Stefano Barone - Batman - Alexander Supertramp

Interesting music from this guy. Michael Hedges + Technology!

Staying Focused..

I have realised that I have been trying to do too many things all by myself. Melody, lyrics, playing, singing, arrangment, mixing, heck even "mastering". I have decided to stay focused on one path, that I recognise myself to be good at (definitely not singing) and go all the way based on that.
Otherwise I'll probably be just so-so at everything in the end.

Here's my latest GAS. Haha. Realised that I will lust for something, and after some time I would forget about it. Being here has stopped me from buying many things!

Taylor Swift - Love Story

We were both young when I first saw you.
I close my eyes and the flashback starts:
I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air.

See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns.
See you make your way through the crowd
and say hello;

Little did I know
That you were Romeo; you were throwing pebbles,
And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet."
And I was crying on the staircase,
begging you, 'Please, don't go.'"

And I said,
"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'"

So I sneak out to the garden to see you.
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew.
So close your eyes; escape this town for a little while.
'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter,
And my daddy said "Stay away from Juliet,"
But you were everything to me; I was begging you, 'Please, don't go,'"

And I said,
"Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'

Romeo save me - they're tryin' to tell me how to feel;
This love is difficult, but it's real.
Don't be afraid; we'll make it out of this mess.
It's a life story - baby just say "Yes.'"

Oh.

I got tired of waiting,
Wondering if you were ever comin' around.
My faith in you was fading
When I met you on the outskirts of town,

And I said,
"Romeo save me - I've been feeling so alone.
I keep waiting for you but you never come.
Is this in thy head? I don't know what to think-"

He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said,
"Marry me, Juliet - you'll never have to be alone.
I love you and that's all I really know.
I talked to your dad - go pick out a white dress;
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'"

Oh, oh.

We were both young when I first saw you...

This is one talented girl! And pretty also to boot.. what a killer hook, this song!
Let's just hope that she doesn't go the way of the pop princess and start taking off her clothes after a few years.

Antony and the Johnsons - Hope There's Someone

Antony And The Johnsons

Hope there's someone
Who'll take care of me
When I die, will I go

Hope there's someone
Who'll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I'm tired

There's a ghost on the horizon
When I go to bed
How can I fall asleep at night
How will I rest my head

Oh I'm scared of the middle place
Between light and nowhere
I don't want to be the one
Left in there, left in there

There's a man on the horizon
Wish that I'd go to bed
If I fall to his feet tonight
Will allow rest my head

So here's hoping I will not drown
Or paralyze in light
And godsend I don't want to go
To the seal's watershed

Hope there's someone
Who'll take care of me
When I die, Will I go

Hope there's someone
Who'll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I'm tired


This person is the real deal. Check out his other songs, The Lake, Fistful of Love, Soft Black Stars, My Lady Story.
I don't believe you can write this kind of songs without suffering.

Album of the Week - Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun

This is a great album firmly rooted in the 60s. It doesn't even make any effort to sound "modern", but it is really melodic through the whole album. It's been a long time since I've had the inpulse to rush out and buy the album after, erm, sampling it. I would have got this album, if not for the fact that I am currently located in a part of the world where the album prices are easily twice that of Singapore. I love how the songs blend into each other seamlessly into one whole listen. This is the kind of album that you must listen to in its entirety, which is why I couldn't just pick one song out of the album as the song of the week.

Lovely, lovely songs. The Beach Boys (at least one of them) are back. Trust me, just go out to the record store and buy it blindly!

Song of the Week - Five Years Time

Noah and the Whale - Five Years Time

Oh, well, in five years time we could be walking round the zoo
With the sun shining down in every me and you

And there’ll be love in the bodys of the elephants tool
I’ll put my hands of your eyes, but you pick throught

And there’ll be sun, sun, sun
All over our bodys.
And sun, sun, sun
I’ll die in next
There’ll be sun, sun, sun
All over our faces
And sun, sun, sun
So, what the hell

‘cause i’ll be laughing around your silly little jokes
And we’ll be laughing about how we use to smoke
All those stupid little cigarretes and drinks to put wine
‘cause it’s what we need to have good times

But it was fun, fun, fun
When we were drinking.
It was fun, fun, fun
When we were drunk
And it was fun, fun, fun
When we were laughing
It was fun, fun, fun
Oh, it was fun.

Oh, well, i look while you’re saying: “it’s the happiest that i’ve ever been”
And i’ll say: “i love to feel that i have to be james dean”
And you say: “yeah, and i feel a pretty happy too, and i’m always pretty happy when i’m just thinking about with you”

And will be love, love, love
Love throught our bodys.
Love, love, love
All throught our minds
And will be love, love, love
All over her face
And love, love, love
All over our minds.

And i’ll remember all these moments suggesting my head
I’ll be thinking about then and there’s lying in bed
And i know that you believe that might not keeping come through
But in my mind i’m having a pretty time with you

Five years time
I might not know it
Five years time
We might not speak
And five years time
We might not care about
Five years time
We might to prove it along

Oh, there’ll be love, love, love
Wherever you go
There’ll be love, love, love

Unabashedly fun pop!

The Art of the Pop Song

Settled down in Israel now..

I love pop songs. Attempting to write pop songs has really led me to understand that pop writing in itself is really an art. I don't understand people who diss pop songs as something bad, something you should avoid as a musician. To me, pop song writing is one of the least self-indulgent forms of music. How do you manage to cram a story into a mere 3min++ of music? No extended guitar solos for you. No unnecessary wanking. Everything into a clear concise format that tells the story, sets up the groove and most importantly move the listener - no more. Oh, and it helps if you have a killer hook. Of course, books will tell you to do this and that to make something into a commercial pop song, leading many musicians to feel that they are manufacturing something. After all, no one, not just musicians, like to be told what to do. Behind every pop song are a team of really experienced guitarists/songwriters/arrangers/lyricists and whatever else the song needs.

So the next time you hear britney on the radio - look beyond the singing, absorb the arrangment and what makes it essentially "pop" - that is, if you want to write pop songs :D.

This is Your Brain On Music

Just read this book.
It's pretty interesting for those who are into music - there are certain aspects of it that I find most interesting. One was when the author talked about camping in with a certain African tribe. When the tribe asked him to sing along with them, the author declined, saying that he didn't sing. The tribesmen were puzzled and asked.. what do you mean? You do have a mouth, you speak... of course you sing!

Singing was such a fundamental part of their life, like talking that they didn't understand the need to be "good". Our society has given the privilege of singing to a select few who are deemed "good enough". The rest of us are somewhat pressured into silence, simply because we are "not good enough". Reading this really changed my mindset somewhat.

The author also goes on to tell us why 10,000 hours of practice, and not talent, makes virtuosos. I shan't delve further into this - you go read it!

This I truly believe in.. those who really become very good are those who love playing the instrument enough to spend every possible minute they can find on it.

Oh, and it also explains why your parents never get tired of listening to the same songs they listened to as teenagers.

Song of the Week - The Man Who Can't Be Moved

Video Here

Going back to the corner,
where I first saw you
Gonna camp in my sleeping bag,
I’m not gonna move
Got some words on cardboard
Got your picture in my hand
Saying if you see this girl can you tell her were I am
Some try to hand me money
They don’t understand,
I’m not broke I’m just a broken hearted man
I no it makes no sense
What else can i do?
How can I move on
When I’m still in love with you?

Cause’ if one day you wake up
and find that your missing me
and your heart starts to wonder
where on this earth I could be,
Thinking maybe you’d come back here
to the place that we’d meet
Then you’d see me waiting for you
on the corner of the street,
So I’m not moving
I’m not moving

Policeman says Son you cant stay here
I say there’s someone I’m waiting for if its a day, a month, a year,
Gotta stand my ground,
even if it rains or snows,
If she changes her mind,
this is the first place she will go

Cause’ if one day you wake up
and find that your missing me
and your heart starts to wonder
where on this earth I could be,
Thinking maybe you’d come back here
to the place that we’d meet
Then you’d see me waiting for you
on the corner of the street,
So I’m not moving
I’m not moving
I’m not moving
I’m not moving

People talk about the guy,
thats waiting in on a girl
Woah oh
There are no holes in his shoes,
But a big hole in his world
Ooh
Maybe I’ll get famous for the man who can’t be moved,
and maybe you wont mean to but you’ll see me on the news,
and you’d come running to the corner,
Cause’ you’ll know its just for you
I’m the man who cant be moved
I’m the man who cant be moved

Cause’ if one day you wake up,
and find that your missing me,
and your heart starts to wonder
where on this earth I could be,
Thinking maybe you’d come back here
to the place that we’d meet
and you’d see me waiting for you
on the corner of the street
so I’m not moving
I’m not moving
I’m not moving
I’m not moving

Cause’ if one day you wake up,
and find that your missing me,
and your heart starts to wonder
where on this earth I could be,
Thinking maybe you’d come back here
to the place that we’d meet
and you’d see me waiting for you
on the corner of the street

Going back to the corner were I first saw you,
Gonna camp in my sleeping bag and I’m not gonna move

New Hero Induction - John Mayer

Just got this dvd. 23 bucks at Chinatown.
If you are just aware of John Mayer the pop artist, you will be shocked by this dvd. This is obviously someone who spent many years practicing Hendrix/SRV songs and licks before he became famous. Some say that he is just derivative of his idols, but just look at him play! When's the last time you've seen guitar playing like that? Are those people even still alive? He has improved so much since the time he came out.

Somehow, he has managed to find a formula to mesh his pop sensibility, srv/hendrix licks and a breathy-sounding voice all together. And his trio plus his band really kicks ass. Definitely not your average Fender kid.

I'm going to go through a John Mayer wanna-be phase - starting now. Take apart his songs, and playing. Oh man. Really need people like these to pop uponce in a while to tell me to get off my ass and start practicing...

It's nice to see someone who really has talent make it.

Song of the Week - Jolene

Jolene - Mindy Smith

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you, please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can

Your beauty is beyond compare
With flaming locks of auburn hair
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
And I cannot compete with you, Jolene

He talks about you in his sleep
And there's nothing I can do to keep
From crying when he calls your name, Jolene
But I can easily understand
How you could easily take my man
But you don't know what he means to me, Jolene

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you, please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can

You could have your choice of men
But I could never love again
He's the only one for me, Jolene
I had to have this talk with you
My happiness depends on you
And whatever you decide to do, Jolene

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you, please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you, please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him even though you can
Jolene, Jolene


A sad and haunting cover of Dolly Parton.. and dammed catchy! Love it!

Song of the Week - I Love You & Buddha Too

Mason Jennings - I Love You & Buddha Too

OH jesus I love you
and I love buddha too
rama krishna Guru dev
Daodejing and Muhammad

Why do some people say
that there is just one way
to love you god and come to you
we are all apart of you

You are a nameable
you are a knowable
all we have is Metaphor
that's what time and space are for

it's the universal thought (i think thats right)
you are and you are not
You are many you are one
Ever ending just begun

All right x 3
I love you and buddha too

I love you jesus (over and over)

I love you and buddha too

And buddha too

AWWW YEA!

Interesting song.. haha..
May be slightly offensive to some, but what the heck!

Song of the Week - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

Radiohead - Weird Fishes / Arpeggi

In the deepest ocean
The bottom of the sea
Your eyes
They turn me

Why should I stay here?
Why should I stay?

I'd be crazy not to follow
Follow where you lead
Your eyes
They turn me

Turn me on to phantoms
I follow to the edge of the earth
And fall off
Everybody leaves
If they get the chance
And this is my chance

I get eaten by the worms
And weird fishes
Picked over by the worms
And weird fishes
Weird fishes
Weird fishes

Yeah I
I'll hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Escape
And I
I'll hit the bottom
Hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Escape


I have absolutely no idea what the lyrics are about but somehow this song is the favourite off their latest album.

Song of the Week - Time Is Running Out

An oldie but a goodie, these guys are really great live!

Muse - Time Is Running Out

I think I'm drowning
Asphyxiated
I wanna break this spell
you've created

You're something beautiful
A contradiction
I wanna play the game
I want the friction

You will be the death of me
Yeah You will be the death of me
Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out

I wanted freedom
Bound and restricted
I tried to give you up
But I'm addicted

Now that you know I'm trapped
sense of elation
You'd never dream of
Breaking this fixation

You will squeeze the life out of me

Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it

our time is running out
our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?
ooooohh

yeah You will suck the life out of me

Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it

our time is running out
our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?
Ooooohh

ps. Anyone heard Coldplay's new song Cemetries of London? Sounds great, think it'll be their next Fix You or Scientist heh!

Guitar Techniques Magazine

I love this magazine. Yes it's really expensive, around 18.90, depending on where you buy it from in Singapore.
But I reckon it is totally worth it. All I have to do is to learn 2 lessons from every magazine I buy and I get back my money's worth. Better than paying for guitar lessons, and you can learn at your own pace!

Anyway this month's issue has a primer to modern acoustic percussive techniques in DADGAD. Rocks!

Song of the Week - Bubbly

A new singer-songwriter in the stylings of Jason Mraz / Jack Johnson. Love her voice.. I'm a pop-listening indie wannabe.. got the album! SGD$11.90 at all reputable music stores... whole album is very listenable if you like this style.

Colbie Caillat - Bubbly

Will you count me in

I've been awake for a while now
You've got me feelin like a child now
Cause everytime I see your bubbly face
I get the tinglies in a silly place

It starts in my toes
And I crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes I'll always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go

The rain is falling on my window pane
But we are hiding in a safer place
Under covers staying safe and warm
You give me feelings that I adore

They start in my toes
Make me crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes I'll always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go

What am I gonna say
When you make me feel this way
I just hmm

And it starts in my toes
Makes me crinkle my nose
Wherever it goes I'll always know
That you make me smile
Please stay for a while now
Just take your time
Wherever you go

I've been asleep for a while now
You tucked me in just like a child now
Cause every time you hold me in your arms
I'm comfortable enough to feel your warmth

It starts in my soul
And I lose all control
When you kiss my nose
The feeling shows
Cause you make me smile
Baby just take your time now
Holding me tight

Wherever, wherever, wherever you go
Wherever, wherever, wherever you go
Wherever you go
Always know
Cause you make me smile even just for a while

大屁股 - Timothy S10J

Gotta write about something else than Tommy before this becomes a Tommy shrine.

So Pier went on from NTU to join DSTA, a local statutory board dealing with the Singapore military. Got Work == $$ , and soon a desire for a better guitar rose from within. One that sounds "profesional", like those you hear on cds. But those Martins and Taylors, they were really too expensive for Pier. Then I saw this guitar hanging in Sinamex, the local Taylor distributor. I played it - wow, it was comparable to some of the Taylors in terms of sound.

After that I tried several brands of guitars, the lower end Martins, the Blueridges, Larrivees, higher-end Seagulls.. but my mind kept returning to that guitar. It had a big, bold sound. Somewhat towards the bassier side.

Later on I called it 大屁股， because being a medium jumbo guitar, it has an enormous butt.

So one fine day after I got my yearly bonus I went down to get it. And I know that this is a guitar I'll never sell.

But it definitely won't be my last. :p

Meeting Tommy... ....

Me, Tommy and Kim

I first got wind of it on the www.tommyemmanuel.com website.
My hero was coming to town! I was like an excited school-girl meeting F4 for the first time...
I rushed down to Maestro Guitars to get the tickets for the show as soon as I knew of it. Maestro guitars, by the way, are really doing a good job at marketing. They were quick to grab Tommy when he came, and impressionable o me went to get a Maestro guitar shortly. (which I sold rather quickly)
Then I knew of this Masterclass that was to be held at Victoria Concert Hall, the venue of the concert, a few hours before the start of the concert. Only 20 bucks. What the hell, I attended it, saw many local musicians there as well. The guy was amazing. Got a photo, and a signature on my 大老婆。

Tommy rocked Victoria Concert Hall and was "promoted" to Esplanade the year after that. I enjoyed myself on both occasions.

The strange thing is, unlike other solo guitarists, you don't have to be a guitar player to enjoy his shows. He is a superb entertainer as well.

If he comes this year - YOU should go catch him.

Song of The Week - Heartbeats

Lovely, lovely song. Go check out the original by The Knife and be surprised!

Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats

One night to be confused
One night to speed up truth
We had a promise made
Four hands and then away

Both under influence
We had a divine sense
To know what to say
Mind is a razor blade

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough
for me, no

One night of magic rush
The start a simple touch
One night to push and scream
And then relief

Ten days of perfect tunes
The colors red and blue
We had a promise made
We were in love

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough
for me, no

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough

And you, you knew the hand of the devil
And you, kept us awake with wolves teeth
Sharing different heartbeats
In one night

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough
for me, no

To call for hands of above
to lean on
Wouldn't be good enough

Altered Tunings

Laurence Juber

Around last year I tried playing some Laurence Juber and one of Tommy Emmanuel songs.
Tommy's song "Those Who Wait" features the Drop-D tuning, which essentially means dropping the low E of the standard tuning on a guitar to a low-D. And the result is an extended lower range on the guitar of two notes, and a really nice droning quality because of the D low note, especially for songs in D key.

Laurence Juber is an advocate of the DADGAD tuning (read DAD-GAD). Probably his most famous cd is LJ Plays the Beatles, which has some really nice DADGAD work. I would say that Laurence Juber's tone is more towards the mellow side, while Tommy is slightly more aggressive.

Did you know that Goo Goo Dolls's Iris was played in DDDDB tuning?

I urge fellow brothers-in-guitar to try altered tunings with your guitar. You'll be surprised how such a small change makes it sound like a new instrument.

That's why I love the guitar. Whoever heard of altering the tunings on a piano. Hmm.. anyway on piano all the keys are laid out anyway.

Tommy Emmanuel - Those Who Wait

Tommy Emmanuel - Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Amazing teeechhhhniqueeeee.. just wants to make you go wow! I'm a Tommy whore!

Tommy Emmanuel - Classical Gas

One of his famous "youtube songs". Check it out!

Song of The Week - Hollywood's Not America

Think I'll start posting a song that I like every week to share :)



Hollywood's Not America

Born Helena Jane
With a restless soul
She moved west to California
Became a centerfold

But once you change your name
Well the pieces fall
Now she hardly recognizes herself at all

And there’s never any rain, when you want it
A hollow little game, and you’ve won it
Looking for a thrill but you’ve done it all

So long, put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s not America
So long put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s not America
O yea

And everybody here's
from somewhere else
You can make a million dollars, but you might lose yourself
And you can take the heat will your heart grow cold
They say acting’s just pretending, but even that gets old

And there’s never any rain, when you want it
A hollow little game, and you’ve won it
Looking for a thrill but you’ve done it all

So long, put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s not America
So long put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s not America

And I know what you do when
I know that you
You can be anything you want to be

So long, put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s not America
So long put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home
Remember Hollywood’s not America
Hollywood’s not America
It’s not America

美丽村

This song was written when I kind of down and didn't really know whatto do in my life in NTU. I guess the lyrics represent a feeling of wanting to escape. There really isn't much to say, was still sort of experimenting with my vocals here.

It didn't help that I was listening to a lot of Hotel California at that period of time. The lyrics are basically a rip-off of the song Hotel California and the show The Village.

Hah!

The song is on my Reverbnation.

Tommy Emmanuel - 我会永远支持你！

Tommy Emmanuel is my hero.

I discovered him browsing through the videos on this website called WoodSongs. You can download the free concerts here and here and here.

He is mainly a acoustic fingerstyle player, although he used to play electric. Frankly, I wouldn't have idolised him if he was just simply a great guitar player. It's the things that he says that makes him different from most other players I see. Check out this interview with Tommy. I believe I have watched this interview only about 250 times.

I would even go so far as to say that knowing about this man, hearing what he says has given my life direction.

He is the perfect embodiment of who I want to be when I reach 52 years old. Then I will die a happy old man.

He has come to Singapore two times to date, and I'll post more about this later on.

Antoine Dufour

I'll never cease to be amazed by guys like this.
Read in Roald Dahl's story, The Hitchhiker (the hitchhiker is actually a pickpocket (who calls himself a fingersmith)) - he says something like this :
The secret to life is to become very very good at something that is very very difficult to do.

Hmmm.. Looking at these guys.. I reckon that's kinda true.

Michael Hedges

I knew that he played awesome acoustic guitar in countless altered tunings...didn't know he was such a great performer as well...

Discovering Hendrix and Radiohead...

During this period of time, after I got my electric guitar, naturally I started looking for songs that I could play on the guitar. I started seeing this guy appearing on almost every guitar magazine I could get my hands on. (to the left, to the left...)

Who is this guy, I thought? And what makes him so great? Why is he holding the guitar upside down? I found that his name was Jimi Hendrix.

I started listening to his songs, and truthfully initially I didn't get it. I was a pop listener up till this point and naturally listened to the vocals first and foremost. What I didn't listen to was the way he played the guitar, and he was playing all those while he was singing.

It was only I started listening carefully to the guitar playing on songs like Little Wing, Voodoo Chile and The Wind Cries Mary that I realised... man that is some guitar playing. It was kind of different from the chinese songs appergios and strumming styles that I had been playing up till this point. It was cool.

So I started learning his songs. And also started buying lots of pedals which I all sold after discovering Guitar Rig.



Another band I discovered during this period was Radiohead. Before really discovering them, about the only song I heard from them was the song "Creep". Which is a brilliant song, except that the Radiohead members themselves hate that song. Anyway I started listening to the albums The Bends and OK Computer. These two albums have been in heavy rotation on my player ever since. It opened me up to world where songs could be unique and yet still have that essence of pop in it.

Another thing about Radiohead. I don't know how they do it, their fans are really die-hard. They support them no matter what they put out. After the success of OK Computer, Radiohead followed with a series of really experimental albums, which frankly I didn't care for, except maybe three or four songs. They have achieved Cult status among the music world, totally free to do any kind of music they like and they will always have the support. That is really something to be jealous of.

Recently they came out with a new album called "In Rainbows" in which their marketing campaign sort of gives the traditional record company with their A&R executives the middle finger. They put their songs on the net, and customers can download the songs at ANY price they wished. All because they can afford to, because they are Radiohead.

Way cool.

Pier Buys an Electric Guitar...

GOD is IN this guitar!

At this moment of time in Attitude Music School, I was exposed to the electric guitar. They had these beat-up TGM Les Pauls and Strats lying around. Kim and me would jam together in the jamming room and I would pretend to be a rock star.

During the holidays, when I wasn't studying in NTU, I would take up short vacation jobs here and there. From there, I saved up some $ for an electric. Did some research on the net and found this brand "Godin" , which was the same company that made my Seagull Guitar. I went to this place called Ranking Sports in Bras Basah, and they carried this guitar. I wasn't sure of how to choose an electric guitar and I played it clean all the time. It sounded nice to me. So I got it. It is a beautiful one, but as I learnt more electric guitar songs I realised that this wasn't a typical versatile electric - it's kinda geared towards jazz/blues playing.

So armed with this Godin LG SP90 I started playing in a band in Attitude Music School. At that time I think it had already changed name to Echo Music. Which was why the name of our band, the third one in the school, was called EM3. EM3 consisted of Latchmi the female singer, Lawrence the other guitar player , Er Quan the bassist and Kim the keyboard player. I was sort of the rhythm guitar/backup vocal.

The band grew stale quickly. We were promised avenues to perform by Djasli, the band instructor but we never really performed in public. It was always cancelled at the very last minute. Djasli is one of the best guitar players I have met in Singapore, and we did learn much about playing in a band from him.

After some time I left to play unplugged acoustic guitar with another group.

Pier Writes <<最好>> , Enter XKJ

<<最好>> was written in 2003, the night I asked my girl-friend to be erm, my girl-friend. I can't really write a song if I am not feeling anything. To me songs are about memories. And this was my memory of that moment of ecstasy. You can tell by the childishness of the lyrics. If it sounds kinda like a Jason-Mraz rip-off, that's because it is. I was listening to Jason Mraz's stellar first album at that time.

So after I wrote it, I submitted it to a local song-writing competition called <<心情容器>> and it got into the semis. Like an idiot I went to this local chinese pop pub called Mu Chuan and sang the song. Needless to say, my performance was sub-par compared to the other seasoned people.

Then came along another song-writing competition called <<飞跃时空>>. I submitted this same song again, just trying my luck. Amazingly it was chosen for the semis again. I was kinda afraid (remember I am an introvert) to stand alone on such a big stage, so I decided to get some of my friends into trouble.

Thus our band Xiao Kong Jian (XKJ) was born. It consisted of 2 guitarists (Mun and me) and 1 bass player (Kim). No drummer? Yep we didn't have one. No drummer friends.

So by some stroke of luck, we were chosen for the finals at DBS Auditorium. That was something for me, considering that it was one of my first songs.

In the finals, I sang out of tune , probably because I over-practiced and left my throat sore. Didn't win anything, but whatever we did with this song serves as an unforgettable memory. It was also a time when I was truly enjoying myself with music.

Except when my father told me on the way home that 你唱歌没水准。

That was really a bummer. Coz up till that point I thought I was a not bad singer. Reality bites.

ps. You can hear the actual version of <<最好>> that I sent for the competition in my ReverbNation page.

Attitude Music School

Me, Mun, Kim and Kevin

During army, being bored during the weekends with nothing to do, I decided to take up guitar lessons at a local school in chinatown called Attitude Music.

There I met Chris, the resident vocal teacher, who is a pretty nice person , though he seems to have only 640kb ram.

My first guitar teacher was a guy called 永邦 , who left after one lesson. A guy called Roy came to take over from him, and he was a skinny guy who wore his handphone around his neck with tattoo on his arms, I think. But he was a great guitar player. I think he still plays in local pubs, not sure where though.

Turned out later that 永邦 was working on his album in Taiwan and he soon came out with an album. Think he came out with two more before he disappeared from the scene. I think he went to do backstage stuff like song writing and production.

The highlight of my stay in Attitude Music School was I met his skinny scrawny looking guy called Kim. So we started jamming together, and Kim introduced me to Mun. Kim and Mun have turned out to be my best friends in music. (My other good friends don't really play)
They in turn intro-ed me to Kevin, who has a nice soothing RnB voice for the ladiessssss...

Luther Music and my 大老婆

All this is getting really self-indulgent.

So Corporal Pier in Army in the year 2001 was drawing a monthly salary of 320 bucks per month. So stop complaining all you new pussy soldiers who can't even carry your alibaba bag on your shoulder! Be a man and stop dragging around those auntie pseudo-duffer bags... it sickens me.

Corporal Pier heard strange things about the jungles in Brunei. People getting crushed by trees which were struck down by lightning. People dying of heat exhaustion. People falling down and becoming crippled.

So I decided, before I die, I gotta get a guitar which I really liked. Since then, I have been using this excuse to buy new guitars.

From the net, I came across this brand that all the netizens said were bang for the buck - Seagull Guitars. I searched for the local distributor and saw Luther Music listed as one of them. At that time, Luther Music was situated in IMM. Took me quite long to locate the humble little shop. I went into the shop and nodded at the chubby little man (sorry luther) who I later realised could play power keyboards. I took the seagull guitar off the wall and started playing the intro to the song "It Might Be You". So Luther came round the corner and said to me "Go on, continue playing!"

Wow. No one told me to continue playing before. All I heard up till this point was "Stop playing!" , "Mai4 Cha4 La4~, #@$@#" and "Brother, very noisy!!!"

So I did. And between two guitars there, I couldn't decide. So once again, I followed the instinct of all men - looks. I chose the nicer looking one of the two.

And I went home with my 大老婆， shown here :


Now a thing about Luther - he may not have the best prices in the business, but his customer service is constantly awesome. When you buy something from him, you know you are in good hands because if it doesn't work as advertised or there is some problem with it, Luther will sort it out for you. I have been a customer of his since then. He is the man if you need recording equipment.

First Trip to Davis Guitar

So during JC, I went with Yixian to this guitar shop called Davis Guitar (every guitar player in Singapore knows where this is, coz they sell the cheapest strings) and bought an acoustic guitar with the brand name Grand (I think they still sell it). I knew nuts about choosing acoustic guitars (and I suspect Yixian knew nuts too) and bought that guitar purely on looks, and the fact that I could plug it in and become a PRO overnight.

Well, it made me many hokkien beng friends cause they all wanted to sing Rang Ren Qing Ge and Nuo Wei Shen Ling (songs by a chinese rock singer Wu Bai who was super hot at that time).

I sold that guitar after army.

Didn't really like the sound of it unplugged, sounded kind of tinny.

TJC Guitar Club

I have always been attracted to music.
It's just the mom sent me for computer classes instead of music classes. Which is just as well, it isn't easy to make a comfortable living out of music in Singapore anyway. And I don't really believe in the whole struggling musician thing.

So it was a natural thing that I ended up in the TJC Guitar Club. Before that, I didn't really know any friends who played instruments. The teacher was Mr Tomas, and he really amazed the shit out of me at that time. He still does. Today he has his own company at http://www.tomas-music.com/ . This guy can really play man. And if you are able to spare huge bucks for wonderful classical guitars, he is the man.

However, it was this fellow TJcian, Yixian that really made me want to play guitar. He could play Emil Chou songs and accompany himself. After playing the boring classical repertoire in the guitar club, we would play and sing along to super bala chinese favourites like 让我欢喜让我忧 ，你这么舍得我难过.So I would hang round him and ask him every thing about guitar.

Zhihui, another guitar club member, was another guy who inspired me to play. I think he probably inspired the "angmoh" side of me by introducing me to guitar-friendly eagles songs. I think till now the songs I write all kinda folk/country sounding. Probably because of him.

So being an introvert, I would lock myself in my room with my 80-dollar yamaha classical and play till the wee hours of the morning. After a few months I tried writing my own song. I remember the chords were derived from a chinese song called Lian Ai Zhen Hou Qun. I can still remember the song's melody, so it must have been not bad, huh?

So after 1 year of playing being a closet guitar player / songwriter wanna-be, I had a chance to perform at the annual TJC Guitar Nite. At that time, Xiong Tian Ping was pretty famous. Now he's just fat. Anyway, I massacred his lovely song "Huo Cai Tian Tang" at that show, but surprisingly some people liked it (these are my friends man !!).