Friday July 4, 2008
Full speed ahead
By N. RAMA LOHAN
Reality TV contestant Ezuan Sulaini – Iz for short – is working hard to make a name for himself.
MAKING it into the music industry takes talent, perseverance, resilience and a thick hide ... at the very least. Surviving in it ... well, that takes a whole lot more, obviously. And while former One in a Million contestant (from Season Two) Iz (Ezuan Sulaini is his full name) has those tenets wrapped around his little finger, he is under no illusion of the road ahead being paved in gold.
Rising stock: Iz’s boldness and striking sense of fashion has put him on the fast track to success. In fact, as soon as he was ejected from the reality TV talent programme (reaching the top nine), he quickly went to work on releasing a single – Gonna Be Alright, the title track from an upcoming EP – so that he could at least ride the coat tails of his fame from the show.
“When I got eliminated, I wanted to make sure my fans knew that this wasn’t the end of my journey, but merely the beginning. It’s a motivational and inspirational sort of a song which I think everyone can relate to and enjoy,” declared KL-born Iz during a recent chat.
Iz, the eldest of six children, is driven by ambition, and the imminent release of his five-song EP next month is but a mere stopgap measure for greater things to come. The EP itself took two months to make and was largely a one-man effort ... with some assistance, of course.
“It was done by me, myself and I ... and a friend of mine in Sydney. Together, we composed and produced. All the music was done in Sydney with only the vocals done here. The musicians were all from Sydney, too ... basically friends of mine from the time I was studying there.
“We worked over the Internet sending MP3s back and forth until we were all happy with the final product. I’m going to go back there to work on the full studio album because it’s much easier to be there when everything is recorded.
“Besides, it’s way more fun that way,” chuckled the zany 25-year old, who graduated from the Royal Melbourne Institute Technology (RMIT) with two degrees – Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Communications. He still maintains a base in Melbourne.
The album is largely an endeavour in the English language but Bersama is in Bahasa Malaysia and features actress Nora Danish. C. Loco (of Poetic Ammo fame) also makes it into the proceedings.
Iz approaches the creative process rather conventionally, especially when penning lyrics.
“I don’t show too many emotions ... I always appear happy because I don’t want to show the sappy side to me,” he guffawed. “So, I channel those emotions into my songs ... and also my performances. I write about things that inspire me, which really comes down to what I’m feeling at the point of writing.”
Gonna Be Alright, the single, vaunts Iz’s penchant for slick R&B grooves and silky melodies but he vows he’s much more than that ... in his music appreciation, anyway.
“I listen to anything that moves me, as long as it has a good melody, regardless of genre.”
And then the conversation unexpectedly takes a bewildering turn, but all true to Iz’s personality. “Oh, but there’s one thing I can’t stand ... baroque music. I gave it a try, given my experimental nature, but ... no way Jose to baroque.”
Iz likes Bjork and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, though, and curiously, abides by a strict black pants dress code.
In the grand scheme of things, the singer sees himself in this for the long haul. The Malaysian music industry has seen too many flashes in the pan, and Iz is determined not to go down that route by taking destiny into his own hands. He’s even devised a master plan for the year ahead.
“I want to have a full studio album by the end of this year. As with this EP, I’m merely doing it to ride the momentum gained from the show. And it’s like a present to my fans.”
Iz, who prefers his singing over his speaking voice, has his head screwed on right and is only too aware of how reality TV stars can sometimes be passing fads.
“Even though I didn’t win the competition, I’m quite proud of the fact that I’m the first one from this season to release a product,” he added. “I’m not going to slow down because the groundwork for the album has already begun. The big picture is for me to take all of this beyond Malaysia... the Asia-Pacific, at least.”
It certainly isn’t news anymore that reality talent shows are being singled out as the bane of the music industry. Record companies have it so much easier these days and need not even get an A&R person to go out and scout for talent. Why bother when there’s a machinery set up to highlight an artiste to the public, get them involved in the artiste’s fate and choose the one they like?
Iz insists there are two sides to the story.
“In show business, it’s not enough to have singing or songwriting talent. The business part takes a larger percentage in terms of marketing and getting yourself known, and getting the public to know the product, which is you. That is the most important thing in this business, where making money is concerned. So I think that’s why record companies are cashing in on this. It’s not really about the most talented person anymore. Look at Madonna, it’s not like she’s the most talented artiste around. People like me are just looking for a platform to show what we can do.”
The former SM Taman Melawati student also rightly noted that sitting back and waiting for opportunities is a long-lost concept.
“You’ve got to get out and do something with your talent.”
Seizing opportunities is key, as Iz said: “Once the season for the reality programme is over, it’s up to the participants to use their celebrity status effectively.”
His passion for blogging stems from his education in cross-cultural communication, and he enjoys keeping in touch with his fan base. Communication is clearly not a problem for him and he’s always quick with a joke, anticipating a lull in a conversation before it even arrives.
The world truly is Iz’s oyster and with a creative demon guiding him, we might just be hearing a lot more from this ambitious young man in time to come.
Gonna Be Alright is distributed by Sony BMG and will be available at all major music stores from the end of July. For inquiries, e-mail mel.martine@mac.com or visit Iz’s blog at www.imborntosingsongs.blogspot.com.
RSS
