PETALING JAYA: A year ago, the skies seemed clear for aviation student Nicole Ng, who had aced her studies at Swinburne University, Australia.
With good grades and a promising future, it seemed there was nothing to hold Ng back from shooting for the stars. But that was before Covid-19 struck and grounded planes all over the world.
But rather than taking this lying down, Ng has not stayed idle, far from it. For the Christmas season, she released a seasonal mini-album and the proceeds will go to charitable causes.
As the aviation industry struggles with international travel crippled, there was little Ng could do to improve her circumstances. “I still had a part-time job at an aviation company but there was not much going on there.”
Given how unoccupied she was with work, she decided to focus her energy on expanding another of her talents.
Singing is one of Ng’s passions as she comes from a talented musical family, though she stresses that she is a hobbyist rather than a professional.
“I would like to but I don’t think I have it in me,” she said in response to the suggestion that she should go professional.
She has performed gigs around the capital but, ultimately, singing is something she does simply for fun.
“It’s not something I might put all my time into because I prefer other things as well,” she told FMT.
At first, she planned to record an album with the help of several friends. When the first Movement Control Order was lifted, they got to work practising and preparing.
“And then the situation worsened and the Conditional Movement Control Order was enforced. We couldn’t travel between districts, so we had to stop practising and recording.”
With the doors on that project seemingly closed, Ng was unhappy that all their efforts may go to waste. She decided to downscale the project, leaving herself and two musicians, Gabriel Januarius and Malcolm Ambrose, to work on it.
Januarius is a professional pianist whom she had met through mutual friends while Ambrose, the drummer, is a childhood friend of hers.
From the safety of their homes, they recorded their parts individually, though according to Ng, it wasn’t easy to work outside a specialised studio. While she did have the appropriate recording equipment, her bedroom was not a proper studio.
There was also another factor she had not considered. “My upstairs neighbour’s lot is undergoing renovation, and I had to time my singing when they were not drilling,” she laughs.
She had to wait out the construction work, trying to get her recordings done in the brief periods of peace. “Sometimes they would be hammering for hours and I couldn’t do anything, because I needed complete silence.”
As if construction work was not enough to contend with, the raucous traffic outside her window was a distraction. “I guess if people listen closely, they would probably hear noises in the background.”
In spite of all the disruptions, she and her friends managed to produce an extended play album consisting of five Christmas tracks, aptly named, Behold Your King.
Four are well-known Christmas carols, with a fifth song being her own creation and composition. The genres of these tunes are diverse, with Ng describing them as a mix of jazz and pop.
Ng said she did not think too much about the release, seeing it as a small and personal passion project for a good cause. However, the sales of her mini-album soon exceeded her expectations, with over a hundred copies sold within three days.
“It’s Christmas favourites with a different take,” she says of her work, explaining that Januarius put his own spin on the traditional tunes people are familiar with.
“I do have plans to do a full-blown album, recorded in a studio with a full band, but the time isn’t right now,” she said.
Visit Nicole Kylie to learn more about and purchase Behold Your King so you too can help contribute to a good cause this Christmas.