Perk up your ears

SINGAPORE — In 2007, while most teenagers were heading to computer LAN shops and playing MMPORG (online role-playing) games, a then-13-year-old Pietrek Chan (who goes by the stage name Perk Pietrek) could be found at home, fiddling around with his turntable and scratching it as he practised his new love for deejaying. Occasionally, Chan would even play shows at clubs.

Lest you think he was appearing without adult supervision, Chan, now 22, was quick to add that his father would accompany him to those shows and even told bartenders to “make sure this guy has no alcohol”, he said amusedly.

The experience has served him well. Now a DJ and producer, the Singaporean was the vice-champion of the Singapore DMC DJ Championships in 2010 and his music has also appeared on various platforms such as Hype Machine Charts and Juice Singapore.

Now, Chan is releasing a new single track with Asian-American electronic pop-rap group Far East Movement’s record label brednbutter. “It started when one of the guys from Far East Movement hit me up and asked me to do a VIP remix of my own track (Sleep Is Over),” Chan explained.

After that collaboration ended, Chan created the single Busy Gyal — which features musical artiste Rocky Rivera, who also wrote the lyrics of the song. He decided to send the track over to Far East Movement, and upon hearing it, the group told Chan they were willing to release the single under brednbutter.

Asked what it was like working with the band, Chan said: “They are super professional. They get things done super quickly,” he said. “We are constantly talking and I am always sending them my music.”

Busy Gyal came about when Chan was “super busy”. Because he was someone who would “go with what I’m feeling currently”, he was struggling and was sleep deprived at the time, which inspired him to create the track, he explained.

The lyrics talk about Rivera’s thoughts on life as an artiste and as a woman, and “how important it is to be not bothered by people’s opinion of your work ethics and attitude”, he added. “What’s important is yourself,” he said, adding that he was impressed by Rivera’s words.

“There was a lot of character in the writing,” he said. “It was a really good match,” he chuckled.

Asked how the pair came together, Chan says that the exchange was fuss-free. “I hit her up via mail” and “she replied to me pretty much almost instantly”.

The spelling Gyal — a twist of the usual “Gal”, was Chan’s attempt to be as creative as possible.

“I like to listen to a lot of dance and reggae,” he said, adding that many Jamaicans tend to spell their words in this fashion. “I think it’s an interesting way to put it,” he said simply.

The single is just the first step of many things to come. Chan will release his EP with Vicious Recordings next month. He will also be unveiling a new remix from his previous remix of singer and radio presenter Vanessa Fernandez’s “Fly” next month.

“I am looking forward to that one,” he quipped.

Chan, who is behind tracks such as Kahun, Carnival and Wildfire, said he feels blessed and fortunate to be able to do what he does, adding that these days, Singaporean artistes enjoy more opportunities compared with the past.

“Singaporean artistes definitely have opened a lot of doors for themselves,” he said. “The amount of opportunities you have offshore is there as well,” he added, noting that the Internet has played a substantial role.

So what advice does he have for other aspiring musicians? Chan says “they need to understand that the road has never been easy”. “What’s important is that you constantly keep moving forward,” he stressed.

Perk Pietrek’s Busy Gyal will be available on Sept 23 at all major download platforms such as iTunes, Spotify and Beatport.