The Allure of Yuna

Yuna’s first release under her own label comes in the midst of global social distancing. Her new single, “Stay Where You Are,” though written well before the start of the pandemic, taps into the heartache—but also the potential for positive self-change—that can result from isolation. And her accompanying music video, which compiles clips of friends and fans proclaiming the title and central theme of the song, “stay where you are,” expands upon the need for interconnectivity in a time when physical distance is crucial. 

While at her home in Kuala Lumpur, Yuna got on the phone with office to talk about the music video, her decision to become an independent artist, and her western and eastern audiences.

How're you spending quarantine?

It's good. I'm not happy, but at the same time, I'm not complaining. I'm just trying to stay creative, which is kind of difficult, but once you get a hang of it, it's just nonstop. The creative juices are flowing.

You're writing a lot of music right now?

No, not really. I did manage to write a few songs, but maybe one came out of it that's really good. I'm definitely trying to find that momentum again because I've never had to write at home. My parents live here and of course my husband is here. Trying to be productive and having to use a bedroom studio is definitely not easy. Once in a while my mom will be like, "Come help me vacuum the living room! Come help me mop the floor!" And I'll be like, "Okay," putting down my microphone and head down stairs.

Usually, I live in LA, and I have my own space. I'm so spoilt when it comes to recording. I'll go to the studio, record six hours there and then come back. But when you're at home, it's just never down. You're always at it. You stop, you go back to it, and next thing you know, it's two in the morning. Just trying to find the balance.

Yeah definitely. I think a lot of people might be struggling with that. It can be hard to find a work-life balance when all your work is at home. What have you been doing during downtime? Have you been listening to a lot of music lately?

Well, not really. I am listening to music, but not new music. I've been listening to a lot of older stuff—albums I love. I didn't have the opportunity to do that before all of this happened; I was always traveling, working, in the studio, working on my music. I guess when I'm just hanging out downstairs or doing work on my computer, I'll just listen to a playlist of like Frank Ocean, Sza, Jungle. It's kinda nice. I get to revisit the albums that I love.

You used to have your own clothing line, November Culture; I would assume fashion is pretty important to you. Are you trying to say anything in particular with your personal style?

I feel like fashion and music are two things that go together. I think from the very beginning, I always knew that I had to have a good appearance. My mom would always make sure that I never went out with a wrinkle on my shirt, and that always stuck with me. Even to today. I don't know—I just like to be unique. I don't want to look like anyone else. And to nail that, I had to find my own personal style. As a muslim woman, of course there are some limitations, but they definitely gave me room to work with. You have to stay creative: How do I style that with this while still staying modest? I definitely have fun with fashion. But I have to say, I went through a lot of different phases in my life, though I'm at a place now where I'm pretty confident in my own style.

So before you started to pursue music full time, you were in law school. That's a big transition to make; was there a particular moment that told you that you had to make it?

It just happened naturally I think. Sometimes I tell people I'm an accidental musician. I was training to be a lawyer, I really had it all planned out. I was going to graduate and take the honors degree and become a lawyer. But I ended up, in my final year, to start playing music. I think my soul was really craving for something creative. During that final year, I just really couldn't stand it anymore. I was like, "You know what? Law is just so dry." I needed to do something because I've always loved singing, I've always loved playing music, so in my final year, I started performing at different cafes and independant gigs. I started making friends with other musicians and we'd record—all of these things. I think the turning point was in my final year. I released a Malaysian song—it's in my native language, Malay—and it became so huge. I don't know how it happened; the radios started to pick it up, and I was invited to TV shows. I just thought, "You know, we may have something special here. Let's keep on working on this."

It’s been around nine years since you transitioned from the Malaysian music scene to the American. Is there any advice you'd give your younger self who's just breaking into the western market?

Oh my gosh, just go for it. I think when I first moved to LA, I was fearless, but I also held back as well. I didn't give it my all because I was still trying to believe if this was really happening and if I was really good enough. To my past self, I would say, "Stop worrying. You are good enough. Let's do this." I think nine years ago, I was very self-conscious about what people think about me. During that time, a lot of people really believed in my talent and what I could do, but it was just me who was questioning if this was for real.

Though you have recorded songs in Malay, you mostly sing in English now. I'm curious if you have a different approach to songwriting when you write in Malay opposed to when you write in English. Do you feel the song takes on a different quality when sung in your native language?

It's definitely different. When I approach writing a Malay song, it's more poetic. The words are a little bit longer, it's more vast. You can use one word in several different ways. I'm not sure how to exactly explain it, but you can go between the current Malay language and the "Shakespeare" version of the language, the classic Malay language that existed like hundred years ago. It's pretty special. When I write in English, it's more direct, which is why I think I love writing in English. Growing up, I never used to speak English—I didn't know how. But learning how to sing songs made me learn the language. I would listen to No Doubt—that song "No Speak"—just wondering like, "What does it mean? What is she saying?" That's pretty much how I learned how to speak English. After that, the formula just clicked. It's just so easy to express how you're feeling and what's on your mind. With Malay it requires a little bit of training. You need to be fluent in the language to write really good lyrics. For me, it's more poetic. Obviously, you can write poetic songs in English, but maybe it's not a Yuna thing to do. In Malay, Yuna can do poetic.

Because you've spent a lot of time in America, and you've mentioned that LA is kind of your hub, do you ever feel as though you're not "Eastern" enough for your Malaysian audience?

[Laughs] Definitely. I don't feel it, but some people bring that up: me being Malaysian and living in LA. Suddenly I'm not "Eastern" enough, I'm not "Malaysian" enough to be a Malaysian girl.

Just a few weeks ago, I was doing this thing with Spotify. They had my face on billboards all over New York. It was a huge deal; it was to celebrate Asian heritage month. Every year I do something with Spotify to celebrate Asian heritage month, but I still get comments from people saying, "Why is she there? She's not even representing Malaysia." It's just really weird how people could think that way because all I'm about is representing my country and my people. I think it's just important to know that my journey is mine, and people don't walk in my shoes, so they don't know. They're just speaking from observation, and your observation is probably just 2% of what I'm all about. You know, I'm really comfortable telling people that LA is my second home. I have no regrets moving to La to pursue music and leaving Malaysia. I still come back to contribute to the music industry over here, but my main focus has always been to make music on a global level. That's just me and it's what you're going to get. My real fans understand that, and they're the ones I really care about, not the others that don't understand what I'm trying to do.

Have you ever felt pressure to conform to certain western ideas of who a successful pop musician ought to be?

In the beginning, definitely. As a young artist moving to LA, you have that pressure. I remember at the time, a lot of young pop artists were doing EDM. They were making a lot of money at the time, and they had a huge audience. I felt that maybe I should do that, but nah, that's just not me. At the end of the day, I still knew that no matter how naive I was when I was younger, I still knew at the end of the day, if it doesn't feel right, I'm not going to do it. Even when working with huge producers. I was in the studio with Pharrell and he was amazing. He understood what I wanted to do as an artist, and he just wanted to bring the "Pharrell" feel to it. It wasn't something like, "Oh this is what all the other artists are doing." He created that just for me. I found my sound in the music that he made.

I make the music that I love. It's my music and not what someone else wants from me. I'm still the same Yuna.

Over your last few albums, you've created an impressive list of collaborators. How do you go about choosing who you're going to work with? What qualities do you look for?

My number one rule with working with people now is that they have to want to work with me, too. It has to be mutual. You have to be invested in my project as well, if we are going to work together. I don't want to waste their time, obviously. I don't want to waste my time. If we're going to have a song, we need to make it our song. Of course, I've been very lucky with the people I've collaborated with.

So you wrote your newest single "Stay Where You Are" before the Covid-19 pandemic, but now it's taken on a new meaning. How has your own relationship with the song changed given the current context?

It's very weird that that song came out during quarantine. I wrote this song maybe a year-and-a-half ago. It was just this song in one of my folders. I didn't know when to put it out. But during quarantine, I started playing it on the piano, and it was just very memorable. It stayed with me. It's just one of those songs that stays with you even after months of not playing it. So I thought maybe there was something special here. There's something magical about it, and I felt that we just had to share it right now. The fact that the song is called "Stay Where You Are" was accidental; it's not a Covid-19 song. When I wrote it, it was a story about how you're apart from the person you love. You're far away, you're in isolation, but you're trying to improve yourself, so that hopefully when you come out of this isolation, you can serve a purpose again and be a better person, lover, and human. Putting out this song now is really important because pretty much everyone is lost; we're all in isolation. It's tough. Not everybody is going through it the same way. We're not all in the same boat. Everyone is dealing with it in their own way. And I just wanted to put out this song because it's positive to me. It's a powerful song, and I think it has healing powers. When you listen to it, you just feel a sense of calmness. My main thing about putting out music at this time is: Is this going to do any good? And yes, I think people are going to feel good when they listen to this song.

So along with the single, you're putting together a video in which you compile clips of friends and fans holding up signs which read "Stay where you are." What's the motivation behind doing this?

I think it was just that the other message of this song is trying to stay connected with the people you love. Like for example, I facetime my friends every other day. We get on Zoom parties, and I just want to make sure everyone is doing okay. But sometimes you just forget to do that. And that's when you find yourself in this hole. Like, "Oh my gosh, I feel so alone. I can't go on like this." I think "Stay where you are'' can have a lot of different meanings to it. It could be like, "Stay where you are creatively," or if people want it to, it could just mean "You should just stay at home." That works, too. I'm really happy that everyone I asked liked the idea. People were sending animations, videos of their babies. It's really cool.

Recently you decided to drop your label and become an independent artist. What brought that about?

I just felt like it was time for a change. Nothing bad happened. People tend to think, "Oh, she's independent again. There must be some drama." People love label drama. But, I loved my label. They were amazing. Everybody that I worked with in the past five years, I loved so much. They were really supportive, they believed in me, they gave me a platform and opportunity to create, and for that I love them. But I started out as an independent artist, and I have a lot of great memories. Like registering my own company. That was a powerful moment, when I was nineteen and was like, "Hmm. I'm going to have my own record label." And I still have that label. The fact that I could put out "Stay Where You Are" and see my own name down there, my company's name, is just so empowering. That's the kind of feeling that I want to have now when I put out music. I want it to be mine. I want my fans to feel too. But you know, not a lot has changed. I still write my songs, I still pick my own producers.

Is there anything you want to do with this new freedom?

Oh, wow. Maybe put out a new EP. I don't know, this could be very meta, but when I first started out with my indie label, I was just recording in my bedroom with my microphone and guitar and that's it. I have a similar idea of putting out, after ten years, an EP of just me and my guitar. Maybe that could be a thing, we'll see.