It’s always fascinating listening to someone who can sing acoustic or a cappella right in front of you. I don’t mean your decently above tone-deaf peers belting out at the karaoke (once upon a time). I mean actual singers performing without all the bells and whistles. Shak’thiya Subramaniamm, or simply Shak, is in his element strumming the guitar while singing and getting his photos taken.
I’ve heard him sing on social media and in 2018’s National Day song. Yet as he vocalises his rendition of ‘Wonderwall’ (switching out to ‘Creep’ right before the famous chorus, a ploy he uses to subvert the overly requested song at bar gigs), everyone looks up as his voice reverberates the room. The quality seems levels above the videos I’ve seen, which is a gap he recognises and wants to bridge.
And then the 29-year-old tells me he’s the worst singer in his family.
ESQUIRE: I can’t imagine what your family sounds like if you say you’re the worst singer among them.
SHAK: I might have the nicest tone, but they are leagues ahead of me because they were trained from young. I’ve always been shy about my singing and kept it to the toilet or when no one’s home. My two sisters just sang [openly] and my mum saw that they could sing and sent them for classical training. The youngest is still in school and I don’t know if she intends to pursue [singing] full time, but she’s too good not to pursue it on some level.
ESQ: So you’ve never had proper training?
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2021 من Esquire Singapore.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2021 من Esquire Singapore.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
THE MILD HANGOVER
Hangovers get a bad rap. We know. If you’ve gotten this far in the magazine, you’ve surely divined that we’re mildly hungover most of the time.
AN ELECTRIC FUTURE
Polestar, the minimalist electric Swedish car brand, turns the voltage up on its competition.
LET'S GET REAL (ESTATE): LUXURIOUS LONDON
Royalty, shopping, the best tea and scones the world has to offer, and a lifestyle worthy of what you're working for. Here's why London is ripe for your next investment
NEXT UP....ZARAN VACHHA
As Co-founder of the events and talent agency Collective Minds and Managing Director of the Mandala Masters, Zaran Vachha is definitely not new to the culture scene, but he's certainly shaping what comes next.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED...
I DON’T WEAR SOCKS except in January.
The Body Is a Language
A bad handshake is such a turnoff; we feel irked when someone rolls their eyes at us; we can't stop pacing when we're nervous-ever wondered how certain body language has the power to change how we feel instantly? We explore why.
EYE OF THE TIGER
Hailing from Singapore, Japan and Brazil respectively, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes Darren Goh, Hiroki Akimoto and Alex Silva are proof that the ring demands as much from mind as it does from matter.
THE ADONIS COMPLEX
With the rise of superhero culture making a return and bringing with it the celebration of the classically ‘masculine’ body type, can men really overcome the pressure to conform when culture keeps getting in the way?
FUNNY BUT TRUE
A comedian, an iconic Singaporean, and now a man much evolved. After overcoming two years of pandemic limbo, unlocking career milestones one after another and undergoing a life-defining physical transformation, Rishi Budhrani is ready to emerge into the world renewed-and anew.
LIKE NO OTHER
With its horological triumphs, Hermès has truly come into its own as a watchmaking maison. In this exclusive interview with Esquire Singapore, CEO of Hermès Horloger, Laurent Dordet sheds some light on his timepieces' rising stardom and the importance of being different.
