before on I Am a Singer (我是歌手) — all of the songs. In addition, [there will be] a lot of new songs that I have never sung before — covers and originals. 

[There will be] lots of dancey numbers as well, obviously, because people always perceive me as someone who sings ballads. I'm actually more of a dancey, rock-ish girl in real life than the Shila that you usually see on TV, so I would like to really [bring] the real-life Shila and the Shila Amzah on stage together and start living that way. I mean pushing myself more in that direction instead of separating them. 

This tour will be your first one since you became a mother in 2019. What has it been like juggling your responsibilities as a new parent and your music career?

The wonderful thing about being a mother is being able to share this absolutely different world with my son. But at the same time, him being so young, he can't really understand what the big deal about it is yet. He was there at my concert but he didn't even realise I was his mother until I was literally next to him. I walked past him and I was all dressed up, not like the mommy that he knows at home, [and he went,] 'Mommy?' I was like, 'Yeah. It's me.'

It's such a beautiful thing, but the biggest con of being a singer — to be as busy as I am and be a mother at the same time — is [that] sometimes I have to go out to work when he's still asleep and come back home when he's already asleep. Yeah, that's the worst thing about it. I would say juggling between the two has not been easy but I am still trying my very best.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Shila Amzah (@shahilaamzah)

Besides being a music artist, you’re also a social media personality. What kinds of content do you enjoy sharing with your followers?

[Having been] in the scene for 23 years, I really do hope and want to change the stigma of people wanting and expecting a public figure or a celebrity or a musician to look perfect all the time. And on my social media [pages], all my followers will know how open I am with my struggles. There are days when I can give my 100 percent. There are days when I can give my 30 percent. You know, my mental health, my social capacity, and those sorts of things. I think it's really important to get this message out to the public so that they do not have a certain expectation of us to be perfect, but still enjoy listening to our music as time goes by. Beautiful music can be made [despite] all the flaws that one might have.

@shilaamzahofficial Why you do this to me joji? Especially today wae yo ?!!! #fy #joji #sad ♬ Glimpse of Us - Joji

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Tickets to Shila Amzah's Journey to The Future concert in Singapore on 3 June are available for purchase via All Access Asia.