You might already have heard ‘I’ll Be Honest’, a collaboration between Dru Chen and Shye that riffs off what they do the best — the former artist is capable of condensing even the simplest of feelings into one heck of an earworm, and the latter, is a star who’s famous for her flawless intonation and how she looks at lyrics differently.
With ‘I’ll Be Honest’, the zeitgeist is simple. Both Dru Chen and Shye have captured what they call lightning in a bottle: the regret, acceptance, and bittersweet nature of a breakup. Here, Dru Chen himself takes us through the many things that inspired the single, his way of living and most importantly, his artistry.
This is my music room — my safe space. It is where I strum chords that soothe my soul and conjure up songs from life’s emotional arc.
Nicky, our cat, is very empathetic. When situations get heated, he will cry out and try to diffuse the anger. Every relationship needs a mediator, and in this sense, Nicky is more than qualified.
These two show posters taken from the respective album launches for “Mirror Work” in 2019, and “Slow Life” in 2021 remind me of the love, passion, and people that go into these musical projects.
They keep me motivated that there is always more music to be made. I’m looking forward to releasing the deluxe version of “Slow Life” which includes ‘I’ll Be Honest’!
Australia is technically my homeland because I was born there. Singapore feels like home right now, but when I think about what reminds me of home, it wouldn’t feel complete without a little part of Australia in there.
This was taken on our last trip down to Melbourne when the COVID-19 restrictions opened.
This was taken during a soundcheck at the Esplanade Concert Hall in 2021. It was our launch show for the Slow Life album, and probably one of the biggest highlights of my career. A big shoutout to Yung Lee Records and LINCH for putting this together. It’s really important for me to capture these behind-the-scenes moments because it brings me right back to the experience of how it felt that day.
The nerves, the excitement, the tiredness, the adrenaline. “I’ll Be Honest” will be part of a deluxe set of songs that will enhance the Slow Life album experience.
Rest and recreation are extremely important in the creation process because you need to be in a healthy state of mental wellbeing to be able to conjure up that flow state in the recording studio.
Basketball gives me that break away from work and music, and so here’s me working on my fadeaway jump-shot!
Here’s a press shot taken by the very talented Zahin Ali also known as @water.bears on social media. I think it captures a very soulful and introspective feeling which tends to infiltrate my music because I usually write when I’ve had the time and space away from people to reflect on life. We took this photo not long after the song was written.
No thrill quite like being on the mic when the red recording light is on. However, ever since covid began, I’ve been recording at home. This photo was taken a while ago at the famous Snakeweed Studios helmed by Leonard Soosay.
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