Alternate Jane, a pandemic-hardened doctor-musician from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia returns to the music scene with her latest music single "Higher Ground" after a hiatus which saw her attending to Covid-19 related duties and subsequently having to battle Covid-19 herself. Maximizing the potential of music creators' platform SoundBetter, she has enlisted the multi-instrumentalist producer Melvin Rijlaarsdam (Optoproductions) of Netherlands to bring her music to the next level. Inspired by music from James Bond films and the mystery genre, this song combines the noir theme with a romantic twist, which makes it a unique listening experience for Valentine's week.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil: Hey Alternate Jane, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What first got you into music?
Hi, great to meet you too! It's such an honoured to be invited to speak with you. I actually did get into music by chance... When I was 14, I auditioned for my school's Editorial Board but it didn't pan out. As I still had to choose a club to join, I ended up joining the school show choir as I was intrigued by the passionate and somewhat eccentric teacher training them. Prior to that, I privately experimented with singing since I was 12, when I first heard "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence on radio. It was so cool and different from the boy band stuff that was all over radio at the time, so I tried to imitate Amy Lee's vocals. But nothing gets you up to speed like joining a show choir, being thrust into the spotlight and joining competitions. I lived a "Glee (TV series)"-like life, but in my spare time I began experimenting with low key songwriting and home recording like Elliott Smith did. That was something I knew I wanted to pursue, and it stayed true until now.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
My dream producers are Patrick Wimberley (producer and member of the band Chairlift) and Butch Vig (producer and drummer for Garbage, and producer for Nirvana's Nevermind). With Patrick, I can imagine us doing something inventive that enhances my songwriting and storytelling ability. I could try to be bolder with different vocal styles and sound more distinct in the track. With Butch, I'm in awe of his magic touch of combining rock production with modern synth and electro pop music. We could do something that inspires nostalgia with a full band production, or an excellent modern pop track with guitars and hip hop elements, something that's like Garbage meeting 21st century pop.
I also dream of collaborating with fellow Asian artists and explore the Asian pop scene together. The Korean pop artist Hwasa comes to mind, as she is a very versatile singer and talented composer that I can picture collaborating in a cross-genre song together with.
Your latest song is 'Higher Ground'. Can you tell us more about the making of it and if there were any unusual things happening during the process?
"Higher Ground" is a product of my collaboration with Melvin Rijlaarsdam (Optoproductions) from Netherlands, a talented multi-instrumentalist producer I met on SoundBetter. I started to look up remote production after failing to connect with a suitable producer locally when my last two producers (for "Confidence" and "Skype Love"), who were only doing it in their free time, decided to move onto other lines of work. It was a risk to take, but the music creation platform safeguards the finance aspect and ensures accountability to allow for safer remote production work. Subsequently, working on the song was enjoyable as Melvin understood well my vision for it - I wanted to combine past and present genres for this song and create an OST-like sound as inspired by mystery and thriller soundtrack music, like a hybrid "James Bond" movie theme from the past with the strings, brass and jangly guitars, combined with modern synth and beats. This was the first song I'd recorded the vocals at home for, and it was funny trying to tiptoe from the laptop towards the microphone after pressing on the record button. I also didn't have an air-conditioner in the room, so it was a hot recording environment unfortunately - I didn't want the microphone to capture the fan sound.
What are you focusing on right now?
That's a good question. On top of promoting my latest music single "Higher Ground", I'm working towards sync licensing for movie and series soundtrack to play better to the song's natural strengths as it is cinematic and OST-like. I'm also pitching the song to local and international radio stations for airplay, as well as looking to speak to more Malaysian media channels for possible radio and TV appearances.
What are you most proud of?
I'm proud of breaking my shy barrier to make more visual content for social media and not giving up on music yet despite it being a very difficult industry to succeed in. The pandemic may have taken a few years off my music trajectory, but I decided not to give up on releasing more music. However, I find it much harder to gain traction in music than medicine, which is a service-based industry.
What is the biggest challenge of being an artist?
Juggling between being a role model and being authentic and natural. While image plays a role in first impression, I find that the audience is ultimately seeking to connect with artists they can relate with who aren't afraid to show vulnerability, create something real and not manufactured. As an indie artist, additionally, the struggle to produce, release and promote music with limited resources is real and it's hard to gain traction for each song. It's also hard to increase my fanbase as each listener's taste and experience is subjective.
How do you structure your day?
To be honest, I'm a person who starts the day with a vague plan and end up doing very specific things throughout the day. I know of friends who can't start the day or sleep well knowing the have no clear plans for the following day. My typical weekday includes going to work from 8am to 5pm, with meals in between. After work, I spend time completing any reports from work, homework from my Korean language class or preparing for side projects planned - like practising the bass guitar for a new band I play for, and preparing well for my new solo music single release "Higher Ground". There are pockets of free time when these are done when I rest and catch up on TV series on Netflix. During the weekend, I dedicate half to an entire day to spend time with my social circle if I'm not working half day or attending the occasional Saturday work-related course. It's the best feeling to be able to wake up naturally on a weekend morning without worrying about setting an alarm clock for work.
Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of music?
This may sound a little unexpected, but I'm quite a fan of console video games like Persona 5 and the Red Dead Redemption series. Granted, I'm not the one who plays it usually, I watch my brother play them or stream YouTube channels like RadBrad as I have poor gaming coordination. Video games allow the creators to explore their creativity, story and concepts without the boundaries of real life physics and other limitations. I'm also an amateur script writer with an interest in filmmaking, as I'm curious to go into video production and filmmaking in a greater extent if music doesn't work out or I get too old to show my face haha. I do plan to work things out to make a live-action music video next.
Do you sing in the shower? What songs?
This is the most unexpected yet interesting question I've been asked so far! Well I think it's partly due to my choir background, I usually do vocal warm drills followed by Broadway songs like "Think of Me" (Phantom of the Opera), "I Dreamed a Dream" (Les Miserables) and "Defying Gravity" (Wicked) believing that no one would hear me belt those loud and high notes, when in reality the bathroom piping serve as really good acoustics to carry the sound throughout the house. Yikes. On a side note, I like to sing Paramore songs or 90s pop songs by Britney Spears, Westlife and Backstreet Boys too. Okay now you know my shower concert setlist.
What are your plans for the future?
I plan to engage more with the audience through more visual content on social media and potential live performances in the next few months. I will be working on improving and varying my vocal style and instrument skillset too. For example, I've started playing the bass guitar for a local band and this gives me a good opportunity to practice my skills. I'm also opening up to the idea of sync licensing as well as discussions with record labels to see if this goes well with my current trajectory. Meanwhile, I would like to contribute my vocals, songwriting or production skills in more collaborations locally and internationally to build a discography I can be proud of. I would like to explore different genres in the near future. My best friend often asked me why I listen back to my own songs and collaboration work, and I would quote Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) for this, "I always try to write songs that I would enjoy listening to myself". I agree wholeheartedly with him, this is important to me compared to just writing what I think other people would like. That's why the songs I write are in my daily playlist. And it's my sincere hope that your readers would love the song "Higher Ground" too.