“The mix is not even close to being done,” says Jay Deasel, the young producer. Shayna sits on the couch, nervous about what she might hear. The basement studio in midtown is a part of music history, once frequented by Jeff Buckley.

“This is awful,” she shrieks as she curls her body into the fetal position, but even the raw version of her new single, “It’s You,” could draw tears to the eyes of a woman in love. The words are real and the violin climax is mesmerizing.

Already a star in Malaysia, Shayna Zaid, a transplant to NYC, is trying to make it big in the states. Her self-proclaimed “melodramatic-popular song,” east-meets-west style embodies the intricate composition of who she is.

“There is such emotion and honesty in her voice,” Deasel says. “Shayna’s experiences are real, and she has a real intimacy with her fans.”

This intimacy comes from a long history with those fans. Zaid, now 23, hosted a television show in Malaysia when she was 15. Then at 17 she left for the states to attend Emerson College. There, she met a Berkeley student who introduced her to the idea of music as a real career.

“I fell in love,” Shayna says. “All my friends became doctors and lawyers and were serious about academics. But I thought ‘I am damn serious about music’ so I decided to do it. I have no regrets.”

Her first album, Beyond Borders, features a lot of Malaysian instrumentation. “I used my own language in the lyrics enough to give it that edge,” she says.

Her second album, Half a World Away, was a project specifically created for Zaid’s home country. “I wanted to put something out there that was from me to them,” she says. The album name was inspired by the 12 hours that separate New York and Malaysia, literally half a world away. “Half the album was done in my native language, Malay, and half was done in English.”

After six and a half years, Zaid felt that it was time for her to return home. She went without management to promote her album. “I wanted to develop a more personal relationship with the media and the people,” she says. She and her sister managed to release four singles that all hit the charts. One called “In This Love,” hit number one on Malaysia’s top English station. Before she left, Zaid found out she was nominated for three Era Awards: Best New Artist, Best Female Vocals and Best Pop Song. “Era is basically the number one radio station in the whole country, so I was really excited,” she says.

Zaid got her start in music when her mom snuck her into jazz bars at the age of 14 so she could jam with the musicians. She was offered music contracts with major labels but ultimately decided not to sign just yet. “I was so young, and they wanted to turn me into something that I wasn’t,” Zaid says. “One of the labels wanted to turn me into a cartoon.”

Almost a decade later, Zaid is working with Deasel and Major Who Media to produce her music. “The idea behind Major Who is getting independent artists exposed to the level where you can basically sell records and not have too many pieces of the pie taken away,” says Zaid. The team is currently working on four singles. “We are going to be releasing a single in Malaysia and Indonesia that is going to be featuring some surprises,” she says. “The energy we created around this project is a lot bigger and a lot stronger [than prior albums].”

While this new project is more personal, Zaid says she enjoys writing about the theme of self-empowerment. “Back home in Malaysia a lot of kids aren’t given that nourishing advice of ‘Believe in yourself, believe in your dreams.’ It is more like ‘This is what is going to give you a good life. It doesn’t matter how you feel about it, you should just do it.’”

Shayna’s hoping not just to express her self through her music, but also bridge the gap between cultures. She says, “I am working toward the point where my music can be shared throughout the world and get the kind of attention that will enable me to do better things.”