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Alicia Pan
Photo: Peter Thew

Interview: Alicia Pan

Returning from an eight-year hiatus with a new EP in hand, sultry songbird Alicia Pan reveals to us what persuaded her back into music

Written by
Benita Lee
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‘I decided to record this EP before I hit 30. Otherwise, I’d regret it for the rest of my life’

Alicia Pan chatters away animatedly in between bites of salad. We’re nowhere near her ’hood, in a café she rarely visits. And yet, every now and then, a flicker of recognition dances across her eyes as she waves enthusiastically, exchanging pleasantries with passers-by she knows. She seems to be quite the social butterfly. Her bronzed skin glows, her face lights up whenever she mentions music or yoga, her two loves. If ever there was a picture of someone content with their lot in life, it’s her.

Of course, no destination is reached without a couple of tumbles, and she’s braved them with a tenacity that comes from keeping her eyes glued on the prize. Pan declares her two passions are kept separate, but trace back their roots and you’ll find them intertwined. The 30-year-old singer-songwriter first took to the stage at 17, and she’s been performing professionally ever since, releasing a Mandarin EP in 2006, dabbling in different genres and moving to Taiwan for a few years to break into the entertainment industry. It was there that she became a devoted yogi. Now back home and in her third year as an entrepreneur – she’s the founder of Yoga Movement – Pan admits quite a chunk of her eight-year break from recording has gone into building and stabilising the business, resulting in the procrastination of her debut English EP until now.

‘I had to be realistic at some point – I needed to set myself up for life instead of continuing as a struggling musician. I saw an opportunity to strike while the iron was hot, and my energy and focus went into that,’ she shares. ‘There was never gonna be a perfect time to commit, so when the business started to settle down, I decided to record this EP before I hit 30. Otherwise, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.’

Blocking out a few months to concentrate on music, Pan compiled her top tracks written across the years and hit the studio with her band. The result? A self-titled five-track EP that fuses all her influences, from jazz to soul to R&B, released earlier this year.

‘It revolves mostly around life and life lessons. I draw a lot of inspiration from stress. When everything’s smooth sailing, it’s like, what am I gonna write about? “The sun is shining, the rainbows are…” – I can’t do that!’ she chuckles. ‘I always believe that every day we experience in life, whether it’s up or down, is a good learning experience. So I try to write things based on that perspective. And I’m happy to do it independently ’cause I get the freedom to steer things in the direction I want.’

Given that her songs hit close to home, Pan beams with pride when she touches on a line of poetry from ‘Wake Up to a Dream’: ‘Within the mob mentality / There’s a lot of innocence and guilt / The emotions that have been repressed / Put the blame on anything but human nature.’

It’s about conforming to the opinions of others, and it’s ironically fitting for a no-nonsense go-getter like Pan, who’s anything but a blind follower of trends. She confesses to being quite the rebel during her school days; she quit vocal training after three months to hone her style, and she’s got absolutely no qualms voicing her opinions, no matter how harsh they may be. To put it simply, mess with her at live gigs, and you’ll find yourself the target of a tongue-lashing by the feisty lady.

But spunk and sass aside, Pan’s got the zen, everything-happens- for-a-reason approach to life down pat. ‘I went to Taiwan as a struggling artist, fell in love with yoga, came back, pursued that, and look what it’s turned into,’ she muses, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. ‘Every experience is invaluable, whether or not you like it. Every step along the way is crucial to help shape who you are. I’m lucky everything’s fallen into place.’

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