Malaysian Idol Season 2 winner Daniel Lee took a break from the music industry in 2015 due to the difficulties of catching up to newer, more relevant rising artists. He dove into business, but that didn’t work out for him either. He will be back with a collaboration with Quinton Academy and is still accepting offers to perform on stage.
Prior to his return to the music industry in 2017, the Kedah-born even worked as a financial manager when he could not keep up with his frozen seafood wholesale business. Initially, he was never into business, according to the 40-year-old, but he did so for survival.
He confided that he made a big mistake in planning his singing career after the release of his single “Mimpi”. Instead of releasing another single locally, he felt the need to break into the China and Taiwan music market with a full Chinese-language album.
“In reality, attempting to break into the competitive international market was hard even though a lot had already been invested, to the point that I almost gave up when the invitations were decreasing. It was my fault that I didn’t keep working on songs in Bahasa Melayu after ‘Mimpi’ and ‘Malaysian Idol 2’. Eventually, my name became less noticeable in the local music arena,” said Daniel.
He returned to singing in 2017 with a new spirit and love for music. He also said, “I realised music was the only career that I actually love, and I shouldn’t have given up.” During the Movement Control Order (MCO), he worked backstage as a vocal director, which allowed him to work from home for the whole of the MCO phase.
Director or vocal choreography was among the most sought after by singers before they could go back to work at the recording studio. Due to demand, the singer’s schedule was always packed. “I never rested during the whole three years because the experience has become my motivation for me to move forward,” he added.
Daniel further shared that he knows where he belongs now. “Going back to the music industry, I want to challenge myself to share what I have learned from my own experience. My responsibility now lies in teaching young artists to sharpen their vocal pattern or choreography, especially in the work of recording a single or album“.
Still tight-lipped on the collaboration with Quinton Academy, he is also confident the local music industry will thrive as it was.
Source: Kosmo.
Anis Sharina contributed to this article.
