LITTLE did Jannine Weigel know that when she journeyed here in February, it would be a long while before she is reunited with her family in Bangkok, Thailand.
The artiste, who turned 20 just four months ago, uprooted herself to come to Malaysia after signing a deal late last year with new record company RedRecords.
The label is a collaboration between Universal Music Group and AirAsia Sdn Bhd. Weigel is its first artiste.
Shortly after moving here, the pandemic hit, forcing countries to shut their borders.
Being on her own for the first time, the experience has forced her to become more mature.
"Although it was quite challenging at first, being all alone here has helped me build a really strong relationship with the RedRecords team," says Weigel.
Calling Petaling Jaya her "home", she picks the Indian banana leaf rice dish as her favourite Malaysian food. Obviously, she has quite comfortably settled in.
Weigel first tasted the limelight at the age of 10, beginning her career as an actress. Born in Steinfurt, Germany, she is more inclined towards singing.
"Singing makes me truly happy. I love how music affects people and how a song evokes raw emotions in all of us," she says.
Weigel and her family moved to Thailand when she was 10. It didn't take long for her to create waves there.
Using YouTube as her platform, she shared cover versions of her favourite songs, slowly but surely accumulating fans.
Weigel soon became the first Thai artiste to receive YouTube's highly-coveted Gold Button.
She currently has 3.6 million subscribers on YouTube, 3.2 million followers on Facebook, 1.7 million fans on Instagram and more than 500,000 admirers on TikTok.
Upping her game
After almost a decade being in the limelight, Weigel knows she has to up her game and that means leaving Thailand to pursue her love for singing.
Still in utter disbelief to be part of the RedRecords family, she says: "I'm just really excited and I'm looking forward to seeing what's to come."
Weigel's debut English single titled Passcode will be released today. A dance-pop anthem, it is produced by Grammy-nominated producer Tommy Brown (known for his collaboration with Ariana Grande, Chris Brown and Fifth Harmony) and co-written by Canadian singer-songwriter Jessie Reyes.
Weigel and the team actually flew to Los Angeles before the Movement Control Order was enforced to work with Brown and Reyes.
They spent an entire week working and writing new songs.
"We came up with a bunch of new tunes. I really enjoyed working with them.
"Everyone treated one another like family. Being very new to the industry, I felt humbled and also relieved that they respected my ideas and input," recounts Weigel.
Passcode was recorded and completed in Malaysia after receiving the early demos from Brown who tweaked it to fit Weigel's style.
According to RedRecords artiste and repertoire manager John O, the behind-the-scenes content, social media content, the creative direction and the music video were all filmed and produced in Malaysia.
"As a Malaysian, I'm very proud of the effort put into Passcode. It's a showcase what Malaysians can do in the entire creative aspect," he adds.
Weigel's single is accompanied by a dazzling video directed by Philip Rom Kulleh.
"Some of the biggest TikTok influencers from Malaysia and Thailand are featured in the video."
RedRecords CEO Hassan Choudhury hopes that the company will bring additional "colour and shine to the local creative scene".