Vanessa Fernandez a.k.a. Vandetta has recently shared with us her thoughts on RedRecords, the AirAsia and Universal Music Group record label that aims to promote A-pop (Asian pop) on an international stage.
“It’s really nice that there are gonna be resources pumped into it because you know it takes a lot to actually build a growing artist,” she said.
“So I think that it’s great that that exists, I hope that the discussions about Asians making music goes a lot deeper because pop is only what you see on the surface, there’s so much in the underground in all parts of Southeast Asia that is really, really interesting and I hope that more people in the West will get to see that someday.”
“And I think it’s a means to an end because for probably a lot of people we’re not even on their radar. So this is good that we are on their radar but as I say, I hope that the conversation goes a lot deeper because there’s more to Asians making music or Southeast Asia than A-pop or “Crazy Rich Asians”,” the Singaporean singer added.
She was previously signed under Universal Music Singapore/Malaysia back when she was a member of the hip hop group Urban Xchange.
Meanwhile, when we asked her if she was planning to do any upcoming collaborations with Malaysian artists, something she’s no stranger to doing, she responded smilingly, “Not at the moment, I haven’t really planned anything, but I feel like Malaysia has a very interesting scene. Because I have always felt that musicians over there are like super talented and really, really highly-skilled.”
However, she did go on to name a Malaysian singer-songwriter she would like to work with again.
“If I had to collaborate with anyone, the person I’d really love to actually do something with would probably be Najwa [Mahiaddin]. We did a cover collab together on this thing called SoundLab a couple of years ago, so I think it’d be cool to work with her. Also, because she’s a soul chick.”
Aside from Najwa, Vandetta also named Aisyah Aziz and Imran Ajmain – a couple of fellow Singaporeans who work a lot in Malaysia – as singers she would like to collaborate with.
Vandetta was one of the outstanding performers at The Alex Blake Charlie Sessions, the female-focused festival that made its debut in Singapore last month, where she took over the with songs like “Walls”, “It All Starts with This” and “Love Me Crazy”.