“Everyone’s so chill,” Belle Sisoski comments about our production team as she gets her makeup done for our photoshoot. Perhaps it’s the presence of lush landscapes and venerable works of art at our location of choice, Sutra Foundation, that puts us all at ease. (Or the lack of caffeine at eight o’clock on a Monday morning, but we’re inclined to think the former.)
In contrast, the Kuching-born describes herself as “intense” – just like the environments she’s accustomed to. Whether that involves performing live at an event or producing new tracks in her home studio, the Gen Z multihyphenate can scarcely be found resting on her laurels. Every chance she gets in between outfit changes and photo takes, we spot Belle whipping out her phone to create content for her millions of followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
The same can be said of her schedule, with back-to-back performances at high-profile events by Cartier and Hublot prior to our shoot, and upcoming festival sets in the pipeline. Yet, in a quiet corner of this bastion of traditional and contemporary arts, Belle casually shares her passion for music and merging ethnic and electronic sounds.
Music runs in her blood
Born to Sarawakian parents who work in music education and performance coaching, Belle was exposed to musical influences from the womb. “I started playing with the piano keyboard as a toddler, then the violin. As I grew, I also picked up more instruments,” she says.
She was also a sporty kid, learning tennis from her father, who doubled as a tennis coach. But music gradually took up most of her time, with her mother’s master’s degree in ethnomusicology leading Belle to dive deep into the subject. Today, she can play more than 30 different musical instruments at varying levels of mastery.
“As I am classically trained, my firm foundation in music theory helped me easily pick up instruments from various backgrounds,” she explains. The first ethnic instrument she tried was the guzheng, after stumbling upon a piece her mother used to play 30 years ago. It wasn’t long before she moved on to the sape, courtesy of sape master Matthew Ngau.
“[Matthew] taught me the techniques and elements of it, and I started to get really interested so I got a sape as well. After that, I began collecting ethnic instruments. I think I was around 15 or 16 at the time,” she gushes.
“Music is a work of passion and labour of love for me.”
Now, aside from the piano, which will always be her first love for its versatility, Belle’s favourite instruments are the tapi and engkerurai. The tapi is a two-string boat lute from the Lun Bawang tribe that was handed to her by revivalist Rining Peter Paris. It creates a distinct metallic-plucky sound thats ideal for instrumental solos, which you may be able to identify from her cover of Sam Smith’s Unholy.
On the other hand, the engkerurai, an Iban mouth organ, creates a grand, warm, and fuzzy sound like a muffled organ. Other interesting instruments you’ll find in her collection include the rainmaker, pan flute, jaw harp, and nose flute (turali), just to name a few.
Ethnic meets electronic
When asked what music means to her, Belle shares: “Music is a work of passion and labour of love for me. It is a journey of storytelling and sharing my ancestors’ cultures, traditions, history, and stories.”
“Some ethnic instruments are at risk of extinction as the younger generations lose interest in their traditional musical instruments,” she continues on a more solemn note. “Through my music, I hope to create more awareness to preserve and promote the beauty of these ethnic musical instruments.”
How does one revive these dying cultural legacies? According to Belle, by marrying them with modern elements – specifically, electronic sounds. Cue a few other talents up her sleeve: singing, songwriting, DJing, and producing. She has been penning lyrics and making song covers since her early teens, but she only developed the last two skills just a few years back.
“Music production and DJing require specific skill sets, which I self-taught from YouTube during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Combining ethnic instruments in my music production is a journey of experimental improvisation,” she reveals. As she improvised, she also recorded the process and shared her music online as a form of self-expression. It didn’t take long before her videos went viral.
“Through my music, I hope to create more awareness to preserve and promote the beauty of ethnic instruments.”
One of her most watched videos to date shows the musical process behind the creation of Hold On, an original song released in 2023. It has over 26 million views on Instagram and 18 million views on TikTok. The song uses heavy drums and a fast tempo to portray the feeling of anxiety, something Belle herself is familiar with as a self-professed overthinker.
Belle also explores other social issues and human-interest topics through her music. For instance, Stop Your Games is a track about child neglect, representing the cry of a child to their parents. Her latest release, Mother’s Calling, touches on climate change and the urgent need for collective responsibility to adopt more responsible lifestyles.
“I get a lot of DMs every day and some of them are quite touching. A few said my music saved them, so it’s nice to know that. That’s my goal – to create songs that matter,” she resolves.
A passion for self-expression
Even with her newfound fame, Belle is still very much a one-woman show. From the production of a song to the content creation for her social media platforms, this all-rounder does it all on her own. Bear in mind that some DJ gigs require her to plan a complete set in as little as three days. This includes curating a playlist according to a theme and duration, mixing the tracks, adding ethnic elements, and rehearsing.
Self-imposed datelines, discipline, and countless rehearsals at a very high, intense level are how she gets the job done. I ask if she ever gets burned out, to which she earnestly replies: “Some shows can be very energy draining – not physically, but I think spiritually – because performing is like giving a part of yourself to the audience. So, if you don’t get it back, it becomes very tiring.”
On that note, Belle recalls her favourite live performance so far at Riuh in the City in Melaka last May. “The crowd returned 150% of the energy I gave them. The show was filled with intense, mind-blowing engagement, so it was really memorable for me,” she beams.
“I need to be clear on my personal branding and stay true to my roots.”
Likewise, churning out content for the social media generation known for short attention spans can be enervating. “To create good content is very subjective. I started posting to express myself, but then, when it got to the point where it became like my bread and butter, then I had to strategise. It becomes more exciting, actually. I love it.
“I can speak for all creators that if you put a lot of effort into a video and it doesn’t do well, obviously, it’s disappointing. But you just have to continue and keep trying,” she deduces. So, what’s her strategy? “I need to be clear on my personal branding and stay true to my roots. Most importantly, I need to make music with passion and love.”
From Southeast Asia to the world
Looking forward, Belle will focus on expanding her ongoing video series, Wonders of the Southeast, by shooting short and long-format content. The former will introduce the history and process of making Southeast Asian ethnic instruments; while the latter will be shot in iconic locations in Sarawak, featuring these instruments in a hybrid DJ and live performance setting with live looping elements and performance pads.
She is also working on releasing an album, with the first song, The Revival, dropping on August 30. “This album is going to be about the epitome of the mind, portraying how vast and how broad your mind can be. It will touch on topics like emotions and why we feel them, what is the purpose of life, and these sort of [existential] things,” she elaborates.
While she may be making a name for herself as the ‘Belle of the Party’, she teases that her upcoming music will have “more intimate, stimulating, and melancholy compositions.” The lyrics will continue to weave raw emotions, authenticity, and social issues based on her experiences to evoke a sense of personal connection and engagement.
On top of the album announcement, Belle is excited to switch up her look with more flamboyant, feather-adorned outfits in the colours of the Sarawak flag: red, black and yellow. Fans can also expect brand-new live-act show elements for her future performances.
As we wrap up the interview, Belle imparts a few words of advice for budding musicians in this highly niche genre: “Invest time and resources into your craft with passion. Mastery is littered with trial and errors along the way. So, don’t listen to the naysayers; keep making music from your heart.”
Featured image: Belle strikes a pose with the ketubong in a MSYD puffer jacket.
Editor: Natalie Khoo
Assisted by: Neda Al-Asedi
Art Direction: Mon Kai Siong
Photography: Edmund Lee | Hexa Studio
Photography assistant: Christine Chang
Videography: Haoyii Lim
Videography assistant: Denise Mak
Stylist: Mughni Che Din
Styling assistant: Alicia Wong
Hair and makeup: Asaki
Location: Sutra Foundation
Read more of FirstClasse Malaysia’s Inspire digital cover stories here.