Bevlyn Khoo

Chilli Crab Buddy!, originally uploaded by bevlynkhoo.

Jason is so going to kill me for bloggin his photo haha :p

Yes ta-dah! He’s my chilli-crab buddy as mentioned in my EP album’s credits. I got to know him through a couple who engaged me to sing for their Singapore leg of the wedding. Jason was the best man, and we hit it off cos he was and is still very supportive of my music (one of my ‘advisers’). And thank goodness, he introduced Rachael Yamagata to me, whom I got an overdose of to write ‘Play With Me’.

Everytime he stops by Spore, we’ll definitely head for crabs. Because truth is, most SIngaporeans are LAZY to eat crabs. What’s wrong with these people!? (ok it’s expensive but a few times a year won’t hurt right).

And I’ve eaten 2 times crab within this mth. Cheryl my beloved HK friend is coming to Singapore soon…which will make it 3 times! Yeah!

So many things have been happening to me I feel like……wind. Cos I’m here there everywhere running around..

Tonight a friend sms to congratulate me cos he heard the song I recorded for mediacorp’s channel 8 drama serial ‘Little Nonya’. It’s one of the closing songs I believe - <<保暖>> (Keep Warm). And of course, I had to be WORKING! *Wails*

Btw, St. Regis is unbelievable. There is even a cosy seat in the lift! Click on above for more pics.

And today, finally I recruited a PA! Enfin!

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!?

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 is my ‘partner-in-crime’ to torture the cadets haha.

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 later, 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 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!

Anyway I sure am going back to explore the rest of the trail. Just no more cab ride back

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.

- CDbaby
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 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 out local musicians. 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 for 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 erm, 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 spots in the shop. Or requested for the sales assistants to do so, or played 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 - perseverance. 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 (i.e 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!)

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 for me, 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!

This is such a hilarious spoof!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here for more.

An inspiring speech by a very charismatic leader:

Full speech here.

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 very soon!