collecting...

a year and a half ago,
i subscribed to this school of thought:
that unlike most Asian versions of "singer-songwriters",
a singer-songwriter is someone who writes the melody AND lyrics, not just melody.

so i usually start out with a little spark of novelty,
a metaphor,
an emotional quagmire,
and i jot down some phrases.

i would usually scribble rambling thoughts related to my working title or content...
and i would leave it at that.

most of them never get finished.
those that do, they are usually written in one sitting,
like Plastic Mannequin Love and Come Closer.



but i put faith and value in hard work,
and today i played the piano again, and tried singing to some bits and pieces of words that have been written.


just that i ended up surfing John Mayer and watching South Park: Insheeption. LOL

images i can't get out of my mind

Birds mired in oil from the BP spill.







More here.

there are so many things you can do,
from this point onwards,
for the environment.

Today, you would be more conscious about the amount of plastic you throw away each day.








On a lighter note, you can vote for your favourite song at NEA Eco Music Challenge,
and support singer-songwriters like myself! who have written a song for the environment.

help spread the word!

write a song for our planet earth!

i'm proud to support this campaign, to spread awareness about our environment! ^_^



i wrote Plastic Mannequin Love some time back,
for no reason,
except to raise awareness about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.



now you can write a song for our planet earth,
and win $5000!!! ^_^

More details on the NEA Eco Challenge 2010 here :)

Join them on Facebook to win prizes as well!
I would be performing at various spots for this campaign and you can find out where/when by following this page :)



I wrote new bits for my song, and you can hear them here first :)

"I'm singing a song for our planet earth
Where green and blue collide
But jungles are concrete and the sea's disguised
By all the stuff that got us by

I'm singing a song for our planet earth
To keep in sight and keep in mind
The trash that you owned, that you just threw out
Are still here singing out loud..."

keep writing,
and submit your entries before end of August! :)

what inspires you?

Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.

Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery — celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from — it’s where you take them to.

—Jim Jarmusch, The Golden Rules of Filming

If you can recreate, reinterpret and make them yours -
I guess that's what really matters - that you made a difference.

songwriting inspiration

can come from anywhere.



mine is mainly from jason mraz.
ogling at his awesomeness and overwhelming talent...

quit your complaining. it's not the world's fault that you wanted to be an artist.

My friend complaind about how difficult it is these days to be an independent filmmaker, how hard it is to find government arts grants, how the audiences have all been ruined by Hollywood and how the world has lost its taste... etc, etc. (German filmmaker) Herzog wrote back a personal letter to my friend that essentially ran along these lines:

"Quit your complaining. It’s not the world’s fault that you wanted to be an artist. It’s not the world’s job to enjoy the films you make, and it’s certainly not the world’s obligation to pay for your dreams. Nobody wants to hear it. Steal a camera if you have to, but stop whining and get back to work."

I repeat those words back to myself whenever I start to feel resentful, entitled, competitive or unappreciated with regard to my writing: "It's not the world's fault that you want to be an artist... now get back to work."

Always, at the end of the day, the important thing is only and always that: Get back to work. This is a path for the courageous and the faithful. You must find another reason to work, other than the desire for success or recognition. It must come from another place. ...

... In the end, I love this work. I have always loved this work. My suggestion is that you start with the love and then work very hard and try to let go of the results. Cast out your will, and then cut the line. Please try, also, not to go totally freaking insane in the process. Insanity is a very tempting path for artists, but we don’t need any more of that in the world at the moment, so please resist your call to insanity. We need more creation, not more destruction. We need our artists more than ever, and we need them to be stable, steadfast, honorable and brave – they are our soldiers, our hope.

From Elizabeth Gilbert, Some Thoughts on Writing.



I say, we need words like this once in a while to remind ourselves -
If nobody likes your work, it's not their fault.

Get back to work.
Work smart, if not harder.

3 Months

Oh! And of course, I'll finally be seeing him and the DT band in Macau next weekend!
WOoooooooooooooOOOOOoo!!

I MISS TOURING!!!
The last show was 3 months agoooo!




3 MONTHS!!
I've never been in Singapore for a 3-Month stretch since March 2007.

But the beautiful thing about these 3 Months is that

• I've worked a whole lot harder at my Wala Wala sets, working on many new songs for the repertoire :)

• And I finally figured out a routine for myself to write songs, and I wrote a few songs too :)

• And I started yoga! I've happily worked it into my lifestyle, and finally gotten a regular exercise routine in my life.

• I've been trying to play the guitar, and now my left fingertips are permanently calloused.I say permanently because past experience showed that if you don't keep up with practising, your fingertips un-callous themselves very quickly.
  

I think I used the word "routine" more than once,
so for these months,
routine has been a good change. :)

rainbows of love

to all those who knew me from ProjectDIY days,
you would know this song!
(finally a new song playing on my blog!)



ProjectDIY was a group I started with
Dayvid Foo (songwriter/producer/arranger) and
Anne Ho (lyricist/webmaster) almost 5 years ago...

We wrote songs and posted them online :)
As simple as that :)

We were featured in the press for a little bit,
and happy to have gained a little recognition,
but our paths have forked since then!





Our website died a natural death,
but you can hear snippets of our songs in this interview still!

We are still working on music in our own ways though :)




Anyway...
It's amazing to hear that one of the songs we worked on so long ago
has been picked by Janice 卫兰!

She's releasing an English album on 17 July, and this will be the 1st plug!

Rainbows of Love
Music and Lyrics by Dayvid Foo

There is endless summer down in my backyard
California children are playing in the sun
In the summertime there could be rainbows
In the sunny skies in our eyes

There is heavy rainfall down in New York
People dancing freely to the sound of raindrops
On rainy days there could be rainbows
In everyone you and I

It doesn't matter how old or how great you are
This rainbow of love is for everyone
And it just goes on and on until the end of time
Love is beautiful love is you

Snowy is the weather here in Chicago
Lovers by the fireplace sipping on red wine
On the winter's night there could be rainbows
Baby you and I doing right

So no matter how old or how great you are
This rainbow of love is for everyone
And it just goes on and on until the end of time
Love is beautiful love is you

And no matter how far or how poor you are
This rainbow of love is for everyone
And it just goes on ~ yeah until the end of time
Love is beautiful love is you

Isn't it amazing isn't it wonderful
From friends to lovers families young and old
Love is everywhere love is freedom
Love is free to you and free to me

This is Janice's MV!

are you a songwriter or a melodymaker?

in the good old days,
a songwriter meant someone who wrote Music and Lyrics.

someone who wrote a unique blend of Music and Lyrics so right
that it did what it was supposed to do -
express himself.



I used to think I was better at writing melodies than words,
but now I think this differentiation is meaningless.

A song is a song is a song.
It's both music and lyrics.


Songwriting takes practice, not the sit-down-at-piano-for-2-hours-unwillingly practice.
The hard part is finding yourself willing to practice.

These nights,
I'm capturing fleeting feelings,
songwriting.

NTU Impresario :)

many of you who visit my blog love music, wish to sing,
and need that little push to go up on stage to perform.

as i always say, go forth and sing!

join as many competitions as you can,
know as many like-minded people as you can,
watch and learn from others,
and knock people off their feet with your own style!

NTU Cultural Activities Club (CAC) is holding its annual talent competition auditions NOW NOW NOW!

Join Impresario in these categories -
Vocal Solo, Vocal Group, Dance or Original Composition

Prizes include cash, and lots of enrichment classes to bring you closer to living your dream :)


Kewei, a NTU Alumni, was once Impresario Finalist back in the year 2004!
She was also the composer of the first Impresario Theme Song, in its 12th nationwide talent search competition.





I took part as a vocal group with Ishi Lau in '04,
and sang a medley of oldies!


It was ridiculously fun, we even dressed retro for the show!
And won 1st runner-up! hehe :D


Ishi also took part in the Dance category later,
in a flashy white suit :)

What can I say?
Ishi is no longer in this world now, but we once fought hard for our dreams together.

I'm still fighting now...




I must say... there was a time when I was disillusioned about writing my own music,
cutting my own album independently.

It takes more than just wanting to be famous, wanting to perform.
Being a singer-songwriter is much more than that.

I never considered myself much of a songwriter, I simply loved to perform.


But when Ishi left so abruptly, I was very shaken -
and for a long time I didn't believe that he had gone.

I would think about him alot, from time to time.

And the first song I wrote, in a long long time,
I surprised myself - I wrote the words and melody together.

I always told myself and others, I'm not much of a songwriter, I can't write lyrics blahblahblah
But since then I knew that if there was a story to tell,
if there was a strong conviction to tell,
you could.


It was a song for Ishi,
and because of this song I found a reason to share with the world, what I had to say.

What I wanted to say through my song,
I wanted as many people to hear it as possible.

Maybe it's a way to remember him always.

And this project has only just begun...










Join Impresario!
They'll make such great memories in time to come ... :)

PS. Deadline for registration is 30 Nov :)