Regina Song On Getting More Real Than Ever In “Fairy”: “I felt like I had no control over the situations in my life.”

Songwriting is a deeply personal process.

It takes introspection, opening up to thousands upon millions of listeners, and in Singaporean singer-songwriter, Regina Song’s experience, thinking about how it ties into a chapter of her life. Regina Song debuted in 2021 at the age of 17 with the single “LUCAS,” a downbeat R&B love song. Even in spite of her early debut, the artist has been writing music as early as the age of 13, drawing inspiration from the artists she’d regularly listen to.

Since then, she has gained the status of a rising star amongst international listeners, as popular tracks like “the cutest pair” and “high school boy” continue to circulate the internet. Additionally, last February 28, she released a single by the title of “Fairy,” which, in contrast to its light and dreamy title, delves into more grunge-y tones of love lost.

With the 10th anniversary of Wanderland, Song completed her second time performing for the Philippine audience, as she had previously brought her Fangirl Tour to Manila last January.

In an exclusive interview with Billboard Philippines, Regina Song delves into her detailed songwriting process, along with a new project that she’s been working on with Filipino artists.

Billboard Philippines: Welcome to the Philippines. Would this mark your first time here?

Regina Song: It’s my second time actually! I was here in January for my Southeast Asia tour; but this is my first time ever playing a festival. Super special to me.

Wanderland is a really well-loved festival here. I’m excited for everyone to get to know you and get to hear your music. Your music is already very well loved here, with your songs like the “cutest pair” and “high school boy.” How does it feel that your music is prominent in a completely different country?

Well, it feels really surreal. I used to like just play shows in Singapore. So actually, like coming overseas to play shows and seeing that there are actually people who care about music. It’s really, really crazy and really heartwarming. It really motivates me to keep waiting out the best version of myself.

Since you’ve also released your new single “Fairy,” can you tell us a bit more about kind of what went on behind this like your process?

“Fairy” was within a period of my life where I was for the first time I felt like I had no control over the situations in my life. For the first time I experienced a lot of frustration, a lot of anger and a lot of disappointment. I wanted to kind of write a song that had a really pretty name. But on the flip side, the song would have so many complicated emotions. So I thought that was really interesting — that was kind of the creative process of the song.

And given that it’s something that’s so kind of real, and that’s something that’s kind of almost hard to put into words, did you push yourself out of your comfort zone?

Definitely. I always found it really hard to express negative feelings, because I thought like, what do people think that like, I’m just like a hater, you know? But after talking to a lot of friends, they’re like, “No, it’s fine. Like, I mean, it’s just an emotion that you wanted to express and write about.” From then on, I felt more comfortable. After the release of the single, I got a lot of messages saying that, “Oh, your ‘Fairy’ has really helped me through, it’s really helping me through a really hard time. And I want you to know that like, there’s a lot of purpose to your music.”

It made me feel really touched, because I was actually really, really nervous for this release. Because I had always been writing very uplifting music, and they’re mostly positive. I was really nervous, but I’m really glad that everyone received it really well.

Prior to your debut with “LUCAS,” has music always been a part of your life?

I think music has always been a really big part of my life. I took pure lessons when I was young, but I really only started like writing a lot of music when I was 13. Honestly, it stemmed from being a really big fan of pop music. I really love pop music. I love K-pop, American pop, Chinese pop. A lot of my creative stylistic choices are based on my influences. Music has always been like a super big part of my life.

Who were some of your inspirations and influences when you were starting out?

Well, I would say my biggest influences are like female singers like Taylor Swift — I really love Olivia Rodrigo. Back in the 2010’s, it’d be Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, all the pop female icons. I remember watching them and thinking to myself, “Wow, I really want to do something like that one day.” In my teens, I listened to a lot of K-pop. I listened to a lot of BTS. I’m not afraid to admit that I love the two biggest K-pop groups in the world.

I find myself blending a lot, and also recently, I’ve been really into beabadoobee, NIKI, and Gracie Abrams. So I’ve been blending a lot of that into my songwriting, just blending all the different components of music. Oh, for Chinese pop, I listened to a lot of Jay Chou. JJ Lin. So I think I took a lot of those elements and I kind of made it my own style.

So with all of the kind of stylistic inspirations you’ve been receiving, who are the most prominent right now? 

I would say, I don’t think there’s anyone who’s like prominent. I would say that it differs from song to song. I would write something, I’m like, “Oh wait, this feels like something Taylor Swift will write or this feels something Olivia Rodrigo could write.” I’d be like, oh, “I like the way she (Taylor Swift) makes her own universes.”

When it comes to actually writing, not just musically, but actually writing the music, I like to tell a lot of stories like she does because I really like the way she encapsulates an entire series of events in one song. So yeah, I’m really inspired by her.

Were you able to catch the Eras Tour?

Yes, I was very fortunate too. I went on Night 4. It was a really, really magical night for sure.

So with this in mind, with your rapid growth as an artist, where do you feel like you’re heading towards?

Honestly, I am quite intimidated a bit just by like how fast everything has been. But I am more excited than anything. I am working on my next album. Actually, I have most of the songs written and the concepts and ideas out there. I’m just thinking about how to execute the release. I’m really excited for that one because I feel like this album is much more mature and (an) insightful side of me.

I think fangirl is very much me from when I was 16 to 19. But this new album will be a lot of me from me being in my twenties. There’s a little bit of like, maturity, like getting into my first relationship. The grieving process after my first relationship, and dealing with loss and doubt is going to be a big part of this album as well. So very much I’m focused on the lyrics. I want to make sure that I have a really nice cohesive album that everyone can enjoy.

Sonically, what kind of songs have you tried experimenting with in this new album?

Well, with my first single, “Fairy,” it’s definitely a much bolder sound. I’m kind of taking back my power. Because in fangirl, I was really pining, very hopeful, but “Fairy” kind of sets a new tone. I’m kind of commanding the power back. So, I guess that’s actually why I picked it as the first single to kind of accept the tonality difference.

This album will definitely still have a lot of guitars and piano. I like to keep my instruments mainly more raw. I feel it’s got to be more soulful. I’m going to experiment with a little bit more sounds. So, we’ll see how it goes. Definitely less cheery, but I would say more soulful and atmospheric.

I love how intentional you are about your music. Are you always like this when songwriting?

Yes. I realized that every time I write a song, I’m always thinking of how it ties into this chapter of my life. I wouldn’t say that I only write songs based on emotional chapters.

But when I’m like a certain state, like in a certain season of my life, I realized that I tend to write similar songs about similar themes. I’ll like pick up like what the theme is and try to like piece it together. For this album, it will be about my first love because I realized I had in my first album, like that was like, maybe one song, and that song was “Venus.” It was the happiest song of the album, besides “the cutest pair.”

So in this next album, I wanted to delve into the various emotions that came with my first love, dating my first love. It’s like kind of a lot of highs, but there’ll be a lot of lows as well. I wanted to capture that.

You sound like you do a lot of introspection through your music. It’s really fascinating to hear about how you go through your process. Who is a dream artist you would love to collaborate with?

Wow. I feel like my answer always varies. But recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of Gracie Abrams. I was thinking like, “Oh my God, like how fun would it be if I could write a song with her?” Like, I don’t even have to be be attached to her name, I just want to write a song with her. Because I’m really fascinated by how her brain works. I think it’s just like so cool that she writes her words so effortlessly, and so thoughtful. Right now, I would say Gracie Abrams.

You already mentioned your upcoming album. But apart from that, is there anything that we, as fans can expect from you in the coming year or so?

I will be releasing singles, for sure. I’m leading up to the album. The next one is going to be a song called “Love Me Again,” which is actually produced by Nhiko from Nameless Kids. We actually scheduled a session to record vocals tomorrow, so that’s fun. This song “Love Me Again,” I wrote it because I wrote it at the same time I wrote “Fairy.” So, “Fairy” was me like being angry, frustrated. I realized I didn’t let myself breathe the process well enough. “Love Me Again” is just a song letting myself be sad, like, “Maybe I do miss this person.” And like, “What if I’m making all the wrong decisions? And what if I messed up?”

I remember listening to one of the songs. I think it was I don’t know how you pronounce it, but it’s “Gabi.” Yes. And I remember thinking like, “Wow, this is like this song is so vibey. I love this one, the melody.” It’s so dreamy. And I wanted a lot of dreamy elements in “Love Me Again,” which is why I thought Nhiko would be like the perfect producer.

Regarding the process, this is actually the first song that I’m producing remotely. It was actually really great. I was a bit like surprised how fast he got the vision — like, I barely needed to say anything. He just got it. Like he sent me the first job and I was like, “Okay, so we’re like 70% done.” That’s great!

I’m super duper excited because I think this song is going to resonate a lot of fans going through heartbreak.

Listen to Regina Song’s “Fairy” here:

Photographed by Kim Santos. Art direction by Nicole Almero.