Avise is a multi-faceted artist from Singapore who is comfortable in many genres. Realizing that the scope of the music industry in Singapore was limiting, Avise is hustling his best game to independently bring his music to a more international stage. His influences include the likes of Michael Jackson, Yuna Zarai and Kehlani. BuzzMusic presents Avise’s latest single, “Ringing Your Line”. This track begins with an all too familiar voicemail message which is seamlessly transitions into the soothing synths and crisp drum beats that follow. The simple arrangements of the drums and synths allow the vocals to shine through with a soulful intensity. Each verse builds seamlessly with the ever-changing rhythmic quality of the vocals, and each chorus is a welcome return to the hook. Avise is a promising artist who has created his own unique lane in the music industry, and we look forward to what he dreams up for the future!
Listen to Avise's new single "Ringing Your Line" here! Learn more about Avise below with our exclusive interview below.
Can you briefly describe how you got into music and songwriting?
Well I've always had a thing for music since I was young but I never thought that I'd actually pursue it in the first place. It took a long time before I've actually decided that I wanted to make something out of myself through music. I've always been a big supporter of Yuna Zarai who is from Malaysia and knowing that she managed to make her music be known across the internet through Myspace and land a record deal with Fader Label in 2011, a US independent record label, sparked a fire in me to finally choose to do music though I still wasn't familiar with any instruments. I'm also a huge supporter of Michael Jackson and he played a big role in inspiring me to do music too. I slowly learned how to play the guitar and the keyboard by myself through online guides on Youtube whenever I have the time. I started to learn how to sing but it was awful at the start because I wasn't naturally a born singer. I just kept on practicing every day. I started mimicking voices of artists such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and a lot of other artists while in the process of trying to find my own voice. In 2018, I started taking up vocal lessons to learn proper vocal techniques and also to cancel out all of the bad habits. With the lessons, I slowly began picking up songwriting but it was never a smooth process. I'd have writer's block every time and I didn't really have an idea of what to write about because I was just starting off. At times, I felt like giving it all up but I chose to kept pushing the boundaries to see where I'll be at. After countless of hours and months, I started to see drastic improvements in my vocals and also, songwriting. This made me inspired and because I kept on writing and writing just about anything, ideas just started flowing naturally into my head and to the pen. At that point, I already had a song in mind but I knew I needed somebody else to work with. A producer who understands and knows exactly what I want in my songs. I got to know my current producer through a friend of mine who gave me his Instagram and I sent him a direct message. We talked and I sent him a lot of covers just to get him to work with me which eventually he did. After months of figuring out the music together, we came out with 2 tracks and we still have countless in the works. I was never a naturally born talent in music but I believed my patience and hard work have helped me to get closer to where I want to be and with the aid of my producer working closely beside me, the future is boundless.
Growing up in Singapore, what was the music scene like there?
To be completely honest, the music scene isn't big at all. A lot of local musicians and really talented individuals be it in any creative craft are not recognized because people here are more focused on education, securing jobs and getting as many certificates as possible. Not that I'm saying that is all bad but the creative and artistic side in the country is totally neglected. We still do have gigs and live performances over here but you can never compare the crowd to the ones overseas. It is a drastic difference. Most of the musicians who are successful now from Singapore are the ones who made the choice to do music outside of it.
Would you describe your process of writing songs?
How I get ideas for writing up songs at this point is that it just comes to me. I can just be lying on my bed, about to go to sleep and the idea just kicks in. I'll write it down on the notepad on my phone and record the vocal melody for it using the voice recorder on my phone as well and I'll wake up the next day and just start working on it. I'll usually focus on the chorus/hook part of the song because that is where all the energy is in so I want to put my whole focus on it first just so I get the best out of it. Once I'm done with that, I'll write the verse and then the pre-chorus and lastly, the bridge if there is any. Another process of writing songs for me would be working directly with my producer on it. He would listen to my vocal melody line and make a skeletal instrumental for it and we would both be writing the song together and it'd be done in a couple of days.
You have a new single called "Ringing Your Line", is there a meaning or message behind this song?
I wanted to relate to people who has been in this situation whereby the guy puts the girl in a very unfair situation and just completely breaks her down because she had all of her hopes up that he is the one that she should be with for the rest of her life but he was just leading her on all these while. It's just a toxic relationship because at the end of the day, the guy will regret his choices and try to reconcile and the girl will come back but after a few times, she'll definitely just give up and leave. My obvious message would be for guys, don't be a douchebag and as for girls, if you feel like you're the only one just giving the relationship a 100%, most of the time, it's never going to work out.
What can we hope to see from you in the future?
Definitely more creative and quality music. I'm expanding my catalogue with different genres so you can always expect me to come out with a different vibe. I'm in the works of trying to break myself out into the international scene. I do know that the music business market is completely saturated at this point but I believe that I do have what it takes to be the next one up. I want to show to the world that you can be from any part of this earth and still achieve whatever that you want in life and inspire people on a massive scale.
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