Hitting all the right notes

When Benjamin Kheng came onto the scene in 2012 as part of The Sam Willows, he and his bandmates altered the course of the local music industry.

The far-reaching appeal of The Sam Willows' brand of catchy indie-pop proved Singapore could stand with the best in music, and the band's mainstream commercial success opened the gates for a new wave of musical acts that have pushed the local industry forward.

But one EP and two full-length albums later, the band members announced in 2019 they would be focusing on their solo careers.

For Kheng, that has meant a handful of television roles, a YouTube comedy channel - The BenZi Project with Hirzi Zulkiflie - and, of course, much-awaited solo music.

He gave the public a clearer glimpse of what his own vision would be with the release of his EP, A Sea That Never Stops, in June last year.

With Covid-19 raging on, work plans have taken a back seat, but Kheng found the pandemic-induced pause illuminating in terms of personal growth.

"I was quite happy to slow down a bit this past year," he says. "Before that, it was non-stop. As a Singaporean, you're used to such a ridiculous pace of life that, sometimes, you don't realise what you're doing things for in the first place. I thought 2020 was a nice mirror to all our lives - why we do what we do."

The period was not without its pains. The reasons Kheng loves what he does were also the first things taken away in the new normal.

"For me, the best part about being a musician is doing live shows - feeling the energy of the crowd, sharing the music and the space with people. So, to not do that and just put out music into a digital space was very, very strange and almost painful," he says. "It got to the point where I just needed to give music a break - to learn how to fall in love with music again."

A year on, what is evident is that as disruptive as the pandemic has been, it also has its bright spots.

Kheng sees this happening in the local music scene.

"I think music in 2020 really changed," he says. "At one point, there was a lot of hip-hop, urban music, a lot of dance music. Then suddenly, people started being more genuine again with the things they put out.

"It was nice to be a fan of that and start writing more from a place of how you're feeling, rather than with an 'oh man, I need to get this party going' mindset. Very often, music can easily become just a business, but I think 2020 made it way more personal again."

Kheng speaks from experience. He got engaged last year to DJ Naomi Yeo and, for the first time in his career, is writing love songs based on his own stories.

He says: "I hadn't written a proper love song about someone until last year. Before, I was always writing from other people's stories. I had this hilarious conversation with another musician friend who's also happily in love and she said, 'Do you think my music sucks now because I'm no longer heartbroken?'

"It was so funny, but I realise now that I'm happy in life and quite content... It's not that I struggle to write, but it really comes from a different place."

But what if fans do not want something different? Was he scared putting those innermost truths out there in that way?

"Not anymore," he says. "I'm 30, I couldn't care anymore. All that young-adult or teenage angst is gone. Now, if people like it or don't like it, it's really up to them."

Kheng says it took time for him to realise this. "I think at one point, I was obsessed with people not liking me for a reason that I felt was not fair," he says.

The turning point came at age 30, he adds. "I think when you're young and impressionable, and you get a bit of success, you try to really protect your space.

"But after a couple of bumps and enough time doing this, you realise that a) you definitely can't get everyone to like you all the time, and b) if everyone likes you, you're doing something wrong - you're not putting out true work."

• This article first appeared in Harper's Bazaar Singapore, the leading fashion glossy on the best of style, beauty, design, travel and the arts. Go to www.harpersbazaar.com.sg and follow @harpersbazaarsg on Instagram; and harpersbazaarsingapore on Facebook. The May 2021 issue is out on newsstands now.