What is home to you? With the release of their first collaborative single 'Coming Home', Jakarta-based contemporary pop band lightcraft, Cebu's pop-rock quartet Coloura, and singer/songwriter Chelsea Dawn from Dumaguete City reflect on what home means to them through an '80s-inspired synthwave track.

Through Melt Records and a wonderful twist of fate, the three acts got together to work on their regional collaboration and discovered what it takes to make music with other creatives across deep waters.

Bandwagon caught up with Imam of lightcraft, Chelsea Dawn, and Jake of Coloura to talk about their regional collaboration, how it came about, and the lessons they learned from each other.

How did this collaboration come about?

Imam: I got to know Dexter Sy, the co-founder of Melt Records, when I met up with him at the ASEAN Music Showcase Festival in 2022 in Singapore. Not long after, we spoke about the possibility of doing a tour of the Philippines, and then he gave us the idea of collaborating with artists under the label’s roster. Chelsea’s name was thrown into the mix as we thought her unique and powerful vocals would be amazing for the track. And Coloura was one of Melt Records’ acts that caught my ear from the beginning, and we were so happy when Jake (Coloura’s frontman) agreed to produce the song.

Chelsea: I was approached by Dex recently this year, I think? And was given a heads up regarding a possible collaboration with lightcraft. Immediately, I checked them out and I really liked their stuff so I gave it a go.

Jake: Dex sent me a message and asked if I would be interested in a collaboration track with lightcraft and Chelsea Dawn and I immediately said yes. He sent me the demo track for the song and when I heard the track, it gave me goosebumps. It instantly brought me back to my earlier years of my music production journey which was mostly ‘80s inspired, synth-wave music.

Did you hear of each other’s work prior to this collab?

Imam: I’m ashamed to say that I only found out about both Chelsea and Coloura after we started working with Melt Records. Sorry, guys! But hey, better late than never!

Chelsea: I knew they were a part of Melt’s roster but I haven’t really listened to their music yet.

Jake: I’ve heard some songs from Chelsea, but for lightcraft, I honestly didn’t know much about them. It was only when we started working on the track that I listened to their songs.

What was the collaborative process like working on ‘Coming Home’?

Imam: Despite the distance, everything went pretty seamlessly. We had a working demo already in place. We jumped on several video calls and chatted on Facebook Messenger. Jake pretty much knew how the song would go, and we were all on the same page from the get-go. And then Chelsea and I both recorded our vocals and sent over the files to Jake, along with Fari’s (lightcraft’s guitarist) guitar parts and Enrico’s (lightcraft’s keyboardist) keys riffs. His magic touch did the rest!

Chelsea: Honestly, it was as smooth as butter even with all the distance. I believe it’s also because lightcraft was pretty much clear with what they wanted for their song. It seems to me that lightcraft and Jake had similar taste in music as well. Along with that, we also consistently met up at least once a week prior to the release to discuss the progress, redirection of the song, arrangements and all that.

Jake: Lightcraft and Chelsea sent me their tracks and I kinda stitched it together. I was also changing up the instrument arrangements and added some layers to it. We may be far from each other but that didn’t hinder us from putting our creativity into the track. One would expect that the process would be difficult but no, it was so smooth that when we agreed on the final touches for the track, I kinda said to myself “Oh, that was fast!”.

What was the timeframe like working on it?

Imam: There wasn’t a strict time frame per se, but we sort of aimed to get things done during the first quarter of the year. I think we started in December and went into the mastering process with Miguel Lim in March, so all in all, we got things done in time.

Chelsea: As for the time frame, like Imam mentioned, it wasn’t really strict. The guys did most of the job, I only sang my part and suggested a few melodic lines.

Jake: We aimed to finalize the track around late February to early March, I guess.

Aside from the musicians working together, who are the other creatives you tapped for this project?

Imam: We managed to get Kartika Paramita, a very talented Indonesian illustrator and surface pattern designer, onboard. She was introduced to me by a friend of mine from work and from one look at her Instagram, we were hooked straightaway. For the mastering process, we worked with Miguel Lim, who was recommended to us by Dexter and did a fantastic job in polishing the track! On lightcraft’s side, we also worked with Reksa Fajar, a videographer whom we’ve worked with before, to shoot us for the lyrics video and edit the whole thing.

Chelsea: As for me, I reached out to a friend of mine named Anis Padilla, who recently put up his own studio earlier this year (Northville Studio), and since it had a really good sound booth we then recorded my vocals there. For the clips in the lyric video, I tapped another friend of mine. His name is Alex Gascon. We basically just did the shots in the shotlist sent to us by lightcraft. We had a little help from my brother Shan and his friend Joy, because Alex worked alone.

Jake: Well, for the video, I asked my bandmates Rob (bassist) and Emil (guitarist) to help me in filming.

What’s the meaning behind ‘Coming Home’?

Imam: As a third-culture kid, I’ve moved places quite a lot before settling in Jakarta about a decade ago. I’ve never really had a place that I can call “home”. And as a band, lightcraft started out in Malaysia, so we were aliens from the beginning. When we came back to Jakarta, we also felt like outsiders in our backyard. So, we’ve had to work hard to sort of adapt and assimilate ourselves to our new surroundings. But we always had each other and our loved ones to lean on, which made things easier. We realised there and then that home can be anywhere we want, as long as we feel comfortable being ourselves and with the people around us, as long as it gives us a sense of purpose in life.

Chelsea: For me, home is wherever I feel safe, happy and loved. Home is where I'm sun-burnt and smelling like saltwater or the forest (where I live, beach and mountains are relatively close), home is wherever my dogs are, home is my mom smiling and my dad sharing the couch with me to watch TV. Home is nine nieces and nephews altogether pulling my attention all at once. Home is where I get to do the things I love with the people I love and where I’m able to express myself fully.

Jake: Lyric-wise, 'Coming Home' is the feeling of not being afraid to be vulnerable. It is where you can put your mind at ease, and your heart at peace. Music/genre-wise, as I’ve mentioned, the track brought me back to my earlier years of my music production journey which was '80s inspired, and the track had this vibe. It really felt like I was coming home.

What is the most important thing you learned from working with each other?

Imam: There’s no better feeling than to work with others and share our passion and energy between one another. That sensation that you feel when you click with them, priceless! And you get to learn from each other too. And when the people that you’re working with are super-talented, even better!

Chelsea: The most important thing I learned from this collaboration is that holding deep respect towards each other can make any collaboration project go very smoothly. When the people you work with respect your time accordingly, what you bring to the table and your artistry, it is guaranteed to get a 100% success rate. I loved working with these people since they are very direct, they are not afraid to ask for what they want or to make suggestions and we are free to express ourselves.

Jake: Working with people who share the same passion as much as you do, makes things a whole lot easier. Seamless. Also, being open to changes, can really go a long way.