The last thing we expect when walking into the artists’ green room was to see our very own reigning Singapore Idol staring intently at his laptop, playing Dota, just like any regular guy.

Sezairi was one of the many local talents showcased at this year’s Music Matters and we had the honour to interview him before his set at the main stage that night.

If someone is listening to his music for the first time, they may notice that his music has an urban vibe and feel to it. Sezairi shared that he is highly influenced by the type of music he listened to when he was young such as early 60’s blues and jazz and somehow 90’s RnB is also thrown into the mix (which was totally my jam but I digress).

Recalling his recent trip to Perth, for a Western Australia (WA) Music Festival, Sezairi observed that WA’s music scene is similar to Singapore. There is a small population and they share the same attitude towards music as well. The trip was some sort of an exchange programme. Upon finding out the line up, Sezairi was thrilled that he was about to travel with fellow musicians/friends. A few fans were invited as well to watch their shows in Perth. How lucky!

2011 was one of the most memorable performance of his career. Sezairi was the opening act for Taylor Swift’s first Singapore concert, which was held at the Indoor Stadium. Even though he knew the earpiercing screams were for Taylor as the crowd thought she was about to perform, nonetheless, seeing the whole Indoor Stadium singing back his lyrics to “Broken” was the defining moment. That was when he knew he made it. Taylor even insisted that she met him before her performance!

When asked if he would ever consider taking up acting, Sezairi said he believes that talent, is talent. Some crossover artist may be judged for diverting from their main gig, but Sezairi strongly believes that if oppurtunity comes knocking, do not turn it down. If the right role presents itself at the right place and time, he would take it up. He have had roles offered to him before that he had to turn down, as he believed that other artists may be better suited for it. Sezairi shared that his dream role would be in a musical type of story.

So what is next?

He has just finished recording songs with Judika for the upcoming World Cup and the sexy, Ricky Martin, is featured in that song as well. Without giving too much details, Sezairi told us that he is currently working with an Indonesian artist and recording will commence soon. The songs would be headed towards a more RnB route and he could not be more excited about it.

Having recently released his latest single, “Sayang”, Sezairi have been actively doing promos in neighbouring countries, Malaysia and Indonesia. He also informed us that he has been signed to Malaysia’s SONY Music.

He noted that there is a big difference between fans here in SG and in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the reception of him and his music have been nothing but positive. Even though, sometimes it can be overwhelming, Sezairi finds it exciting and refreshing. He appreciates the opportunity to interact with the fans there.

If given the chance to collaborate with any artist right now, Sezairi would want to work with Maliq N D’Essentials. He absolutely loves the fact that they push their own musical boundaries, from being a jazz band, now they have a more pop electro sound. It would be interesting to see the result of this collaboration.

After the interview, The Fifth Parlour managed to catch Sezairi’s set. Performing a cover of Lorde’s ‘Royals’, Sezairi and his band brought the house down. The energy from the crowd witnessing his performance was palpable and hopefully indicative of what we can expect from him in the future.

Despite having ulcers, Sezairi was very obliging. The Fifth Parlour would like to thank Sezairi for the time taken for this interview. Thank you to Aboo for assisting us to coordinate and make this interview possible!