‘BE YOURSELF’
A confident Shawn Mendes comes to Bangkok with eyes on a future of producing great music
Shawn Mendes came away from the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) on Sunday with the top honour of Best Artist. The 18-year-old former YouTube star has come a long way from his early internet stardom, with his 2015 album Handwritten debuting at No.1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Album chart — and 2.3 billion streams worldwide. Mendes’ 2016 album Illuminate again debuted at No.1 on the Billboard chart and went on to garner much popular and critical acclaim. Thai fans are looking forward to Shawn Mendes’ The Illuminate World Tour Live in Bangkok, which will take place on Dec 11 at Impact Arena. Recently Mendes took time to answer our questions.
You recently won at the MTV awards. If somebody had told you 10 years ago that you’d one day share the stage with all the greats, what would you have told him?
I would have never believed it! I don’t even think I was thinking about playing guitar 10 years ago!
Which song did you put on repeat when you were 13?
When I was 13? Probably Ed Sheeran A Team.
Which song are you putting on repeat today?
Today, I’d have to say Kings Of Leon Use Somebody.
Pop stars can have a short shelf life especially in this internet age. But you said you wanted your music to last. How do you plan to achieve that?
I think it’s just about keeping on writing great music that my fans love. If the music is great, the rest will follow.
What would you advise aspiring artists out there trying hard to break through on YouTube?
I’d tell them to be themselves, to never try to be something that they’re not, and to work as hard as they can and put everything they have into it. If you don’t want it more than anyone else does, it won’t happen.
What was the hardest part you had to overcome?
I think the hardest thing to overcome is realising that you control your own destiny and that you are the only person that can make it happen for yourself. Once you realise that you’ve won half the battle.
The Illuminate World Tour is by far the longest running tour of yours, do you think you’re getting more successful and what have you gotten from this tour so far?
Definitely, things have just skyrocketed during this tour for me it feels. I think the best thing I’ve gotten out of this tour is just becoming a way more seasoned performer. I think I’ve never before felt this confident about getting out on stage and performing.