bevlyn November 19th, 2008
If you ever catch me evolve to that level in the future, please, throw me some tomatoes to so help me out there.
I feel so bad it was caught on video, but it’s really hilarious right!? My drummer actually offered to learn from him if I could get clients to pay him more, for the added entertainment value.
And, what’s up with the singer’s eyebrow!?
bevlyn November 17th, 2008
Reunion after 13 years.., originally uploaded by bevlynkhoo.
What’s one of the things that we have in common here?
We were all from the RVHS NCC (National Cadet Corp) group! The bride Geok En (on my left) was one of my cadets (she in Sec 1 while I was in Sec 4). How time flies! If I had told her 10 years ago that I would be her wedding-singer, she wouldn’t have believed. I probably wouldn’t have believed it myself either 
I had a love-hate relationship with NCC. I still remember being drawn to the uniform, the idea of getting to shoot a rifle etc. Then it turned out that the weekly starching and ironing of the uniform made me nearly pull all my hair out; there were also the dreaded mosquito-fested and haunted camps, and of course last but not least, the men’s pushup we had to do on burning hot tarred carpark, reducing the skin on our palms and knees to bruises and cuts (we had to do 75 at a stretch at one time!), yes sometimes for no good reasons. All these of course, not publicised during the recruitment drive.
But I stayed. Those were not very fun times at all, but I’m glad I did stay to make me into the person I am today (for eg. punctuality, and if things need to be done, it means they have to be done, etc) Maybe it’s too tough on a child, but teenagers need to be instilled discipline. No?
And of course the best part is I made some wonderful friends who practically grew up with me.
Like the madam on my right, who was my ‘partner-in-crime’ to torture the cadets haha.
bevlyn November 13th, 2008
Henderson Waves, originally uploaded by bevlynkhoo.
Nature venture part 2! We went to check out Southern Ridges, starting out at Marang Trail ….after too many pictures and cracking too many jokes, we ended up at Henderson Waves.
2 special episodes:
1. I was telling Juliet I’d definitely go LA to visit her next year, in reply she said, “Oh, but you’re going to get all freckled up!”
- RIGHT. I’ve been telling her that my freckles problem is getting serious. What looks cute on a young girl do not necessary deliver the same effects when it’s on a woman. I was all cracked up because she was saying it a matter-of-factly, and I was wondering if I should hold back the visit because of that? So should I go??
2. We took a cab back to harbourfront (we’re not weak ok, we just need to accompany a ’secret pal’ to the main road to catch a cab) , and the overly-friendly cab driver actually said this when we reached our destination,”How? I can’t bear to let you girls off the car now. Don’t go lah. Can I follow you?” Juliet got off the cab first while I stayed for the change so only my ears were stained. Trying hard not to show my disgust. I said “Oh. Can. Get off the car now then“. Then I slammed the door shut.
Arrgh! I can’t quite decide if harassment in this fashion is the lesser evil compared to harassment using eye power. They’re really equally bad.
Anyway I sure am going back to explore the rest of the trail. Just no more cab ride back
bevlyn November 8th, 2008
Ok, finally back to writing more about the experience with my DIY album:
Doing DIY music is not easy, and the main difficulty is not coming up with the music, but to get your music out there. This is what we all commonly know as ‘marketing’, but a lot of musicians may not understand that, even if they believe their music to be very worthy of sharing, without the right channels to get it out there to the masses, it totally defeats the purpose (unless you just relish playing it to yourself and sharing it with a close bunch of friends).
The essence of DIY usually means there is no strong cashflow to pump into buying radio or TV advertisement for publicity, hence there leaves no space for a DIY musician to be humble or reserved about publicity. The basic channels you need are:
- Website
- MySpace
Or any streaming player, like IMEEM or to let people sample your music.
- Blog
If it’s difficult to come up with a website, starting with a simple blog like Blogger is good enough. A website is more organised, but a blog can keep your supporters (old or new) updated about your current activities and get to know you beyond your music.
- CD Baby
I’d recommend this website if you’re serious about selling your music beyond Singapore (in bigger countries, shipping can be easily arranged cross-state). There’s a fee and commission involved, so it’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons.
- Performances
And even if you have the above, it’s not enough to just have a web presence. It is also essential to arrange for performances so that people who support you can catch you in the act, and hopefully you’ll be able to get their friends (or passerbys) to like your music as well. Be thick-skin and contact free performance spaces like Arts House, UrbanClap!, which are constantly looking out for volunteer performers. Also, remember to tap into tertiary schools like NUS, NTU, Ngee Ann Poly, Republic Poly, etc. If you are able to secure an act with the school, they will do free publicity for you and your music using their school network. Sometimes you may even get lucky with student DJs who want to interview you and stream it over the school radio network! One thing though, please don’t expect to get paid.
If you need a holiday at the same time, and are adventurous, research on indie music festivals around the world. (Example).
- Media (music reviews, contact DJs)
I was actually counting my blessing because I already got to know a few DJs well before I launched the album, and from experience, they’re usually more than happy to help local musicians out. Even if you do not know them personally, try asking around to see if your friends know any DJs or music reviewers for newspapers or magazines, and get them to help you pass the CDs to them. Try to get radio airplay, or radio interviews. Do not stinge on giving Cds away to this group of people! Also, the truth is, sometimes even if the music review does not turn out to be as excellent as you hope it would be, getting the exposure is probably worth more than anything (well unless they really thrash your music then err, you may consider labelling your music ‘alternative’).
- Retailers
Be thick-skin and give retailers cold-calls to tell them you would like to sell your albums on consignment. Usually they’ll take 80-100 at any one time, but it’s a good start. If you’re lucky, you may even be roped in to perform at events they organise in malls! The funny thing that happened to me was, my friends sms or called me to tell me they actually shifted my cds to more prominent places in the shop. Or requested for the sales assistants to do so, or play my CD in the stores while they were there. I was so touched…I mean…I wouldn’t be thick-skin enough to do it myself for sure! I guess that’s what friends are for? Haha.
You’ll noticed that it probably takes skin the thickness of an elephant to do the above. It wasn’t easy, and sometimes I even get bewildered responses from the other end, like I’m crazy or what. But the key to success is often one word - persevere. Never allow yourself to be put down by people who do not understand what you’re doing. Simply put, they really do not understand what you’re doing.
Most music reviewers or DJs will need a media kit (or simply put, a photo of your album cover, a short writeup on yourself and your music, and basic information like your contact details, website etc). Take the time to do a good one. If you’re not good with writing, ask your friends for help. It is as good as your cover letter for a job interview.
Last but not least, if you need anything, just google. Everything is out there.
(And omg did you know googler is officially a verb used by the French!? Je google, Tu googles, Il google, Nous googlons, Vous googlez, Ils googlent. That is so funny!)
bevlyn November 7th, 2008
Finally, I can let out a yelp!
I’ve been holding the news with bated breath since late Aug, and boy it was really tough to receive great news, which for this, comes with the uncertainty and the possibility of a dream terminated prematurely for any random reason. Close friends certainly knew about it, and have been praying for me in all sorts of manners, really, thank you everyone.
The good news is, I am offically signed to S2S Pte Ltd.
The contract was signed this afternoon, and though there was initial talk of flying me to Japan to record the upcoming album, the decision was called off because I prefer to work with my local production team, at least for this one. It’s ironic I know, it’s also my dream to record an album with the Japanese musicians in Japan, but it’s the peak period for weddings, and I do want to keep my commitment to the couples who have already booked me (some as early as 1 year ago). Maybe for the one after this? :p
We’re starting production of the album soon, and if everything goes smoothly, it’ll be out next Feb. If you’re looking out for my own songs, I’m sorry, but this one will be mainly covers. Well, it’s afterall an audiophile company, so they’re focusing more on the voice and rearrangement of songs rather than my own works. But what keeps me very happy is, they will put my own works in the 2nd album onwards. That works for me
Honestly I’m contract-phobic. I love to be free, so to tie me down means they can really inspire me. And yes, it’s a dream come true, because my dream is to be an audiophile singer, and not a lalala pop singer catered to the mainstream Taiwan/China pop market. Before S2S, there have been 3 other companies/individuals who were keen to sign me up, but somehow it just didn’t feel right, and after reading so many contracts (shamelessly bugging my lawyer-friend for free legal advice), I think I’m getting quite used to the legal jargon. I hope following my instinct is right this time round, cos the company proves (at this point) to be very open to discussion, getting and respecting my views, and most importantly, positive.
And that is the reason why I was invited to perform a duet with Aiza a week ago.
Yaaaatta!
bevlyn November 4th, 2008
Yeah, happy that I’ve got a photo with the Aiza’s band. That makes very good souvenir huh 
It was an honour to be invited to do a duet with Aiza Seguerra. We sang ‘When you say nothing at all’, she in English and I in Spanish. The musicians Jon (violinist) and Mike (guitarist) were fantastic and very nice to me too.
I think I already learnt some stuff from her during the soundcheck. Now I know why some people are labelled ‘diva’ negatively. It’s really ironic, because i think knowing what you want to deliver a good show is a responsibility to people who support you, and people who miss this point may misunderstand certaine artistes badly.
Do not quote me wrongly, I’m not saying she is ‘diva’. In fact I love her to bits for her steadfastness to deliver good music, and her sense of humour. It was indeed a very good concert. Hope to sing with her and the band again very soon!
bevlyn November 3rd, 2008
I got to know the bride, Julia, from my class at Alliance Francaise (AF), and after coming down to give support at my French chansons gig at the Esplanade earlier in July this year, she decided to engage my band to perform at her wedding. I have to say this is really one of the wildest weddings I’ve ever been to. Check it out here.
Because of Julia’s wedding, I got to know a French man, Gilles, who has been living in Singapore since 28 years ago! A very talented artiste (photographer/artist/writer), the photos in the link above may seem too wild for an introduction, but hey, everyone is multi-faceted, right?
So there were 2 tables of French people (in my head I was like, why does Julia have sooo many French friends? C’est très bizarre!). Anyway my point is, it is always stressful to sing French to the ‘real stuff’ because..I don’t know, I just become a little more tense, because French people can be very very very nice, or very xxx (Joel my keyboardist friend agreed too). So to make myself more relaxed, I made a little joke before singing the first French song La Mer: If you can understand what I’m singing, then it’s probably because I’m quite a good student at Alliance Francaise. If unfortunately you don’t, then that might mean the professors at AF are not really doing their job. (Wooooooooops ok before anyone random reads this and wanna hit me, yes yes they’re doing a good job else I wouldn’t still be there)
Even though Gilles said to me ‘On a tout compris’ (We understood everything), well you can never be sure. The funniest thing was, when they know I can speak a little French and tried to speak a little to me, my shell took over and I clamped up like this –> 
Ok, not totally, but I wish I can speak more. I really must find ways to overcome this 
But Gilles, Gilles had no problem whatsoever with singing foreign language songs infront of many Chinese - he did a clever medley of the Mandarin classic ‘The Moon Represents My Heart’ and the French classic ‘La Vie En Rose’. During the rehearsal, I wrote the correct hanyupinyin for him even though he had his own code of pronounciation down on black and white. On the actual day, to my surprise, he memorised everything and delivered the whole song in perfect Mandarin. It was really WAH!
And, I love the dance segment
bevlyn October 31st, 2008
Dear Honeybee,
I’m really very sorry to have killed you today, perhaps in the most unimaginable and statistically-low fashion of being murdered by a human-being.
But I was singing happily with my band at Burkhill Hall, and you suddenly came around out of nowhere. When I saw you circling round my legs, I panicked because I know for sure I didn’t want to be stung. Then my bassist scared me by telling me his friend (also a bassist) got stung by one of you while playing the bass. So I did exactly what my friends told me later on NOT to do - I moved - in fact I think I was thrashing my legs to the beat of the music which cued me to start singing in 4 counts..then i looked at the lyrics and sing. By the time the chorus was done and the music interlude came in, I thought you were gone. And indeed you were, because the soundman behind told me I had murdered you …totally crushed by my stilettos. I’m REALLY SORRY!
I should have known better than to wear a flowery dress to Botanical gardens
But if I had not moved, what would you have done? Extract pollen from my dress?!
Sincerely apologetic and guilty,
Bevlyn
bevlyn October 29th, 2008
More Photos by Gabriel Mendes, originally uploaded by bevlynkhoo.
Yes yes we did it again, take some photos for some publicity for the upcoming performance at Esplanade next year (yes they’re asking for photos now).
Only this time round, no more nature, but at a lovely café I discovered by chance. If there is any dream café in the world, this is one of them, right in the heart of Singapore. You MUST go there (Tea Café) and try any of the fragrant tea (my favourite has got to be the french rose tea) and the tea egg (which I believe is what we commonly call the Japanese egg). You should have seen the look on Gabriel when he ate the cuttlefish roll; after eating it, he was actually still generous enough to share a big portion of it with me.
It’s hard for me to be infront of the camera (no matter what you think). And I believe Gabriel had his share of laughter (at me) for that afternoon too.
bevlyn October 28th, 2008
The duet with Aiza went much better than I thought, am very thankful to the friends/DJs who were there, though I wish more new friends were there too. Aiza was super duper cool, and her musicians were fantastic. Mike, her guitarist, was amazing - he could literally slaughter people with his guitar skills. The concert also gave me a peek into the new company I’m stepping into, and it’s great to know these are very cool-headed and open-minded people to work with.
I love the excitement of not knowing what I’m going to see, but only if I know the particular direction I’m heading. I love the thrill of working things through to get to the other end. I love working hard for it. In fact, I would be so lost if I have nothing to work on and towards. Recently I was quite troubled that I actually went to sign up for the french exam; at one low point, I wondered for what?! But then, it always comes back to pourqoui pas (why not)? And I can’t find any reason.
October is great cos I ate well, played hard, worked hard too. And I kept thinking about the subject of growing old.
My personal observation is that, people grow older, and the side effects are not just physical; psychologically they become more stubborn (maybe cos they believe more in themselves after accumulating all the life experiences), lower risk-taker (why risk what he/she already has?), more defensive, etc. Sometimes I catch my own mannerism more likely to be found in a teenager than an adult, and truth is, I do feel ashamed sometimes. Then, I will argue with myself: But I don’t work in the corporate world where I have to wear dark or grey office suits and put on my most mature behaviour to get people to trust me or have faith in my abilities. So why should I act as such?
I want to keep my inner child. It’s my compass when I am lost in this world; and when I am on cloud nine, I want it to be fed with curiosity and amazement at each discovery. Aren’t these the joys of living?
bevlyn October 21st, 2008
Yes, I have been buckling up for a new adventure, and I suppose it is finally seeing the light
If you are free this Sun 26 Oct 08 @ 4pm, do go and support this very talented singer-songwriter Aiza Seguerra. I have been invited to sing a duet with her, and it is really such an honour! If you go, you’ll know first hand why I am invited, and what song we’re gonna do together
She will sing songs from her latest album titled ‘Open Arms’, and includes hits like Smooth Operator, Time after time, Vincent, Longer, Open Arms etc. Read more about her here. Here’s a song she has written for the album, and I love how it induces the goose-pimples up my arms:
Ticket details as follow:
S2S presents Aiza Seguerra Live in concert at the DBS Arts Centre on 26th October 2008 @ 4pm. Tickets are at $38 & $28.
Tickets are available from the following outlets:-
Lucky Plaza Ticket Outlets:-
# 03-19 OFW Pinoy Star Ofiice
# 03-84 Urdaneta Trading
# 04-08 Hortaliza Trading
# 04-10 CEZ Services
# 04-18 Maganda Sexy Beauty Salon
Sembawang Music Centre
#02-37 Parkway Parade
#01-18 Funan Digitallife Mall
#01-24 Novena Square
#03-02 Concept 109,Heeren Shop
Now trying desperately to recover my voice.
Hope to see you there!
bevlyn October 20th, 2008
Wedding shoot in Paris_Gabriel Mendes, originally uploaded by bevlynkhoo.
The sky and the intensity of the photo took my breath away - just gotta blog it before hitting bed.
Gabriel Mendes, the same guy who kindly took the cover photo (and some others) for my album, went to Paris recently to do a pre-wedding photo shoot, and ta-dah! This beautiful one is taken @ Versailles, France.
See more breath-taking photos of Paris and Belgium here.
Keep me updated
