Artist Spotlight

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I first knew about Esteé as the winner of the 2021 competition Students Got Talent, hosted by StudyAdelaide at the iconic Her Majesty’s Theatre. Her rendition of Don McLean’s Vincent not only was worthy of winning first place, but stole so many hearts and souls that night. I later learn that Esteé has accomplished so much more than that; she is a rising star and slowly making her claim in the music industry. In 2021, her singles on Spotify were streamed over 1.4 million times across 160 countries, with the most notable tracks being be my somebody new and Babylon. Her newest single is twenty eight, and I promise you Esteé is your next new favourite comfort sound. Some have described her voice as sweet as cotton candy and as haunting Esteé Esteé as a distant dream, and I have to Interview by Ngoc Lan Tran wholeheartedly agree. What an honour for a fan like me to be able to chat with her on all things music… Hi Esteé!! Can you tell me a bit about how you first got into music? Which artist inspired you the most growing up? I credit a lot of my love for music and ability to my mum! Her side of the family is super musically inclined, so music has been an integral part of my life from a very early age. I started performing every year at school when I was 6 or 7, and I’ve been doing it ever since. My mum loves jazz and used to sing at a lot of shows back when I was still living in Malaysia, which definitely has inspired me and my music heaps!

How do you describe your music and style? What is your creative process like? Right now my music is blurring the lines between soft pop, RnB, and lo-fi. I’m trying to incorporate more RnB elements in my music though because I do look up to a lot of RnB artists.

sometimes I start producing something on my computer and other times I write on the guitar or piano. I like using different methods for different kinds of songs, it’s way more fun :)

For those who have no idea what it’s like to study music at uni, what’s the best and the worst thing about studying music so far? Personally, the best thing so far is just making friends with people who also love music. I’ve met so many people not just in my course but kind of across all the courses, which has been super cool! I feel like everyone has their own goals, so it’s been really interesting to see the direction people have been taking for themselves. On the other hand, I feel like having something so subjective like music and songwriting being graded can be a bit jarring at times.

What qualities are you working on to become a great musician? I’m working on not being too hard on myself in general and being more honest in my music. I’m a huge overachiever and tend to put a lot of pressure on myself, way more than what’s needed to the point where it’s unhealthy. This is something I’m intentionally working on every day, along with stopping the need to compare myself to other artists. I’m reminding myself that everyone’s got their own stories to tell and I have something different to offer!

What direction are you following for your career right now? What’s something you learned early on in your career that made you a better artist? I’m just going with the flow, which is my answer to everyone who asks where I’m headed haha! I think I’m generally just trying to navigate the industry as a whole and seeing where I fit in all of it, which can be a bit overwhelming sometimes if I think about it too hard. I want to share the most honest and authentic parts of myself through my music – this can be challenging. But it just takes time and patience. I have also learned quite a lot of things throughout the past couple of years of releasing my own music. Thinking back to where I used to be in terms of my knowledge about how the industry works is crazy because now it’s way more obvious to me how much I’ve grown as an artist. One piece of advice I’d put out there is to make sure you remember why you love doing it in the first place, otherwise, you start to lose yourself a bit in it all.

Do you think there’s a double standard in the industry for female artists, or in entertainment in general? If so, did you get an opportunity to create a unique style to subvert that double standard? Totally! There have been several times when I’ve felt like I’d been pushed to the side or looked down on, for no reason other than the fact that I’m a female artist in a maledominated industry, and therefore, my music and I don’t possess as much value. I also hear a lot of stories of other female artist friends who go through weird situations as well. I’m glad that for sure it’s not as bad as it used to be in the industry, but there are still issues that pop up now and then. I think the only thing I can personally do in situations like these is to just stand my ground and be firm because at the end of the day this is the art that I am here to represent, which I consider to include the most vulnerable parts of myself.

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?hat would it be? A few things come to mind honestly! But for now, I’d say I would change the low rate of royalties that independent artists receive, especially from Spotify. It’s annoying how being a musician isn’t really considered to be a real job unless you’re super famous and rolling in it. That’s definitely one that’s on the top of my list.