[EXCLUSIVE] An interview with the soulful "Isaiah Firebrace"

The 17 year old Australian singer, Isaiah Firebrace has been in the spotlight for winning X Factor Australia in 2016 and has competed in EuroVision representing Australia. The soulful singer charms audience with his deep and rich voice. In our interview with Isaiah, he talks bout his upcoming album and coping with homesickness.

A few months ago, you've represented Australia in EuroVision. How has the experience shaped you? 

I learnt a lot about myself and and performing, especially on such a big stage. It was a super exciting time for me, my family and all my supporters. It was awesome and I still can't believe that I did that. 

You are famed as a soulful singer, is this the direction you want to stay on? Or would you want to try out a new route? 

Well, R&B, soul and gospel type of singing is what makes me who I am but obviously in this industry, you've gotta be a bit more appealing in the pop market. I would incorporate more pop aspects into my music. I do enjoy a lot of pop music, but definitely someone like Bruno Mars is direction I want to go. 

Recently, "streets of gold" was released with clips of you roaming Europe, how do you deal with homesickness while being abroad? 

I'm really okay with being away from home for long periods of time but when I went to EuroVision, I was away from Australia for over one month. By the end of my Europe trip, I was really missing home. I guess the only thing to do is to get back home and get together with the family and reconnect. That was probably the first time, I ever got really home sick. 

I heard you are currently in Singapore, how has it been so far? 

It's been so good, the weather is amazing. The food and the people,  and it's really clean as well. I'm having such a good time here. 

Who would you want to collaborate with?

That's a hard question, there's so many artists in music and great singers out there. A few people I would love to collaborate with will be Sia, Ariana Grande, Adele, Ed Sheeren, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, Beyonce and Mariah Carey, she's just a big inspiration. 

Has there been an advice given to you in which resonated with you? If so, what advice was it? 

When I used to do my vocal lessons. My vocal coach told me to stay true to yourself and always be humble. Just good morals about respect in this industry. Always be appreciative and enjoy everything you do. So that's something that has resonated with me. 

Among the singles you've released, which song has been your personal favorite? 

I think personally, "Streets of Gold" is probably one of my favorite so far because I co-wrote it myself and it's feels more special. 

You've won X factor Australia and represented your home land in EuroVision, what other goals are you determined to achieve? 

There are so many things I want to achieve in my career, like I want to travel to America. The main big goal, is to be a worldwide international artist. A successful singer songwriter. 

When it comes to song writing, what kind of song do you tend to gravitate towards to?

I really like R&B soul, I would like to sing a lot of soul-ballads as well. But I do like writing up-beat songs. The kind of song like Bruno Mar's "Up Town Funk". Well I like to write whatever mood I'm in. Songwriting is a process you can't really control. You sit down and write whatever that comes to your mind. I write anything from like ballads to up-beat pop songs. 

Growing up in the digital age, how do you utilize the internet and technology to connect yr music with the rest of the world? 

I think with social media, it's really easy to let your fans and supporters know what you're up to. The fans really like knowing what you're up to especially with Snapchat, a more personal experience, kind of like vlogging on their phones." 

Would you consider vlogging on YouTube?

A lot of people asked if I wanted to but I think it just takes too long. You've got to set up the a little studio, buy a good camera to make it look professional. I think it's a bit too much hard work committing. 

So what's next for you? What can the fans expect? 

Yes definitely a new album, the last few months, I've been working on new music and being in the studio songwriting, laying down demo tracks. Getting to release an album is exciting, I want to share that with everyone. 

When asked if the album would be released anytime soon. He responded that  the album might be released this year but he was unsure how quickly everything will be completed. He hope the album will be out this year before Christmas but if not, it will be out early next year.  The upcoming album will have a blend of R&B aspect and pop elements. 

Do you have a message for the Malaysian fans?

I would just want to say Hello to all my fans in Malaysia. Thanks for supporting my music and hopefully one day I'll be able to come to Malaysia and meet you all. That would be really cool. Stay tune for more music and the album coming soon.