A ballroom. A film noir-esque deserted street. A shuddering blue pool of water. Since they made their debut back in 2018 with their highly-anticipated album To The Future, mega five-piece boy group Mr.TyGER have been making waves due to their watertight visuals, heart-palpitating choreography and slick R&B-meets-hip-hop sound.

One of the group’s formidable members JiaYi has broken out on his own with two EPs so far: “Bomba” and “Unusual” – as well as making exciting forays into the acting world.

We caught up with the newcomer of note and talked about early beginnings, inspirations and his work in the fashion industry…

Tell me about the moment you first realised you wanted to do music?
请问你是从什么时候开始对音乐行业开始有浓厚的兴趣并且想要以其为职业呢？
上中学的时候很喜欢听歌，听到周杰伦老师唱的《稻香》，就开始有了想要当歌手的梦想。
During my middle school years I loved to listen to music, Jay Chou’s song “Barley Aroma” (Dao Xiang) had a huge influence on me and it gave me the motivation and dream of being a singer.

Who did you grow up listening to?
成长过程中听哪位艺人的音乐呢？
周杰伦老师，听了他很多很经典的音乐。
Jay Chou, I listen to his classics all the time.

How has your Chinese roots affected the music you make?
个人中国的背景对于你音乐作品的影响是什么？
中国元素很经典也很有历史性，很多古典乐器，比如古筝、竖笛之类的音色曲调也很特别，这些添加到音乐中就会增加不一样的味道，所以会想在音乐中添加更多的中国元素。
Chinese cultural elements are really classic and historical, especially with the traditional instruments like Chinese Zither, Recorder that has a really unique sound. When these elements are added to music, we open up so many possibilities and fun, so I would love to fuse more Chinese music into my music in the future.

Who would you love to collaborate with?
在未来希望和谁一起合作？
周杰伦老师。
Jay Chou.

Where did you get inspiration for “Bomba” and “Unusual” from?
Bomba和Unusal的灵感来自哪里？
来自对梦想的追求和期待，还有对粉丝的感恩之心。希望能让听到的人感到快乐，拥有动力，让心怀梦想的人有力量不断前进。
From the anticipation and the pursuit of dream, and I am really grateful to my fans. I hope my work can bring joy to the audiences, fuel them to pursuit their dreams.

You’re really involved in the fashion industry, what’s been your highlight?
了解到你在时尚行业有较深的涉猎，个人觉得最难忘或者最有成就感的时刻是什么？
去参加巴黎时装周，可以尝试不同风格的时尚单品，千奇百怪的的东西，都很有意思。
有成就感的事就是可以亲自搭配服饰，可以完全展现自己的风格。
At Paris fashion week, where there is endless possibilities to try new styles and pieces, even things that are moving forward normal daily looks, it’s such great fun. I feel really rewarded and satisfied when I get to choose a look myself which fully expresses what is me.

You’ve also made a foray into acting – what do you love about crossing over from singing?
了解到在演艺圈也有着尝试，演艺行业有什么吸引点驱使着你进行跨界的尝试？
演戏对我来说是一个全新的领域，很新鲜，而且很有挑战性，我是希望有机会去尝试许多没有做过的事情，而且我也觉得自己很有演戏的天赋。
Acting is a brand new territory for me, really thrilling and challenging at the same time. I have the mind set of trying new things when I can, also I think I am quite talented in acting.

What’s next for you/what are you excited for?
明年的展望、下一步的计划或者有什么令你兴奋的计划呢？
出更多的音乐作品，去更大的舞台表演。
兴奋的计划，是去泰国，一直想去，但一直没能去。而且我很想去宇宙，不过这个计划明年应该不会实现，希望未来有机会实现吧。
To put out more music and to perform on bigger stages.
I am excited to go to Thailand, I have always wanted to but finally got the chance to. And I want to ultimately visit space in the future, maybe not next year though.