We Talk Sing Jazz 2015 With Charlie Lim

PUBLISHED March 5th, 2015 03:12 am | UPDATED June 19th, 2020 05:29 pm

Meet Charlie Lim. An eloquent sentimentalist, he is the soulful crooner you never knew Singapore actually had. Big-time festivals like Clockenflap (Hong Kong) and Urbanscapes (Malaysia) count as some of his impressive gigs and his music has been played on various Australian radio stations. With the Singapore International Jazz Festival 2015 as his next platform, this talented Singaporean lad shares with us his thoughts on the festival, and what really makes him tick.

Hi Charlie, tell us what can we look forward to at your performance at Sing Jazz?

Hey guys! I guess the music I play is one part soulful, one part singer-songwriter…so you can probably expect a fair amount of slow dancing while feeling some sort of heartache. (Laughs)

I’m bringing the full band on board, we’re a 7-piece called The Mothership and it features some of the country’s best jazz and indie musicians…I’m not going to feel paiseh about bragging about how awesome they are, and how lucky I am to have them on board! We’ll be playing a couple of new tunes from my upcoming record (Time/Space, due mid 2015), so that’ll be a nice little preview for the fans as well.

Who is the one artist you would love to share a stage with?

Probably Yukimi Nagano, from Little Dragon.

What’s on your playlist at the moment?

Blake Mills, Kimbra, Nick Hakim, this band called inc., and a couple of my friends’ bands .Gif (from Singapore) and Klo (from Melbourne, Australia) who are all top notch musicians.

Any pre-performance rituals?

I’m usually almost burnt out leading up to a show because of the crazy amount of prep work beforehand, so I try to take a power nap. If there’s Pip Pa Gao (a Chinese herbal cough syrup) then that’s a bonus.

How has your family supported you through the trials and tribulations of being a musician in Singapore?

I think they know how much this means to me, and they’re aware that I’m already putting a lot of pressure on myself. So their form of support is just not being too quick to judge or criticise when I’m trying something that veers from the norm. And just putting up with the little things every now and then, you know? There was a point where my parents were wearing earplugs to sleep because I was practicing guitar in my room a bit too loudly every night till 4 am. I feel terrible about it now. But thanks mom and dad!

In your opinion, what’s the best thing that could happen to our local music scene?

Just to keep growing and maturing exponentially. It would be great if we can get more international recognition, but we need time and more resources to work on our craft.

How would you react if one day, a song of yours was remixed into an electronic song?

If it’s done right, I’d be flattered. I’m very much into electronic music. Half of my new record will be strongly influenced by electronic production.

Who is the most underrated musician in your eyes?

My band’s organ player, Kerong Chok. He is like a mad scientist, so ridiculously talented and has worked really hard to get where he is today. He’s easily one of the best musicians I know and deserves all the recognition in the world.

What is the most Singaporean thing about you?

Probably my unapologetic attitude towards eating supper at 3 a.m. on most nights after a long day of work.

We heard you have a new record coming up! How did you manage between rehearsals and time in the studio?

Barely…I’m involved with a bunch of other projects too so it’s all quite insane at the moment. Sleep is a luxury. But I guess it’s better being busy than not. I can’t wait to finish this double EP called Time/Space, with Time focusing on the whole singer-songwriter thing, which is going to be a lot more folksy and narrative-driven, accompanied by more traditional instrumentation. Space will be a little less linear, and more about experimenting with electronic beats, synthesis, effects and sample-based music.

Which artists are you looking forward to see at Sing Jazz?

Snarky Puppy, for sure. I love Yuna’s voice, so it would be nice to meet her in person. The Steve McQueens are my favourite local band. People need to know how amazing they are, individually and as a group. They’re probably the tightest and most virtuosic band Singapore has to offer, period.

The Singapore International Jazz Festival 2015 is happening on Thursday, 5 March to Sunday, 8 March at 6pm.

For ticket details, please click here.

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