Yes! Our band finally did it at The Hereen, a 30 minutes slot playing our own original music. I have practically put all my other plans on hold for this Nov 29 event. Being introduced as a local Singaporean band means a lot to me, though Jason the guitarist joked that my accent is not very Singaporean. Ha! (Note: The PJ Harvey shirt was a gift from Jason during one of his Australia trips as he knows that PJ Harvey has been a great influence to my music and I have been waiting for an appropriate occasion to wear it!)
Click here for the photos shot during the performance.
Time now is close to two in the morning and I have no idea how long this post will be. My intent is to write a simple thank you note, to take you through some of the behind-the-scene thoughts, and to share with you some of the pictures taken during the ‘celebration’ party. Life as an artist as such. One moment I was jumping up and down at the stage as a musician; another moment I was moving around the crowd with my rather gigantic camera. But I am not complaining. I enjoy art more than anything in the world.
Thank You Note
In no particular order, here we go.
- I would like to give thanks to the Lord who give us humans the ability to create something so beautiful called music, and to give us the ability to appreciate music that transcends all barriers.
- Thank you B Well for organizing “Music for Hope”. I hope you do meet your fund raising target.
- A big, huge, gigantic, enormous THANK YOU to all of you who took time out and be there. You have no idea what it means to me (and us) to see familiar faces. And your engagement is fantastic! You guys have kept me going especially in the rather uncertain situation (see behind-the-scene).
- To my friends who send in text messages / blog comments / Facebook comments / emails right before our gig, thank you for your warm wishes. Not to worry if you were unable to turn up, I am sure No Eye Candy will play again. Another place, another gig.
- To the new faces of the crowd, thank you for being there. I hope to see you again. And I would like to hear from you too! Do write to us or catch us for a face-to-face next time we meet.
- To Tong Kiat, our band crew, Mark Lim, our band photographer, and Jason Seet my vocal coach, thank you for helping out. You guys are the best!
- I would like to thank my band – Cynthia, Jason, Selrol, and Wieke – in making my dream comes true, in making our dream comes true. Nothing is more humbling than finally hatching this 14 years of songwriting hobby into a public performance. I love you all!
- Finally, I thank the Lord for the music talent bestowed onto me, the music talents of those surrounding me, and the lovely friends and families I have. What more could I have asked for … perhaps good health, long life, and more gigs?
Behind-the-Scene Thoughts
1. On New Year Resolutions
Some people believe in New Year resolutions, some don’t. In 2007, I have set a personal scorecard aimed to do a few things and one of which was to perform live. In retrospect, it wasn’t such a silly idea after all. Maybe my targets were a bit too high. One third of what I set to do, I achieved in the same year. Some of which, I have achieved in 2008 instead. The learning point for me is that I may not have control over the timeline of when what I set to do will come true. But if I set my heart to it, it will happen when opportunity meets preparation.
That brings forth the second point. In 2008, I set a theme of “Do It”. And it works wonder. I think year 2008 must have been the busiest year as far as I can remember. I hate to look back ten years later and say to myself: how I wish I could have done more.
2. On Beyond Practice
We have practiced hard for this gig. At times I wonder if my band would ever get bored playing the same set of songs over and over again week after week. Personally, I miss playing other songs of ours, with the drums.
We didn’t have high expectation on the sound system. First, it is a charity event. And second, we don’t have our own amplifiers like other bands do. So we have to rely on what was available.
Turns out that although we have given our precise requirement months ago, Jason and I have to share the same guitar amplifier and that makes our guitars sounded pretty harsh and noisy. And there were supposed to be two monitor speakers on stage that project our music back to the performers on stage – those didn’t work. So I have to rely on that rather echo-ish faraway sound of my voice in attempting to hold the key. Nothing beats a supportive crowd in a situation like this.
Overall I think we did OK. Not stellar, but OK. And certainly we will be back on stage one day, with better sound quality and delivery. Stay tuned!
After Gig Celebration
Ahead of the pictures taken during our performance by Mark our band photographer that I will link to later, here are some of the pictures I took after our gig.
PS. That pretty necklace Cynthia wore for the gig was from Brüttal – don’t miss an upcoming entry on our Brüttal shopping experience when we last visited PJ Malaysia!
My wife and I were among those to attend No Eye Candy’s gig. Our key conclusion after the show was that you guys went out to do this. Something besides work, something outside of every day life. And as it so happens, you mention this life performance was actually among your personal goals.
My apologies for living vicariously through your guts, passion, and experience. Let me pay tribute with this passage from a good friend of mine, made famous through the movie ‘Dead Poets Society’.
“I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” (Henry David Thoreau)
Thank you for sharing this with the rest of us.
P.S. – If this comment sounds exactly the same as the one I left elsewhere, it’s because it is a comment among friends. And that is where it belongs.
Chris – Thanks for your support. Dude, you are deep … ha ha ha. But what you quoted is so true. Thanks for dropping by again!
Wilfrid – Heck , it’s Sunday morning and your gig inspired me to write. In fact, I lived vicariously through your efforts *twice*: not only through the gig itself, but also by abusing your blog and leaving my online footprint!
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OMG I got your SMS at 4am in the morning… but I was glad to be there, although seriously I was not paying attention to the music at all 😛 Too occupied with the pictures!
Thanks to everyone for sharing this moment with us all. Wonderful post-event pictures btw 🙂
Chris – It is good to leave online footprints around. I have been doing it for years! It’s fun! Ha ha ha. Welcome to drop by any time, Chris.
Darkspore – I guess as we do it more often, you will know what to expect and when to click that shutter. Maybe you shall drop by during one of our band practice and get some really tight wide angle shots!
Congratulations on your performance on Saturday!
I love Cynthia’s necklace! It’s really beautiful.
And to quote your friend, Chris, I too, feel that I am living vicariously through your wonderful life!
WOW wish I was there!!! Cyn looks absolutely fabulous in those photos 🙂 Love the necklace hehehe.. You guys have to send me all those pix of Cyn with necklace so that I can post them into Brüttal page. Am eagerly awaiting yr pix taken during the shopping spree here!!!
Hi guys, the ‘other’ jason here… one of the bassists who played for music clef before you guys went on. I stayed back for your opening number.
I’m encouraged to read about all the effort you guys put in, and more so that you chose a charity concert for your first public performance. I view music as one of God’s wonderful gifts for us to enjoy, as well as an awesome tool that we can use to bless others… playing for events like these is one way we can do just that.
I guess technically, (coming from a music student’s point of view here), the music we both play has quite a way to go and im on the journey to learn and grow in this area too. But you’re off to an excellent start, and hope that we can be faithful with all that God has given us, including our music 🙂
God bless,
Jason
p.s. you guys have nice gear! 😉
G – Thanks! But I don’t think I can live up to that quote, really … ha ha ha. Yes, beautiful necklace isn’t it?
Adeline – She does look great, doesn’t she? All the pictures are at Facebook too! Feel free to get from there for the time being 🙂
Yes, that shopping trip blog entry at your lovely shop is akan datang!
Jason – Yes, thank you for being there! Let’s keep in touch. You guys have done great too! You bring along your own amps?
God bless!
mostly our own drums – of all the instruments i think that one makes the biggest difference 🙂
our band is gigging in dec if you’d like to drop by. quite an interesting programme if you’re into using music to tell stories.
http://darkred.multiply.com/calendar/item/10025/A_Mocha_Christmas
http://darkred.multiply.com/calendar/item/10026/IMperfect_Christmas
Jason – Thanks for the info. I will see if it fits my holiday schedule 🙂 Keep in touch!
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