Living The Dream

Introduce yourself!
My name is Celine and I’m a singer-songwriter from Singapore. I’ve been doing pop, indie pop, and R&B for about four years, and I go by the stage name owellciao. Right now, I’m currently freelancing and just living life!

Cool! How did you get into music?
I went to music school and my tutor told me about this music mentorship programme in Singapore, so I signed up for it and got paired with this producer. We created a song from there and then it just kept going.

Has this always been a dream of yours?
Yes! I’ve always liked music and dreamt of being a singer, but it was always just a dream because I didn’t think it would be feasible in Singapore until I went to music school and then it just sort of happened (laughs). But I knew I always wanted to do something in the entertainment scene.

Now that you’ve been pursuing this for four years, do you feel like you’re finally living your dream?
I think I’m getting there. It’s always a process, but I’m very happy to be doing this. I’m working towards playing more shows and singing more, and I’ll also be releasing a new song soon!

We can’t wait to hear it! Where do you get inspiration from?
I get inspired by my real life experiences, and then I write my songs from there. I’ve been enjoying collaborating with different artists and creatives, like photographers and designers. Inspiration is everywhere!

Which of your songs would you say was the toughest to write?
I think it’s the one that I just finished writing. It’s a song about my most recent breakup. I wanted to write something that was personal but also that I think people can relate to/ I think songs about love and breakups are always relatable, but I wanted to do something that got straight to the point, so the lyrics were something like “Oh my God, I don’t wanna break up”. It feels very conversational because I just write whatever came to mind.

Do you have any advice for budding artists or anyone else who’s trying to go down the creative route in Singapore?
You know the saying “Do it scared”? I think that’s the best advice I can give. Pursuing anything creative is always more unconventional and often isn’t the safest route, but it’s also very fulfilling, especially if it’s something that you really want to do. Even if you’re scared, I think it’s very much worth it.

I recently came across this quote that says “Embarrassment is an under-explored emotion”. I think a lot of people are afraid of being cringe, but I think there’s also something very beautiful in that, so just do it!