Your S’pore Story: ‘Just take every opportunity to put yourself out there’

As a teenager, Lucas Wang busked along Orchard Road, played gigs at the Esplanade and released his own singles. But it was earlier this year – as the

only Singaporean contestant on the second season of Chuang Asia

– that his music career truly began to take off.

Held in Bangkok, the idol production show, which ran from February to April this year, featured 60 contestants from across the region, with established K-pop stars such as Blackpink’s Lisa, Got7 boy band member BamBam and Seventeen boy band member The8 serving as producers and guest mentors.

Watch his video here.

Performing under the stage name

Whylucas

– a portmanteau of the initials of his Chinese name, Wang Hong Yi, and his English name – the 22-year-old National University of Singapore Business School undergraduate took a gap semester to pursue his idol dreams.

Although he did not make the final cut for the top seven finalists, he believes the experience and exposure gained will help his music dreams go the distance.

Now back in Singapore, Whylucas has taken another gap semester from school and is channelling the momentum from Chuang Asia into building his presence in the local music scene.

He shares how he is finding his identity as a musician and his advice for fellow young Singaporeans pursuing their own artistic aspirations.

“I’ve been playing the guitar since I was about six years old, but back then, going for guitar classes always felt like an obligation. It wasn’t until the Covid-19 pandemic circuit breaker that I started taking music more seriously and dabbled in producing songs on my laptop.

Over the next few years, in between serving NS and starting university, I busked, released a few songs and performed at gigs to build confidence. Even though my music was slowly gaining traction locally, I still wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take.

Then, I got a message on Instagram from the casting director of Chuang Asia inviting me to join the show. I was sceptical at first, but a friend who knew more about idol shows encouraged me to go for it. It was a sobering experience – knowing I was representing Singapore and that I had to make this work not just for myself, but for everyone watching back home.

I had my share of challenges competing in the show. At one point, the pressure of composing and practising choreography while running on very little sleep wore me down. But knowing that I can survive that experience gave me the confidence that I can take on anything. I’m also glad that I became good friends with some of the other contestants through the show. I’m sure we will find ways to collaborate in the future.

I will be releasing an EP in September and performing at a few local festivals. Hopefully, I’ll have my own sold-out show in Singapore one day. But even with the experiences and opportunities, I still struggle to call myself an ‘up-and-coming’ artiste – it feels like I’m just getting started.

To young Singaporeans who want to pursue music: Just take every opportunity to put yourself out there. There’s no such thing as a bad gig – every performance teaches you something.

My parents weren’t always confident about me choosing music as a career, but they are more supportive now. They understand if I have to lock myself in the room for a few hours to write and produce music, or to borrow the family car for meetings.

I also play some of my demos for my parents. My dad has an ear for what would be popular. He listens to mainstream pop, so if he likes it, I think generally most people will like it too.

But honestly, just them appreciating that this is my passion is enough support itself.”

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