The Songwriters
Austin Ko Sung Chan
My name is Austin Ko Sung Chan, I came from Korea six years ago to study in Singapore. In the 2nd year, I came across one big major change in my life: the guitar. I was introduced to playing the guitar by my closest friend and it’s has been my favorite instrument ever since. I began with acoustic guitar and then moved on to electric guitar. I feel I can express something inside of me that’s inexplicable through playing the guitar and writing songs. The genres I am more inclined to are blues and pop-rock. It was a truly wonderful opportunity when I was approached by the Under the Tree project team. I get inspiration for songwriting from everywhere; surroundings, humorous discussions with friends and sceneries. Mostly, the inspiration comes from happenings in Tembusu College. The laughter, humor and worries provide wonderful resources for me to come up with songs. This song I’m working on for this project was previously acoustically approached as it was more accessible. It weaves the love story about a boy and a girl living in the same dormitory and how the relationship turns tragic when the girl fails to recognize the boy’s yearn for her. Though based on the ballad, I tried to incorporate many different styles into the song.
Ng Jia Mei
Jia Mei is an avid musician who indulges in the joy of making music. Life’s uncertainties become insignificant as she finds her peace in playing the piano, violin or simply singing her heart out. The list of her favourite music genres increases in variety with age – from pop to rock to dubstep. With a hopeful heart, Jia Mei hopes to continue writing songs in future and grow proficient in playing the drums someday.
Toh Yi Qian
Falling in love with music from a young age, Yi Qian dreams of being able to play many instruments one day. She loves to spend time by the piano playing her favourite songs ranging from classical to pop. When inspiration strikes, she scribbles down a few notes and likes to think that the tune will hit it big somehow. The piano in her house is like her personal confidante with whom she shares her sadness and stress as well as happiness and joy. She loves singing as well and participates in a cappella performances with an interest group formed on the college campus. The hope in her heart is to one day, teach nursery songs to toddlers dancing around the piano.
Haniel Soh
Haniel is an aspiring singer/songwriter who hopes to be a YouTube star someday. He likes to sing ALL the time, be it in the hallway, the lift or the bus stop and this has led to many awkward situations. His music is inspired by the residual teenage angst that still plagues him from time to time, and makes for a rather mellow melancholic sound. He hopes that people can relate to his music, and considers every tear shed as a result of his music a compliment to him. Haniel thinks that people should be shameless and unbridled in their pursuit of the things that they love, much like himself, so that he can take comfort in the fact that he's not alone. In his free time Haniel fancies himself a poet, and dabbles with poetry, prose and plays, and also tinkles the ivory keys occasionally. He likes it when people compliment him to his face, but acts shy to hide his pleasure.
Justin Hadinata
Justin is an autodidact musician whose flair showcases his capability in the percussion world. However, this does not stop him in expanding his knowledge in music writing. Working together with his brother, the Hadinatas has recorded some covers on their YouTube channel. This percussionist and drummer mentions Echa Soemantri, Akira Jimbo, and Chris Coleman as his biggest influence. Throughout his passion in percussion, he is currently the member of a well-known percussion group in Singapore, Urban Drum Crew. Some notable gigs where he performed at including National Day 2009, Youth Olympic Games 2010, and Singtel Singapore F1 2012. His artistic mind broadens beyond music into the world of photography. His mild enthusiasm in event and wedding photography brings him to Pigeonary, his platform in providing such professional services. Hadinata is a household name when he is hanging out with his friends.
Adeline Koh
Music has always been a large part of Adeline's life ever since she laid eyes on a piano when she was a kid. Youtube singers and musicians have also led to her discovery of the versatility of instruments in musical arrangement, and she draws inspiration mainly from them. She believes that the little things that happen in our daily lives should not be taken for granted, and that even a small change can make a big difference. If given a chance and plenty of time, she'd love to learn how to play every single instrument. Also, she thinks the trombone is the coolest instrument ever.
Caleb Chng
He sings. He writes. He plays.
Music has a huge stake in Caleb's life: it is his escape, relaxation and enjoyment outside the hectic world of work and study. He believes he doesn’t quite yet have a specific music style, and continues to grow and experiment one song at a time. In secondary school, Caleb began writing music; it is how he makes sense of the world. Putting things into perspective in songs is how he deals with events in life, whether they are happy or sad, of love or loss, his story or the story of another. For Caleb, writing is a very selfish act. He writes for himself, and believes musicians should stay true to themselves - if people happen to resonate with what he has written, then that’s a bonus!
His dream: that everyone will write. He encourages everyone to pick up a pencil and pen down their stories. Songs are stories with tunes, and everyone can tell a story. So, dear reader – start writing today.
Cheng Lijie
Lijie knows it’s weird to talk about himself from a third person perspective but he shall do it anyway. The only musical education Lijie received was when he was in Kindergarten 1 and 2 where he was drilled into learning “Hot Cross Bun” and “Silent Night” at Yamaha music school. No wonder he didn’t like music when he was young. This all changed when he came into contact with music from Ng Kangkee and Om Music group in his early secondary school days, through someone who encouraged and inspired him into believing in music as a form of expression open to anyone who wanted to partake in it. Lijie then went ahead to pick up his first instrument, a guitar, and it all started from there. Lijie is particularly interested in music as a form of expression and appreciates both listening to other’s emotions in their music as well as people appreciating his. Music to him is all about a form of emotional expression, something like the brush in an artist’s hand. Lijie is also interested in music that touches the hearts of people and lists the music of Kitaro, Yanni, and Giulio Carmassi as well as the lyrics of Liang Wern Fook as particular inspirations.
Shao Fei
Shao Fei played the tuba in primary school, and that was as far as he went musically - 'til one day he chanced upon Green Day's American Idiot on the radio. He was instantly hooked on the fast-paced, upbeat tune, and at 16 finally picked up the guitar in hopes of replicating the sounds he loved so much. Since then, he has never looked back. He spends days and nights simply fiddling with the six strings and figuring out how music works. Though he has never considered himself musically talented, making music simply makes him happy; that is all that matters. To him, music should be uplifting. Whether a tune is happy, sad, angry or sentimental, it should make whomever listens to it feel better about himself. Evidently his taste in music falls in the realm of rock 'n roll, whose music's sheer power always lifts the soul. Musical influences include bands like Green Day, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, and Blink 182. Needless to say, he will write songs that are positive, if not bittersweet. So be prepared to hear some simple and upbeat tunes from this not-so-sophisticated musician!
Priscilla Chew
Priscilla thinks that music is an art of story telling. Her favourite songs are those that poignantly illustrate in honest detail certain moments in time that are often relegated to the sidelines; unexpressed emotions that she wished she could have expressed as eloquently. She is not embarrassed to admit her strong love for acoustic ballads (especially Chinese ones), although she regularly ventures into the indie-acoustic zone of Youtube as well. While these genres are naturally compelling for her, she enjoys all songs with strong lyrical content and which she finds an inexplicable connection with. When she falls in love with a particular song, it will be replayed until … well, the next one comes along. Her strongest musical influences are Sara Bareilles, Corrinne May and most recently, All Sons and Daughters, a Christian band. For her, appreciation of music is fundamentally personal; therefore, she does not necessarily need to play for an audience, although it is always a joy to find someone who resonates with the same sort of comfort. You can usually find her singing in her room (or her suite) and she finds great comfort in (and also performs her best when) singing with a small group of friends just trying to find a musical outlet after a long day. Those who have been around (unfortunately or not!) during these sessions can attest to how she tends to make happy songs sad … a highly regrettable affair that has to do with her style of guitar playing, she thinks!