This past month marks a watershed period for rising Mando-pop star Shadya (藍又時). In addition to releasing her highly acclaimed second album Composition No. 2 Album — Love in London (二號創作專輯 — 倫敦的愛情), the singer-songwriter also received a nomination last week for Best Newcomer at this year’s Golden Melody Awards. Next Thursday, Shadya will also hold a mini concert titled 2010 Listen to Shadya (2010聽聽 — 藍又時) at Riverside Live House. The concert takes its name from a track on her most recent album, but will also include work from her first album.
Over the past two years, Shadya has come to be known as the intimate and emotive voice that sings tales about fragile love. In Composition No. 1 — Album Secret (一號創作專輯 — 秘密) in 2009 and Love in London this year, Shadya croons about the treasures and treacheries of modern love in a sparse, understated style that strikes a chord with many fans.
Shadya first stepped onto the scene for singing the hit theme song I Was Once Too Young (曾經太年輕) for the award-winning TV drama The Hospital (白色巨塔) in 2006.
“Director Tsai didn’t know who I was,” said Shadya in a phone interview with Taipei Times earlier this week. “He simply heard my voice in another song and decided this was the voice he wanted.”
The momentum from that success propelled Shadya to release her first album. For Love in London, Shadya, who hasn’t traveled to London in real life, weaves together tales of everyday love projected against her romanticized vision of London.
“I embarked on this theme because (producer) Yuan Wei-jen (袁惟仁) suggested I write songs based on the theme of a city,” said Shadya. “I thought, what better city to do this than London? I’ve always been fascinated by British culture.”
Not formally trained in music, Shadya learned to play piano and write songs entirely by herself.
“I bought a printed piano keyboard and practiced playing on the paper at first,” Shadya reminisced. “Because I didn’t receive formal education in piano, I still can’t read music scores that well these days. But I am able to listen to a song and play it on the piano directly.”
Shadya, who wrote all the songs for her two albums, claims inspiration comes from an observant mind. “I don’t look for inspiration; it comes to me. What I do is I observe the things in my life,” Shadya said. “For example, I read a book and decided to write a song titled Prologue (序).”
Is Shadya’s description of romance a reflection of her life? “If every love song required a romance to get written, life would be too busy,” Shadya chuckled. “I have had very few romantic experiences actually. You can count them on one hand.”
Shadya is also a respected songwriter who has written tunes for heavyweights such as Rene Liu (劉若英), Sandy Lam (林憶蓮) and Kelly Chen (陳慧琳). “I would love to write songs for A-mei (張惠妹) some day too,” she said.
During her behind-the-scenes years, Shadya also worked as a professional demo singer recording demos for artists such as Coco Lee (李玟) and S.H.E.
“When I record a demo, I try to create the emotions and moods so that the potential singer can be attracted to record that song,” she explained.
Contrary to her image as an austere, quiet performer, Shadya is an avid dancer and loves hip-hop and jazz dancing. She doesn’t rule out tackling a dance number in the style of Jolin Tsai’s (蔡依林) Dancing Diva (舞孃) someday.
“I would like to sing some dance songs when the time is ripe for a breakthrough,” she said. “One day when I can hold a concert in the Taipei Arena, I will certainly entertain the audience with singing and dancing.”
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