With
more than 150 songs under his belt and multiple award wins, including
the Malaysia Outstanding Artist Award at the recent Global Chinese Music Awards (全球華語歌曲排行榜) 2012 held in Singapore, Wu Jiahui (伍家辉) is arguably Malaysia’s fastest-rising
singer-songwriter.
He
has written songs for some top artistes such as Jacky Cheung 張學友
(Black and White 黑白畫映), Stefanie Sun 孫燕姿
(Wish you happiness 祝你開心), Leon Lai 黎明
(Man with Love 有情郎) and Jerry Yan 言承旭
(One metre一公尺), and sang the hit song “One-Half” from movie “881”
original soundtrack that sold more than 13,000 copies in Singapore.
Jiahui
first started as a songwriter writing for other singers, but eventually became
a full-fledged recording artist and performer, singing his own material.
However, it’s still songwriting, as Jiahui admits, that gives him the kicks.
“I
definitely prefer being a songwriter, because I started out behind the scenes.
But today, being a singer and a producer allows me to exert more influence and
control over the music. Although being a singer definitely brings in more
revenue from performances as compared to the efforts put in as a producer or
songwriter, ultimately it’s still songwriting and producing that brings me the
greatest satisfaction.”
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| Multiple award winning Malaysian singer-songwriter, Wu Jiahui |
“When
I first started, I already felt contented just merely by sharing my music
through songwriting. Later when I took part in a songwriting competition, I was
discovered by a publisher, and was later signed as an artist by renowned
Singaporean musician Eric Ng (Funkie Monkies Production). Actually, I feel that
as long as I am able to sing for one more day, I would grasp that
opportunity and continue to make the music I love and share it with
others, because music is my dream and an indelible part of my life.”
We understand that you did not renew your
contract with Funkie Monkies (FM) Productions and decided to become
independent. Could you share why you made this decision? How different is it
having your own label?
Actually,
I’m very thankful and grateful to FM Productions for grooming me all this time.
My decision to set up my own company was because both the label and I share the
same consensus that it’s time for me to step out on my own. I’ve been signed to
FM since 2006, and during all these years we’ve experienced so much together,
and have built a lot of camaraderie. Our relationship is not just simply that
of a label and its artiste, it’s more like a family, and now the parents are
very happy to see their child take flight.
The
new label starts out with signing myself. It’s called “Dreammy Studio”(吾梦工作室), which means finding one’s dreams. Currently there’s a
manager running it for the moment, but later, when the time is right, we will
slowly expand or work with other companies who are interested.
The
difference between having my own label and being signed to a bigger label is
that having my own label gives me a lot more freedom and control to exercise my
thoughts and opinions, while a bigger label would have more financial and human
resources.
What's the music industry in Malaysia like?
Are there more opportunities as compared to Singapore, Taiwan and China? Where
does the majority of your fan base come from? Is the media more supportive in
your home country?
There
are several segments in the music industry in Malaysia. There’s Malay music,
English music and Chinese music, and within the Chinese music market, it’s
split between local and overseas Chinese music. Actually I feel that the level
of opportunities is equal everywhere, it’s all a matter of how you target the
market and where you stand. Basically, my fans come from Mainland China,
Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, and I’m thankful that the media here supports
me very much.
How many performances do you do typically in a
month? Are they mostly in Malaysia or overseas? Now that you have won the Most
Outstanding Artiste Award (Malaysia) in the Global Chinese Music Awards, do you see anything changing for you?
On
average, I do about three to four performances in a month, out of which usually
one is from overseas (but it depends on the market, sometimes we could have
more requests towards the end of the year, all at the same time). I feel that
winning the award is just a form of recognition, and perhaps a platform for
more friends to know me, and maybe because of that there are more performance
requests.
Other than the Most Outstanding Artiste Award
(Malaysia), your song <我們怎麼LOVE> has also been
awarded as one of the Top 20 Songs. What do these two awards mean to you?
I’m
very happy because I never thought that <我們怎麼LOVE>
would win an award, because when I was writing it, I didn’t have too many
considerations or further thoughts, I was simply just writing what I had wanted
to express and record down my feelings at that moment. So now it’s really great
that the song had won.
What do you think of the future of the Chinese
music industry in Malaysia and in Asia would be like?
Malaysia’s
music industry has been creating waves and is now on a surge. In the Chinese
music industry in general, Malaysian artistes make up a considerable number;
and now, as long as we stay united and work hard together, we can definitely
achieve even greater success and reach higher levels. I hope that all musicians
will put in their very best and their upmost sincerity in every song and every
musical note, to move and to encourage more and more people out there.
After note
In
the midst of arranging this interview, another of Jiahui's works, 《灰》,
has won Best Television/ Movie Soundtrack at the PWH Music Awards 2012. 《灰》，together with another recent work, 《香火》,
written for a TV serial by Malaysia’s NTV7 of the same name, are nominated Best
Theme Song in the upcoming Asian Television Awards 2012.
Certainly
a wave-maker himself.
