Stephycube: Piano Cover of Kygo’s Firestone

1.?Hi Steph, please introduce yourself!

Hi! I?m Steph, I sing and write music. I dabble in different genres of music but I mostly write acoustic indie tracks and do chilled down covers of popular songs. My handle Stephycube comes from my full name whereby my initials are Stephanie YYY – and that can be truncated to Steph Y^3, hence Stephycube. Haha it was a math joke at the time but it stuck and eventually became my artist name.?

I?m currently a third year medical student and it?s a blessed position to be in, to have the joy of meeting lots of new people everyday and being a part of their care back to recovery. It?s a daily experience of being anchored to hope and thankfulness, and it?s shaped the way I see the world and people around me – so it does impact me in song as well.?

I had the immense honour of being part of NOISE Singapore?s The Music Mentorship programme in 2015 under the guidance of Vanessa Fernandez, who?s an incredible radio DJ/musician/singer/live-looper/person and it was such a great experience. Since then I?ve been doing a lot of songwriting and performances to improve my craft and to?share my experiences with people. Along the way I?ve met some inspiring people, and it?s been enriching to learn from these individuals personally, in terms of both music and in life.?

Back home, I have four dogs (one mom, one dad, two babies) and they?re an adorable (but super barky) bunch. Mom?s a poodle, Dad?s a bichon, so the two kids are bichonpoos. :)?

2. When did you actively/seriously started singing? How has your family and friends been supportive in your pursuit of singing? Have you thought of singing full time?

Music has always been sort of running undercurrent in my life since I was a kid, but it wasn?t until I joined my JC?s rock band CCA about 5 years ago that I started to enjoy performing music a lot more, especially with friends. I only really started writing and singing my own music when the guys went to army and I was mulling?about waiting for uni to start; I had a lot of free time on my hands so that?s when I started working more on original content.?

My family and friends really mean the world to me and they?ve been so incredibly supportive of the music I produce, original or covers. It hasn’t been easy trying to carve out paths in both Music and Medicine simultaneously, but shoutout to my dad who’s?always encouraged me to do what I love and motivated me to get to where I am today. For my friends, it really baffles me sometimes how people are willing to take time out of their schedules to support me at my gigs, really, and I?m super thankful for all of them.?

Singing full time? not so much because school?s a huge priority for me right now. But music still plays a huge role in my life and shaping my identity so it?ll always be an integral part of me.

3. Has there been any singing competitions you have participated in before??

– If yes, which was it and what was the experience like?

– If not, what’s stopping you?

Umm? does the Disney talent time I took part in when I was 10 count? HAHA. That was pretty fun haha it was sort of the start of discovering my own voice in music. I did Reflections by Christina Aguilera and my mom insisted on me infusing parts of the Chinese version by Coco Lee to make my performance special, and she ran through all sorts of arm waving and posing and stage pacing to increase my stage presence. Come to think of it, my mom?s been a huge figure in nurturing this artistic side of me, so thanks Mom 🙂 I came in fourth for that contest, but I remember feeling so amazed standing on stage singing to a bunch of people. It kind of spurred me on to become the singer I am today.

Having grown up, I haven?t really taken part in singing competitions per se because I feel like my voice still requires a lot more training to be on par with a lot of singers out there. I tend to find more security in singing and performing music that I feel comfortable doing, and writing original content. But yeah, with time I hope to enter a competition to try to see where I stand vocally :)?

4. What kind of content can ChiobuTV viewers expect from you in future? (More Covers? Guitar tutorials? Originals?)

Oooh, um, more covers and originals yeah! I always wanted to do sort of a gaming thing though (because I?m a not-so-secret gamer despite being a pretty lousy player haha), so if ChiobuTV ever allows for a collaboration between Youtubers that?d be something I?d look forward to. Oh I?ve always wanted to try doing vlogs, especially like DIY stuff or shopping hauls, or stuff about dogs heh.

5. How do you think Chiobu Collective can provide support for artists to hone their craft?

ChiobuTV is a wonderful initiative that helps to unite Singaporean female artists and creators to celebrate the diverse talents and gifts our tiny red dot has to offer to the world. I think being in Singapore really helps to shape the creative products of our craft, reflecting our culture as a society and our backgrounds from different walks of life, and also our positions as girls in the modern age. So I think it?s really great that the Chiobu Collective is bringing about a lot more attention, locally and globally, to the unique creative content that Singaporean creators produce, and it?ll encourage a lot more potential artists out there to come forward and share their works with the world too.?