Singing her own tune

AT ONLY 20 years old, Natasha Muhammad Salihin Sass has accrued a formidable array of experiences as a singer. Known professionally as Natasha Sass, the young songstress of Malaysian-German heritage recently spoke to theSun about her passion for music.

“I started singing at the age of six, and knew right then I had an enormous passion for it,” Natasha said.

Possibly drawing from her heritage, Natasha’s linguistic fluency currently has her singing in English, Malay, Indonesian and German, and she’s even starting to learn Tagalog.

She claimed that the first time she took to the stage, it was during a school event when she was six years old, where she performed a German song called Max der disko Bär.

Burgeoning rise

From the ages of 12 to 15, Natasha began to see growth in herself as a singer, with offers and opportunities starting to become available simultaneously.

At 13, she was invited to the United States to record three songs that were composed and produced by Nick Trevisick, who has worked with US-based artistes like Katy Perry and Hot Chelle Rae. By age 15, Nastasha began writing her own songs.

“In 2016 I had a song, Indestructible, which was released on all digital platforms and made it to the Hitz MED 10 charts in Malaysia. The message of the song is to remind everyone that they are capable of doing all things, and are indestructible,” she said.

Upon graduating from high school at 16, record label Universal Music Malaysia quickly signed her up. Natasha would then release two singles with them, Hello Dunia and Repeat.

As she walked her own path and pursued various experiences to better herself, Natasha found herself performing at international events, including a national live broadcast at ZDF Fernsehgarten in Germany and Indian composer A.R. Rahman’s concert in Singapore.

She also opened for award-winning R&B super star Usher at the 2016 F1 post-race concert, and for Datuk Siti Nurhaliza in 2018.

She added: “In addition to everything, I was working in my other hometown (Germany) on a German album which led me to host my first ever concert there previewing the entire album. I took all the experiences and opportunities I could get as a way for me to learn and gain personal experience and knowledge.”

Support all-around

It took Natasha a while to find where she really felt at home making music.

“Only by working with different people, and learning from several opportunities, did I truly find who I am as a person, as an artiste, and where my heart lies in my passion for music,” she said.

Currently under the supervision and management of her manager Grace Mendoza and her team, Natasha recently released her latest single, Your Story with a music video.

“It was first released in the Philippines. I wrote this song in Los Angeles in 2017 with producer Dan Whittemore and songwriter Heather Jeanette, who wrote songs on Selena Gomez’s 2013 Stars Dance album,” Natasha explained.

“[Your Story] is a song I wrote based on my experience in the industry. I just want everyone out there to know that they have their own stories, and that only they hold the pen to write their book, which holds all their dreams.”

The singer is currently focussing on Your Story, which involves doing as many shows and promotions as possible.

“I am also making sure I still follow my roots and to continue doing music in my home country, Malaysia, as well. Xeno Entertainment owned by Melakaboy is working with me and guiding me in this aspect.”

As her music slants towards ballads, pop and R&B music, Natasha and the team working with her are still in the midst of planning out her upcoming album.

“We may include one of my upcoming Malay singles, Seharus Sakti, which is composed by Aubrey Suwito, and most probably a Tagalog song, followed by mainly English singles,” she explained.

“It looks like the genre of the album will be leaning towards pop and ballads. There are still a lot of ideas, and I welcome them as they come along.

“I (also) want to shoot a music video for Seharus Sakti. I will continue to travel back and forth from my primary work spaces in the Philippines and, of course, Malaysia but hopefully, I will establish other work hubs too.”

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