BY ZIM AHMADI

Dreams can be found on the backs of CDs. They can be the reason a singer-songwriter decides to busk in front of Sungei Wang while still in secondary school just for a chance to fly to Nashville to chase those dreams.

Amrita Soon turns many of life’s moments into soft, yet incisive songs. It’s loss, longing, love packed into chords that strike with equal parts vulnerability and tenderness. Most of them are pop songs that feel light, but they can also evoke what is difficult, such as Amrita’s exploration of memory in “Driving Lessons” as she shares about seeing her grandparents slowly forgetting.

In her Substack blog, she writes, “Dementia used to be just a term we’d hear in passing- a disease we heard about but didn’t register or tried to wrap our minds around, and did not understand enough. It all happened so fast. One summer I spent in Nashville only to come home to realise my grandparents have aged so drastically.”

Such is the melancholy that is seen through Amrita’s many inspirations. In her latest single “beauty in disappearing,” she captures the sound of birds, trains and people wistfully welcoming pretty pianos.

A couple of months ago, she shared to me about what it means to be vulnerable with music in a world that constantly resembles a crumbling monument to all that once was. She finds creativity in her life as an ice-skating coach, journaling, as well as organising gatherings for new songwriters to showcase their talent and to create a space for people to write and sing.

Recently, her vocal stems were uploaded to Suno without her knowledge. This became the centrepiece of a much wider conversation about specificity in art, or what it means to “live enough” for a song to be authentic. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Zim: You frame yourself as an introvert or just not as outgoing, but you manage to write time and time again something so powerful and personal like “Driving Lessons”. Do you enter into a different side of you when you write something so vulnerable like “Driving Lessons”? And thank you for writing that, since I have grandparents with dementia too.

Amrita: Thank you for telling me that. It means a lot. When I write, I try not to think about who’s going to hear it because it would terrify me. And being an artist is so scary. Until now, I’m still on the fence about whether I should do this, even though I’ve already been doing this for years. So yeah, I don’t really think about performing it or playing it in public. Probably the opposite, like, after I write it, I’m like, oh my God, I’m never going to play this (laughs).

So before a live show, you have to psych yourself back into thinking “no, the people want to hear this, let’s play it for them.”

I got used to the performing part of it. I don’t really like psyching myself unless it’s like a bigger show. But usually I just try to make space for the energy that I’m just sharing my emotions and feelings.

Z: So as an introvert, how did you come to the decision to finally make a music video featuring yourself, since “Driving Lessons” actually features you as an actor?

A: It was a 10-second confidence kind of thing where you’re like, OK, I can do this for like a really short period of time. And I kind of just ran with it. I felt like I wanted to at least put some visuals to my music even though I’ve been avoiding that for a while.

Z: I also wanna thank you for writing “24 Years”, specifically for writing the word “Anthony” in the lyric. Do you have a fondness for specificity in music? Like, you know, like “Jolene” by Dolly Parton and also boygenius’s “Ketchum, ID”?

A: I love those songs. “Ketchum, ID”, is like my go-to soundcheck song. I love it when it’s so random, where you wouldn’t think it makes sense. Like there’s this Sydney Rose song called “Oat Milk”. Also keeps us away from AI catching us because no one’s going to predict a super duper detail without your input.

When I was writing “24 Years”, I saw it as a collage of beautiful love stories. People that I’ve known and met. So I think at that time, it might’ve been my parents’ 24th anniversary. Maybe. I can’t remember where I drew that from. Anthony is my grandfather. I heard from my dad that that’s a name that he went by a while ago, like a long time ago, maybe not even his entire life. It was a short period of time when he decided that he needed an English name. It kind of scared me in a way; I might’ve written about the future then, because at that time, my grandmother and my grandfather didn’t have dementia yet. And I was writing about them forgetting. That’s before I wrote “Driving Lessons.”

Z: I found out recently that someone uploaded your song, I think on Suno.

A: Yeah, I have had my vocal stems uploaded onto Suno without me knowing, and I’m glad that version of the song and other songs weren’t released.

It’s something I’m still trying to figure out how to navigate. To me at this point, I feel like I don’t want to be against technology and AI. I don’t want to fear it. In a way, it can be a really, really helpful tool if we use it in ethical ways. But it kind of scared me that they put my vocal stems in there. So I think when it comes to creating demos or just to help enhance an idea, to me, I feel like AI is really helpful. And then from there, you put the human touch to it. But not completely creating stuff and calling it yours. That’s how I feel about it personally.

Z: You draw the line at prompters basically. Specifically people whose entire thing is just “write a song in the style of Amrita Soon” and then they release it on YouTube?

A: That’s definitely a bit much, yeah. I feel like releasing it and then taking credit might be a bit much. But I know school teachers who prompted a song about mathematical terms and to help the kids remember them. So there’s scary and also pretty cool stuff happening. It’s the same in the film world as well. 

Z: You perfectly summed it up there. Recently you wrote about what it feels like to make art in a world on fire. With the state of the world, some feel more motivated to create, but some feel depressed and helpless. Where do you stand on that?

A: I’m more on the hesitant side. Not really sure where I am in all of this. It already feels so loud. Like there’s so much on social media and everything’s happening very fast, and my music is definitely not something that happens fast. Like I’m not a new-single-every-month type of person. So most of the time it kind of feels like there’s already so much noise, so then why should I add to it?

Z: Does that influence how you write?

A: It has made me want to write more meaningfully. Maybe, subconsciously, I might have been doing that. I think I’ve definitely been writing less mainly because I’ve been busy as well, but also the songs I write now are a bit more specific.

There was a period of time where I wrote almost every day, whether alone or as a co-writer. And when I was in Nashville, it was like twice a day, sometimes co-writing three times a day.

But after a while, I felt like a lot of the writing was on the surface. And if I want to write something that’s a lot more personal and deeper, it cannot happen so quickly.

Z: Can you tell us how you started MY Songwriters Round?

A: My first experience of a songwriters round was actually Reza Salleh’s Songwriters Round. It was called Moonshine. Like ages ago, it was at the Laundry Bar at the Curve.

And then, in the summers when I visited Nashville, like the whole city is just filled with songwriters rounds. It’s very nice because sometimes you can be a songwriter and not be a performer and yet you still get to share your songs.

And it’s a very intimate setup where you get to hear more about the song and everyone’s taking turns. So it’s a different set of music. It’s not like you’re playing a full set, because then you have to make way for the next person, and then the next person.

So in a way, the audience gets to hear everybody. Yeah. I really enjoyed how it didn’t feel like performing – a good place to try out new songs. 

Moonshine stopped for a while, but now it’s back, which is really exciting. And yeah, there was a time when there weren’t that many songwriters round here in KL. So I kind of wanted to introduce them to the world.

Z: How did you get involved with Nashville in the first place?

A: It actually all started when I was young. I was listening to a lot of Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana. And then my friend introduced me to Taylor Swift when we were in tuition. We were exchanging music, and so I kind of got into that.

One of my core memories was the discount corners in CD stores, like Rock Corner and VideoEzy. I’m so glad that those albums were on discount because it was really good and affordable. And then I got to know Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, like super country country. At the back of the CD, on the printout, it says Nashville every time. All made there.

I told my parents I wanted to visit there someday. And then I kind of brushed it off. And then, I think I was around 15 or 16, they said if you wanted to do something, you have to believe in it and put your effort and mind to it. So they said, don’t just say you can’t get there. At least try.

I was 15 or 16, so I wasn’t working yet. I did a lot of busking and played a lot of gigs with some help from friends. They got me busking spots, like right in KL, like in front of Sungei Wang Plaza and stuff. I busked enough to pay for my air ticket to go to Nashville. It was crazy.

Z: You bought flight tickets with busking money? That is insane.

A: Yeah. Busking was next level, but the people took it really well. And I made a little sign, like help me get to Nashville. I also organised some gigs. And that was my first trip there, so I had to go with my dad. It was really, really, really fun. We’ve both never been, so we just Googled a hostel. This hostel came up called Nashville Hostel because when you Google it, it’s the first thing that comes up. (laughs)

We met the owners. It was summertime, so their rooms were all full, but they had one room that they were kind of renovating. They don’t mind letting us stay if we don’t mind. So from there we kind of made friends with them. And then he introduced me to the concept of volunteering at hostels where you can volunteer and then they let you stay.

The owner told me when I turned 18,  I could do that. So when I turned 18, I was like, I’m going to go to Nashville again. I’m going to volunteer at the hostel and then play and listen to as much music as I can. So I’m really grateful to them for that. Because if not, I wouldn’t be able to stay. It’s so expensive.

So I would spend like a month or two during the summer, like working at a hostel and then playing a whole lot of music. That’s my whole Nashville experience.

Z: Do you still see the hostel owners when you go back to Nashville?

A: Yeah. Unfortunately, one of their hostels got demolished because there’s a lot of overdevelopment in the city now. They kind of sold it, and then they demolished it. And then the other one during MCO, the street around it got bombed. I think it might have been in the news during Christmas or something. It was the entire 2nd Street avenue. No one was hurt. Everyone evacuated, but the bombing brought up a lot of insurance problems and stuff, so they didn’t revive that hostel. But I did see them. I stayed at their place because they’re nice enough to let me stay. I saw them two years ago when I was there.

Z: Wait, you can’t just casually mention a bombing like that.

A: Yeah sorry (laughs), it was during COVID. It was so scary because one guy drove up to the parking lot and it was near where I used to stay.  This guy drove his van there and then put out a warning, announcing what he was going to do. So everyone in the entire street cleared out.

Z: You have a song called “Patterson Street”, which is a street in Nashville. Was that street affected?

A: Yeah, that’s the street where the hotel got demolished. So now it’s going to be like a five-story apartment. Oh God, overdevelopment.

Z: World on fire, huh?

A: Yeah.

Z: One of the shows that you performed at is Song Suffragettes, which features female singer-songwriters. That’s why I asked about MY Songwriters Round, actually, because I was thinking, is this the spiritual successor to Song Suffragettes?

A: Yeah, definitely! It’s so cool. Like Song Suffragettes is like the songwriting rounds for which empowers a lot more women in music as well. It’s nice because I was just watching a show for the first time and then one of my friends said, “Oh you should play here,” and I was like, “No, no way”. Somehow one thing led to another and I ended up with an audition. Like a mini audition first. Because it’s so competitive, there are so many people. I mean, it’s Nashville, which is just all songwriters. It’s not like “hey, can I play? And they’d be like, “Sure.” Everybody wants to play.

Z: How did it feel to finally see Madi Diaz live?

A: Oh my God. It was so good. One of my favourite concerts. Also, we did take the subway to her show. And she has a song that starts with looping the F Train. That song. “Crying in Public”, I think maybe was one of the songs. We took the F Train to Brooklyn. 

Z: This explains your poem then. The one that you wrote on your Substack about taking the F train to Manhattan. So that was about going to see Madi Diaz.

A: Yeah!

Z: What were you going through when you were writing “Empty Room”? That line “Like a cold and empty but there’s no space for anything new” makes me feel so much.

A: Oh my god. It was during the pandemic when I wrote that. And before the pandemic, I kept myself really busy. I was working a lot. Like even more than I am now, even though I am kind of overworking now. I was avoiding something, but I didn’t know what I was avoiding.

I have also, at that time, moved out of my parents’ house. I was never home. My room was literally an empty room. It was not lived in. There was nothing much in there. I would just come home and sleep and then I would go out again. Anything like hanging out with friends or meeting people is always outside, and if I’m not working, I’m writing music or playing shows.

So staying in lockdown really felt like I was just looking around while noticing how empty it was on the outside while feeling very empty inside. I feel like that feeling doesn’t really completely leave in a way. But it’s not always depressing. Just a feeling.

Z: Right, then there’s “Good Thing Going”. Can you speak to the story behind that song?

A: Kinda similar to “Empty Room.”. “Good Thing Going” where something isn’t permanent. About letting it slip away even though you had a good thing going. I write double meanings because that way it’s vague while at the same time it’s specific enough for me. It’s like noticing patterns after you do something for so long. It can be like stopping and being like “Oh my god I’ve done this like a bunch of times, and I can’t keep a good thing going.” (laughs)

Z: I love how in the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DfP) version of “Familiar Strangers”, you added two extra lines in the beginning. “I start every message with I’m sorry I haven’t replied”. I thought I was going crazy because those lyrics weren’t online. Can you talk about your experience with that show?

A: It was pretty crazy. I told Chris and John (instrumentalists), and they were all like “What?” It’s like a fairly newer audience and it’s a super cool stage. So I kind of thought what song would feel really cool if I got to sing my feelings in this big room, so that’s how we came up with that track list. As for the extra lines in the song, it’s a part of a song that I haven’t titled yet. But we had a time limit for our set, so I can’t sing the entire thing. Also, at that time I hadn’t written the rest of the song, so that was kind of about all I had.  I wanted to play because I really felt it at that time, so it’s technically a teaser. I didn’t read the contract properly. I didn’t know that they were going to upload it and then I went like “Oh I guess it’s out now” (laughs).

Z: Is it a song that you haven’t been able to finish because it’s harder now?

A: Kind of. Also, the song kind of needs some time for living to happen before I continue writing it and a bit more figuring out about what I want to say. I wrote that in like parts here and there.

Z: How do you decide whether you’ve ‘lived enough’ for a song?

A: I just don’t want to write things that are not authentic to me when I’m writing for myself. So sometimes when lines get generic – or if they feel like I’m repeating myself, or they don’t make sense- I would say that it needs more time or it needs to be true enough. Obviously it doesn’t have to be one hundred per cent true. It’s not an autobiography. But it still has to feel real.

Z: As you said, for “24 Years” it was a collage of different kinds of love, but it still felt authentic because you were going through it or you were experiencing what people go through.

A: Here and there. If you don’t really believe that love exists or love lasts…well… You see, we had a family friend, you know, his name is David and the wife’s name is Katrinka and they were so sweet and so in love even in their 70s. It was very inspiring to see because sometimes you think when you grow older you may not feel that kind of love anymore and they were both still very much in love with each other.

Z: You get inspired by so many things – your grandparents, the F-train  – can you name three random things that have inspired you?

A: One would be the LDP, Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong, oh my god, if you drive – you know this since you’re a PJ person too – you know how poetic that highway is.

Z: Absolutely agreed. But I’ll let you list the rest down first (laughs

A: (laughs)  Yeah okay, um, coffee. And I was thinking like the weather, but that’s really generic. I’m thinking snow is pretty exotic. When I saw it the first time, it was mind-blowing.

Z: Okay, now you can elaborate on the LDP thing (laughs). Why that highway?

A: Sunrises and sunsets on the LDP are peak. It was the best when I was going to school because I’m from Subang and then I went to school in Kelana Jaya and I got to see the sunrise from the passenger seat of the car. Now that I’m driving, I get to do it on my own. I get to drive to work in Damansara while watching the sunrise, and on the way back home to Subang I get to see the sunset. It’s so beautiful. And there’s like a golf course where the trees outside of it always flower. I mean, I do not need to get more distracted when I’m driving, but it’s so beautiful. It’s also like a straight road kind of thing, where you can just safely wander in your mind a little bit. That’s my number one most poetic but random thing.

Z: How do you see your passion for ice skating in your life as a musician

A: I think it’s more connected now. Last time, people who knew me as a musician didn’t know that I do ice skating. People who knew me as a teacher never knew that I do music. I approach everything pretty much similarly in a way, because you have to create quite a bit in skating in terms of choreography. It’s different teaching ice skating to kids and adults. Teaching in a way that caters to them takes up a lot of the same space in my brain as the creativity stuff.

Z: How do you say something to a kid to make them motivated?

A: Songwriting is the same when it comes to choosing the words. I’m not like the yelling kind. I’m not a “do-this-or-else” kind of coach, right? But ice skating is quite a scary sport. It’s not like you learn theory and then you get it because everyone is built differently with different athletic backgrounds and stuff. And also I overthink a lot, so there’s a lot that can be quite poetic. It’s a lot of facing your fears and a lot of it is in the mind as much as it is physical.

Z: Finally, one last fact check, because there are so many articles saying different things: were you born in Subang or Seremban?

A: (laughs) I realise the media is so… I have come to a point where I’m like, not everything is true, and I’m just leaving things as is. I was born in Seremban, but my entire childhood was in Subang. I spent like, one year, probably in Seremban and Ipoh and then mostly Subang.

Z: Thank you for sharing all of these little stories and experiences, Amrita. Anything in the future we should look out for?

A: I’m finally getting my songs mixed and mastered. I wrote an album a year ago. It’s kind of my accidental album, but I just kept writing and then I pieced it together. Then I just kept it because of the uncertainty of everything – like, “Should I be putting this out? Should I be mixing my music especially with all the noise?” And then I think, I’ll just put it together slowly so I have my next single in the mixing stages and mastering stages. I’m working on a song called “Vitamins” and working on the rest of the album at the moment.