The cool and kooky Clara C

Over the years, YouTube has become a hotbed for all that is good, bad, and ugly in music. Let’s not get into the bad and the ugly (because everyone’s had enough of the auto-tuned disaster that is “Friday”), so let’s just focus on the good.

 

Yes, despite being the video-sharing site that foisted Rebecca Black upon the world, YouTube has actually had more hits than misses. 

 

The evidence: just the slew of extremely talented young people whose voices and sheer musicality have made getting Rickrolled so worth it. Among them are Marie Digby, Charice Pempengco, Greyson Chance, and okay fine, even Justin Bieber, who have all transcended the Internet and have moved on to world tours and number-one albums.

 

And then of course there’s Clara Chung, the darling doll of a girl whose dorky charm and cute videos come second only to her incredible musical ability—not only does she have a beautiful voice that is all at once wispy and soulful, but she can also play an army of instruments (including the kazoo and the melodica, which she calls her “shisha piano”) and write songs that are Billboard-number-one material.

 

While her name is still quite unfamiliar, and she has yet to play at the Staples Center (which she said is one of her goals), the 24-year-old Korean-American from LA is definitely on the right track, recording a sophomore album, touring the world, and winning over legions of new fans in the process.

 

First time in Manila and Asia

 

Manila was lucky enough to be a stop on her Asia-Pacific tour. “It's my first time in Asia, ever!” she said. 

 

Her show at the Music Museum last December 1 was a smashing success, because while the turnout was relatively small, those who did turn up were rabid fans (local actor Cesar Montano among them!) who knew all the words to her songs and cheered and screamed declarations of love throughout the show. One devoted guy even crafted two light-up signboards complete with a giant heart lined with red fairy lights. He said it took him six hours to make them. So few artists have a fan base as dedicated.

 

Clara’s good friend Charles J. Tan opened the show, armed with only his guitar and his smooth voice. After several songs from Charles, including his great deconstruction of the seminal hit “True Colors,” Clara bounced on stage, her boundless energy apparent from the get-go.

 

“I’m in friggin’ Manila!” she shouted, and the crowd went wild. When she picked up her colorful guitar, the crowd went even wilder, and stayed that way until the meet-and-greet session at the end of the show, which took almost two hours.

 

From 11 subscribers to millions

 

It’s hard to believe that just a couple of years ago, Clara had only a handful of followers: “I remember when I had 11 subscribers and I was very, very happy with myself. I was like, ‘Wow, 11 people are watching me.’ And now it’s like in the millions. I just did what I did and let it happen.”  

It’s even harder to believe that this ball of energy was initially shy about putting her music out there: “I was very closeted as a musician; I didn’t think I could make it anywhere because I’d see people on TV, and think, ‘I don’t look like that,’ or ‘I can’t do that’… I actually was very opposed to YouTube at first, because it just puts you in a vulnerable place, you know. [But] my friends forced me to.”

 

YouTube plus several victories in different music competitions in LA accelerated Clara’s journey to stardom. In only two years’ time, she has put out one successful album, The Art in my Heart, and is already working on a second one, which she said will have a lot of “soul, and upbeat grooves.” With such a thriving career, it’s safe to say that world domination is right around the corner for this artist.

 

Yet even with all the success that’s coming her way, the only accomplishment Clara feels she needs to make is “To make a difference…Cheesy, but true.” She went on to share, “The first girl I met today started crying, and I was like, ‘Wait, you’re making me sad. What happened?’ And she said, ‘Your music just touches me.’ That’s it. One person moved and feeling my music—that’s all I need really.”

 

Of course, that’s not to say she’s going to stop there. When asked where she sees herself a decade from now, Clara answered: “In 10 years, I’ll be 34. So hopefully [I’ll be] married with children. And still doing this, but bigger and better where I can take my family, and pack out Staples Center-sized venues everywhere.”

 

“Someone told me it’s not about how big you get and how fast you get there. It’s about how long you’re staying. People forget about you really easy these days,” she added.

 

It’s interesting to see how Clara C has gone from quirky girl-next-door to soul siren in a relatively short time. And while technology may have something to do with it, and her talent definitely everything to do with it, she owes her success to something that she feels is rather underrated these days: “Don’t underestimate practice. I feel like our society likes talent over hard work. They don’t understand that hard work adds to talent.”  

 

Her advice to aspiring musicians? “Don’t forget hard work, and don’t let anybody hold you down…Go try YouTube, do your thing, make it your own. All you need is the people, and you’ve got it.” –KG, GMA News