Good Vibrations

On the cusp of their takeoffs, this next generation of stars open up on creating work with art and soul. Jeffrey Yan talks to Iman Fandi, Keyana and Jean Seizure and finds out about the drive behind the bops

When we talk about artists, we tend to talk about why they do what they do as a calling. Our three cover stars this month might not have started out knowing that music was theirs, or even called it that, but the pull was always there. Jean Seizure’s parents were both Mandopop singers in the ’70s; Keyana and Iman Fandi were dancers in their childhoods. Their homes were filled with music, and their families’ tastes ranged wide. While the seeds were planted early on, learning how to nurture them took some time.

Iman, who had always been writing songs, made a birthday resolution when she was turning 20 to just go into a recording studio and lay down a track. That turned into her debut single, “Timeframe”, and led to Iman, now 23, being signed by Universal Music Singapore. Keyana, 19, has always harboured musical ambitions but it took being a model to gain enough confidence to pursue her dreams. Today, she has a handful of singles like “Shelter from the Rain” and “Scorpio” under her belt and an EP slated for release later this year. Jean started out doing covers and posting them onto their YouTube channel, while also being part of an acapella group; they finally took the plunge and released original music in 2018. Now, one often sees the 32-year-old’s tracks such as “Tell Me”, “Chemistry”, and “Do You Wanna” spotlit on global Spotify playlists such as Spotify Radar, Spotify Glow and Spotify Equal.