Yeah, but you've got to put yourself out there first, right?
So it goes back to that.
So yeah, put yourself out there.
Put yourself out there.
First, make that first step.
Then when it makes that first step, people will start to see it.
People like it.
Then you eventually get spread.
The news will spread and eventually people know and then they'll come to you and then
one job you do will lead you to the next job.
Next thing, next thing, next thing.
Hi everyone.
It's been a real long season.
I know.
This is the second last episode before we end season three of The Chris Hansen Conversation.
Welcome back today.
Today's show is going to be a classy one.
I've got a class act with me right now in studio as my guest.
It's going to be a very punny show.
I can see it already.
I'm dressed more decently than I used to, you know, for most of my other episodes as
you can see, because this classy guy is next to me and I know he'll come dressed the way
I do.
And I was right.
He came dressed in this prince and with prince for sure.
And I said, John's going to come in prince.
Oh really?
You thought so?
How did you guess?
John Class, you see, that's why I've got the man, the classy dude, John in studio today.
Hey man.
It's great to be here, Chris.
Thank you so much for being here, man.
This is my tribute, our tribute to you.
Wow.
Okay.
I've said this a few times.
Sometimes I feel like a fucking parrot.
I've said this a few times to guests of mine who are not, who are basically, mainly, primarily,
would you say your job is as a radio personality?
No, I wouldn't say that.
Oh really?
Then what would you say?
I consider myself a Sega songwriter.
That's basically, I've always considered myself that.
And I've not done radio for as long as I've done music.
Actually, I know a lot of people, you know, hear me on radio more as a, you know, presenter.
But I was away for 15 years.
I started off maybe in 1991 as a radio presenter.
That's how we started off.
Because I had no way into the music industry at that point.
Okay.
So I come out of the army, right?
And then in those days, we had nothing else.
There was no polytechnic.
There was no, you know, way to do broadcasting.
There was no way to film.
You mean there were polytechnics, but there were no courses?
Those courses.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Right.
So polys were kind of relatively new at that point as well, right?
So I was like, okay, what do I do?
So I thought first thing I'm going to do after Pree U, go to go to army, just get myself
into the army, get that over and done with.
Right.
So I did that.
And after army, what next?
So I spent one year in my auntie's, she gave me a little room in a place to have my music
equipment.
I had all the band equipment there.
I had my four track machine trying to write some, which I was writing songs, just trying
to get the songs arranged and, you know, into a demo tape that I could send someone.
Okay.
And I had no idea who I could send it to at that point as well, because record labels
here, you know, they were not really, you know, promoting local acts at that point.
Really?
Yeah.
Not at that point.
So, anyway, I just, for one year I was doing that.
And while I was doing that, I was making some extra money, you know, getting into those
sort of costumes of bears, Mickey Mouse, you know, that stuff to go to parties and entertain
children.
Mascots.
That's the word.
Yeah.
That's mascots.
That's the word.
Oh crap.
For about a year.
Just to earn some extra cash to go and live a life while I was doing that.
Did you have fun doing that?
I had lots of fun doing that.
I must say, I was in Orchard Road once and I forgot that I was actually in this mascot
outfit, right?
And I was near a mall during Christmas season, I think it was, and there were a lot of people
walking by and I saw Pandip Singh, which, you know, a friend from St. Patrick's, right?
So obviously I saw him and said, hey, Pandip, right?
And then he looked at me like, he started running along and said, hey, Pandip, it's me.
Of course I didn't realize he was wearing, he had no idea who I was, right?
What were you wearing?
Did you remember?
I was Mickey Mouse, one of those.
And then Pandip Singh saw Mickey Mouse coming to him, approaching him, and Mickey Mouse
knew his name.
He was horrified that Mickey Mouse knew his name, calling out to him in Orchard Road.
And he ran away.
Literally he's just, he's just in his speed and then he just ran away from me, right?
I was like, oh yeah, I forgot I'm wearing this, right?
So yeah, so I was doing that one year.
And then very interestingly, I had a girlfriend at that point and she had a Rediffusion set
at home.
So I used to go to a place and used to hear Rediffusion playing.
Fantastic man, Rediffusion.
Yeah.
And then she told me one day, she said, you know, this radio station is looking for DJs
for an hour, you know, it's called Listener's Takeover, right?
And I think you should go and do this, right?
And I was like, no, me and radio, I never thought of radio at all before as an option
of something I would do, right?
I said, no, I don't think I have it.
I don't think I can.
And she said, well, I think you have the ability to do it.
I think you have the voice for it.
Go for it.
I was like, nah, you know, I just left it alone.
But what little did I know that she actually wrote into the radio station saying that I
would like to be a part of the show, right?
Called Listener's Takeover.
For the, I'm sorry to stop you there, but for the benefit of our listening audience,
our viewing audience as well, Re-Diffusion is something that we had in Singapore.
It's a box.
It's a box where you only have a few channels to tune to and a volume button.
It was cable radio.
That's right.
You actually have to pay for it.
Yeah.
You have to pay subscription for it because it's cable radio.
It doesn't come off the airwaves.
There's no bandwidth to it.
It's not FM or AM.
But they had fantastic stuff, man.
Yeah.
I thought at that point, cutting edge, a lot of cutting edge stuff came out from Re-Diffusion.
Awesome DJs.
Yeah.
And so, you know, I had a call one day and it was someone from Re-Diffusion saying, okay,
we received your letter and I would like to get you in for a show, right?
I was like, oh my goodness.
I have no idea about the latest songs.
You know, I loved oldies at that point.
I used to sing a lot of oldies.
And I said, okay.
And then we fixed the date.
I immediately called my friend, St. Pat's good friend of mine, Raymond Francis.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
He was into that stuff, the latest music.
He always used to, you know, act like a DJ as well.
He reviews those.
He's a journalist, isn't he?
He was a journalist.
Now he's doing a PR, if I'm not mistaken.
Right.
So anyway, so I said, give me 10 songs, latest songs, give me some information on it.
Because we did not have the internet at that point, right?
You had to go to the library, you know, look up books to find out that information.
And he used to read Smash It's and Number One magazine.
And Number One magazine.
He bought that all the time.
So he knew all the information at the tip of his fingers, right?
So he gave me all that information, 1 to 10, Losing My Religion, all those songs at that
point.
And so I just sent it to them and said, okay, these are the songs I'm going to do.
So they had to get the records for it.
So finally, when we did the recording, did the show, I was just regurgitating everything
that Raymond sent me.
So it happened at that point as well, that was someone in Rediffusion was leaving, one
of the DJs were leaving to go to Canada.
So there was going to be a spot open.
But didn't it happen to be May Cecilia?
May Cecilia?
No, no, no, Cecilia.
No, no, it was not Cecilia.
It was, I forgot her name at this point, but yeah, it was one of the DJs.
And so it happened was after I did that show, someone came up to me and said, oh, our programs
director, Juanita Nelson would love to speak to you, right?
Juanita Nelson.
Yeah.
So I said, oh, about what?
And she said, oh, well, you know, just go ahead and have a chat with her.
So she sort of offered me the job, said, oh, I heard, you know, but what you did was good
and we have a spot, would you be interested?
And of course, like, what, really?
I had not thought about radio at all.
You know, this thing came because my girlfriend had submitted, you know, this letter of mine.
Well, she did you a big favor, man.
Sorry?
She did you a big favor.
And I finally, you know, kind of thanked her again when she reached out to me on Facebook.
I said, you know, she, cause she came back, she's living overseas, but she came back,
she heard me on radio.
She said, John, you sound great.
You know, I'm really excited and happy that you're doing this.
I said, it's because of you, man, you know, all those years ago, I'm doing this right
now, right?
So anyway, so I got the job and then one thing led to another, because I got into the industry,
you know, so-called my boss one day, I was telling her about how I have a band, it was
three of us and we were working towards a demo.
And she said, Hey, I so have, so happened to know the managing director of Pony Canyon,
right?
Which was a record label at that point that was set up to, to find the local acts.
And she says, you know, he owes me a favor.
Would you, you know, want me to arrange for a meeting with him so you can show him your
demo?
I said, that'll be fantastic.
So I told my, my two other guys from kick at that point.
I said, okay, you know, we have this opportunity.
Let's do a demo of five songs.
Did the demo of five songs before you know it, we got signed on and you know, the rest
is history, you made that, you know, the two songs became a huge hit.
So it was because of your tenure at Rediffusion that kick, your band kick got a shot as a
recording artist.
Yeah.
It's one thing leads to another, right?
So you just, they always say, just look out for the signs, you know, the doors open, take,
go through the door.
One thing leads to another.
And this was actually what happened for me as well.
Yeah.
Wow.
What a story, man.
What a story.
So since you wear so many hats, you say, when people ask you, so John, what do you do?
Correct me if I'm wrong.
If I read this wrong, what you said earlier on, um, songwriter, singer, songwriter, that's
what you would say.
Yeah.
I usually start off with that.
I said, well, you know, you may have heard me on radio as well.
You may have heard me on radio.
You're kidding me, man.
Okay.
So with these hats that you wear, let me just confirm this.
Radio DJ, singer, songwriter, performer.
Yeah.
Which one could be a no brainer question, but let's start small.
Which one brought you the most joy?
Well, absolutely.
Obviously it's going to be singing, performing, right?
Uh, that's, that's the thing that always brings me.
That's why I always look at that being the thing I want to eventually, you know, sort
of, and I say eventually because I feel I've not really achieved what I, you know, as a
singer songwriter have achieved yet, right?
What do you want to achieve?
I want to achieve a number one hit song in the US charts.
I've just, I've just finished my album by the way.
So I'm pretty excited about that.
I've set up my final song for, for mix.
So that's going to be released in the next few months.
Well, congratulations.
Thank you.
And that's, I think I'm really proud of this album because I think everything I wanted
to kind of do or say in my music is finally done in this album.
Because previously I've used to do songs, you know, for projects.
All right.
So the movie soundtrack, Teenage textbook was mainly for that project.
So the sound and everything was, you know, in line with that this time, right.
It took me a long, it took me years, decades to figure out who is John Klaas as an artist,
right?
What to record my own music just for myself, release an album, which I never got to do
until right now, an album full of the songs that just represent me as an artist.
So these are originals, right?
You wrote them.
Originals.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
So what genre would that be in?
Yeah.
And then the other thing, I was always going to be pop music because, you know, that's
what I love, commercial music.
Right.
And because I was also always in radio, I can't identify hooks and all that stuff.
And so I always tend to write those kinds of songs, which is radio, you know, type songs,
right?
Right.
So what I did was in 2020, I started putting out some songs.
I did an EP of three songs and I was fortunate enough that the radio station, Class 95, allowed
me to actually, you know, put those songs on air as well.
And from there, I could kind of gauge listeners' kind of response to what they liked.
Right.
So one was a ballad and then another one was a kick, a reboot of Jane, which was a big
hit song.
Yeah.
And then the third one was sort of a new song, which was, what you call that, sort of a little
bit of throwback, a little bit of modern sort of sound.
It's called Ballad.
And people responded to that the most, right?
And so I said, okay, I'm going to go in that direction.
So for the rest of the album, I kind of did, you know-
Ballads.
Not ballads as in a ballad.
The song's called Ballad, but it's the way it's done, right?
So it's a little bit of a throwback sort of sound, but with a new sort of sensibility
as well, a new sound, you know, sensibility.
So when music is concerned, specifically music, now that I know the story of how you
actually end up on the airwaves as a DJ, specific to music, I mean, we've known each other a
long time.
Yeah, in school.
Back in school, man.
Let me tell you my, let me tell you my, my impression.
All right.
Though we knew each other from school, from the school days, early years, I only started
taking notice of you because you sang on stage.
Yeah.
Talent time.
Talent time, right?
I think I was singing on stage as well for that one.
Can't remember it though, but anyway.
And I was so impressed, man.
Really?
Wow, cool.
That was when I called you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right?
Called you up and I was so impressed by your singing.
And I said, you know, we've got to get into a band.
Yeah.
And as we did for a bit.
The first band I ever had was with Chris Henson, man.
Was that really the first band?
Yeah.
You know, no one else thought of asking me to be in a band before that.
You remember that Sean DeMello was also with us.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's right.
Sean DeMello, you, me, a Thai guy named Apivath.
Apivath, yeah.
That's right.
Yeah.
And we had a drummer, Alvin.
And a keyboardist as well.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
A keyboardist was...
Geez, I forgot his name.
You wrote them in, so he was your friend, man.
Erwin.
Erwin, yeah.
Yeah, Erwin, Erwin.
Erwin.
All right.
Yeah, he became a pro pianist.
Oh, yeah.
I wouldn't...
Yeah.
Yeah, this guy was good, yeah.
So it was quite a good band actually for as long as it lasted.
Yeah.
We never got into gigs though, but then again, you know, it was quite fun.
Yeah, we were in school.
Yeah.
And it was just fun to do, huh?
Yeah.
But it was then at that time that I really...
It perked me up.
I went, oh wow.
Right.
Really, man.
I mean, I was quite blown away, you know?
Right.
Thanks for saying.
No worries.
As I said, last week, oh, last...
I can't say last week.
Among the tributes that I've given for this season, Aliyah Sharma, Aliyah Dee.
Yeah.
And he's here in my studio.
We sang, yeah.
All right.
Okay.
And I'm going to say this to you, man.
You know, I will not and I do not give tribute so easily to just about anyone.
Right.
Yeah.
And you're here in the studio and this is our tribute to you.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate that.
And it's an iconic music in Singapore.
Yeah.
And I really, really hope your dream comes true, man.
Well, yeah, you know, I'm hoping that too before I go.
Yeah.
I mean, one last thing.
One off the bucket list.
I really feel like this is the final thing I need to get done in my life because everything
else more or less, I mean, family life has always been the most important for me.
Yeah.
Having a really good family that, you know, I can really enjoy being, you know, part of.
I think that I've done that.
I'm really proud of that as a person.
And the next thing is going to be this.
Yeah.
With what I've done radio as well, I'm really, you know, also really proud of some of the
stuff I've managed to achieve.
But now it's the music, right?
So that's the final thing.
I've got the next 30 years to do so.
Whoa, 30 years, man.
Yeah.
I'm giving myself 30 years to enjoy it, you know.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'm glad you're looking at life from that perspective.
30 years, man.
You know, I saw Paul Anker at 82 years old just last year, early last year.
And I was wondering before I went in, I was like, would he be able to sing and dance and
have that same voice?
How do you do?
Fantastic.
And he was there for two hours and he did four or five encore songs and he was jumping
and doing leg lifts at the encores, right?
So that shows you at 82, you can still be the top of your game singing and performing
to a global audience, right?
Not that we're talking about someone that, I mean, is an inspiration to everyone who
saw him perform like you, right?
Paul Anker.
Some of the people, who are some of the people who've influenced you, your music?
Well, George Michael, big influence, you know, early on.
I was thinking some, anyone closer to home.
So anyone at all, maybe family or friends.
Oh, right.
Who really influenced you or even mentored you.
Was there anyone like that?
No, not, not musically.
No, that's, that's yeah.
I've never had a sort of mentor.
Holy shit.
You mean to be going on your own all this while?
Yeah.
I've always been going on my own.
I found everything on my own.
I bought books on singing on my own as well.
Yeah.
And then discovery, right?
As you do it, the good thing about it is let's say you're doing it on the job as well.
Yeah.
You know, in radio, you get to learn how to use your voice every single day.
You're on radio.
You're always doing something different.
Yeah.
Learning something new, right?
With how you use your voice and with singing as well.
And now I also do this, you know, sort of Facebook live, you know, once a week now,
I get to sing as well.
So that helps, you know, in, because every time you do something, you just understand
it better and you get better at it as well.
You're sharpening your hands.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
You're doing things and now there's so many resources on YouTube about, you know, different
various singers giving you tips and stuff.
Yeah.
And you're just watching those things and taking in and trying it out.
And then whatever works for you, you keep and whatever doesn't, you just throw it away,
right?
Interestingly, you said George Michael, man.
Yeah.
George Michael.
Yeah.
Okay.
What about George Michael?
George Michael, I think he's the fantastic singer songwriter, right?
Yeah.
Great songs.
He knows how to write great pop songs.
Yeah.
He has this sort of quality in his voice.
He knows how to deliver the songs.
So I've always, you know, listened to every everything he did.
Duran Duran was a big influence in terms of music arrangement, The Beatles as well.
Obviously I used to listen just to hear how they arrange the music and you know, what
made it so wonderful.
And then more recently, because I'm getting an age, my role models, I must say, are like
Tom Jones, you know, the older guys who have proven that age is just a number.
Yeah.
Voice is still there.
You know, Tony Bennett, don't you think?
Well, Tony Bennett.
Before he died.
Yeah.
You know, these guys were still doing it, right?
Yeah, they were still doing it.
Top of their game as well.
Their voice did not deteriorate.
They did not allow their voices to deteriorate.
They still could perform.
They were performers.
So yeah, you know, these days I find myself giving myself that, okay, you know, you're
not too old.
You can still do this because a lot of people will tell you, yeah, you're this age.
You know, forget that dream, man.
But don't you think as a vocalist, man, you lose something?
Not at all.
I used to think that.
I've personally felt I've gotten better as a vocalist, you know, I've just recorded,
you know, my 10 songs for the album and I'm listening back.
I sound a whole lot better now than I did in my youth, right?
And yeah, and that's because of understanding, you know, the more you go and the more you
put into your craft, the better you get at it.
Once you stop, that's when everything, you know, deteriorates.
Maybe the sun sounds a lot like me.
So never stop, right?
Just keep going.
Yeah.
And for me personally, I realized a little late, I can't do some of the stuff I used
to be able to do in my youth.
Yeah.
And that's just because you've not tapped into those areas for a long time.
Is it?
That's what I've learned, right?
I think I've lost it completely.
No, no, you've not.
You've not.
Believe me.
You know, it's a matter of just going back into that space.
When it comes to vocals, it's also a lot of times you're not tapping into various sort
of range.
Your vocal strands.
Your range as well.
You're not going into that range which you used to before.
Yeah.
And then also what you've learned about your voice could have changed the way you've actually
using it right now as well in singing, right?
So singing and speech, two different things as well.
You use it, right?
Yeah.
So yeah, all those things, I'm fortunate because I get to do this every day, right?
And that's why I still do what I do because it keeps me, you know, on my toes.
It keeps me doing, you know, what I do with my voice because it leads to other things
as well.
So now that you've got this bucket list, this one item on the bucket list you need to check
off and have a hit in the US, is there anything else?
For example, any collaboration of anyone you've always hoped to work with but haven't had
the chance to pursue?
Collaboration at this point.
I love working with various artists.
So that's, you know, anybody-
A dream collaboration.
Not right now.
I would have said it was George Michael, but that's obviously too late.
Kermit the Frog though, I wouldn't mind.
He's one of my role models by the way.
Kermit and Mickey Mouse, my role models growing up.
Yeah.
Really?
Over the rainbow.
I still sing that song.
In fact, we still play that in gold as well.
Every time we play that, it's like, oh yes.
The Kermit version.
The Kermit version, man.
Yes.
Sitting on a water lily and a banjo.
Why are there so many songs about rainbows?
What's on the other side?
Tell me about Kick.
All right.
You know, they were like, I'm going to do a kick.
I'm going to do a kick.
Tell me about Kick.
Those are the years where I haven't really been in touch with you.
The years when you had the band and Jane was out.
Of course, obviously out there in the public sphere, I see, this is what John is doing.
John's up to.
He's got his band Kick.
He's got his song.
It's a pretty nice song though at that time.
But I don't know the story behind Kick.
How did that happen?
All right.
Like I said, so I was in the army at that point and in the army, I did a lot of singing
there as well because our CEO loved music.
So I was attached to this Sing Singapore sort of division in the particular army.
So that's basically what I did during my NS days.
You didn't end up in music and drama company?
I did so only during Reservist.
And that's another story altogether.
Reservist?
Yeah, Reservist, you know, I ended up doing music and drama.
Usually it's the other way around.
Yeah, usually it's the other way around.
Right.
Anyway, so right after I ROD, I used to sing a lot.
So this band from the army who are regulars had a gig to do for one of the army, you know,
sort of DNDs, right?
Right.
At a hotel.
So they had a band together and they said, hey, John, would you want to come and sing
with us?
Right.
Because I just ROD.
I said, yeah, okay, why not?
Right.
So we did, we went out and did this one show.
And right after the show, we had a few of these guys saying, hey, we want to form a
band and to record music and, you know, do all that stuff, right?
Form a band mainly.
But I always wanted to write original songs, sing original songs.
Right.
So there were two or three guys who were interested and then we put out an ad on Big O magazine.
Remember Big O magazine?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Big O.
So Big O magazine put out an ad, we were looking for keyboardists, guitarists, and we already
had a drummer and stuff.
So anyway, a few guys responded to this ad and we said, okay, let's do a rehearsal, you
know, and let's get together.
Right.
So the keyboardist said, well, I know I've got a space in my home where I have a whole
band equipment thing, you know, why not you come over?
Right.
So we went over to this guy's place.
I met up, so only four of us turned up.
So it's myself, this guitarist that I met from this army band, and then these two other
guys who are new joiners, right, from Big O magazine.
Right.
So while we're jamming, everybody was saying, you know, I wrote this song and then we're
all jamming our own songs.
Hey, I got this song, I got this song.
Everybody was listening to each other's songs.
And then we all got excited about, you know, wow, yeah, this sounds great.
We could do this, we can do that.
All of a sudden, while we, you know, three of us were talking about these songs, the
guy, the guitarist who was from the army band slowly just packed his things and walked away.
So why not really into original music?
I like to play covers, right?
Right.
So he walked off and was left with Jay, myself, Dinesh, which was kick.
And then we realized that we both, all shared, actually all three of us shared that passion
for writing a version of music and recording, right?
And that's how kick actually started out.
Okay.
And then I told you the rest, how we got into, you know, meeting with the record label and
everything.
So, yeah, so once we got that recorded, we spent one month in the studio, once we got
our record deal, which was incredible as well.
We went to the office and on that afternoon itself, we got signed, right?
The MD heard our songs and he said, okay, you guys, let's put this on paper.
Right?
And it's like, what is happening like crazy fast, right?
So we signed it and within the afternoon I came out, I was like, wow, I can't believe
I'm recording artists, right?
So it was sometime when we signed on, I think it was August.
And then in December we went, we block booked the whole studio, form records, the record
company blocked it off.
And we recorded the whole album in a month, right?
We got this producer, co-produced it from Australia.
And first single we released on a compilation, just to put it out there was freedom, which
is the song I wrote and got radio airplay, right?
And that did pretty good.
And then when we released the album, they put out Jane and that's when it just, you
know, took off radio, picked up on it.
That one radio really helped in a great way because 90, sorry, perfect 10 at that point.
They were playing it like nonstop almost once every hour, right?
So when we started to perform in like in malls, you know, doing our promotions shows, people
had come up to us and says, I had no idea that it was a local band doing that song,
right?
I love that song so much.
I had no idea it was a local band, right?
So that was basically the sort of strategy the record label was taking not to put it
out so much.
It was local band.
It was just music in general.
And yeah, before you knew it, it took off in that sort of way.
Okay.
And then kick went on for how long?
Not too long.
So it ended off as quickly as it came about.
What happened?
Yeah.
So, you know, by the time we had released that album, we did a few shows.
We did huge shows in KL and, and, and in, in J, sorry, was it Malacca?
Really, really like 40,000, 60,000 people turned up for those shows.
Yeah.
It's one of those shows that they have in, they use the car parks, you know, of these
malls to do the shows, which fantastic Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve.
And, and it was well received.
So record label says, okay, we're going to send you to, to London to record your next
album, right?
With a producer that we chose.
And we actually, Jai and myself, actually Dinesh had, had to go off to study.
So he was not involved in that process.
And Jai and I went to London, recorded the album and really excited because the songs
were produced so much better than the first album.
And before you knew, when we came back, the Asian financial crisis had struck.
97, 98.
Yeah, that's right.
And that's when the record label had to pull out.
So we never released that album.
We never got released.
Never got released that album, right?
So that's when we were like, oh my goodness.
And that's when I went and joined 987 full time.
They pulled me in at that point.
So yeah, so I made that transition, you know, lost the band.
No, hang on a second, hang on a second.
So that London trip you guys made.
And to you, I mean, obviously you're in London, right?
And the kind of producers you got and the sound engineers that you got there, working
on your stuff is going to be like ace, man.
It was great.
It was the stuff that, you know, take that was-
And then you never got fucking released.
Never got released.
So what happened to that album now?
I mean, is it still collecting dust somewhere?
Yeah.
So, okay.
So the thing about it was because it was stopped halfway, we only had, I think, half the songs
back from the producer because he only mixed half the songs because he claimed he only
got paid half the bill because the record, you know, producer pulled, sorry, the record
label pulled out.
Right.
So we only had, well, half, five songs back, I think at that point.
And I managed to get those five songs and basically just kept it and we couldn't-
And you don't want to release it on your own as an independent?
Well, at this point, I don't think it's, you know, any point doing it because it's, you
know, it's like, what, in the nineties, it's still that nineties sound.
And they sound like a little boy.
Oh, come on.
Come on.
How can you say that?
Nineties sound.
Look, look, look, I'm going to be point blank again about this topic.
You know, I mean, I've said, I've talked about this all the time.
Nineties sound today, listen to Dua Lipa.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Reminds you of the nineties?
Obviously, obviously.
Bruno Mars.
Why does he still survive?
Yeah, yeah.
Or not?
Throwback.
A lot of throwbacks.
Thriving, still throwing back.
Right?
I mean, I mean, there's nothing wrong with nineties music.
I think a lot of young people today also attest to the fact that music was so much more fun
in the eighties and the nineties.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And of course, I mean, yeah, I concur completely as well, together with you.
Yeah.
And now you've got some nineties sound being released today.
For all you know, it might just be quite a hit.
Yeah, it might be.
You know, if there's, I guess, interest in it, you know, I would think about it.
Yeah, I mean, if there's no legalities governing this thing, I mean, why not?
You and Jai, just you two guys did the work for it.
Yeah.
If there's nothing that's stopping you in terms of ownership.
Yeah.
I mean, think about this.
You've got your album.
This is just top of the head.
I'm just talking cock at the moment.
Right, right, right.
See whether it makes sense.
You've got your new album you're releasing soon.
You have this dream of reaching, you know, the American charts, right?
And then you've got five to six fucking songs.
From the vault.
Yeah.
Worked and produced in freaking London.
Yeah.
And it's not been released.
I mean.
Yeah, I know, I know.
Yeah.
It sounds like, you know, it's an opportunity.
I mean colloquially, man, it's like damn fucking sayang, right?
Yeah, it is.
It is.
I've had a few people actually ask me even, you know, to put it on, on, on, you know,
the streaming platforms and stuff.
And I've thought about it obviously and, but you know, as an artist as well, sometimes
you're listening and say, well, you know, my voice sounds like I'm like, you know, adolescent
kid.
You take the original stuff that you've got, you've got, it's your stuff.
I don't have your, I mean, we have the only the sound recordings.
We don't have the actual.
Okay, okay.
Record it again.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Record it again.
Don't change the 90 sound.
Yeah.
But record it again.
Right, right.
You sing it again.
Yeah, yeah.
John today.
Yeah, yeah.
John's vocals today.
And do it again.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, I mean, you're almost not released yet.
So who knows?
You have an additional five to six new songs added to whatever you're releasing.
Yeah.
And I think it's going to be quite refreshing because it seems to me now a lot more than
90 sound is coming back.
It is, it is.
People have throwbacks, right?
Yeah.
Right.
So, you know, I don't see what's, what's so bad about that, man.
For all you know, you, this is going to be some revival of some sort.
Yeah.
You're going to take up, you're going to take advantage of it.
I think it's going to be, I think it's a great idea.
No, I actually think, I mean, since speaking to you, that just releasing it in its original
form, you know, because it just was a point of our time, our lives, you know, the second
album of Kick following the first album and then just remembering it for, for what it
was could be it as well, right?
This is the last recordings of Kick, you know, from the 90s or whatever.
Yeah.
You could just put it out anyway.
Yeah.
Why not?
Because it's a whole package.
Right.
Compared to John Claus, as you said in your own words, I sound like a kid back then.
Yeah.
Today you're the whole package.
I mean, think about this.
You're a celebrity, your personality on radio, you're a celebrity, no doubt.
Right.
Yeah.
And I'm happy for you, man.
Thank you.
We've known each other for a long time.
I've got a lot of celebrity friends.
And I mean, I'm, I'm not a celebrity at all.
I'm like you guys.
People know you though.
Everybody knows Chris.
Even in school, people knew who Chris Henson was.
Oh boy.
This, this, this, okay.
Nevermind.
I'm not going to go there.
This show's not about, this, this episode's not about me.
It's about you.
Uh, and you know, um, you've got, you, you had a whole package now.
You, you're a celebrity, you're on radio on air almost every day.
You're a songwriter, as you said, and you are, you're a singer.
You have albums put out there.
You got another album coming out.
And then on top of that, there is also a line called John Claus suits.
Yeah, that's right.
What's the story of that, man?
It's also a battery connection right there.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
So, you know, um, Suresh Mocchan, right?
Oh boy.
Yeah.
So one day I, I walked, he's still jumping.
He's still exactly the same.
Talk about somebody can talk forever.
He can talk forever.
Yeah.
He's an entertainer himself.
So, uh, yeah.
So one day I was looking for, for, you know, sort of bespoke suits as well.
My wife said, why not go to Far East?
You know, let's check out the suits over there.
And she remembers walking by this shop, right?
Around the second floor.
She says, where this guy is always sitting out there is very friendly.
He's always saying hi and says, yeah, I mean, I think it's around this area.
So we started walking by and then she said, I think it's this shop.
I remember seeing, you know, this guy, but he was not there at that point.
So we just walked into the shop and I was inquiring about suits.
Right?
So all of a sudden I'm nowhere.
Suresh walks in and says, Hey brother.
It's like, Hey man, you from St. Pat's, right?
Yeah.
You know, what are you doing?
Yeah.
So I'm trying to make a suit.
So I made a suit and I liked what he did.
And then we started talking, say, you know, I've always wanted to do this and, you know,
make my own suits and I love that look and stuff.
So we decided to run a business together.
He knows the suit business.
Yeah.
I wanted to do a specific style.
So it became a John Klaas suits sort of business with him.
So he became a, so he suggested the idea, I suppose.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
He's got to be Suresh.
Yeah.
Okay.
So that's how John Klaas suits came about.
Yeah.
But anyway, I got to say, man, after that, to me, me is watching all that happening,
right?
Right.
It's like, okay, now John's come into his own.
He's got John Klaas suits now.
Right.
And then I saw snippets of your concert.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
That's right.
2017.
Yeah.
I mean, and this one got me.
This one really got me.
Can we play that one, please?
Oh, really?
Okay.
This one got me.
Okay.
Yeah, we'd like to play a clip of you.
Okay.
You've got a clip?
Yeah.
Let's play this for a bit.
Some say love is holding on.
Some say letting go.
Some say love is everything and some say they don't know.
They don't know
Perhaps love is like the ocean full of conflict, full of change
Like a fire when it's cold outside
Or thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
The memories of love will be of you
You
Now this is the bit that I felt was really freaking silo man
This bit believe it or not. Would I'm walk it out? Yeah
No, no, no, don't get me the wrong way man
That exit man exit was like star freaking quality exit
And and and looking at you on that stage
There's one thing that hit me I mean John's arrived right Wow, okay
No, really because because I'm gonna say this. Yeah, I mean, I don't give a fuck, you know, I'll say things very
That we're not wanting to be disrespectful. Right? Right. Yeah when kick came out to me Jane was nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah
I didn't write it though. So yeah
I didn't like the song personally
And it was to me it was great he's got he's he's got a man
His albums out, you know, yeah, or the band's albums out, you know
Great Johnson air you great. Yeah, you know
so
but
Didn't impress me. Yeah
Then when I saw that right everyone fucking hell, right? Yeah, that's
John
No arrived. Yeah, and
that
reminded me of
that verve
You had when I first saw you perform in school, right? Right. Okay all those years ago. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah that was
That to me that hit me then right? Yeah, this one
This one hit me when it came out, right? Yep, you know, and I mean what the fuck you know
That there's so much in it. Right? There's so much in that. I mean everything was so well
Well planned well organized. Look at your players man. Yeah, the owing John Klaas suits, by the way
I'm not surprised
And then you guys were in a car, oh, yeah
You saw that on the carpool caracay saying that in the car. You had a band in the car
Yeah, and you know, they were also hyped. Yeah, you know and you got a female drummer. Yeah
Yeah, and she's a real good drummer as well. Yeah and and and your voice you're right
The way you perform now the way you sing the way perform
So much better. Hmm, dude, it was that was a bomb. Great. Thanks. I appreciate that
I actually played that like five times. I hate well prepping for the for today's episode, right?
Right, and I kept watching it. I go Wow
Now this guy's got it, you know, and the way you ended that performance man. Oh
Cool
No, well done mate. Really? Thanks. Thanks to me to me to me
You've arrived, you know, you're there and I'm really I really hope that your new album is gonna fly off the shelves
I mean nowadays you can't say metaphorically speak. Yeah, yeah, not literally flying off the shelves anymore these days. Everything's digital, right?
Yeah, it's gonna go on digital platforms, right? I suppose. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So first of all, thanks for saying that and and
Everything you said is exactly how I felt as well because I've always felt that whatever I did in the past
Was not really me. That's and that's why I said that right? It was not really represented of me as an artist
Yeah, I was just doing stuff because you know, it was available to me was stuff I was being asked to do and
Finally, I then sat down one day and said, okay, what am I really as an artist? Who am I? Right? Yeah
what song should I be singing and who should I be putting out and
Eventually after all that the concert was I think the first of that sort of incarnation. Okay, this is gonna be me
Yeah, right. Yeah, and this is what I am about and the concert was the first thing
Yeah, and everything else since then it's has started. Okay. So as a performer, yeah in terms of genre you said pop music
Yeah, that's what your album is based on commercial music. Yeah, but personally man
Your you
Well, they join Denver song I would consider pop music. Well, yeah, okay
Yeah pop music with a way you presented it right right. It didn't feel like it didn't feel like a John Denver song, right?
Right. Okay. Okay. You know what? I mean, right? Yeah, it was different
Yeah, I know it's a John Denver song, but it didn't come out and present it that way, right? Um, so what sort of?
What sort of genre do you really really love?
that
You're gonna say pop again. Okay, so I guess I see you as a ballad here. Yeah
Yeah, that's exactly what my wife has been saying all these years, right? So I was I'm a guy
I'm okay. I'm like Richard Marks, right?
I love that sort of Richard Marks when he first came out with all that guitar driven type songs
Eventually became Ballad Man
I'm not sure if you actually watch that concert where he actually started to only do ballads, which I hate it
And but that's what people liked about you know, a Critchett Marks, right? You're waiting and then now and forever
I'll be your man. I really always consider those songs be like sappy sappy sappy sappy, right?
And my wife said no, that's when you exactly what you said, you know, that's what you do best
Yeah, I think so and I always thought it was uncool. So
Eventually, I embraced it. Okay. I said, okay, I think you know, I've come to a certain age
And I think maybe there's some truth in that
So when they did the concert, I realized people my friends, you know from school came to see it
Also told me that that particular segment which was the love segment of the show
Was their favorite right? And I was like, okay, man, you know, maybe that's what I'm gonna do
So when I released my my first comeback sort of song for this era, it was an EP
I did a cover of a ballad which I read it on my own
It was you know made popular by Anne Marie. It was called I just fall in love again fall in love again
Yeah, so I didn't because I realized there was no cover done by a guy and I always love that song
Yeah, so that you know recently I did that cover. Mm-hmm. And when I played on radio got to play on radio
Finally someone texted me and said hey, you know, I've always wondered why there was no guys singing
We're singing that song and so when I heard it on air
I went to look for it in Spotify and I found out it was you right? I you know, Shazam did I said
Oh, wow, you like it. See? Yeah, you know, I thought it's great in exactly what I always wanted
You know was having a guy sing that you know song which which which is why I was looking so puzzled
Right because when you said no guys done it before and I went really I thought I heard it before right?
Okay, so you might have heard that you know, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yes. So take a listen if you can
I will I will I mean I heard it before right right
So when you brought this up because when I heard it it was on radio, right? Okay
So you must have been listen, but I didn't know who it was right, right? Yeah, so now I know it's you
Yeah, it's me. Yeah, okay
No, guys the Carpenters did it, you know, and then Anne Marie did it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so Anne Marie made it big
Yeah, hers with it was a big one. Yeah, I cried a tear. I wiped it dry. No, no, no, that was you needed me
Oh, that's you needed me. This one is one. I must be dreaming. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah
Yeah, sorry. Sorry. Yeah, I get confused. I'm an old age
No, it's Anne Marie's basically one song sounds like the other but all great songs. Yeah, so when you had that concert
What was your objective man? Well, I've always okay, so I've done shows
You know and I've done like small shows and I've done
Do a lot of private shows and I wanted to kind of put a marker down as okay
This is me being artists doing the songs. I want to do in my own style and on way, right?
So yeah, my wife is what we do actually we put out shows and stuff like that
She said let's let's do one and I so we gave it a shot
So okay first question was who would come right? What the hell would come because I've been known all this while as a DJ
I've not done music in a long time, you know, like in the public so who would come
So we had a recital studio at at what was that?
Esplanade so it's nice 200 cedar. I said, okay, let's try this out and we sold out
So that's you know, that was that was encouraging and I right after that concert
We actually had planned a few more and then you know, Kovac it and then everything, you know stood still for a while
So so then I started working my album and then okay, so, you know
Finally done with that and yeah, I've seen I've seen guys like, you know friends like you and then I know Rumi to had one
As well. Yeah. Yeah Mendoza and I did ask myself this question. Well ballsy move man
Yeah, it is it is I would have thought the same like, you know if I mean I would never do it
You know, I mean who the hell will come listen exactly who exactly right?
Everybody I'm sure I think you know if you watch the Elvis film as well, right Elvis was saying the same thing
You would say the same thing who will want to do this mr. Klaus mr. Klaus that we just tell you this man
If it were me is it would bomb. No, we cannot say that one's gonna turn
If you believe in yourself, that's what that's it starts with that first
Then eventually people would see that and it'll come but when I see you guys do stuff like that and I go
Oh, wow. I wish to go you see you see what you're doing right now
You know in this podcast and this you've putting yourself out there, right?
And then the next thing leads to the next thing and it you got to start putting yourself out there
That's all I'm saying, right? I really don't know man to me is like it's so ballsy to do this
I mean you're gonna go out there sell tickets
Yeah, you know that that stuff because it's validation of yourself
And then if yeah, and then you you fear that your your biggest fears will come true when no one buys tickets, right?
So that's a tough thing. Everything worked out the way
Did it work out the way you you wanted it to work out? Yeah, absolutely
First of all, because you know that the reason why I do is because I feel good doing it, right?
Yeah, like I am living my my purpose, right? Yeah, that's only reason why I'm still doing it
Yeah, yeah, yeah is because I feel I need to do this. Otherwise, I cannot die
Really? I cannot die. Really? I cannot that is exactly what I'm doing
And that's why what drives me to do it and this age really? Why would I even want I've got a great job in radio
Pays me well comfortable right? Why am I still you know have this urge to want to go and write my own music do this?
Because it takes up a lot of time
On top of what I'm doing in radio it is and it's cause it's you got a scratch. Absolutely, right?
Yeah, I know that it's a there's a purpose for me to do it. Yeah, it's not just vanity. It is something I have to do
Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean just like what you're doing right here as well. I'm sure I mean
This is something I had to do. Absolutely and I'm doing it. Yeah, you know and kudos to that
I said just like you've been looking at what I've been doing
I'll be looking at what you've been doing as well
No, really and I'm so glad that you're actually doing this because I knew you've been wanting to do this for a long time
You finally sat down and said okay
Heck it I'm gonna do it. Right? Yeah, and that's what how everything starts when someone says heck it
Let's get this shit done. Yeah, and then you see, you know the magic up here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I
I yeah where I'm sitting right now. Yeah in this space. Yeah, this is my dream. Absolutely. I know one of a few
Yeah, yeah, so knock it down one at a time until you can say well done at all now
Thank you. I appreciate that. No, that would that be the same advice you would give to anyone aspiring in music?
Absolutely. I've been surviving a music for most of my life doing music writing songs for TV shows for kids shows
It's stuff that I love doing and in Singapore as well. I've supported my family doing music and not singing in clubs
Or anything like that, you know, not that people think okay to earn money
You've got to go out there and sing you don't have to just do that
It's a singer songwriter. You can do so many and get so many things done like what I said songwriting
Performance, of course, you're right. So you can commission the right songs. Yeah, but people need to know who you are
Yeah, but you've got to put yourself out there first, right?
So, you know, it goes back to that so yeah put yourself out there put yourself out you first make that first step
Yeah, then once it make that first step people will start to see it people like it
Then you eventually get spread the news will spread and eventually people know and then they'll come to you and then one job
You do will lead you to the next job next thing next thing next thing
So I'm curious man, not only talking about this and you say that I've been feeding my family with music
Yeah, right. That's how I've been earning my living
And of course the hungry years as Mickey Mouse
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's Mickey Mouse
Mascot you you get into a costume and get paid for stuff like that
Yeah, and then you you still continue to write your songs you get commissioned eventually, but be
Outside of radio. Let's say for example
Hypothetically, yeah, John Klaas is not on air. Yeah, but he's a music
composer writer, yeah
musician performer
Yeah, would you still be able do you think to feed your family to affect your family without?
Yeah, being in on radio. So I was not in radio for 15 years. Yeah, I know I'm this way
Remember that gap the 15 year gap. Yeah, what happened during that period? Could you yeah, so could you get by?
So see the thing about it. I've always had one single mindset and it was never to earn money, right?
So money was not my my concern
Because I guess I had this thing since I was young that I was always gonna be doing music
I was always gonna be successful doing it and money would not be a problem because everything will follow if I did it right
Right. So that was I guess naive thinking of what I call it now and now in hindsight
I'm thinking like crazy guy. All right
It's a crazy guy thinking that way, you know
Because I had all the confidence in the world that I'll be able to succeed and do that, right?
So to some extent yes successful with kick and that helped because I had that name with kick and because of kick
I guess it was easier for me to get into 987 because I already had that sort of background where people knew me
So I got into 987 and then I did what I did in 987 and then eventually I left after two years and
after that it was
Surprisingly, so I never had to look for a job for 10 years
At least people just kept coming to me for this or that and this and that I was freelancing list literally for a long time
People are see could you do this? Could you do that? And I realized just by doing radio?
I could do so many things I could script I could produce I could you know
All that stuff because I was doing that in radio as well, right?
So I realized I could do so many things I could write songs. I could write, you know theme songs
It could do children's shows. I once had a job someone asked me. Can you write a
30 songs in 30 days literally for a kids show because they want a tight very tight schedule and said well we can pay you the money
But you need to deliver right? So I was like, obviously I'm gonna take the money and I just said yes
Not knowing if I could do it. I was okay, man one song
I had to do three songs in a day because there was like oh boy this yeah
So but it was short songs, right? Like two minute songs. Still is like bright brain could be sweating and hurting man
Yeah, so but then because I had that timeline
Yeah, I discipline myself to make sure I delivered the hooks and all that stuff for kids to sing
All right, and I did it and it's because you're telling I'm gonna do it. Don't think about how just do it
It has to be done. It has to be done. Yeah, I did it and
And because I did that then I got a lot more offers coming in because oh John can deliver
This the goods at this particular shot short notice as well. Yeah, so you showed that you could deliver
But net net of it all to answer my own question
Advice to young musician out there
That yeah, like John you can still feed your family feed yourself
Put yourself out there, right?
But you gotta have the talent
Well and the drive okay to deliver. Okay, so let me give you another example. All right talent is
What is talent as well is one man's talent or one man's you are good and is another man's I don't think you're great
Right. Yeah, and it's basically what you think of yourself, right? Right. That's the most important look at Madonna
I say Madonna if she entered a singing competition should never win right never win. She doesn't have a voice
Yeah, a good voice. Not Mariah Carey. She's not Whitney Houston, right?
It's a diva diva. She's not a great singer. Let's put it that way the rest of them the divas because they know they can sing
Right
So Madonna had to put in a lot more work in terms of finding ways to get herself out there get people talking about her
And doing your personal finding the right songs. Yeah, all that stuff, right?
But her determination is what got her to yeah being bigger than some of these Mariah Carey's and Whitney Houston's because Madonna is now
Like the Queen right? Yeah, and why it's because she knew how to use and whatever that determination
I think in the end is just knowing I want to get there how I get there
I don't care, but don't give up don't give up
I'm just gonna go just like when I was given that song I took it first those songs to do took it first
Don't think let's just do I know I'm gonna get it done
Just tell myself gonna get it done and I'm gonna get it done and eventually got done and because of that more things
It came to me right. So it is about the old-school motto, isn't it? Protest revolt? Yeah. Yeah
Really for those of you don't know what protest revolt means other than sounding like protests and revolt
Yeah, I always thought it was that
Protest and revolt. Yes, that's cool. Which is revolt is a St. Patrick's school motto
We are very proud old boys at a school. Absolutely man, and protest revolt means he who wills can yeah
Yeah, so and and I think that
motto of ours man
Look at our friends. Yeah has driven us. Yep
It was a good damn good foundation for all of us is driven us to really be determined and resilient
Yeah, and and and what you got to do means you got to do, you know
What you have to do you got to do what man's got to do you got to do
You know, we don't quit in that yeah, and as long as you tell yourself that so it's not
It's not it's really in the end, right? It's what you make of yourself
And if you think that's what's gonna happen, there's no two ways about it. I'm gonna make it happen. It will happen
I'm telling you at 50 plus years now. I'm still dreaming to do this
Yeah, yeah, it has to joke
You just like everyone else don't want to say how old you are
I already said 50 plus man. It's like already bad enough like that. Okay, you you won't wait 97 years
It's exactly the same as me. We're the same freaking age, dude. We are yeah 54 this year. Okay, let's say it. Yeah
Yeah, I forget
Once 50 came aside. I want to know how you know how old we are. Yeah, we are young senior man
Yeah, we're seniors. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely, right? I don't know man
Are we getting a bus senior citizens bus bus next year next year? Yeah
And we can barely go to the movies and pay half price and weekdays. Oh, I do that now
Oh, what how do you do that nearby man nearby you go down to the hub nearby and you get and and you go for the movies
No, you can only get it 55 right? No. No this one 50
Wow, okay, you have to wait five years then just let you know just let you know
I mean if you ever want to pay half price for your movie tickets
I can do it now already. Wow. Okay, man. It's cool
Okay, so don't give up. It's it's you know, it's the self doubt that stops a lot of people from doing it, right?
Yeah, it is. Yeah. What do you think of music today, man? What I think of music
I think music is good, you know, if you think it's good. No, no, really really I do think that don't be politically correct
Yeah, I'm not I'm not you know
I don't know a lot of people say that and in a music music in the 80s was great
And I think the only reason was because you know, we grew up in that era and we had a lot of memories
So we'd be biased. Yeah
In some ways, I think everybody says that right the people who 50s grew up 50s great music there as well 50s music
No one can beat that rock and I agree rock and roll is great. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait
Wait, this is this is debatable you because why?
Yeah, sure look at this in proper context. Yeah. Yeah, the 50s people who rocked who rocked the 50s
Yeah, they have every reason to say that was the best era simply because
Simply because the king of rock and roll brought rock and roll
To the world. Yeah, then the Beatles came along then you had the 60s, right?
Yeah, and then of course those baby boomers to say the 70s were the best because why and they were not wrong either
yeah, but you have to see if take a look at those times those time periods man and
link that popular culture to
what happened in
History right? Yeah, so so in terms of music, we know that the 50s and 60s Motown also happened then. Yeah
Yeah, yeah, the Beatles came around then there was the British explosion at that time. So because of the Beatles
Yeah, yeah, and and then after that you've had the Vietnam War
Oh, right, and then yeah, then you see the music became a little different. Yeah, the hippie generation
Dylan yeah Bob Dylan. Yeah
And then after that the 80s, right? The 80s don't forget the wall came down. There was a Cold War
Yeah, and it reached the stage where Gobbyshoff came in and we had glass and asked
Yeah, and then the wall came down Reagan was around anyway, the Iron Lady Thatcher and we had the British explosion again
Yeah, it's because of that's just that's just you know, she wants it. She was she's very
She's is all about meritocracy, but she's concerned right?
Just like us in Singapore, right? Yeah, and and you go out there and you and you and you work for a living and you
Build something and and music came up. Yeah, right and then we had a lot of Brit music
Like you said Durandor and don't forget the patch mode. Yeah spanned out ballet
Yeah, of course, we would say hey music was better than me because look at how things evolved
Digital actually started then because there was so much electronic music
Music since sounds, you know, it Thompson twins the patch will all using synthesizers. Yeah
Yeah, I mean look at what happened then right and so of course we'll say but today yeah
Since the Millennium turned yeah, I mean hell
What was it black eyed peas? Okay, they all use garage band might do songs. Yeah. Yeah. Okay fine. What else?
Well, they're a lot of
I wouldn't say iconic type is you know sort of bands. Yeah, I would agree with that right there
There's there's a few okay the Coldplay is the YouTube
Come on YouTube
Coldplay I agree. Yeah Coldplay. I agree. And what's that guy Dave growl? What band was yeah. Yeah. Oh jeez was the coach
Damn it damn oh, where can my baby be?
No more anyway, oh jam, I mean they became you know, quite a household name
I mean they were going back to the you know, the roots of
Yeah
Even even even Maroon 5. Yeah. Yeah, right. But no in and then now Mike my boy my boy is nuts
over Kanye
Really? Yeah. What do you teach a man? I don't know. I don't know where I've gone wrong really
He's like
I've been Kanye this
He's gonna drop his album service he's no he's not it's gonna fool you guys again
And he did for a day, but eventually did that and yes, I know is a bit of a nutter
But but but then why yeah, yeah, and then I told you this
I've said in that episode. So since we're talking I'll say it again
He said he's bigger than Elvis. No way. Oh
Can you imagine telling me in my house?
exactly
And well, and you know, I mean look at what what are they producing today man
You got hip hop and this hip hop and Taylor Swift
Actually like Taylor Swift
Yeah, have you seen her? Have you watched the concert? Yeah, it is epic. Yeah. Yeah, great. It's a great performer
She's on right. I think as well
Yeah, but look at the whole package and you think and you think back you think back Janet Jackson
Yeah, you think back
Whitney Houston
Right you think back these people. Yeah, and you and okay. Listen, let's be fair. You forget about genders
Prince
Yeah, you know you totally different sort of a you know thing absolutely
But you know see the thing about it because my daughter is a huge fan of Taylor Swift, right?
So I often ask her as well, right? Yeah. Okay. What what do you see and Taylor Swift is not one of those flash-in-the-pan type?
Artists as well. She's actually one of the more pure
I'm not saying she's not good. Yeah. I'm just saying that
Compared to how much of course of course how much impact there has been. Yeah, but from by artists on it globally
Yeah, right. I mean you can't compare Taylor Swift to Queen
Yeah, I mean the different artists but I think what's the difference right now? Yeah, I've had this conversation as well with my daughters
And it's social media, right?
That's made a difference and made them bigger than they would have been if not for social media because on the music alone
Yeah, I totally agree with you. They're not Prince. They're not Queen. They're not ABBA even. Yeah, yeah, right
Which gives you something that a lot of artists can't right? Yeah, he's a special sort of artist. Yeah
Yeah, and social media has a lot to do knowing how to manipulate social media
In fact, I'm doing a study right now because I'm I'm I'm at this stage of my sort of music
Sort of career where I've just released I'm gonna release my album
I've got to learn how to do everything in the modern world. Yeah, social media has a lot to do with it
So I'm actually taking some sort of lessons
With this guy who actually initially managed Taylor Swift. Wow, it's Rick Barker, right and
He did he talks about how when he first started with Taylor Swift that they were ground zero first. They really
Sort of looked at social media and the only thing they had at that point was my space
My space and then eventually grew into you know, Facebook and all the other stuff, right?
So he he talks about everything to do with social media and I agree with that as well when social media first came out
also as an artist, I
You know, we now can bypass record labels can bypass everyone else who were the gatekeepers to your music
Yeah, and say I can go directly to my audience, right? Yeah
So now let's find out how I do that in so many ways Spotify gives you that chance play listing and all that stuff
It's a lot to learn
Which has made a difference because now you're impacting people's lives not just by the music but as a person as well
Right on the little things that you can sort of connect with your audience about the lyrics that you write
Yeah about your experiences in your personal life and they can you know, and that's the thing the dynamic has changed
Not just about music anymore. It's not about what the tabloids write about you anymore
It's not you can write about yourself and connect directly with the audience, right? Yeah
So so so what you're saying is today the artist is seen for their for their authenticity
Yeah, it's it's so when I asked my daughter, why do you like to tell us who have musics one?
But it's all the other things that make Taylor Swift Taylor Swift
Personally in her life. Oh, yeah that they connect with the love stories how she breaks up with her boyfriend
She feels this pain and all these kids or girls or fans growing up with that same pain relate to her
And then they reach out and you know that so you're an ex-gener man
Now you've learned this right and then as an artist. Yeah, if you're gonna use social media
For this purpose
Would you be willing to bear your soul and your heart?
You know and your personal private life on social media
Well, that's the thing. So there's a line you have to draw obviously, right? Yeah, I'm fighting light
So I'm trying to figure out that
What how and all that stuff? I'm in the process right now
Yeah, I mean because you know for a lot of guys like us and especially those older than us, you know
We go how much do we want to really put out there? Yeah. Yeah
Yeah, if we put too much of ourselves out there, we it makes us vulnerable as well. Yeah, yeah, doesn't it? Yeah
And then you start wondering like maybe there'll be those who would say of course, they'll be the only audience
They will say why are you doing this man? Why are you telling everybody?
Yeah, you know your issues and blah blah blah and then we talk about issues and you also share happy stuff
People are also glad to see it, you know, I'm not so sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, the cynics. Yeah. Yeah, but anyway, um, I
I
Really hope I wish you the best. Thanks. You know for your for your new album and your exploration into this space now
Yeah, so that's that's the thing that's interesting then this way I'm not writing off
You know the new music because obviously, you know people like it and it's got to accept it embrace it and see why is it?
That people are interacting and with the music and how they're doing it these days, you know
And you know try and try to move forward with that right rather than just yeah
Yeah, and and and you know, I say as I said, you know, I really hope your dream comes true
Thanks, you know really you you get what you want in the next 30 plus years, man
I'm hoping to get it in the next couple of years and then enjoy it for the rest
30 years not only happen at an 80 something
We're gonna do something right now. We can do something. All right
I've got a you know, I've got John class here
All right, this is Aliyah and I was nervous as shit. Okay, you know, this is not my this is not my this is not really my job
Something that you can do this I suppose and I was nervous as shit when I sang it for a yeah
But think it I think it turned out. Okay
But so if I'm gonna have John class in the studio, I have to sing. All right
Yeah, we're John do this
So this is gonna be a cheeky song
Why cheeky because it's a song that's going to be sung by two Eurasian boys
From St. Patrick's school from St. Pat's knowing fully well that their wives be watching the show
And my wife knows how many girlfriends I've had and she's had more boyfriends that I have so, you know
She's not gonna judge me. Yeah. Well good for you
I don't know whether I'll be the doghouse
You're always welcome to my place, you know, thank you. I'll take you up with that just a straightaway
So, you know, um, this is a song to all the girls I love before
Yeah, and and and I since you had a classy guy and Julio Julio
I get Julio. Okay, Julio is a classy guy. So you do Julio. All right, and I'll do the gruffy guy
All right, man, cuz I look at me. I'm the gruffy guy. You're Willie. Oh, thanks
I'm
I'm sure a lot of girls says hey, hello, Willie
Hey Willie. Oh, look at that Willie
There goes his Willie. Okay. Oh, I love that
Okay, so anyway, we already man just play the song all right
All right, Willie to all the girls I've loved before
How many again a lot we're traveling and now my dog
Revolver and I'm glad they came along sure and dedicate the song
to all the girls I
love before
To all the girls I once caressed
Rubba-Rubba
And may I say I'd held the best
For helping me
To all the girls I love before
The winds of change are always blowing
And every time I try to stay
The winds of change continue blowing
And every time I try to stay
The winds of change continue blowing
And they just carry me away
Willie
To all the girls who shared my life
Who now are someone else's wives
Ignorance is bliss
I'm glad they came along
I dedicate the song
To all the girls I've loved before
I'm sure you can't remember them all, yeah
To all the girls who cared for me
Who filled my nights with ecstasy
Hell yeah
They stay within my heart
I'll always be a part
Of all the girls I've loved before
The winds of change are always blowing
And every time I try to stay
The winds of change continue blowing
And they just carry me away
To all the girls we've loved before
Who traveled in and out and out of those
We're glad you came along
We dedicate the song
To all the girls we've loved before
That's right
Who traveled in and out, outdoor
We're glad they came along
We dedicate the song
To all the girls we've loved before
Alright!
Yes!
Mr. John Klass!
Thank you everybody for watching this episode
With the classy dude John Klass
This is Chris Hansen
You've been watching the Chris Hansen Conversation of course
And we are one more episode
Less
Next week, Friday
Is going to be the season finale
It's going to be a great one
Make sure you tune in, okay?
We'll see you again sometime
We hope you've had fun with that song
And wives, don't get angry with us
Alright, see ya!
See you guys, bye bye!