SINGAPORE — Gentle Bones has had a pretty good year.

Aside from selling out two concerts at the Esplanade Concert Hall in June, the 22-year-old bagged two prizes at this year’s Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (Compass) Awards, and made it to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.

It seems almost a matter of time before the singer-songwriter, whose real name is Joel Tan, makes it to the world stage. In fact, Tan has been nominated for Best South-east Asia Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs), which will be held in Rotterdam on Nov 6.

“Everything has been so surreal, and I haven’t quite had the time to really sit down and think about it all. So much work has been put in since I started back in 2011, and it’s been a real validation to all of it,” Tan said in an e-mail interview with TODAY. “MTV is a huge platform and being nominated for the EMAs is already an honour enough, not to mention being a part of such an insane catalogue of regional acts.”

Other acts nominated for the same award include Malaysia’s Yuna and Bunkface, Dong Nhi from Vietnam, Indonesian pop singer Raisa, Sarah Geronimo from the Philippines and Thai-American hip hop music group Thaitanium.

Tan, who recently performed in Seoul and Busan, said that while it gets tiring travelling and meeting the press on tour, he loved experiencing new cultures — “both on the streets and among music lovers”.

“(My fans are) always friendly and chill, which really makes me happy. Most of the time, people come up to me or exclaim “Joel!” just to say hi, or that they are a fan, and proceed to continue with their day. It’s amazing,” said Tan, who will also be featured in MTV Asia Spotlight this month. “My friends and family definitely keep me grounded, and their criticism at times beat any troll I’ve seen online, and I am thankful for that.”

And if there is one award he really wants to win, it is, of course, the Grammy.

“I am still working every day on improving my craft and as a songwriter, I believe writing the best possible song is the route I should take,” he said.

The MTV EMAs will air live on MTV (Starhub TV Channel 533 and SingTel TV 350) on Monday, Nov 7 at 4am in Singapore. To vote for your favorite South-east Asian act, visit mtvema.com.