JAKARTA - Zara Leola is one of the young singers currently circulating in the Indonesian music industry. She is still 18 years old, but her music career has been going on for eight years, with dozens of songs released to date.
Her latest single, entitled "Lebih Dari Teman" with Mario G Klau, is her first duet song with a male singer with the theme of love. This song tells the story of someone whose love is not reciprocated as desired. Zara said her new song had a "friendzone" theme.
“This song is more about the friend zone. And what I want to tell my friends, maybe don't give people too much hope yet," said Zara Leola when visiting the VOI office in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta recently.
"Because now there are so many, especially as a young person, I socialize a lot, I want to have lots of friends, then suddenly I meet someone, and I get emotional, but I only consider them friends," she continued.
Through her new song, Zara, who was previously known as a child singer, was even nominated at the AMI Awards twice, has now turned into a teenage singer.
The transition from child singer to teenage singer for Zara went quite well. This can be seen from her consistency since her debut at the age of 10. Every year, Enda Ungu's eldest daughter always releases new songs, some of which even involve her in writing the songs.
Zara herself feels that the changes she has experienced so far have gone well. She knows what kind of songs are suitable for singers her age, and also fans who are mostly the same age.
“I feel like my change is not that sudden. I said to dad, 'Well, I seem to be having a hard time maintaining my little idol as a teenager', so I said I needed a solution. My father said I had to look for songs that had universal themes and continued with love themes," said Zara.
"But apart from that, (the change) wasn't that difficult, because coincidentally my fans are my age too, so they can also feel what I feel. For example, if I put out a love one, it will definitely be age appropriate. It's impossible for me, who is 18 years old, to tell songs about infidelity."
Currently, Zara is also confident about her choice in the entertainment industry. She likes what she does as a singer, and wants to remain consistent with her choices, even though she admits it is not easy.
“Now I am confident in myself that I want to hone myself in the world of music. I feel like my child really likes art, I like writing songs more, I like acting more. For now, God willing, I will continue my career. Right now, at my young age, I think this is what I like," she said.
"Because I started my career when I was 10 years old, I really wanted to change when I was 15 years old. That's where I felt like I had to defend what I wanted. I happened to realize that I was a teenager who was very unstable with my own choices, like suddenly wanting this, wanting that, so I realized that I had to be consistent."
Father's Role as a Musician, Privilege or Burden?
Not without reason, the views of several people who saw her only relying on her father's big name and questioning her abilities were found on social media. However, Zara seems to be more mature than imagined, she is well aware that not everything she does gets a positive response.
“Every time people comment about me, I always take that as evaluation material. Not everyone is perfect, if we make a mistake, we just have to admit it," said Zara.
"If it's someone's opinion, that's fine, not everyone has to listen to it. Not everything has to be positive, so if there is something negative, that's okay. Back again, I learned that in this world not everyone respects us, and not everyone likes what we do," she continued.
Furthermore, Zara even sees her father's big name not as a burden, but as a blessing in itself that must be accepted. She realized that without her father, it would be difficult for her to find a love for the music industry.
Enda's journey as a musician, which was not easy, was also a lesson in itself. Zara finds the best teacher to pursue her music career.
"My father's advice was for me to respect the people around me. Because without us realizing it, our work also helps many people, and without those people we couldn't work. I feel like in this industry there are a lot of people behind the scenes who help," said Zara.
“Father also taught me to be patient. For example, if it goes viral, we don't know. If, for example, something viral could be bought, everyone would buy it too. But my father would always say, 'Be patient, there is a time for everything. There's no need to rush,'" she continued.
"Because what I saw from my father, he was very patient in the world of music. My father really did it from the beginning, from Manado to Jakarta, and then the first album didn't become a boom. So, I really feel like he taught me a lot.”
None of her father's suggestions were taken lightly. Times may have changed, but Zara seeing her father's maturity in the world of music will never be wrong.
“Because I know, in the end the things that father learns will definitely be useful. I think this industry is turning around, so I feel like my father's suggestions can't be wrong. Even if I feel that my father's advice is wrong, it will definitely be right at the end of the day," she said.
"I also can't possibly underestimate what my father said to me, because he is a professional in music."
From what she has gone through while in the music industry, Zara actually feels "luckier" than her friends. While some of her friends have not yet decided what their path in life will be, Zara feels that she already has a career worth living.
“I realized that I have a cool job, and I can still balance my work and social life. Eight years in the entertainment world, I feel like I should be sure. I felt like I couldn't stop because I wanted to take a different course. Yes, maybe now my hobby has become my priority, it has become something serious," said Zara Leola.
“Maybe because I feel like I already have this career, which started as a hobby and became serious. So I feel like music changed my life because I was able to go further.”
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
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