Indonesian Artist Afgan Talks About His New Single "Escape" with JESSI
The celebrated Indonesian singer and actor Afgan releases a new full English album titled "Sonder" with the hi track "Escape" where he features South Korean artist JESSI.
He is back! Our beloved Indonesian megastar, singer and actor Afgan (@afgan__) returns to the centre stage with his second English project - a full English album titled "Sonder".
And to headline this exciting new release, Afgan collaborates with South Korean artist JESSI for the song "Escape" - a fun summer-themed track that will get you pumped for a sweet escape.
To celebrate his latest release, we have an exclusive interview with Afgan himself to talk about his new album, his collaboration with Jessi and his creative process in making music.
We are very excited about your new music release. Tell us, how did this collaboration with Jessi come to be?
I finished the song in London for my EP Sonder. "Escape" gives a summery vibe and it's a fun energetic song. I've been friends with Jessi for a while now because we perform at the same event here in Jakarta. When the team asked me who I wanted to collaborate with on this album, I thought of "Escape" and I told my team that I wanted to ask Jessi.
I reached out to Jessi personally and I said that I have this song that I think will be perfect for us. I sent her the song, and in a few days, she sent back her vocals and all and I was blown away because she didn't rap on this song. She definitely elevated the whole song.
The song is titled "Escape" and is part of your coming full English album release in June. Tell us a little bit about this song and what it means to you.
The first time I heard the beat and the chord of the song, immediately I thought about a road trip with my friends to a nice destination and escaping from our mundane, daily life. I immediately told my producers and my team of writers that this song title would be "Escape" and let's work on the lyrics and the melodies.
I just want people to feel that joyful, hopeful energy, and it can also be a form of their own escapism when they hear the song.
How was the experience like working with Jessi on this song and music video? What was the most memorable moment of the process?
I've done a lot of other collaborations before with other artists like Jackson Wang, Robin Thicke, B.I, but we never got the chance to really be in the same room for the recording or the music video. I was so grateful that JESSI was willing to fly from Korea to Bali to shoot the music video and it was a very fun and interesting experience because we never really got the chance to spend time from the onset.
It was fun because we were just vibing to the song and she's very spontaneous. You know, we were supposed to shoot this scene indoors, but she was like, "we're in Bali, let's change it up and be outside", even though it was very hot outside, but she wanted to capture that Bali vibe. She adjusted some of the scenes with her vision. I'm just glad that it is such a collaborative process throughout the shooting. It was so fun and I'm grateful.
You've known Jessi for a while now. How did the friendship between the both of you influence the song?
I think we trust each other in terms of the creative process. When I sent the song to her, I told her to do whatever she wanted. I trust her to take the song to another level. I think it's still the same with the music video, I trust her vision as well.
She brings a fun energy to the song, and because the collaboration happened organically, hopefully, it will be a good surprise, a pleasant surprise to her fans and also to my fans.
The album you are releasing is titled "Sonder". Can you give us a little more teaser on your album and why you made this album?
My EP is called Sonder. It means that everyone that you see or meet in this life (even people that you pass by on the street), they have their own stories and their journey. I really feel like if we are more aware of that, we can be more empathetic to other people because everybody's going through something in their lives - me included.
So I want to share not just my journey, my struggles, my pain, and my fears but my joy through this. It's an emotional roller coaster. Just like how life is.
I also have another song, titled “Criminal” that has another featured artist at the last minute. Thuy (a Vietnamese American singer-songwriter) has been super amazing. She jumps on the song and just elevates the whole vibe for this song. Her voice is just perfect in this song, and I’m grateful that she is willing to do this.
On Sonder, what was the most challenging part of creating this album?
I think the most challenging part was when I finished writing and recording the whole song in London. Then we need to do post-production, plan for the artwork, music video, all the release plans and so on.
Your fans have been waiting for your new music with excitement. Do you have a message for them?
Be kind to yourself and embrace all of your emotions because they belong to you, you own that and I really hope that this EP can help you feel that you are not alone.
I just want them to connect to the music and lyrics in a more personal way. And hopefully, we can meet face to face when I'm promoting this album. I'm trying to do some shows in places that I've never been before. So hopefully, this will be a new and fresh beginning in my musical career, and of course with all the fans as well.
