KUALA LUMPUR - A young up-and-coming Malaysian experimental pop musician is making ripples on major streaming sites at home and abroad, barely a year after launching her solo career.
Meet Cassandra Mary, the 26-year-old KL-born artist who recently released her debut six-track EP entitled ‘Stop Shouting, it’s morning’ in late August.
Since emerging as a solo artist with her first single ‘Come/Go’ in October last year, the Bangsar-raised Cassandra, has amassed over 21,000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone.
The independent musician achieved the impressive number despite not having any backing from a label.
She said there are a few strategies that Spotify encourages to help musicians boost their presence.
"Things like upload your songs a month in advance so you can pitch it to playlists," she told The Vibes when contacted recently.
"I did a lot of work trying to pitch it on playlists and I think that's how you can increase your streams and also your network".
She said surprisingly, the majority of her listeners are from Taiwan as one of her singles had somehow made its way into a playlist there.
"It's kind of crazy how fast your streams can blow up, just by pitching it to a playlist. So I always ensure that I upload my songs way in advance."
The Economics graduate of San Jose University, United States, said she uses digital music distribution service Distrokid to upload her songs on the major streaming site.
‘Stop Shouting, It’s Morning’
Explaining the idea behind naming the EP, Cassandra said the phrase first came up during a conversation with a friend.
“I thought it was a really cool name for a song,” she said.
“The second you wake up (in the morning), your mind is still empty, but after a few seconds, thoughts start to come in and you think about all the things that worry you again, and I think that’s the noise that I’m trying to sing about”.
In a press release, Cassandra noted that each song in the EP represents different internal battles.
Her track, ‘I Just Wanna See You’ centers on “that feeling of longing for someone and only being able to see them through a screen”.
‘Sunset In My Apartment’ focuses on “accepting what is lost”, but ultimately, “it’s a journey of finding peace and silence in the noise, confronting the ugly and creating something beautiful out of it.”
She told The Vibes that the six songs in the EP talks mostly on mental health.
“There are songs about loneliness, self-worth, and love,” she said.
“I wanted to have a song for each thought (that came up)”.
The EP features collaborations with local producer, Khai Zhen, California-based singer-songwriter, Paola Romero, as well as other local musicians such as Herman Ramanado and Shawin Albert of Advents.
Cassandra said all the songs were written, self-produced and mixed by her at home. Most of the tracks were created during recording during the Movement Control Order (MCO) lockdown period earlier this year.
On the last track of the EP, she said listeners may hear sounds of birds, which were accidentally recorded ambient sounds that, by chance, had suited the overall “vibe of the song”.
Inspirations and Aspirations
As a self-taught musician who started playing drums at the age of 10, Cassandra names international musicians John Mayer, Bon Iver, Finneas, Joji, and Honne as among her biggest influences.
With the recent launch of the EP, Cassandra said she hopes it would open up opportunities as an artist, after performing many shows since 2015, and doing different styles of music.
“The EP was like rebranding reintroducing myself, and I wanted to not just establish myself as an artist but as a music producer.”
“So I’m hoping that the EP was going to have a good enough variety so that I am able to prove and call myself a music producer.
Speaking about her current style of music, Cassandra said she was geared towards experimental and weird variations of pop, although she previously composed and played organic instruments in the past.
“Now I really like things that are well-produced,” she said.
Following-up with the EP’s release, Cassandra is expected to drop a music video for one of her songs in October. – The Vibes, September 25, 2020
Listen to her EP here:
