Yuna has to be one of the busiest artistes on the block – with a local career and an impending US breakthrough to think about.
LATE last week, the American pop culture magazine Fader splashed an online feature of singer-songwriter Yuna hanging out at the Lincoln Center for a few New York Fashion Week shows. Decked in a leopard-print blouse (with socks to match), a black leather jacket and sporting an Alexander Wang bag, Yuna was your typical seasoned fashionista. She looked very much at home in New York as she would be in her neighbourhood of Subang Jaya in Selangor.
This duality to Yuna's career has been most intriguing. She is a local indie pop star while her international profile is steadily building with a recording deal secured in the United States.
This young woman, who is already an established name in the local music scene, seems to be enjoying the jet-setting life as she is currently back in the Big Apple to finalise plans for her upcoming US album release (March 27) and tour of the United States in April.
Last week, Yuna performed at a showcase, hosted by superstar rapper and producer Pharrell Williams, in Brooklyn for a select US audience, which also doubled as a listening party for her self-titled upcoming album in the US.
Before we dive further into Yuna's music adventures at home and abroad, let's take a look at her unique and evolving fashion sense.
In fact, this 26-year-old is known for her fashion as much as for her music. Even with her headgear, she takes a fashion-forward stance.
The petite singer, whose real name is Yunalis Zarai, is indeed a style icon of sorts.
Though she is all covered up from head to toe, her fashion sense has made her most appealing.
Her use of loud colours is another sign of her confidence and personal attitude.
"As far as style is concerned, I guess I prefer to keep it simple. Fashion shouldn't be over-the-top or to wear something to get attention. I really like simplicity and people who just wear printed tops and brightly coloured, tapered pants. Loud but not too much," said the singer, who co-owns a unisex clothes boutique, IAMJETFUL, selling headgear that she designs, fashionable apparel and other hipster accessories in Subang Jaya. The boutique opened three years ago.
In an interview in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month, Yuna confessed her fashion icons have always been singer Gwen Stefani and celebrity stylist-turned-designer Rachel Zoe.
"I think they have an amazing sense of style while my favourite designers are Alexander Wang and YSL," she added. As an enterprising young person, Yuna is likely to go far with her diverse career. She can market CDs, ringtones and sell-out gigs as well as inspire one's dress sense.
"You can get all the colourful, stylish and unique scarves that I wear from the shop. I already have my tudung line, actually. It's called Jetcircle Scarves and its one of the best-sellers at my boutique. The shop is run by my cousin. In fact, we are hiring more people now.
"We had a rough couple of years, initially, with the sales and everything, but it is all coming together now. We have some exciting clothes and scarves. I am really happy with the products. We have a lot of orders from overseas as well. Hopefully, it will grow into something bigger."
The big picture
Outside fashion, Yuna can already fall back on a music career that has seen her growing from strength to strength since her eponymous EP was released in 2008.
Many still regard her as a YouTube sensation after her song Dan Sebenarnya became an overnight hit in 2008. The rest, as they say, is history. Yuna paved the way for aspiring local female singers, even if it may sometimes seem like there have been a slew of copycat singers.
"For me, every artiste has their own identity. Perhaps may may think it is the same but it depends on how the fans conceive it," said this independent singer-songwriter, who began writing her own songs at 14, and made her first public performance with her own songs at 19.
Through the MySpace network, Yuna started getting attention in 2006. She chose a solo career path and counts the likes of Feist, The Cardigans and Sia as formative influences.
"My favourite era is the 1990s when it comes to music. I also like Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Portishead, Nirvana, The Cranberries, and stuff like that. I guess the songs were really simple and catchy. You listen to them and you just feel 'wow.' They're easy to relate to. The music these days is derivative and overproduced," said the singer who is excited about a newcomer American band called Wye Oak and Feist's new album.
Barely two years ago, Yuna was discovered in the United States by the Indie Pop record label and management company. They flew out to Malaysia last year to convince her to sign with them and then proceeded to get her a deal with the Fader imprint, a record label based in New York, in February last year.
She released her US debut, the Decorate EP, in March last year – it was a digital release.
So, how does she handle her career in Malaysia and the huge demands of breaking into the US market?
"Fingers-crossed, both my music careers in Malaysia and the United States go as well as planned. I managed to balance it both for the past two years. It is hectic and tiring for me as I have to travel back and forth but I take it as a challenge to move forward and to be successful – not only in Malaysia but also in the US. So far, so good," said the Alor Setar-born singer who has a law degree from Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam, Selangor.
Just how does this career work? She has her own Yuna Room Records imprint here while Fader is the label to give her the support to launch into the US music scene.
"Most people get confuse on this actually. I am signed to the recording label, FADER, which is based in New York but I will spend most of my time in Los Angeles as my management label is based there. I've already released my US debut EP, Decorate, last March under the Fader label in the United States and I will launch my US/Europe album release next month and will go on tour in the United States in April."
As reported, Pharrell Williams produced many of the US album's key tracks, including the new single Live Your Life. The album will also feature her single Decorate alongside an acoustic version of Nirvana'sCome As You Are.
According to Yuna, her live experiences in the US have also been eventful, especially her first big break at the South By South West (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas in 2010. Last year, she toured with soul singer Raphael Saadiq as his opening act. With Saadiq, she played dates in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore, not to forget various radio sessions and club gigs.
"The experiences, both local and in the United States have proved to be very fulfilling. I wouldn't say that I already know the US angle. I just started out there. My career there is good and I just hope it gets better. It's actually like in Malaysia. For example the interviews, photo shoots, etc.
"It's just the amount of work that I have to get done. So far everything is fine for me," said the singer, who has collected countless local awards, including Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) and Anugerah Juara Lagu recognition.
All the accolades and recognition have not changed her, she said. Even with a deluge of endorsement deals from several branded products (namely skin care, electronic gadgets and cameras), Yuna remains as grounded as ever.
Yuna said she is not afraid of being over-exposed despite the endorsement overkill.
"I don't think I am over-exposed as my management and I are really selective in what we choose. For now, I am only the spokesperson for Libresse, Canon and Olay. The rest (like Maxis), I'm just working closely with them as I've written songs for them. For me, choosing a good brand is not a problem and I don't equate that with being over-exposed. I choose brands that are related to my daily life. For example, since I love photography, I was happy when Canon wanted to have me as their spokesperson.
"It's weird to say that I'm over-exposed as most people feel I'm too quiet in the print media," said Yuna, who also won the AIM Kembara Award last year for outstanding achievement in such a short time.
The career track
Looking back, Yuna said she feels very blessed by all the fame that has come her way, especially when she recalls her "humble beginnings."
It's almost like yesterday, when she played at a preview party for the Sunburst Festival in KL in 2008. She was part of the evening's entertainment. At the party, she got noticed by R&B star John Legend and that was something that Yuna will never forget.
"Of course, I can never forget how it all started. But I think maybe at that time, it was destined not to be my rezeki (luck). So I started out slowly, to breakthrough into the market by myself until my management label, Indie Pop discovered me two years ago," said Yuna.
On the local front, the biggest honour for Yuna was getting recognised by the AIM awards – for a newcomer, she won four awards at AIM 17 in 2010.
"My first year and I got nominated for AIM, which is the Malaysian 'Grammys.' To me, that's really something ... I won the Song of the Year award (Dan Sebenarnya) in 2010. It was so crazy! It was nice to know that people appreciate what I do. Believe it or not, it was a long journey for me as I started my career from scratch. When I look back, I am speechless but I am very happy with what I have accomplished. It is a wonderful journey for me.
"If you ask me, can I sustain the momentum? That, I really can't say, but God willing, I will work harder and hopefully, I will go further than where people see me now," said Yuna, who released her second Malaysian album Terukir Di Bintang last month.
Her local following is a strong one – with sold out shows, over a million fans on Facebook and the recent phenomenon of local deejays remixing her songs.
Definitely, she has the home support. As a domestic release, Terukir Di Bintang is also Yuna's new single, which she wrote and recorded in Malaysia.
"My new album here, Terukir Di Bintang, features eight songs. Some of them are from the Decorate EP and the rest are the ones that I produced when I was in Malaysia. I am very happy with this album as it is different from what I've produced before (the Decorate debut album in 2010). Obviously, it is a new challenge for me because I will soon find out if my fans can accept the new songs," said Yuna.
Produced mostly by AG Coco (of Hujan fame), Terukir Di Bintang is frontloaded by five locally recorded tracks. The opener, Sparkle, is the only track written and produced by Nor Hanafi (Estranged guitarist) while Yuna herself handles the production of Someone Out Of Town, released in the United States last year. Two other tracks – Coffee and Fears & Frustrations (both produced by Colin Wolfe) are also tacked onto this album.
The album is released by Yuna Room Records and distributed by FMC.
On March 10, the singer-songwriter takes part of the Imagine – A Soundtrack To Peace concert at the Mosaic Festival in Singapore, playing alongside regional names (Ramli Sarip, Art Fazil) and international acts (Stacey Kent, Russian Red).
Beyond the music
When Yuna says she has not changed much despite being a cover star and media darling, she really means it. Deep down, she is still the same ol' Yuna, being backed by her old line-up, which consists of Pa'an on guitars, Syafiq on second guitars, bassist Efry, drummer Adil and Adam on keyboards.
They also appear on her new album Terukir Di Bintang, and have played numerous high profile shows for her in Kuala Lumpur, including two sold out nights at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas last September. This long-term friendship has kept Yuna in touch with her roots. She also has strong connections with both the Malay and "indie" side of the music scene here.
And yes, Yuna confessed she is still a bit old fashioned when it comes to writing her songs.
"I would say I am a flexible (creative) person. I use the guitar, the piano, whatever means to write down my jottings. It could be anywhere ... in my room, in a car, in a recording studio or anywhere. I just write a song when I feel I can write one. It depends on a song, as sometimes it takes longer. Like it took me seven months to write Gadis Semasa but I only needed five minutes to write Rocket," she said of the two highlights from her Decorate album.
What Yuna has done is also to change the way Malaysians view music. Her music has been a sort of galvanising force in uniting the people because it attracts a multi-racial fan-base.
"My music is for all Malaysians out there – no matter what colour, hopefully they all can accept my music," said the down-to-earth singer.
Elsewhere, Yuna has also moved into nurturing local talent. She has signed Diandra Arjunaidi under her management company, Yuna Room Records. The 18-year-old Diandra is the granddaughter of movie legends - film director Datuk Jamil Sulong and Datin Rosnani Jamil.
"I chose Diandra because I can see her great talent at such a young age. She's dilligent and focused on what she wants. Diandra writes all her songs and she really reminds me of myself when I first started singing," said Yuna. Diandra's debut album consists of seven songs, out of which one is a Malay number, Angkasa, while the rest are English songs.
As for her romance with celebrity Qushairi Razali or Qi (Blogger Boyactor and former OAG drummer), Yuna is quick to quip: "We are doing fine. So far so good. We understand each other's careers because he is actually busier than me. So we take it slowly and we just try our best to keep up with each other's schedule. Just hope for the best!"
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