Living My Dream
Apr 14, 2010 Events, music, Personal
Thanks for coming back. =). Glad to see you. If there's anything I can do for you, I'd love to hear from you. Drop me an email, or leave a comment, introduce yourself. I'd love to connect with you. Or if you have your own blog, why not let me promote your work?
Those of you who know me would know that I’ve been playing music for a long time. I’ve never given myself a shot at it, though, basically because I’ve always felt I wouldn’t be good enough.
Now, that’s about to change. I’ve finally decided to step out and go after this dream that I’ve had for the longest time, and as such, I’m putting up my very own concert. I’ll be doing 5 originals – which I’ve written over the past 2 months – as well as a few originals, from John Mayer, Bon Jovi and the like.
So, for those of you in Singapore on 30 April, I would love if you could come and support me. It’ll be at 8pm, at the HSR auditorium. Maybe you’ll be inspired that you too can live your dreams as well.
My Latest Song: Out of this Mould
As some of you may already know, I play guitar and keyboard, and am very much a music person. Most of you probably don’t know, though, that I do some songwriting as well. And well, I just wrote a song over the past week, a message to myself which I feel fits in well with the theme of this blog, so I thought I’d share it here.
No recording yet, though, but that’ll come in time. In the meantime, here are the lyrics to one of my latest songs. Let me know what you think?
Out of this Mould
I stare blankly at this page before me
Every word I think of just seems so cliche
It’s a striking image of my own life
Where there’s nothing new, and everyday just seems to be the same
I’m tired of the same old story
The same old excuses and worries
And I know, that it’s time to make a change
I’ve got to break out of this mould
Step out of this comfort that I’ve been trained to live in
Got to break out of my routine
Follow my heart, and start pursuing my dreams
Can’t just keep doing what I’m told, no, no,
I’ve got to break out of this mould
I take two steps forward,
Then one step back
Struggling to find my way
On this brand new track
I search for a sign, or a path that I can follow
But there’s none,
And I’ve got to go on my own
I’m tired of being just another face in the crowd
It’s time for me to stand up up and finally be myself
So yeah, that’s it. A reminder to myself to be true to myself and not let anyone else dictate my life. If you have any comments/suggestions, I’d love to hear them. =).
[?]Tags: be yourself, dreams, out of this mould, songwriting
Gimmicks
Jan 11, 2010 music, People, personal branding
Lately, on TV (yes, I still watch TV, I’m old fashioned that way), there have been a lot of ads for the new season of American Idol. And it got me thinking.
Think through the past winners. I admit, I didn’t follow the show too much in its earlier seasons, only starting watching it proper towards the end of Season 6. But since then, the winners have been Jordin Sparks, David Cook and Kris Allen, with Blake Lewis, David Archuleta and Adam Lambert as the runner ups. What about the likes of Nick Mitchel aka Norman Gentle? Or Katrina Darrell, the bikini girl? Nowhere near the top.
What’s my point in this? Every year we see loads of people trying out various gimmicks in an attempt to “stand out” and make an impact on the judges. But invariably, the ones who really go on to win the competition have not been these people. The winners have been the ones who have focused on their singing, just went in, did what they do, with no extra fuss. They let their ability speak for itself, and didn’t require the extra gimmicks to make an impact.
There are always going to be gimmicks available, that seem to promise an instant impact. But gimmicks can only get you so far. If you’re really good at what you do, you will be noticed, even without the gimmicks. If you aren’t good enough, then no amount of gimmicks in the world can help you.
[?]Tags: american idol, blake lewis, david archuleta, david cook, gimmicks, jordin sparks, kris allen, talent
Alienating Your Audience?
Sep 4, 2008 music
I’ve been listening to Peter Cincotti’s “East of Angel Town” cd a lot lately. I’m really loving the cd. But he’s gotten a bit of criticism from some of the fans of his previous work for deviating further from his jazz roots and into more ‘pop’ music.
Personally, I haven’t listened to his older albums, but I think he deserves credit for trying his own material, and just expressing himself. And even as he might alienate some of his previous audience, he’s going to gain even more new listeners because he’s exploring new territory.
It’s always risky when you try to move forward – you risk leaving some people behind. But you are also more likely to find new people – a new audience, new friends, etc. And these people would suit you better in the direction that you’re pursuing.
Do you worry about alienating your existing audience?
[?]Tags: audience, development, expression, jazz, moving forward, music
Enthusiasm is Contagious
Aug 1, 2008 music
One of the classes I’m taking in the Summer Discovery Program I’m in now is a “Rock & Roll Boot Camp” class. It’s basically a class where we form bands and learn to play together, etc. As part of the class, we put up a performance yesterday.
My band was the last band to perform, and the last song we did was a cover of “It’s My Life” by Bon Jovi. You can check out the video on Facebook here (and while you’re there, feel free to connect with me).
That was our best song by far, and it was a good way to end the whole show. But there are a couple of things I want to say about it.
Technically, it wasn’t as perfect as we would have wanted it to be – it was arguably better during the rehearsal. We made mistakes during the actual performance. But the band was tight enough, we listened to each other and just went with the flow after our mistakes. So even during our “mistakes”, we were still playing as one band, as one sound.
Also, in my opinion, one thing that really carried the song through was the energy of it all. And this is what I really want to stress.
We were really into it. Personally, at least, I was really into the song. I think the others were too, as can be seen from the video. And it showed. We really enjoyed it, we were really into the song, and as such, that energy came through and played a big role in carrying the song.
And why were we so into it? Because (at least partly because) it was our own arrangement. We did the song in our own way, and in doing so, it became ours. We owned it, and we were passionate about it. We did our own thing, something that we believed in – not just following what others have done before.
I know this is a bit of a messy post, and I apologize, but I hope that the points I’m trying to make are clear. If you take what you’re doing and make it your own – instead of just following others – you’re more likely to be passionate about it. You’re more likely to be immersed in it. You’re much more likely to have more energy and enthusiasm about what you’re doing.
And no matter what you are doing, that enthusiasm is very contagious.
[?]Background Music
I’m at the Summer Discovery Program in Michigan at the moment (which is why I haven’t really been blogging much lately, and my apologies for that). It’s been a really interesting experience for me so far, and I’m sure that upon deeper reflection, I’ll have much more to write about.
But anyway, back to this post. There’s a piano in the lounge here, at the dorm. And there a few people who play.
When the piano is being played, it’s very easy for the people around to just ignore it, and go on with their own activities and conversations. In fact, more often than not, that’s exactly what happens. People don’t notice the music from the piano.
When do people take notice? When it’s a song they know and like. It’s not how good the pianist is. No matter how good the song is, or how well the pianist is playing, people won’t take notice (not for long anyway), unless they can relate to it.
It’s a pretty obvious lesson. People will only bother about what they know and like – something that is personal to them and they can relate to. Everything else just fades into the background, as background music.
And the thing about background music is that, even if it’s good, most people just ignore it.
How do you prevent yourself and your message from fading into the background?
[?]Do You Believe in Your Own Product?
I remember when I bought my hard guitar case. It was a relatively new/unique design, that’s less common. Even now, I rarely see people use it. But it’s lighter than normal hard cases, with just as much protection.
When I first bought the case, the store owner demonstrated the case to me. How? He used one of his own store guitars, put it in the case and tossed it on the floor. Literally. Practically like how the airline people tend to toss luggages. And the guitar was perfectly fine.
That one demonstration went really far in my decision to buy that case. The fact that the store owner was willing to risk one of his own guitars to demonstrate the case (which was cheaper than the guitar, definitely) showed how much he believed in it. And it made me believe too.
Would you be willing to take that kind of risk for your product? How much do you believe in your product? How much would you risk for it? (For those thinking about your personal brands, substitute “product” with “beliefs”.)
Because if you don’t believe in it enough to take the risk, and believe in your product, your customers are much less likely to either.
[?]Tags: belief, credibility, Marketing, product, risk
