Samantha Rui is a 17-year-old emerging singer-songwriter of Singapore. Her unusual, soulfully raspy voice coats her songs with a rich, dark and intimate undertone, giving her song covers and original compositions a characteristic quality that distinguishes her from other singers. Despite her young age, Samantha demonstrates an acute awareness of the nuances of emotions and appears to exercise considerable patience with them through her music and lyrics, most of which possess a striking, confessional rawness.
Who are your favourite bands or singers?
I am not very good with band loyalty because I go through different phases very often. There was a period of time when I listened to nothing but heavy metal for a good two weeks. As of late, however, I have been listening to a lot of R&B and some of my favourite singers are Jojo, Neyo and Drake.
When I do commit to a band or singer though, I can be quite obsessive and the few that I find myself deviating back to no matter what are Oasis, Coldplay, Angus and Julia Stone, Radiohead, Ellie Goulding, and a few Youtubers like Jeni Suk and Kate Mcgill. I have a varied music taste.
When and why did you begin singing seriously?
I started singing at a really young age. I do not think that there was any sort of meaningful story behind why I started singing; I was just a noisy child. My parents were in the church choir too, so as a toddler I would tag along and hum to the hymns at the back of the pews. The first song I ever tried to write was when I was 12 and the outcome of this attempt was pretty. Later on in secondary school, a few of my friends somehow tricked me into singing at a school carnival. I appeared clueless but it turned out to be quite successful. My friends posted videos of my performance on Facebook and a couple of weeks after one of them set up a Youtube channel for me. One of the earliest videos I posted has about 15, 000 views and it was unexpected but very exhilarating for me. Last year, I became more serious about writing and showcasing my own music and after a lot of hard work and some shameless advertising, I managed to seize the opportunities to perform in several gigs.
Which of your original compositions are your favourites, and why?
I have a love-hate relationship with almost all my songs. When you write them you feel proud but after you have shared them you start to feel a little embarrassed and self-conscious, especially when you begin squirming over how whiny the lyrics can sound. The only piece that I am really satisfied with is Slow It Down, a song I wrote in just one night right after a big performance. I wrote it for my grandfather who was quickly dying from cancer. It is one of the very few songs in my repertoire that is not about love, or puppy love. The first time I performed Slow It Down, my mother and grandmother cried while sitting among the audience. The feeling was indescribable.
What inspires you?
All my personal experiences inspire me – lonely nights, frustration, seeing new places, meeting new people, death, love, lust, listening to other artists and reading a lot of books and poetry. There’s nothing that matches the feeling of writing from a first-person perspective.
What are your goals for the future with regards to your music?
I really hope to produce an EP sometime in the near future, and collaborate with a few of my other friends who are also singer-songwriters. I also hope to play my music live while overseas. That would be great. However, realistically speaking, funding, time and opportunity are things that are hard to come by, much less sustain, so for whatever headway I make with my music in the near future, I would be more than grateful. I can only keep striving towards gaining a larger audience and more exposure for now.
I am not very good with band loyalty because I go through different phases very often. There was a period of time when I listened to nothing but heavy metal for a good two weeks. As of late, however, I have been listening to a lot of R&B and some of my favourite singers are Jojo, Neyo and Drake.
When I do commit to a band or singer though, I can be quite obsessive and the few that I find myself deviating back to no matter what are Oasis, Coldplay, Angus and Julia Stone, Radiohead, Ellie Goulding, and a few Youtubers like Jeni Suk and Kate Mcgill. I have a varied music taste.
When and why did you begin singing seriously?
I started singing at a really young age. I do not think that there was any sort of meaningful story behind why I started singing; I was just a noisy child. My parents were in the church choir too, so as a toddler I would tag along and hum to the hymns at the back of the pews. The first song I ever tried to write was when I was 12 and the outcome of this attempt was pretty. Later on in secondary school, a few of my friends somehow tricked me into singing at a school carnival. I appeared clueless but it turned out to be quite successful. My friends posted videos of my performance on Facebook and a couple of weeks after one of them set up a Youtube channel for me. One of the earliest videos I posted has about 15, 000 views and it was unexpected but very exhilarating for me. Last year, I became more serious about writing and showcasing my own music and after a lot of hard work and some shameless advertising, I managed to seize the opportunities to perform in several gigs.
Which of your original compositions are your favourites, and why?
I have a love-hate relationship with almost all my songs. When you write them you feel proud but after you have shared them you start to feel a little embarrassed and self-conscious, especially when you begin squirming over how whiny the lyrics can sound. The only piece that I am really satisfied with is Slow It Down, a song I wrote in just one night right after a big performance. I wrote it for my grandfather who was quickly dying from cancer. It is one of the very few songs in my repertoire that is not about love, or puppy love. The first time I performed Slow It Down, my mother and grandmother cried while sitting among the audience. The feeling was indescribable.
What inspires you?
All my personal experiences inspire me – lonely nights, frustration, seeing new places, meeting new people, death, love, lust, listening to other artists and reading a lot of books and poetry. There’s nothing that matches the feeling of writing from a first-person perspective.
What are your goals for the future with regards to your music?
I really hope to produce an EP sometime in the near future, and collaborate with a few of my other friends who are also singer-songwriters. I also hope to play my music live while overseas. That would be great. However, realistically speaking, funding, time and opportunity are things that are hard to come by, much less sustain, so for whatever headway I make with my music in the near future, I would be more than grateful. I can only keep striving towards gaining a larger audience and more exposure for now.
