There is no way of knowing what to expect when you attempt to bring two disparate things together. 

When you examine the two artists behind 'Rock Bottom Blues', Benjamin Kheng and James Reid, you will find that being music stars in their respective countries is as far as their similarities go. 

And if their differences are noticeable to listeners, you can bet that they are even more apparent to the Singaporean singer-songwriter and Filipino-Australian singer-songwriter, actor, and producer.

Reid recalled initially having doubts about whether the collaboration would work: "Actually, I wasn't sure at the start because I had the song and I was like, 'Okay, this song is a hit. This song's a radio hit.' But my style of singing is usually more on the R&B lane and I wasn't sure if it was going to work at first." 

Despite this, their collaborative work on the dance-inducing pop number proceeded as planned and the resulting creation came as an extremely pleasant surprise to Kheng and Reid.

"Our vocal timbres, interestingly, kind of complement each other although we are very, very different singers. I couldn't do what he does. I think the blend is really interesting. And I think it gave rise to a very interesting texture for the song," shared Kheng, who released 'Rock Bottom Blues' on 28 July as a preview of his forthcoming two-part studio album, Gloomy Boogie.

Following the release of 'Rock Bottom Blues', Kheng and Reid spoke to Bandwagon about what it was like working together on their new single and what they discovered about each other in the process.

Hey Benjamin and James! How did you discover each other’s music? Were there any particular songs that left an impression on you? 

BENJAMIN: I think if you are into Filipino music and the entertainment industry there, it's impossible not to know who James Reid is. He's seismic, he's a phenomenon, [and] a great talent there. My favourite work from him, I think, is a recent album called lovescene:. I just think it's a great pop album. It's got great records in there [and] really, really interesting [and] smart sound choices and he sounds amazing. And he's such a great vocalist.

JAMES: I heard about Benjamin Kheng through like a lot of people and a lot of friends, especially when I was going out to Singapore. They said, "You need to check out this guy." I think one of the songs that really stuck or made an impression was 'Baby Mama'. I thought that, you know, it was very different. I was like, "Damn, he's a very versatile artist and this is not what I was expecting." I thought that was really cool. 

What was it like putting your heads together to write ‘Rock Bottom Blues’? How did you resolve creative differences between yourselves? 

BENJAMIN: So actually, 'Rock Bottom Blues' was written back in January with a few friends from Los Angeles and myself, Olivia Knox and SAINT KID. So the song was pretty baked by the time we got it to James. James came on board and he gave us some great notes. He wrote his verse and we talked about how the rest of the song would go. Most of it was online because by then he had flown back to the Philippines or he was in Korea at the time, so we didn't get to work it out in person but it was very seamless. It was a lot of long-distance-relationship texting and sending sweet voice memos of us singing. So that's how we wrote 'Rock Bottom Blues'. And from there to filming the music video and the promo, it was all within the span of a month [or] a month plus. It was really, really fast but yeah, it's one of those speedy, long-distance things. 

JAMES: Working on 'Rock Bottom Blues' was actually a very easy process. I'm really grateful that Benjamin asked me to be on the track in the first place. But then, he was also very collaborative, was very open to my ideas, and was really asking for my input, which I really appreciated. So I'm happy because it really felt like something that I would do. And yeah, it was a really smooth process. Even though we weren't there physically, we were just sending notes back and forth. Sending mixes back and forth and lyrics. Yeah, it was still one of the easiest collaborations that I've done. 

The song has a fun and catchy sound despite dealing with themes. What were you trying to convey with this artistic choice? 

BENJAMIN: I don't think it's breaking new ground. The fact that the track has pretty sombre, depressing lyrics, but it [has] a danceable beat. I mean, many modern songs do that. I mean, many modern songs do that. Most notably, I will always think of, you know, 'Dancing On My Own'. The original one (by Robyn) is such a boppy song even though it's very sad lyrics.  So I think it just felt natural and I think it kind of highlights the human condition of us sort of, you know, distracting ourselves from the trauma that we're facing by having fun, or by postulating, or by putting up a performance when we are actually pretty messed up in sight. So it kind of makes sense. 

JAMES: Yeah, when I heard the song, I was like, "Okay, this is really a beat track." But then, the lyrics, when I asked him about them, they're pretty sad. It's pretty depressing, actually, when you go into the lyrics. He's coming from a very real place, a very emotional place of, you know, being at your worst and kind of letting those thoughts take over. But at least from my interpretation, with how upbeat the track is, I mean, when anyone's in that state, they're trying to be happy. So when you hear that music over those lyrics, it's very bittersweet. 

Tracks like ‘Rock Bottom Blues’ put the imperfections of their artists on display for all to see. Do you ever worry about they might alter your listeners’ perceptions of you? 

BENJAMIN: The modern artist puts up a lot of nonsense online anyway. I mean, we've got people doing all sorts of weird things online in various states of undress. So I wouldn't say that we're breaking new ground there either. And if it alters the listeners' perception of me and they stop listening, then don't listen. It's okay (laughs). I'd rather be honest about how I'm feeling and vulnerable about what I'm going through than to put up any more facades. I think that's the whole idea behind this album, [which] is to really be as honest as I can. 

JAMES: No, not really. I think just me being in show business for how many years now, I've learnt to not really care about people's perceptions of me, But I don't think people think too much about the artists in the songs as much as they'd like to think about themselves as a listener. You know, when I'm listening to music, I'm really putting myself in that situation. I'm the one that's relating to the song with my own experiences. So yeah, I'm not too worried about that. I think, you know, when people listen to music, it's more from their own experience, than trying to figure out, "Oh, did he go through that? Was it like that?"

The music video for ‘Rock Bottom Blues’ is driven by your on-screen performances. How did you decide on its concept and how does it help you to further explore the song’s themes? 

BENJAMIN: So obviously, it's not the deepest music video. It has no crazy, abstract storyline, or you know, high-key location shoots. To be very honest, we started off with the budget of a visualiser. And we were going to do a visualizer until James came on board, and we were like, "Okay, maybe we should scale this a little bit." So we started to scale it and make it a bit nicer. I think the idea, if I can speak for Barnabas (Chua), our director, was to really, again, highlight the glossiness of a boogie of, you know, a disco, of dancing, and performance.

And then you juxtapose that with some really depressing, dark lyrics and you get, again, like I said, the human condition of people who are masquerading, who are projecting, and who are not being honest with how they really feel. It's a very Asian thing, and that's what we're doing in this music video. But most of all, we just wanted to wear nice clothes and dance (laughs).

What was one new thing that you discovered about each other while putting together this single? 

BENJAMIN: I think it goes without saying that when you have someone as big and as prolific as James, you automatically, sometimes whether you realise it or not, assume that they will be a certain way or you have this anxiety of fear that, "Oh, what if I'm not worth their time, or, you know, they have expectations or certain airs about them." James came with none of those things. As big as he is and as amazing his body of work is, he was so humble [and] he was so chill and collaborative. He really took it as, "I'm the collaborator coming in. Let me help you," even though he didn't have to. We made it as even as we could. But he's such a wonderful spirit. Such a dude. Such a great guy. And just a really great hang. I'm just really glad to have met him and formed his friendship. 

JAMES: Given that it's a sad song but it's really upbeat, it shows that he really doesn't take things too seriously, which is awesome. So it's a lot of fun working with Ben. He's hilarious. But also with this song, and also his upcoming album, he's taking a very different direction. It's very honest. It's very real and... more, I guess, as he would put, him being really honest with himself and his writing. So I guess it's a very exciting project that's coming up next. 'Rock Bottom Blues' is just kind of the single leading up to the big finale, which is the album Gloomy Boogie, which is coming out soon. Very excited. 

Benjamin, ‘Rock Bottom Blues’ is one of the tracks from your forthcoming debut album Gloomy Boogie. What side of yourself do you want to show your listeners in this record? 

BENJAMIN: I think I've put Singaporeans through a lot (laughs) over the years with all my different variations of career, from my band to online content, and all that kind of stuff. So thank you for bearing with me all this time. I think this record for me... it's the most honest I've ever been. I just realised one day before writing this album that I haven't been totally honest with myself and with people with the music I was putting out. It was always, you know, "Okay, what works? What makes sense for listenership or what would be the appropriate thing to say?"

This time round, I wanted to really speak from the heart and not be afraid of sort of judgment, but at the same time make a pop record. I think also, for me, this feels like one of the last few pop records I want to do. I want to move on to other things and other genres, and so I decided to really lean in and give it the best go. Also, as pop as it is, making sure that lyrically we stayed as honest as possible throughout this whole experiment. And it's been a blast.