10Qs For Brasileiro Princess, Z Yan.

Our Brasileiro Princess looking pretty in white.

Z Yan, a.k.a. Brasileiro Princess, is the latest artist promoted by Pop Pop Music. Leslie a.k.a. ML very graciously invited me to have a chat with the pretty princess, during the Brasileiro Princess Press Conference. By the way, just in case you've not been following, Brasileiro Princess is a collection of Chinese(mostly mandarin) classic and contemporary tunes, re-made, re-arranged, and performed with Bossa influence.

Hey! Chatting up pretty girls is something I enjoy very much, and Z Yan's very positive outlook is a joy to endear. Here goes my 10Qs!

Big E: Please tell our readers and your audiences a little bit about your self?

Z Yan: I was born in Melaka and traveled often to Johor with my parents. It was much later in my life that I came to KL to study in a private college.

Big E: How and why did you get involved in the music industry?

Z Yan: I've loved music since my child hood days, but I never ever dreamed that I'll be singing as a recording artist. It all started when I moved to KL, where during the weekends, me and my friends would attend live concerts, like those now staged in No Black Tie. I half heartedly volunteered to audition, when the producer for Music Toxin, Mr Chow Kam Leong asked if any one in the audience wanted to record for them. I did my demo and eventually released my first CD album, titled "Wishes" under the Music Toxin label in 2007.

Big E: Is that how you meet Leslie and Pop Pop Music?

Z Yan: I was introduced to Leslie by Mr Chow, and I very quickly learned that Leslie had eclectic taste for music. When he proposed that I should be Brasileiro Princess, in a Bossa flavoured album, I was immediately in agreement, as Latin music happens to be one of my favourite genre!

Big E: Are you happy and proud of your Brasileiro Princess album, and how well do you think it'll do in the sales charts?

Z Yan: I am very happy and proud to be given the chance to participate in the Brasileiro Princess album, but Bossa music is still a fringe genre in Malaysia, and our Chinese music lovers are very conservative in their musical choices, so only time will tell how the market would react to the CD sales.

Big E: If there's another chance to record another Pop Pop Music album, would you still do Bossa?

Z Yan: Yes, surely! In fact should we do a follow up album, I'd like to add some Salsa, Samba and other forms of creative Latin Jazz repertoire just to push the music concept further.

Big E: How do find working with some of best talents in the Malaysian music scene today?

Z Yan: I like working with Pop Pop Music. They're a very open and flexible label which allows us to develop our selves as artist in our own time. There's very little pressure and every recording session is fun with the guys!

Big E: I know for a fact that every Pop Pop Music artist has a day job to pay the bills, what's yours?

Z Yan: No, I don't have a day job! It's a night job actually. I do sing at hotel lounges, events and cafes for a living. If you happen to be in Tropicana City Mall anytime this month(and this month only!), you can catch me singing live at Santini cafe there from 9pm onwards.

This CD is on sale NOW! Look out for it.

Big E: You'd know by now that Pop Pop Music is an Indie Label producing audiophile oriented recordings, and do you know any family or friends who enjoy hifi as a hobby?

Z Yan: Actually, Leslie is the first and only audiophile I know at the time! But when he brought me to his home, and showcased his music thru his hifi system and it all hit me, that an audiophile demands crystal clear recordings. Every vocal technique, emotion, musician play and recording detail is so realistically lay ed across, in between the two speakers!

Z Yan dedicating her thoughts on my personal copy of her "Brasileiro Princess". The CD inlay booklet has some pretty nice pictures of her for eye candy.

Big E: You're a very pretty girl. Has anyone ever done something romantic, like sending 99 stalks of roses to impress you?

Z Yan: I am totally flattered that you find me pretty, but thanks for the compliments anyway. At this point in time, the most romantic thing anyone can do for me is to buy 99 copies the Brasileiro Princess CD, and distribute it to everyone he knows! In fact, he'd really impressed me if he bought 999 copies of the CD!(She's really focus on the task at hand. What a gal!)

At this point Leslie was smelling something fishy and jumped over then said, "Hey! She's taken!!!

Big E: Ha! Ha! By the way, Z Yan, all of us handsome audiophiles here would really like to know about your "actual" status. Are you available still or "taken" as Leslie suggested?

Z Yan: That is a question I do not want to answer now. I'd like take a few more years to prove my self in the music industry. Perhaps you can ask me this question again in a few years time. Ha! Ha!(See, I told you she's really focused!)

With that question, I'd like to leave a little room for our fellow audiophiles to ponder over her status as we explore in to her Brasileiro Princess recording. By the way, do enjoy the nice tasteful photos of Z Yan in the CD inlay booklet as eye candy as we listen to her soothing Bossa voice and music.

Brasileiro Princess CD review coming soon!