Ng Ling Kai takes the plunge
Every first and third Wednesday of the month, Yahoo! MusicScene shines the spotlight on talented, up-and-coming Singaporean bands or musicians. This week, we meet up with singer-songwriter Ng Ling Kai, who recently quit her job to pursue a full-time music career.
Ng Ling Kai has done what so few in Singapore dare to do: quit one's job to truly live one's dream. Especially when that dream is to be a full-time musician.
Not only has the 24-year-old done just that, the singer better known as "Ling" has also chosen to go the hard way: by penning and singing her own songs.
Urged on by her sound engineer boyfriend, the Nanyang Technological University graduate recently quit her advertising job to throw herself into her music full-time.
"My boyfriend was the one who encouraged me to quit the job and throw myself into pursuing the music career," said the aspiring singer-songwriter.
Firmly believing that there are two kinds of musicians in Singapore — those who can sing covers and those who write their own songs, Ling chose to be the latter.
The decision for her, she said, was simple.
"Very few musicians can be good in both (doing covers and songwriting). The reason why I quit my day job was to focus on writing original songs," she said.
Fortunately, she does have considerable experience in that area.
A grainy YouTube video of her original song, Larkin Step, has been a runaway success.
Posted back in 2007, the song was borne out of loneliness and boredom after she was confined at home while recovering from a fractured kneecap. Finding inspiration in a poem by famed English poet Philip Larkin, she quickly wrote a tune and the rest, as they say, is history.
Despite having no makeup on or expensive recording equipment set up, viewers immediately sat up and took notice of Ling's unique blend of raw honest lyrics and distinctly powerful vocals. The video quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of views and if imitation is the sincerest form of compliment, then Ling must be pleased: for others began to cover her song over and over and over.
Now boasting over 1.2 million views and 12,000 comments, Larkin Step is in fact still so well-received that a casual search will reveal multiple cover versions of the song by other YouTube users.
"Success from my Larkin Step video happened so suddenly and I did not have a follow-up plan at all! I didn't plan to do music full time, but after that song got traction online, I decided that maybe I can give it a shot," she said.
Reflecting on her decision to turn professional, the eldest of three siblings recognises that being a full-time musician — especially in Singapore — is going to be hard.
No regular income and no guarantee of success have turned many aspiring musicians off. But she remains defiant.
"Music is music, and it does not matter where the artiste comes from," said the fashionably short-haired singer.
"I can't speak for the entire music scene, but from my point of view you shouldn't be whining and talking about it so much. You should just keep doing what you're doing and give it 100% and see from there."
Unpretentious and sincere, Ng's down-to-earth, raw style often sees her take the stage with just an acoustic guitar for accompaniment.
"Music is not all production — it's the songwriting itself. That's why sometimes world famous classic songs work really well on acoustic because the song writing really well done," she said.
Despite her short music career, Ng can already be proud of what she's achieved.
Last year, Australia-based independent label Lempicka Records signed her on for a two-week performance to sing at various pub venues in Brisbane. All this while she was recording her six-track EP, "Honestly," at the same time.
She also opened for her music idol, Aimee Mann, when the latter came to Singapore for her very first concert in August last year.
In October, the singer was also listed by CNNGo as one of the 30 people who have shaped Singapore, which she still insists is really strange.
"It's so weird! I just felt like I'm the most undeserving person on that list, but you know lists, anybody can make them up. It's quite arbitrary sometimes.
"Thank you very much for putting me on the list, but I'm not really sure I should be there!" she says, laughing.
So when can fans expect a new album from her?
"I'm planning for a new album to come out at the beginning of next year now that I've got time and have no day job."
"The greatest struggle for it would probably be the financial side of things. It's not going to be easy but you have to look at it as your profession and find ways to make it work for yourself," she said.
Ever the optimist, Ng is determined to hone her songwriting craft and give her all to music.
"Every morning when I wake up, I tell myself 'don't worry about the marketing and promotion, just focus on the music for now and everything else will follow through'."
Visit Ng Ling Kai's website for updates on new songs and upcoming gigs.
This blog post originally appeared on Fit To Post, the blogs section of Yahoo! Singapore News . In early 2011, Yahoo! upgraded our News platform across Southeast Asia. As part of this upgrade, we preserved all historical posts on Fit to Post. Unfortunately, due to technical reasons, we were not able to preserve the comments attached to these posts. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. If you'd like to find out more about this issue, please click here.
