Transcript of interview with Johnny. (conducted by Amanda Lee), 20 June 2016, 10 am, Skype.
Johnny is a 23-year old male Chinese Singaporean and is a full-time student at YALE-NUS College. He does not think of himself as a music person, but when he does listen to English pop music, he listens to the Top 40s hits. His favorite artistes are Damien Rice, Ed Sheeran, and Kimbra. He likes Damien Rice as his music is slow, poetic and meaningful. He does not listen to Western classical music but thinks that he will be able to appreciate it more when he sees it being performed live. He also thinks that it is something that we should sustain and preserve. He also likes going to the free performances at the Esplanade. As he grew up in a Chinese speaking family, he listens to Chinese pop music more than English pop music. His favorite artistes are Tanya Chua, Soda Green and Faye Wong. He feels that Chinese music describes his emotions better than English music, and he can resonate more with it. He thought that the traditional Chinese music sample played was upbeat and would be interested in watching it live, but does not think he would listen to it while he commutes or works. He thinks that while the music does not represent him as a Chinese person, it definitely symbolizes Chinese culture and identity. He believes that preservation of music should also allow musical genres to evolve over time. He does not think that contemporary intercultural experimental Chinese music resonates with him as he has never heard it before, and thinks that it does not go easy on the ears. As for Singaporean music, Johnny thinks that the Singaporean identity depends on the individual and their ethnicity. He thinks that Chinese people will identify more with Kit Chan than the other ethnicities. One song which he thinks represents Singapore is the SAR-Vivor rap [a song based about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS, or bird flu) outbreak in 2003] song by Phua Chu Kang (the character from the TV comedy series of the same name).
“I think [classical music is] quite impactful in the sense, so I don’t think it’s something I will listen to as I work. But you know, it might be something that I will sit down quietly and listen to maybe in front of a small concert or something, I think that would be nice.”
“For writers that write for Damien Rice, er, you know, it’s a bit more poetic and it’s much more meaningful lah, ya.”
“You know if I’m [in] some kind of mood, some [Chinese pop] songs can make me feel like “Oh ya, this is how I feel,” and ya, this feeling happens much more for Chinese pop music than for English pop music.”
“I think art forms are allowed to [evolve] lah, you know. So sometimes when preservation happens it [traditional Chinese music] becomes become locked into a certain framework, and I’m not extremely supportive of that.”
“[The musical influences in contemporary intercultural Chinese music are] interesting [in] how they come together, but I think there’s some form of – you know, it doesn’t really, it doesn’t exactly go easy on the ears, in that sense, the way we understand music. It’s not so – it’s not so so-called soothing in that sense, lah.”
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