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Interview: Geography, Cuisine, and Math Inspire DEON
- Konstantina Buhalis
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Deon Speaks with SoundCheck About His Inspirations
Article Contributed by Konstantina Buhalis
Deon's World
Singaporean indie artist Deon has been on the rise; with his latest single, "Feels the Same," from his upcoming album, Numbers Game, plus SoFar Sessions and touring, he's been booked and busy. He took some time to chat with SoundCheck about his inspiration, food blogging, and going to college in Boston.
It's like Whiplash
Deon's musical journey began with piano; from there, he moved to guitar and saxophone, and finally fell in love with the drums. Deon's love of drums drove him to pursue a career as a drummer and eventually led him to audition for Boston's Berklee College of Music; after he was accepted, he began studying drums as his principal instrument. During his tenure studying at Berklee, Deon had to take yearly training lessons to practice pitch, and those lessons taught him that he could sing, saying,
"It was at one of those lessons, this very specific module that we were having on a cloudy day in Boston, that the teacher then told me that, you know, what was I doing playing the drums when I could sing? Up to that point, I didn't realize I could sing. So she planted a seed. And after a while, when I started to realize that I could sing, I realized that I could actually carry my own songs and not have to write songs for other people. I gained the confidence that maybe I could just sing on my own tracks and then put the music on and see what happens."
Drums helped Deon craft music by giving him the building blocks of rhythm and melody. While he doesn't play drums as often, Deon said drums allowed him to create music, continuing to say, "a higher level, how the drums got me to where I am right now, it just opened many doors for me. I got to know a lot of musicians, first as a drummer. Eventually, when I transitioned into writing songs as a singer-songwriter, many of those musicians also gave me a chance to perform and share my music. It gave me a foot in the door."
Playing the Numbers
Deon's latest album, The Numbers Game, is an album about change, reflection, and love. The cover art features multiple shots of Deon with corresponding numbers, while the single art for "Feels the Same" is numbered photographs of Deon and collaborator Don Aaron. The numbers on the artwork carry significant meaning for Deon: 37 for his childhood home and 21 for his 21st birthday. Deon went into depth explaining his number choices, saying,
"The number 37, it's the place where I grew up my entire life. It's my house number. And when I was 21, it was a very pivotal moment in my life, and I was studying in Boston. And at that point, I came to a few realizations while studying overseas in Boston, and that was also the start of my songwriting journey. So those are, I think, two of the more meaningful numbers that I could pull out straight away and that are also more impactful. So for each number, there's a reason it's there."
Deon went on to say that as he continued to write the album he started to draw inspiration from numeric from multiple sources, going on to say, "I found that for each song I was able to attribute a line of numbers whether it's geographical coordinates or whether it was meaningful dates and also when I'm about to drop the album I think those closer to me will also know that it's actually going to be a birthday drop it's going to be right around my birthday in October when I where I released the album as well so every single thing has a little I try not to be too cryptic about it."
The Numbers Game is an album focused on vulnerability and how it shapes us over time.
Deon explained the album was influenced by maturing and understanding that we are all aging, continuing with the realization that we are all learning and growing, saying, "I was getting older; my loved ones around me were getting older as well. And as we grew up together, whether it's my parents or my brother. We were starting to accept each other a little bit more. I wasn't pushing back as hard with arguments or falling out with my loved ones. I was starting to see them for who they were, accepting that everyone is kind of like a flawed human being."
Furthering the sentiment, Deon went on to say how he has grown more confident in his value system, explaining, "That was the main thing about this album. A lot of acceptance, a lot of transitions from a space of pushing back, rejecting things that didn't really sit in my value system, and eventually moving into a space where I'm cool with that—everyone's kind of different. We don't get to choose our family most of the time. So for me, that was the major theme that I tried to inject across the album."
The release of the single "Feels the Same" was released during an emotional period in Deon's life, the single was released shortly before Deon's father passed away, but in the midst of grief, there is joy, with Deon explaining his father was able to hear the single played on Singaporean radio, "I think the last time where he got to hear any of my works was the first single for the album when it was played on Singapore radio. So that was very, very meaningful for me. And I finally got to deliver that message of acceptance as well to my dad. So it just came at the right time."
Deon credits this time in his life with helping him "grow into a complete person," and he wrote his latest album intending to inject that meaning into the lyrics.
Food and Friendship
Deon's interests span far beyond music, including his love of food and travel; on his Instagram, he regularly posts dishes from his travels, often with his bandmates and friends in the videos. The posts aren't simply food posts, but a peek into Deon's life and a subtle way to share his music, using his songs in the background so fans and scrollers can hear new tracks. Deon continued,
"I play with a core group of musicians. They have been with me for, I would say, more than a decade. Most times, we celebrate with food. We gather around food and music before practices, after practices. We talk about food; we talk about music. It just goes hand in hand. And when we've played so many, we've played, okay, for example, when we've played Canadian Music Week, Indie Week Toronto, and Indie Week Canada, and even when we traveled to Japan, the UK, the answer was always, 'Okay, we'll play the shows, and then we'll look for the best food around the area'.That's how we experience the culture as well. And it's opened so many windows of opportunity for me. At the same time, when I do the food reviews, I kind of sneak in some music people haven't heard before. Deon expressed how important the cultural exchange is when touring, saying, "I get really excited as well when I travel, when we do tours, and I have the opportunity to capture some of the culture of the other places, for example, Japan, right? And I could place them on the reels. I think that, for me, That's what it's all about because music has opened so many doors for me, and I'm just finding different creative ways to give back."
Deon's commitment to community is at the heart of his music, as he explains how he met his bandmates, who he has been with for over a decade,
"Most of the folks in the band have been playing; we've been playing together for more than 10 years. And I would dare call them some of the best friends in my life as well. They were my best men at my wedding and vice versa. And they were there when I proposed, and we were there to help each other through life as well. So there are so many things we kind of grew up together. It's more than music now, right? It's the food. Experiences in life. It's the traveling, it's the, you know, being extremely broke and traveling to Japan to play shows in life houses, sleeping on the floor, being also still extremely broke and flying all the way to Canada on a 29-hour flight and falling asleep while having rehearsals in Canada because we can't stay awake due to the time difference, being super jet-lagged and stuff like that. These experiences have made my life extremely colorful, and I shared them with the same group of people, so they are very precious to me. I think they know this, and I try to feature them in my food videos too so that we can experience life together. I think we have grown up together; it's a really beautiful thing. I don't think many people can say they played in the same band for 10 years without falling out, and I really treasure that."
The band shares the unique experience of growing up in Singapore, where English is a primary language but multiple languages and dialects are spoken, fostering a global mindset. However, music culture is primarily Western. Deon explains that you would hear Western and American pop music on the radio, but there is a lack of Singaporean artists. Deon explained that he often looks for opportunities overseas, but a new group of artists is on the rise, and he's excited about them.
Deon's interest in media led him to a collaboration with Eden Kai, a Japanese artist who appeared on the Netflix series, Terrace House.
Deon had watched Kai on the show, and happened to play a show where Kai heard his music, and they connected and worked on a currently unreleased single. “He heard us play live, we had a quick chat, and we stayed in contact ever since. And I knew that he was a great musician. He's a great ukulele player. I know he travels between Hawaii and Tokyo all the time. And I just wanted to create music with someone that I really look up to. So I reached out to him about this possibility. I think around COVID period, around 2020, it didn't happen then. But after waiting about four years now, after that, it kind of happened,” said Deon. This isn’t the first time Deon has worked with an artist he admired; Deon opened for Rachel Yamagata and Of Monsters and Men as well.
Deon has had the opportunity to play multiple shows and tours, but SoFar Singapore has been one of his favorite shows. SoFar Singapore is an intimate acoustic show that lets artists perform close to fans, leaving more time to discuss their music and play a select few songs. The Unplugged inspired live shows are a unique concept that inspired Deon: “ When the organizers contacted us, they said, you know, play maybe like three songs and spend the rest of the time just talking about the songs and connecting with people.”Deon explained.
Deon’s Advice
In a fast-paced world, Deon prioritizes taking time to enjoy the world around him and encourages others to do the same by saying,
“I think with the technology that's going on, with AI, with just the world being more connected, I think everyone's lives have gone a lot faster. It's become more intense. And I just... and hope that everyone has that space and that awareness to still sit with themselves and just be yeah and and if music is one way to get them to do so then then just listen to your favorite songs and just sit down and chill out yeah um and not get too stressed and when they have the opportunity to just give their loved ones a hug, and I think that's all that really matters at the end.”
Deon’s music is available to stream on all platforms, and you can follow the band’s adventures and food reviews on their Instagram.
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