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Inch Chua and her (non) plan for global domination

SINGAPORE — The last time we sat down with singer-songwriter Inch Chua for an interview, we talked about how her solo expedition up Mount Everest had given her new perspectives on her other ambitions. Climbing up the tallest mountain in the world, she had said, made her realise how being at the top was quite overrated.

SINGAPORE — The last time we sat down with singer-songwriter Inch Chua for an interview, we talked about how her solo expedition up Mount Everest had given her new perspectives on her other ambitions. Climbing up the tallest mountain in the world, she had said, made her realise how being at the top was quite overrated.

This week, while at her listening party for her new EP Letters To Ubin at Spotify’s local headquarters, the Singaporean musician — who goes by the stylised moniker iNCH — discussed what it meant to play the fame game, especially for a person who behaves more like a mouse deer than a peacock — as her new single (and the cover image with her wearing antlers as head gear) would suggest.

“They are two very big extremes, and I struggle with it a lot,” Chua said, referring to the pains she has to take to reconcile her introverted personality with the out-there demands of her career. “I don’t know how people (can be happy being in the limelight). I wish I was one of those people, but I am definitely not.”

This is why Chua has assembled a team to help her do what she alone cannot.

Besides her managers at the House Of Riot, Chua is also working with Warner Music Singapore and Spotify to get the word out about Letters To Ubin, which was inspired by her four-month stay in Pulau Ubin earlier this year.

“I don’t sell myself as a big pop act or any of that. I just thought I could do the record the exact same way I usually do it — put it online, talk about it on social media, and that’s about it,” she explained.

“(But) I wanted to push myself as an artiste, just to see how we can take this record ... beyond Singapore. I would love for my music to go as far in the world, as much as possible.”

Of course, detractors would wonder if this isn’t a case of selling out — the biggest taboo in the indie music scene if there was one. “I don’t see it as being an indie artiste selling out,” she affirmed. “There was no compromise in my artistry, or in the way I do things. In fact, it’s about being open enough to want to work with different entities.”

Chua has already started work on her next record, although she also plans to run a full marathon in North Korea sometime soon — all in good fun, of course. She also plans to perform in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and, yes, Pulau Ubin.

Are these the first steps to a grand plan of global domination? No, it is just Chua doing what she wants to do, how she wants to do it.

As a musician, she has come a long way from her early days fronting Auburn’s Epiphany and she has learnt that there is no need to sweat the small stuff any more.

“Numbers used to affect me, like how many Facebook Likes you have, and all those inconsequential things. To some people, it is important,” she mused. “I think for me, I’ve surrendered to the fact that I did the album exactly the way I wanted to. It’s presented exactly the way I needed it to be. So, whoever hears it and needs to hear it will hear it.

“I have a great team (and) we will get it to as many people’s consciousness as possible. There is no need for global domination.”

Inch Chua will be launching her Letters To Ubin EP at 8pm, Nov 26, at Aliwal Arts Centre. Tickets at S$20 (S$25 at the door) from http://letterstoubin.peatix.com/. Letters To Ubin is now available for streaming on Spotify. Pre-orders also available on iTunes.

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