Transcript of interview with Marcus Lin (conducted by Amanda Lee), 17 August 2016, 8 pm, Marcus’s residence.
Marcus is a 33-year old male Chinese Singaporean and is an administrator in the civil service. He listens to English pop, mostly downloaded from iTunes. He is currently into British rock bands and musicians like Coldplay, Keane, and Ed Sheeran. He enjoys a cappella music and movies like Pitch Perfect. He does not really listen to Western classical music but enjoys Josh Groban. He listens to instrumental music when he feels like listening to something without vocals. Marcus enjoys watching musicals and prefers live performances to the movie versions. He has seen Cats (2015), The Phantom of the Opera (2013), Les Misérables (2012), and Mamma Mia (1999). Marcus believes that Western classical music forms the backbone of a lot of music and culture that we have today. He thinks that without Western classical music, we will still be listening to only tribal music. Marcus does not listen to any Chinese music. He attributes this to not listening to Chinese music when growing up and sees himself as a “banana,” culturally white inside but racially Asian. He thinks that Chinese pop music copies trends wholesale from Western pop music instead of creating something original. He also prefers the traditional Chinese music extract over the Chinese pop music extract as he finds the former more musical and relatable. Marcus thinks that traditional Chinese music and Western classical music should be preserved regardless of how many people listen to these musical genres as they are basic elements of different cultures. Marcus thought that the experimental Chinese music extract was interesting but did not really understand it. He does not think that there is a Singaporean style as of yet. He thinks while that some artistes like Kit Chan, Corrinne May, and Sam Willows have found their identity, most other Singaporean musicians are still searching for their identity.
“I tend to listen to the [English pop] song a bit carefully. So if I find that I can relate to the lyrics – and that – that’s kind of one of the first things that catches – catches, lah – is that I can relate to the lyrics. Then next is whether I like the singer, the voice, how it sounds.”
“I buy anything from Coldplay. I buy anything from Jason Mraz and Ed Sheeran, right now. Um, I like Keane but they haven’t produced an album in a while. Er, ya, so it’s kind of very Brit-rock at the moment, lah.”
“A purely instrumental song really would depend whether I’m in the mood for it. Ya. I have a few piano, just piano – just piano playing classical – some classical, some jazz. And that kind of really – I only listen to it when I’m in the mood for it.”
“In fact, without these original classical pieces, chances are, we’d all be listening to tribal music. Still tribal. Um, so Western classical does form the backbone of a lot of – basically, it forms the backbone of a lot of culture that we have – that is prevalent today.”
“Chinese is a very musical language, the way it’s spoken it’s very musical, and the roots of it – especially with the dialect – all so musical. Why truncate it [in rap]? Why break it down into that manner? Because you’re removing the beauty from that language.”
“Maybe I’m heavily biased because with Chinese music, I tend to lump everything together. Including traditional Chinese and pop Chinese music. So I tend to lump them together as just Chinese – Chinese music, lah.”
“Um, and they do – they – they basically lift wholesale – what works in Western music, and put it into – with Chinese lyrics. Which doesn’t make sense to me because I – I find that there is a lack of creativity.”
“I think [traditional Chinese music] should be preserved regardless of how many people enjoy it. It’s the same with Western classical – it sets the basis of a culture, and it is part of my culture even though it’s not a very big part of it. But it’s still present somewhere.”
“It’s – okay. I can kind of tell that [experimental Chinese music is] trying to tell a story. It’s trying to push through a certain picture and emotion. But ... I don’t really get it, ya. I don’t really get it.”
“If I were to go to Esplanade, and the random free concert was experimental [Chinese] music, I would stay to listen. I wouldn’t in – be motivated to look for it, but I would stay to listen.”
“So without all of [traditional Chinese music], there is no culture to build from, there is no foundation – there’s no traditional lesson that we need to learn from our ancestors to build on. And all these are passed through those oral histories lah, in the form of songs, in the form of beats, in the form of music, in the form of – of – of spoken word, lah.”
“The problem is when you hear some [Singaporean musicians’] music, you hear that they are trying to find their identity. So you get a very, very – when you listen to them, you kind of feel like very lost.”
“It’s kind of like this – songs like that [Unbelievable] thing, it’s kind of like a inside joke. It’s – it’s an inside joke that’s made, and only Singaporeans would get it because we get the references.”
“But then again, [whether music by Singaporeans represent Singapore] is such a broad question because there are lots of things that represent Singapore. Singapore’s a lot more than – the idea of a nation is a lot more than just the music, right?”
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