WEBVTT

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You know, it's a nice moniker. I mean, you know,

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something, you know, the good thing is I didn't

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give it to myself. But now that, of course, you

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know, when you're given that kind of so -called

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title, you use it in your marketing, right? Of

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course, yes. But I don't say, hi, I'm Jeremy

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Montero, the King of Swing, and let other people

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say it. I mean, of course. But it feels good,

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doesn't it? I mean, just to be called the King

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of Swing. I've always known you as that. is a

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multifaceted musician, excelling as a pianist,

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composer and vocalist. Notably, he has received

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the Public Service Medal and Singapore's prestigious

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Cultural Medallion. With a distinguished 49 -year

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career, spanning over 8 ,000 international performances

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since 1976, he has established himself as a seasoned

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artist. His impressive discography comprises

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50 jazz albums. with four recent releases since

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2022, ranking in the USA National Jazz Week chart's

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Top 50. As a Fellow of the London College of

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Music and the Royal Society for the Encouragement

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of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, he also holds

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a visiting professorship at the University of

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West London, a position he has maintained since

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2016. Currently, He serves as Executive Director

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and Music Director of the Jazz Association Singapore

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and co -founded the Composers and Authors Society

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of Singapore or COMPASS where he acts as Chairman.

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Please welcome Jeremy Montero. I remember the

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first time I've met the illustrious Jeremy Montero.

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You don't know that, you wouldn't know because

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I was part of the guests in the hotel. it was

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at Sheraton Towers a very long time ago and I

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remember Tama was playing drums for you that's

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right your sister Clarissa was singing yes and

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you were playing of course playing the piano

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yes and I sat there I think you played I think

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it was two sets for two sets alone I was alone

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I sat there alone and I had one latte two lattes

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because I barely drink it was at night but I

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barely drink so one latte two lattes after Chris,

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you can't sleep tonight. But it suited me fine

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because I just kept on sitting there and listening

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to you guys. You know, that was the first time

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I encountered you. And for some reason, somehow

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I became friends with Tama. Oh, good. Yeah. Yeah,

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I've not seen him in a long, long time. Yeah,

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yeah. Real good guy. So it's an honor to have

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you here, Jeremy. My pleasure. And to have Singapore's

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King of Swing. Thank you very much. On the Chris

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Hansen Conversation. Thank you very much for

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being here, really. Can you take me back to your

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earliest memories of music? What sparked your

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passion? Well, you know, back in the early 60s,

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my dad, he was a policeman, but then he also

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moonlighted as a jazz guitarist and a Hawaiian

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guitarist. Oh! And so... When I was about, you

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know, four years old, he used to have jam sessions,

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jam sessions at home. And, you know, very often,

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I mean, I used to play, you know, toy pianos.

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Okay. And then his friends, you know, one day

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I jumped onto the Fafisa organ that he had bought.

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What is that? It's an old brand of organ, kind

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of a cheesy sounding organ, actually. It's a

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lot of rock bands used back in the day. And I

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started playing simple things with two hands.

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And so my father's friends said to him, Monty,

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his nickname was Monty. Monty, you should get

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a piano so you can start your son on piano lessons.

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So he did. They sold the Fafisa and bought a

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China -made piano called a Blessing Piano. Was

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that better than the Papisa? Well, yes. I mean,

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but back then, the Chinese instruments were not

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made very well. They're cheap, that's all. But

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nowadays, they make really good instruments.

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Do they? Yes, very much so. Just like the Japanese

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at one point, you know, our grandparents' time,

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they were... I mean, Yamaha. Yeah, nowadays,

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you know, the Japanese are as good as anything

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you can get in Germany. And so, the Chinese have...

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They've won, actually, many piano awards in Germany.

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So, beating German pianos. Wow, that's something

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new to me. Yeah, so... But that time was the...

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blessing piano right and it turned out to be

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a big blessing in my life because that ended

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up being my career and my passion and my life

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and when you got started on it your dad actually

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put you through lessons yes and when his friends

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heard you play as a kid yeah you know you know,

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screwing around in a little toy piano thing.

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And then they felt that, what did they feel?

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What did they feel? Did they feel that you were

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prodigious? Were they your prodigy? No, I guess

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they felt I was very musical, I think would be

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the way, and said, oh, your son's very musical.

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Not from the toy piano playing, but jumping on

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the fafisa and playing with two hands. Right.

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And so, yeah, after that, they started me on

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piano lessons, the teacher. Miss Quek lived about

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10 doors down in Pasir Panjang. I still remember

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in Taman Mas Merah. And I used to go to that.

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And she was a very good teacher. Right. I had

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two good teachers, at least her and then later

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on Mr. Tan Zee Tong when we lived in Kota Kena

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Balu in Sabah. He was my most influential piano

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teacher. But Ms. Quek started me right with all

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the fundamentals. She got me interested in music.

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She knew how to balance being strict and being

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gentle and encouraging. So she went on to become

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a Mrs. Kong. But I've never actually... kept

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in touch with her for all those years, actually,

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which I really regret. I wish I had, you know.

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How old were you when you started? I started

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about when I was six years old. Six years old.

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Would you, looking back right now, Who Jeremy

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Montero is today? Actually, I have to call you

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Dr. Jeremy Montero. No, no, no. I don't have

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a doctorate. I have three professorial appointments.

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Okay. So, people call me prof, but you don't

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have to call me prof, please. Make it more informal.

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I don't have a doctorate. Okay. So, you have

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three professors. Yes. So, three professorial

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appointments. They're called one from Lhasa College

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of Music here in Singapore, which is a lifetime

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appointment. Then I have The University of West

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London, London College of Music is the other

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one. And then Silapakorn University in Thailand,

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where I was last week to train the band and to

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do a concert when the infamous earthquake hit.

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So were you with the band when it happened? No,

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I was back in the hotel room. So that was the

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day of the concert, actually. And I had this

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funny ritual sometimes. It was a very centering

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ritual for me. I polished my shoes before a major

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concert. There's something about you guys. I'm

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sorry to interject here because that caught me.

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It caught me because, Jeremy, why? My goodness,

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you are like the third person who told me this.

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There's this ritual thing that the generation

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before mine seemed to do before a show. They

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like to polish their shoes. The next one... Oh,

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I thought I was the only one. No, man. No, no.

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Because, you know, I talk to a lot of people,

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right? And some of them are MCs. You know, before

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they do their show, they have to polish their

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own shoes. The next ritual that I found really

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funny is that they love to just iron their own

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shirts. Why, I won't go that far. I like the

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laundry service for that. So there I was, you

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know, about to polish my shoe and then the room

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started to shake violently. I was on the 27th

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floor and the toilet door was going boom, bam,

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boom, just sliding and it was quite dramatic

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actually and normally I'm very quick with the

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camera, you know, I'm quite a social media savvy

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person but I was just terrified because I've

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been in about five or six other earthquakes in

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Los Angeles and Tokyo before. And I have experienced

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an earthquake as strong as this one, but it lasted

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one minute. This was five minutes of very violent.

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So it was a real long tremor. Yeah. And I don't

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know whether you know, but earthquakes feel twice

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as long as they are. So it was five minutes,

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so it felt like 10 minutes. And then when it

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stopped, the violent shaking stopped. The building

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continued to sway for 10 more minutes. Oh, man.

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But there was no announcement to evacuate, although

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everyone was very smart and evacuated. before

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me. And then after that, there was an announcement

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after the shaking stopped and the swaying started,

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there was an announcement to evacuate. So I'm

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on the 27th floor because I grabbed my passport

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and my wallet, you know, and luckily I was, I

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was wearing a Bermuda's and a short sleeve shirt

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and not in, you know, anything too skimpy. And

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I hit it for the staircase. I started to walk

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very fast now, but halfway through, I said, you

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know what? This spalding was falling from the

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ceiling and landing on the floor. Oh, wow. I

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thought I was in an earthquake movie or a Disneyland

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earthquake simulator, right, really. So I started

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running, which is not easy for me because I have

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a couple of knee injuries that take turns to

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bother me. So I get all the way down to the bottom

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and the security was so nice, they grabbed me

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and... You know, I kind of took them for support.

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They took me to the assembly area. But then we

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waited four hours before the all clear to go

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back to the hotel. Four hours? Yeah. So yeah,

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that was my... So life flashed right in front

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of you, huh? Yeah. I mean, you know, I had a

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sense of, I had a feeling of acceptance like,

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look, if this building crashes and I'm gone,

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you know, I didn't live too bad a life. So I

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actually thought that, can you imagine to reach

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that point where you think that this is it, finish?

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But I remember saying a prayer and saying, look,

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help me get out of the building. And there I

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was. I managed to get out of the building. And

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then the concert was cancelled and rescheduled

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for 18th of June. Oh, wow. So you have to go

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back again. So I told my organisers, can you

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put me in a low -rise hotel? Not because there

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may be another earthquake because normally it

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won't be so soon, right? Yeah, yeah. But, you

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know, in case some problems with the tall buildings

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and the cracks and all which you're finding now.

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Yeah. And so that way, you know, if there's any

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issue and I have to run down, I will run down

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three or four or five stories I can make it,

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you know. 27 floors, man. Yeah. Oh, that wasn't

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funny, right? Yeah. Wasn't funny. Yeah. Okay,

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what were we actually talking about before we

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came to the earthquake? We're talking about you

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have a professorial appointment in three places.

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Would you consider, again, that was my original

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question and I remember now. If you, Jeremy Montero,

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looking back to the day he was six years old,

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started his classes, would you call yourself

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a prodigy? I would not. The same way I don't

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believe in my own legacy. So people say, what

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do you think your legacy is? And I say, I think

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it's very, very egotistical to think in those

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terms. I think my legacy should be spoken about

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by other people, not... And they can consider

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what is it that they think I've contributed to.

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But myself, I'm just my eyes on the ball. I focus

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on what I have to do today and my plans for the

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future. Sure, I look back and reminisce, fall

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in reminiscence of things that I did. But when

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I look back and if you ask me if I thought I

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was a prodigy, I would say no. I didn't think

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I was a prodigy at all. Other people did. Other

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people called me a prodigy. But I don't because

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I've seen so many great prodigies. And the thing

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is about it, I actually dovetail really well

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into a proper career because at 16 years old,

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I got my first job as a professional pianist

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in the jazz club. at a Club 392. I don't know

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if you remember. Not the seedy one up in Orchard

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Towers, but when it was on that row of shop houses

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on Orchard Road. I caught you before you even

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went there. So the thing is that I was there

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and I was 16 and a half years old. And when I

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auditioned for the gig, the owner, Mr. A .J.

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Isaac, a very colorful Jewish gentleman, basically,

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Made me band leader at the age of 16 and a half.

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So my musicians were in their 30s and their 40s.

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Most of them were very kind to me and respected

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my musicianship and didn't really see my age,

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except for one who was really upset because I

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keep telling him, you know, you're coming late

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for work. And he wanted to beat me up one day.

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I had to be protected. I believe it or not, I

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was very puny at the time. So my other musicians

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had to shield me and say, hey, pick on someone

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your own size, you know. Plus, he's right. You're

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late for work all the time. but at 16 how come

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how come mr isaac made you band leader in your

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mind well i guess he saw that uh not only what

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i was good pianist but during the audition he

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saw me getting the band together like a mini

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rehearsal before and how i was marshalling the

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band to play what i wanted to play And he saw

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the leadership qualities I had back then. And

00:13:27.590 --> 00:13:30.409
actually, except for three or four occasions

00:13:30.409 --> 00:13:32.330
when I've been in someone's band with another

00:13:32.330 --> 00:13:34.809
band dealer, like the Ortegos, with Richard Ortega,

00:13:35.009 --> 00:13:39.730
and with Luis Soliano in his band, and the Army

00:13:39.730 --> 00:13:43.730
Band, the music and drama company band, and Terra

00:13:43.730 --> 00:13:47.169
Masahino, the Asian All -Stars band leader from

00:13:47.169 --> 00:13:49.850
Japan. I have not had any other band leaders.

00:13:52.350 --> 00:13:56.549
Yeah, and so I guess I was and still am in that

00:13:56.549 --> 00:13:59.289
aspect of me that I'm good at leading musicians,

00:13:59.570 --> 00:14:02.789
either in a small band situation or in a big

00:14:02.789 --> 00:14:04.789
band or even in orchestra. The reason why I'm

00:14:04.789 --> 00:14:06.429
asking all these questions, whether or not you

00:14:06.429 --> 00:14:09.750
think you're prodigious, gifted. Okay, gifted,

00:14:09.769 --> 00:14:13.730
I think I am. Okay. And that I consider it kind

00:14:13.730 --> 00:14:17.529
of a God -given gift, yes. And I think that I

00:14:17.529 --> 00:14:19.649
was gifted with the ability to learn to play

00:14:19.649 --> 00:14:23.379
the piano well. But, you know, a prodigy is quite

00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:25.700
different. And, you know, usually prodigies,

00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:28.480
they fade out by the time in the late teens.

00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:31.240
Most of them fade out. Is that right? So one

00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:36.519
of the sad things about 90 % of so -called prodigies

00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:39.399
is they fade out and disappear. Okay. And so

00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:42.440
another reason why I don't think I'm a prodigy

00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:45.840
is because I didn't fade out. I was able to get

00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:49.519
a career in my mid -teens. go to the army, be

00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:52.440
in the music and drama company band and moonlighting

00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:55.720
at night during that period. Coming out and straight

00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:59.129
away getting a job with the Ortegos. And then

00:14:59.129 --> 00:15:02.009
actually when I was 17 years old, EMI Records,

00:15:02.289 --> 00:15:06.809
Reggie Verghese and music director, the late

00:15:06.809 --> 00:15:11.169
Martin Pereira, appointed me the EMI session

00:15:11.169 --> 00:15:15.370
pianist. So I was, from that point, 1977, for

00:15:15.370 --> 00:15:17.929
the next 15 years, I played on more than 300

00:15:17.929 --> 00:15:20.529
pop albums, which is actually quite considerable

00:15:20.529 --> 00:15:22.529
when you think about it. I have 50 jazz records.

00:15:22.610 --> 00:15:27.080
I released my 50th jazz album last year. early

00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:31.799
this year. And I have, I've played on 300 pop

00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:36.460
albums. Wow. Yeah. I don't know where else to

00:15:36.460 --> 00:15:39.919
go with this now, you know. But jazz, specifically

00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:44.139
jazz, you're well known for jazz. How did you,

00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:49.620
what sparked your passion for jazz? Well, like

00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:52.840
I said, my father played jazz guitar and Hawaiian

00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:58.070
music as well. And he had a, a lot of jazz records

00:15:58.070 --> 00:16:01.690
at home with Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass, the

00:16:01.690 --> 00:16:06.929
guitar player, and Stan Getz. So jazz music was

00:16:06.929 --> 00:16:08.909
something I started listening to when I was like,

00:16:08.970 --> 00:16:12.490
as soon as I knew what was going on, I was listening

00:16:12.490 --> 00:16:15.230
to jazz music at home. And I loved it. At the

00:16:15.230 --> 00:16:17.769
age of 14, it's very interesting because I was

00:16:17.769 --> 00:16:20.960
listening to a Quincy Jones record. featuring

00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:26.120
a harmonica solo by Toots Tillemans, one of the

00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:29.740
greatest jazz harmonica players ever, playing

00:16:29.740 --> 00:16:31.980
a song by Ray Brown called Brown Ballad. And

00:16:31.980 --> 00:16:34.220
I was standing there in my living room, and I

00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:36.820
started to have tears come down my eyes. I was

00:16:36.820 --> 00:16:38.940
crying, and my mother asked me, why are you standing

00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:41.639
in the middle of your living room crying? I said,

00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:43.639
Mom, I've never heard anything more beautiful

00:16:43.639 --> 00:16:46.820
than this. And that was kind of a turning point.

00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:50.700
Then when I was in secondary two, well, 14 years

00:16:50.700 --> 00:16:52.440
old, I was already in secondary two. I met a

00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:54.980
gentleman by the name of Hilarion Goh who was

00:16:54.980 --> 00:16:57.779
one year older than I am. And he was moonlighting,

00:16:57.779 --> 00:16:59.279
playing Chinese nightclubs, playing keyboards.

00:16:59.700 --> 00:17:02.200
And he was earning like $1 ,500 a month back

00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:05.220
in 1975. That's good money. So I said, oh, that

00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:08.000
means I can make money from this. I can make

00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.799
a living from this. And so he inspired me to

00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:14.740
look at it as a career. But that moment listening

00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:17.279
to... that Quincy Jones record with Toots Tillemans,

00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:21.160
who I ended up playing with on stage at concerts

00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:25.900
in 2003 for the first time and again a few times

00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:29.279
after that. That was the turning point that made

00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:33.059
me want to be a musician and a jazz musician.

00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:41.700
What is the influence on you by this lovely gentleman,

00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:48.329
Louis Soliano? So, Louis, of course, very interesting.

00:17:48.529 --> 00:17:52.009
When I was about 1967, 68, when he returned from

00:17:52.009 --> 00:17:59.450
the UK, I watched a RTS radio TV before SBC.

00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:01.250
Before we go on, Kai Kenny, please. Ah, great,

00:18:01.329 --> 00:18:03.789
thank you very much. There he is. Louis Soliano.

00:18:04.009 --> 00:18:08.470
Yeah, so at 19, well, back in the early, in the

00:18:08.470 --> 00:18:12.690
60s, in 67, so I watched TV and I saw this great

00:18:12.690 --> 00:18:15.440
drummer playing like, you know, so many drums

00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:17.720
that he had, you know, a crapload of drums and

00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:22.519
all the cymbals. And I said, wow, you know, someone

00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:25.019
from Asia can sound like this, you know what

00:18:25.019 --> 00:18:30.519
I mean? And so Louis then awakened in me. a belief

00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:33.259
that I could one day be like him, but on the

00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:36.900
piano, you know. And we've, you know, we've been

00:18:36.900 --> 00:18:40.099
friends ever since I started playing in Club

00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:43.099
392. I used to go and watch him and jam with

00:18:43.099 --> 00:18:46.640
him. And then in 1981, I actually joined his

00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:49.039
band for a couple of years, playing at the Hilton.

00:18:49.579 --> 00:18:53.640
And yeah, so we've had a wonderful, long musical

00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:57.690
relationship and great friendship. And I produced

00:18:57.690 --> 00:18:59.990
his 80th birthday concert a couple of years ago.

00:19:00.349 --> 00:19:03.670
He appears on my concerts quite often. We meet,

00:19:03.769 --> 00:19:05.690
you know, we try and meet for meals at least

00:19:05.690 --> 00:19:07.710
once every six weeks or something like that.

00:19:07.789 --> 00:19:11.089
So we are friends first and foremost. And he's

00:19:11.089 --> 00:19:13.569
definitely one of my greatest mentors. Yeah,

00:19:13.589 --> 00:19:18.529
great guy. Yeah. I know Louis as well. And especially

00:19:18.529 --> 00:19:20.849
during the time when he was playing at the Ritz

00:19:20.849 --> 00:19:23.029
-Carlton for a couple of months. Yeah. Quite

00:19:23.029 --> 00:19:25.720
a long contract. Yeah. And I actually jammed

00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:27.680
with him as a customer. Yeah. As a customer.

00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:31.700
So, you know, I'm in the hotel, you know. So

00:19:31.700 --> 00:19:34.420
I went out, sang with him. But man, I've said

00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:38.200
this before, I think to Jimmy Lee, can the guy

00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:42.119
scat, man? Wow, he's a scat man. Yeah, absolutely.

00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:46.200
I just cannot, I cannot wrap it around my head.

00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:49.440
Yeah. Because I get so, my brain gets tangled

00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:51.819
already just thinking about how to scat. But

00:19:51.819 --> 00:19:55.160
he can go on forever. Yeah. It's remarkable and

00:19:55.160 --> 00:20:00.279
playing the drums. Yes, yes. Remarkable, really.

00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.539
Just that nice. As I said in that episode, I'm

00:20:03.539 --> 00:20:07.980
just sad that he can't remember me. He cannot

00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:09.900
remember me. I called him up. He couldn't remember

00:20:09.900 --> 00:20:12.180
me. I see. Well, it's cool. It's cool. I mean,

00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:16.880
he's of age now. Isn't that acceptable? The title,

00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:20.000
King of Swing, Jeremy. Yeah, so that's something

00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.140
the Japanese press. first coined when I played

00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:30.420
in the 90s in Japan. And I was kind of, it was

00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:32.319
nice that they said that. And then later on,

00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:35.440
you know, the Malaysian press caught hold of

00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.660
it. And then the Thai press caught hold of it.

00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:39.819
And then only the Singapore press started to

00:20:39.819 --> 00:20:42.500
refer to me as Singapore's King of Swing. So

00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:46.579
it was a moniker that was given to me first by

00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:48.839
the Japanese press. By the Japanese press, not

00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:53.180
ST? No. How do you feel about that today? You're

00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:55.599
still known as the King of Swing, right? You

00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:57.660
know, it's a nice moniker. I mean, you know,

00:20:57.700 --> 00:20:59.880
something, you know, the good thing is I didn't

00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:02.299
give it to myself. But now that, of course, you

00:21:02.299 --> 00:21:04.480
know, when you're given that kind of so -called

00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.599
title, you use it in your marketing, right? Of

00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:09.160
course, yes. But I don't say, hi, I'm Jeremy

00:21:09.160 --> 00:21:11.059
Montero, the King of Swing, and let other people

00:21:11.059 --> 00:21:15.599
say it. I mean, of course. But it feels good,

00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:16.980
doesn't it? I mean, just to be called the King

00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:19.980
of Swing. I've always known you as that. Monica

00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:22.960
really stuck with you forever. Yeah, and that

00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:26.720
was only done in the 90s, actually. So I'm grateful

00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:30.880
that it stuck. Yeah, I've always known. Because

00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:33.079
the first time I saw you, it was in the 90s.

00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:35.339
Right. The first time I saw you play. Right.

00:21:35.400 --> 00:21:38.259
Yeah, it was in the 90s. And that's the guy they

00:21:38.259 --> 00:21:41.240
call the King of Sweden. But more than that,

00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:48.799
you also, also wrote One People, One Nation,

00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:52.039
One single pore. Otherwise known as one pimple,

00:21:52.079 --> 00:22:02.019
one lotion, one single pore. So, yeah, so I was

00:22:02.019 --> 00:22:04.980
involved as a music director. I'll let you recover

00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:11.339
while I have some water here. I tell you, I've

00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:14.500
never heard that before. This is the first time,

00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:22.039
man. Yeah, so I actually was the music director

00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:24.500
for the first three national songs, which is

00:22:24.500 --> 00:22:26.380
that of Singapore, We Are Singapore, Call Me

00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:30.700
Singapore, Hugh Harrison, the composer, and the

00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:35.599
arranger and music director. And then a friend

00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.240
of mine said, hey, let's try and write a song

00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:40.019
together and put it through. And it went all

00:22:40.019 --> 00:22:43.480
the way up to then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew

00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:46.359
who asked, who shot back, are you sure that we

00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:48.859
are? one people are you sure that we are one

00:22:48.859 --> 00:22:50.740
nation so then it came all the way back to us

00:22:50.740 --> 00:22:53.519
through the various channels and we said yes

00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:57.930
it's an aspiration He actually asked that. Yeah.

00:22:58.069 --> 00:23:00.349
So I say it's an aspiration. We may not be 100

00:23:00.349 --> 00:23:02.430
% there yet, but it's an aspiration. You know

00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:05.890
what? I'd be sweating buckets just to get LKY

00:23:05.890 --> 00:23:07.890
coming back to you with that kind of question.

00:23:07.970 --> 00:23:13.970
I'd be sweating. You've met him. No, I've performed

00:23:13.970 --> 00:23:15.670
for him two or three times, but I never had a

00:23:15.670 --> 00:23:17.490
chance to meet him. I was even invited to his

00:23:17.490 --> 00:23:21.049
80th birthday concert. We sat in the table way

00:23:21.049 --> 00:23:23.450
back at the Shangri -La Ballroom, but didn't

00:23:23.450 --> 00:23:29.480
have a chance to. speak to him directly. With

00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:32.500
former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, I've had

00:23:32.500 --> 00:23:35.680
many encounters with him. I just was saying today

00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:38.339
to a friend, people already know his political

00:23:38.339 --> 00:23:40.500
persona, but I've had a chance to meet him on

00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:46.950
a personal level. He's a very nice man. But then,

00:23:46.970 --> 00:23:48.690
you know, they started to forget that these were

00:23:48.690 --> 00:23:50.430
the four national songs. They never actually

00:23:50.430 --> 00:23:53.190
went to formally gazette it. So now it's lumped

00:23:53.190 --> 00:23:55.109
together with the so -called National Day songs.

00:23:55.329 --> 00:23:58.289
Right. I always feel we should have these national

00:23:58.289 --> 00:24:03.809
songs and then induct special songs that can

00:24:03.809 --> 00:24:06.690
become national songs like Home by Dickie should

00:24:06.690 --> 00:24:09.240
be a national song. Is that what you mean? Because

00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.059
there's no such thing now. It's all National

00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:14.740
Day songs. So then I feel that if we do this,

00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:17.180
then we're like the US, we're going to have your

00:24:17.180 --> 00:24:19.160
main National Anthem and then your sub -anthems

00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:22.059
like America the Beautiful. So I think, you know,

00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:25.720
I have had conversations with some of the leadership

00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:28.420
on this, but hopefully one day they will do this

00:24:28.420 --> 00:24:31.519
because then people will aspire to write National

00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:34.980
Day songs and then hopefully they will sort of

00:24:34.980 --> 00:24:38.549
be inducted into... a level of sound sub -anthem

00:24:38.549 --> 00:24:42.890
level with, you know, with like the original

00:24:42.890 --> 00:24:46.269
four. Yeah, but Jeremy, I would have thought

00:24:46.269 --> 00:24:49.009
that that would be a logical passage, you know.

00:24:49.029 --> 00:24:51.930
Yeah. Isn't it for any nation? Yeah. That if,

00:24:52.089 --> 00:24:54.970
I'm actually quite, I'm a little gobsmacked to

00:24:54.970 --> 00:24:58.269
be honest because we have all these songs that

00:24:58.269 --> 00:25:00.569
I remember from school days, man, I stand up

00:25:00.569 --> 00:25:02.250
for Singapore, count on me, Singapore, and then

00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:05.480
all the songs you've mentioned. And I would have

00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:09.660
thought that it would be a natural thing, a logical

00:25:09.660 --> 00:25:14.240
move to just call them national songs. As a matter

00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:16.319
of fact, I think the language that most people

00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:18.660
speak, you know, in coffee shops and all that,

00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:21.480
is that, hey, that's a national song. Hey, this

00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:24.160
is a national song. We don't even call it an

00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:27.740
NDP song. So I'm quite surprised that there really

00:25:27.740 --> 00:25:33.200
isn't categorically national songs. Well, I guess

00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:36.200
for the most part now, it's regarded as a little

00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:38.500
bit semantic, but I think at the end of the day,

00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:40.339
I think we should articulate, because as we grow

00:25:40.339 --> 00:25:42.779
older as a nation, it's important to have these

00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:48.079
sub -anthems supporting the main anthem and so

00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:49.759
on and so forth that builds our national identity.

00:25:50.140 --> 00:25:52.619
Well, hopefully one day. I mean, I've spoken

00:25:52.619 --> 00:25:55.519
to some people about it, but at the end of the

00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:58.380
day... I think they're bigger fish to fry in

00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:03.440
the present moment. Oh, by the way, this is a

00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:07.700
pre -recording, people. It's going to be GE period

00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:10.880
soon at this moment. At this moment, yeah. Yeah,

00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:13.920
and speaking about, you know, Mr Lee Kuan Yew,

00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:17.759
I've only had the opportunity to, I'm not going

00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:22.319
to say pleasure. I'll tell you why. The opportunity

00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:26.529
to perform for him once. And Bonnie and Wendy

00:26:26.529 --> 00:26:31.089
and a few others were there with us. We were

00:26:31.089 --> 00:26:35.549
not hired. I was invited actually to perform,

00:26:35.789 --> 00:26:38.910
MC and perform for Parliament's private party.

00:26:39.009 --> 00:26:42.230
I see. In the old Parliament House. Yeah. And

00:26:42.230 --> 00:26:45.529
Mr Lee was front and centre, front table, right?

00:26:45.710 --> 00:26:48.910
And I'm right there. I'm like three metres or

00:26:48.910 --> 00:26:51.930
four metres away from him. And he's right smack

00:26:51.930 --> 00:26:54.180
right in front of me. because the mic's center

00:26:54.180 --> 00:26:57.500
stage so I said I'm going to sing a Chinese song

00:26:57.500 --> 00:27:01.880
and he said and really you know because the instructions

00:27:01.880 --> 00:27:05.339
passed down to us that a band and me don't play

00:27:05.339 --> 00:27:07.500
too loud don't sing too loud he doesn't like

00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:10.099
loud noises I said okay we really got to keep

00:27:10.099 --> 00:27:11.700
it at a level how are we going to do that it's

00:27:11.700 --> 00:27:13.980
a lot of control you know So I said, okay, I'm

00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:16.119
going to sing a Chinese song. And you could hear

00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:20.039
him within earshot. Everyone in the room could

00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:22.259
hear it, frankly. And I heard it right in my

00:27:22.259 --> 00:27:24.779
face. The moment I said, I'm going to sing a

00:27:24.779 --> 00:27:29.299
Chinese song, he says, Mr. Lee said... it'd be

00:27:29.299 --> 00:27:31.700
interesting to hear this Eurasian boy sing a

00:27:31.700 --> 00:27:34.900
Chinese song. I tell you, at the moment, I wanted

00:27:34.900 --> 00:27:40.900
to mic drop and walk. So, no choice. The show

00:27:40.900 --> 00:27:43.460
goes on. I sang, right? At the end of the song,

00:27:43.640 --> 00:27:48.420
he said, not bad. Not bad. I tell you, Jeremy,

00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:54.180
I swear. I was like, shitting bricks. Not bad

00:27:54.180 --> 00:27:58.619
as a compliment. Well, yeah. I really would like

00:27:58.619 --> 00:28:00.819
to sing that way though, you know, but I will

00:28:00.819 --> 00:28:02.500
never forget that night for as long as I live.

00:28:03.140 --> 00:28:05.660
Bonnie and I have got fond memories of that evening.

00:28:06.279 --> 00:28:09.500
And he was on the show, you know that. So, you

00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:12.160
know, your career having spanned decades and

00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:16.819
along the way, did you actually, I'm sure you

00:28:16.819 --> 00:28:22.659
did, stupid question, but I'm going to ask. actually

00:28:22.659 --> 00:28:28.579
expand your academically fall on music? Do you

00:28:28.579 --> 00:28:33.240
go on to take further studies on music or anything

00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:35.200
like that? So that's a very interesting question.

00:28:35.480 --> 00:28:41.049
I had this long -running successful career. Then

00:28:41.049 --> 00:28:43.869
I got this professorial appointment and I still

00:28:43.869 --> 00:28:47.109
only had my O -levels. I was the first O -level

00:28:47.109 --> 00:28:49.650
person to be given a visiting professor appointment

00:28:49.650 --> 00:28:54.009
in Singapore who didn't have a degree. So then

00:28:54.009 --> 00:28:57.630
I thought, you know what, I better go and get

00:28:57.630 --> 00:28:59.390
some kind of piece of paper that says that I

00:28:59.390 --> 00:29:03.589
know what they are saying I know. So I took a

00:29:03.589 --> 00:29:05.930
fellowship diploma from the London College of

00:29:05.930 --> 00:29:07.569
Music, which is the highest diploma that they

00:29:07.569 --> 00:29:11.369
issue. two years after I got my professorial

00:29:11.369 --> 00:29:14.789
appointment. So, yeah, so I did that. And then

00:29:14.789 --> 00:29:18.710
last year, when I first, no, even before I turned

00:29:18.710 --> 00:29:22.930
64, I was 63, I took a postgraduate diploma in

00:29:22.930 --> 00:29:25.130
film scoring and orchestration from the Film

00:29:25.130 --> 00:29:27.450
Scoring Academy of Europe. And that was very,

00:29:27.490 --> 00:29:31.470
very intense because... you know, from not studying

00:29:31.470 --> 00:29:34.490
for 40 years, suddenly, you know, to go back

00:29:34.490 --> 00:29:38.170
to school, so to speak. And I almost gave up,

00:29:38.170 --> 00:29:41.170
actually. After the first month and a half, I

00:29:41.170 --> 00:29:43.009
said, oh, this is too difficult. And I told my

00:29:43.009 --> 00:29:44.430
son, I think I'm going to drop out. He goes,

00:29:44.869 --> 00:29:49.130
wasn't it you who told me never to give up? So,

00:29:49.230 --> 00:29:53.750
I cannot back my own... Solo back whatever you

00:29:53.750 --> 00:29:57.869
told him. So, it's like, you know, I just...

00:29:58.059 --> 00:29:59.720
clenched my fist and went through it and I was

00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:02.799
so happy I did because in August I went to conduct

00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:05.660
the 17 piece string orchestra in Budapest I mean

00:30:05.660 --> 00:30:10.119
in Sofia in Bulgaria and then more recently in

00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:12.240
November my final project with a full symphony

00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:15.500
orchestra which played my piece and I conducted

00:30:15.500 --> 00:30:20.660
them for a couple of the takes and all of a sudden

00:30:21.339 --> 00:30:25.539
I actually won an award in 1991 for best music

00:30:25.539 --> 00:30:27.599
score at the International Radio Festival of

00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:30.279
New York. And then I dropped writing for Large

00:30:30.279 --> 00:30:32.480
Ensemble to concentrate on being a jazz pianist.

00:30:32.700 --> 00:30:34.819
So I left it for all these years, three and a

00:30:34.819 --> 00:30:37.980
half decades, right? And then 10 years ago, I

00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:40.099
started getting involved with Large Ensemble,

00:30:40.140 --> 00:30:43.509
again playing with ReSound Collective. orchestra

00:30:43.509 --> 00:30:47.609
of music makers. I also worked with Singapore

00:30:47.609 --> 00:30:49.730
Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra.

00:30:50.029 --> 00:30:52.210
So I was already, 10 years ago, I started getting

00:30:52.210 --> 00:30:55.170
involved again with a large ensemble. Right.

00:30:55.549 --> 00:31:01.809
Particularly in the symphonic jazz genre, which

00:31:01.809 --> 00:31:04.670
is bringing together orchestral music with jazz.

00:31:06.759 --> 00:31:09.839
So now I'm fully back in that I can actually

00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:12.039
write. I don't have to write every song of my

00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:14.660
concert, but I can actually write a full score

00:31:14.660 --> 00:31:19.680
of a full orchestra. And so I'm so gratified

00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:23.940
that I went back to school and thinking seriously

00:31:23.940 --> 00:31:27.460
about doing the master's program in about a year

00:31:27.460 --> 00:31:30.940
and a half. Wow. If I can find a way to get away

00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:33.880
for a while. So when you write for an ensemble,

00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:39.640
It's for every section, right? Different scores

00:31:39.640 --> 00:31:41.700
for different sections. Yeah, so different parts

00:31:41.700 --> 00:31:44.339
for... Different parts, yes. So, you know, depending

00:31:44.339 --> 00:31:46.559
on how big the orchestra is. Oh, gosh. So it's

00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:49.059
first violin, second violin, violas, cellos,

00:31:49.140 --> 00:31:51.839
double basses, French horns, trumpets, trombones,

00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:55.200
woodwinds. Woodwinds alone, there's clarinets

00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:57.000
and there's flutes and there's... Percussions?

00:31:57.380 --> 00:31:59.700
And you write for percussion, you write for harp.

00:32:00.140 --> 00:32:02.920
It's a... Oh, goodness, man. Just the sort of

00:32:02.920 --> 00:32:06.779
it. Yeah, so that's what I... I've regained those

00:32:06.779 --> 00:32:09.720
skills, you know, which is quite, I mean, I'm

00:32:09.720 --> 00:32:12.279
so glad that I did, you know, and I'm so enamored

00:32:12.279 --> 00:32:14.579
by it. So, and as a result of learning those

00:32:14.579 --> 00:32:16.680
skills, I went back to writing big band charts

00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:18.180
as well because I hadn't written big band for

00:32:18.180 --> 00:32:20.480
20 years. So I just wrote my first big band chart

00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:23.799
for a concert about a month ago. It took me a

00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:25.720
bit longer than other people, maybe take a week.

00:32:25.740 --> 00:32:27.700
I took three weeks to write it, but even because

00:32:27.700 --> 00:32:30.460
it takes a while to get the speed up again. And

00:32:30.460 --> 00:32:34.140
so it was very, very, very, gratifying, like

00:32:34.140 --> 00:32:36.720
I said, to do this again and it's now going to

00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:39.420
be a big part of my life besides playing. Maybe

00:32:39.420 --> 00:32:41.019
it's my retirement plan, you know, as I move

00:32:41.019 --> 00:32:43.220
into my 70s, I'll be writing orchestral parts

00:32:43.220 --> 00:32:44.779
for singers who want to sing with orchestra.

00:32:45.059 --> 00:32:48.420
Wow. So, and I've just been commissioned to write

00:32:48.420 --> 00:32:50.359
a piece for the Singapore Armed Forces Band,

00:32:50.579 --> 00:32:55.140
90 -piece wind orchestra. So, all very, very

00:32:55.140 --> 00:32:58.140
exciting things. I just think about it, getting

00:32:58.140 --> 00:33:00.960
a migraine, man. It's a lot of taugis. Yeah.

00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:06.599
Let me bring you back a couple of years. I saw,

00:33:06.740 --> 00:33:09.460
because I had to go online. I need to find out

00:33:09.460 --> 00:33:13.059
a lot more about Jeremy Montero. I saw pics of

00:33:13.059 --> 00:33:20.460
you with George Benson, with Matt Monroe, with

00:33:20.460 --> 00:33:24.940
James Brown, with, oh my goodness, Quincy Jones.

00:33:25.779 --> 00:33:30.109
How were these guys, man? So, you know, the thing

00:33:30.109 --> 00:33:33.450
about it, when I met James Brown, it was in Finland

00:33:33.450 --> 00:33:36.309
because I'd done my shows and he had done his

00:33:36.309 --> 00:33:38.369
show and I went to watch his concert. And we

00:33:38.369 --> 00:33:40.289
met at Helsinki Airport, right? I went up to

00:33:40.289 --> 00:33:42.470
him and said, of course, I was very respectful.

00:33:42.490 --> 00:33:45.049
I called him Mr. Brown, you know, pleasure to

00:33:45.049 --> 00:33:47.529
meet you and from Singapore. And at that point,

00:33:47.549 --> 00:33:50.509
he had already been arrested, but not yet for

00:33:50.509 --> 00:33:54.490
pulling a gun on a... cop in the in the states

00:33:54.490 --> 00:33:57.769
you know and uh so i was a bit nervous that this

00:33:57.769 --> 00:33:59.950
guy is going to you know slap me or something

00:33:59.950 --> 00:34:02.630
but he was so gracious he was so kind to me he

00:34:02.630 --> 00:34:08.449
didn't go you know yeah you know and very very

00:34:08.449 --> 00:34:10.969
gentle conversation and he asked about singapore

00:34:10.969 --> 00:34:13.900
singapore food and so on so forth and I told

00:34:13.900 --> 00:34:16.119
him the kind of food that we had over in Singapore.

00:34:16.380 --> 00:34:20.760
And very nice. And everyone I've met, a lot of

00:34:20.760 --> 00:34:22.400
these great musicians, they're actually very

00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:24.679
nice people. Were there any anecdotes that you

00:34:24.679 --> 00:34:26.860
gained from these guys, maybe meeting these guys?

00:34:27.320 --> 00:34:29.159
Well, not because the conversations were relatively

00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:34.420
short. Josh Benson was interesting because at

00:34:34.420 --> 00:34:37.659
that time, he has bodyguards around him. And

00:34:37.659 --> 00:34:41.039
I actually went up to him and I said, Butch says

00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:43.380
hello. Butch is O'Donnell Levy who lived here

00:34:43.380 --> 00:34:45.460
and played at the saxophone bar for the longest

00:34:45.460 --> 00:34:48.239
time, the black American guitarist. And his nickname

00:34:48.239 --> 00:34:50.079
in the States was Butch. No one called him Butch

00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:52.179
here, but in the States, I knew that his nickname.

00:34:52.300 --> 00:34:54.659
So Butch says hello. I said, oh yeah, then he

00:34:54.659 --> 00:34:56.900
comes and he gives me a big hug. So of course,

00:34:56.900 --> 00:34:58.840
then his security knows I'm cool. He knows I'm

00:34:58.840 --> 00:35:01.719
cool. And then we had a nice conversation. He

00:35:01.719 --> 00:35:05.099
told me to send his love to O'Donnell. And so

00:35:05.099 --> 00:35:07.179
that was also a brief encounter. Quincy Jones

00:35:07.179 --> 00:35:09.679
is different. I had a nice long two -hour dinner.

00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:14.179
Oh, wow. You know, with some really big money

00:35:14.179 --> 00:35:16.420
people from the music industry in Korea, the

00:35:16.420 --> 00:35:20.219
K -pop gang was there. But the moment I talked

00:35:20.219 --> 00:35:22.480
to Quincy and I started mentioning James Moody,

00:35:22.699 --> 00:35:24.920
that's it. He didn't care about the business

00:35:24.920 --> 00:35:26.980
talk already. He just wanted to talk music with

00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:28.980
me and we talked music for two hours. It was

00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:30.719
just amazing. And then the rest of the businessmen

00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:34.900
talk about business on their own. And he was

00:35:34.900 --> 00:35:37.179
really nice. And he said, hey, listen, I want

00:35:37.179 --> 00:35:38.739
to take a picture with you. Can you make a really

00:35:38.739 --> 00:35:41.480
good gangster face? I said, okay. So I'd make

00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:43.800
this really gangster face. And he does as well.

00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:45.679
And we take this picture, which I posted on Facebook.

00:35:45.820 --> 00:35:48.099
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which we also just put up.

00:35:48.300 --> 00:35:52.940
Yeah, yeah. This is a one of, we are smiling,

00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:55.300
but we also have another one with. Two guys making

00:35:55.300 --> 00:36:00.059
a gangster face. Scary gangster face. Gangster

00:36:00.059 --> 00:36:04.699
as in G -A -N -G -S -T -A. So, yeah, I mean,

00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:06.679
that was really nice. Meeting many people, you

00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:09.320
know, George Burns, the comedian. Yeah, George

00:36:09.320 --> 00:36:11.820
Burns, yeah. Chomping on a cigar. Yeah, and I

00:36:11.820 --> 00:36:16.460
met him in 1985. And many other great artists

00:36:16.460 --> 00:36:19.340
and actors and performers that I've had the chance

00:36:19.340 --> 00:36:22.139
to... Some of them were brief conversations,

00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:23.880
some of them I had long conversations. George

00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:26.559
Burns, I had him to myself for an hour. It was

00:36:26.559 --> 00:36:31.119
amazing. Wow. As a composer, what inspires your

00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:36.199
music? So for me, I kind of subscribe to the

00:36:36.199 --> 00:36:40.760
same theory that George Whittaker had, which

00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:45.739
basically, he basically said that composers are

00:36:45.739 --> 00:36:48.699
like antennas. because he believes the music

00:36:48.699 --> 00:36:51.820
is flying around in the ether, in the sky, and

00:36:51.820 --> 00:36:54.159
that what composers have the ability to do is

00:36:54.159 --> 00:36:57.340
to be able to capture it with our antennas and

00:36:57.340 --> 00:37:02.110
then process it. in our minds to then and I feel

00:37:02.110 --> 00:37:04.869
like that very often I hear it in my head before

00:37:04.869 --> 00:37:07.590
anything I don't I very seldom do I purposefully

00:37:07.590 --> 00:37:10.010
go down and sit down and tell myself I'm going

00:37:10.010 --> 00:37:12.449
to write a song I will just be quiet the main

00:37:12.449 --> 00:37:14.809
thing is to develop this ability to be still

00:37:14.809 --> 00:37:17.570
and to be quiet and if you're the quieter you're

00:37:17.570 --> 00:37:20.929
able to be then you start to hear your thoughts

00:37:20.929 --> 00:37:24.500
I always say that That silence is the voice of

00:37:24.500 --> 00:37:27.019
inspiration. Silence is the voice of God, so

00:37:27.019 --> 00:37:31.360
to speak. And actually, if you're able to be

00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:33.539
quiet enough, you'll start to hear these melodies

00:37:33.539 --> 00:37:35.860
bubble up and then you quickly note them down

00:37:35.860 --> 00:37:39.699
or record it in your recorder. So yeah, so that's

00:37:39.699 --> 00:37:44.539
basically how I write. I hear it in my head first

00:37:44.539 --> 00:37:49.159
and then it comes out on either music paper or...

00:37:49.159 --> 00:37:50.800
It is something I've always tried to understand.

00:37:51.469 --> 00:37:54.909
how do composers come up with melody, you know?

00:37:54.969 --> 00:37:59.030
Where did all that come from, right? I hear from

00:37:59.030 --> 00:38:02.349
so many musos, all my friends, you know, very

00:38:02.349 --> 00:38:06.769
experienced guys who tell me, Chris, sometimes

00:38:06.769 --> 00:38:09.489
the magic's in the simple stuff. The four or

00:38:09.489 --> 00:38:12.949
five chord songs that make it, you know. I've

00:38:12.949 --> 00:38:14.630
always believed in that, to be honest, because

00:38:14.630 --> 00:38:18.449
there's so much proof of it everywhere. And then,

00:38:18.489 --> 00:38:21.230
so when I say, I think I should, I want to write

00:38:21.230 --> 00:38:25.050
a song. Whimsical, you know, in a whimsical way.

00:38:25.210 --> 00:38:27.570
I want to write a song. What do you have in mind?

00:38:28.170 --> 00:38:30.349
They ask me, what do you have in mind? Shucks,

00:38:30.369 --> 00:38:33.389
I've got no tune in my head. You get a tune,

00:38:33.489 --> 00:38:37.280
they let us know. You know, and, and I, always

00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:39.639
wondered about how do you get that in your head,

00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:42.440
man? So that's a good point you just made. Thanks.

00:38:42.460 --> 00:38:45.840
It's a very lay person's understanding of things.

00:38:45.940 --> 00:38:48.079
I think, you know, just stay silent and see what

00:38:48.079 --> 00:38:50.940
happens. Yeah. You're Jeremy Montero. You see,

00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:52.699
that's different. You can be silent and there's

00:38:52.699 --> 00:38:54.519
still music ringing around in your head. People

00:38:54.519 --> 00:38:57.920
like me could be blank. No, but I think sometimes

00:38:57.920 --> 00:39:00.519
it's the ability to really be very quiet. I mean,

00:39:00.519 --> 00:39:02.579
I do have a bit of a meditation practice, not

00:39:02.579 --> 00:39:05.699
as much as I used to have. And just to sit quietly.

00:39:06.769 --> 00:39:08.989
You know, and just allow these ideas to bubble

00:39:08.989 --> 00:39:13.849
up. It's something that, I mean, very often when

00:39:13.849 --> 00:39:16.670
I'm asked to write something, I have to find

00:39:16.670 --> 00:39:18.510
this time. I always say, you got to sit down.

00:39:18.590 --> 00:39:22.269
For me, I sit down at the piano and inspiration

00:39:22.269 --> 00:39:24.800
might not walk in the door that first time. The

00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:26.820
second time I do it or the third time I do it,

00:39:26.840 --> 00:39:29.440
one day when inspiration realizes I'm serious,

00:39:29.639 --> 00:39:33.480
wanting to listen to him or her, inspiration

00:39:33.480 --> 00:39:35.880
walks through the door and the tune comes out.

00:39:35.980 --> 00:39:40.340
So it's very akin to writers even. Yes. You know,

00:39:40.360 --> 00:39:41.980
when sometimes they get writers blocked, sometimes

00:39:41.980 --> 00:39:44.980
they have an epiphany and they go an aha moment

00:39:44.980 --> 00:39:47.300
and they start getting behind the computers and

00:39:47.300 --> 00:39:50.719
start writing. So it's composers, musicians,

00:39:50.900 --> 00:39:54.349
writers. It's the same kind of similar inspiration.

00:39:54.510 --> 00:39:56.170
I think the same process. Yeah, same process.

00:39:56.409 --> 00:39:59.650
In 2002, you were awarded the Cultural Medallion.

00:39:59.650 --> 00:40:01.869
It's the highest award in Singapore for the arts.

00:40:02.050 --> 00:40:04.630
How do you feel about that? Well, I was very

00:40:04.630 --> 00:40:07.829
honoured because I think I was either the youngest

00:40:07.829 --> 00:40:10.449
or the second youngest person to receive the

00:40:10.449 --> 00:40:13.389
Cultural Medallion. And I actually was the first

00:40:13.389 --> 00:40:16.909
pianist to receive it, which is a... I felt shy

00:40:16.909 --> 00:40:18.829
about that part of it because there's all these

00:40:18.829 --> 00:40:21.469
great pianists that came before me, Siao Yit

00:40:21.469 --> 00:40:23.969
Kin and all these people that made it as concert

00:40:23.969 --> 00:40:26.730
pianists around the world. So I was surprised

00:40:26.730 --> 00:40:29.829
that there were no pianists that received the

00:40:29.829 --> 00:40:32.449
cultural medallion before I did. And since then,

00:40:32.469 --> 00:40:34.250
there's only been one other, Margaret Leng Tan,

00:40:34.309 --> 00:40:35.909
who's an avant -garde pianist who lives in New

00:40:35.909 --> 00:40:38.449
York, Singapore. Sorry, what's an avant -garde

00:40:38.449 --> 00:40:42.389
pianist? Avant -garde, you know, just kind of

00:40:42.389 --> 00:40:45.969
like dissonant. Okay. Okay. That kind of thing.

00:40:46.070 --> 00:40:48.929
And so, yeah, I mean, I'm surprised that more

00:40:48.929 --> 00:40:50.530
pianists haven't gotten the cultural medallion.

00:40:50.530 --> 00:40:52.210
Many of them are very deserving, in my opinion.

00:40:52.809 --> 00:40:55.869
So it was very, it was very, very special to

00:40:55.869 --> 00:40:59.349
receive it and to go to the Istana with my family.

00:40:59.349 --> 00:41:01.670
My mom was still alive at the time and then to

00:41:01.670 --> 00:41:06.010
receive the cultural medallion. So, yeah, it

00:41:06.010 --> 00:41:08.949
was a special, very special moment in my life.

00:41:08.989 --> 00:41:11.750
I know that the cultural medallion is similar.

00:41:12.360 --> 00:41:14.739
in stature to like in France where they have

00:41:14.739 --> 00:41:17.500
the knighthood of arts and letters so I don't

00:41:17.500 --> 00:41:19.280
take it for granted I'm very grateful for it

00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:25.280
and yeah because it was I received it in mid

00:41:25.280 --> 00:41:28.880
-career most people receive it later in the late

00:41:28.880 --> 00:41:32.219
part of their career but I guess I'd done so

00:41:32.219 --> 00:41:35.420
much already at that time you know I already

00:41:35.420 --> 00:41:38.059
had been doing it doing the music thing for 25

00:41:38.059 --> 00:41:42.539
years I had enough of a body of work that the

00:41:42.539 --> 00:41:46.579
Arts Council felt that I deserved it. But for

00:41:46.579 --> 00:41:49.119
me, it was an encouragement award to keep going.

00:41:49.780 --> 00:41:52.380
You know, some people say, oh, you got it already,

00:41:52.519 --> 00:41:54.179
you don't have to, you know. But I said, I have

00:41:54.179 --> 00:41:59.079
to continue to work. And speaking about keep

00:41:59.079 --> 00:42:01.980
going, you really kept going because there's

00:42:01.980 --> 00:42:03.500
another special moment that just happened not

00:42:03.500 --> 00:42:05.719
long ago, as you mentioned also earlier, your

00:42:05.719 --> 00:42:09.440
65th birthday gig, man. Now, before we talk about

00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:12.639
that, this one was at the Esplanade and you had

00:42:12.639 --> 00:42:17.360
a big band on stage. Let's play that bit because

00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:18.940
you know something, I'm very impressed with this

00:42:18.940 --> 00:42:27.489
young lady. She's amazing. Yeah. Our love is

00:42:27.489 --> 00:42:35.070
here to stay. For a year. Forever and a day.

00:42:36.909 --> 00:42:45.170
The radio. And the telephone. And the movies

00:42:45.170 --> 00:42:52.050
that we know. May just be passing tenses. And

00:42:52.050 --> 00:42:58.349
in time. Wait a minute, this is Louis Soliano.

00:42:58.670 --> 00:43:06.010
Right, yeah. The guy with the cap, people, that

00:43:06.010 --> 00:43:10.030
is a great Louis Soliano. Playing percussions.

00:43:15.150 --> 00:43:22.409
Okay, thanks very much, Kai. Who is that girl?

00:43:22.590 --> 00:43:25.980
She is amazing. So yeah, she auditioned to sing

00:43:25.980 --> 00:43:30.380
for the Lion City Youth Jazz Festival, the Lion

00:43:30.380 --> 00:43:32.320
City Jazz Festival that the Jazz Association

00:43:32.320 --> 00:43:35.960
Singapore organizes. And we auditioned her. She

00:43:35.960 --> 00:43:38.619
came and she sounded great and ended up having

00:43:38.619 --> 00:43:43.679
her sing with the Dizzy Gillespie band members.

00:43:44.440 --> 00:43:47.000
with the Jazz Association Singapore Youth Orchestra.

00:43:47.480 --> 00:43:49.559
So, of course, Dizzy is gone, but his band still

00:43:49.559 --> 00:43:52.119
lives, like any of these bands, like Count Basie

00:43:52.119 --> 00:43:57.019
and all the bands still. So, yeah, so that's

00:43:57.019 --> 00:43:58.900
when we first, and then she sings on some of

00:43:58.900 --> 00:44:01.099
my gigs quite often, actually, and then I had

00:44:01.099 --> 00:44:03.099
her come and sing. So pleasant and so mature.

00:44:03.440 --> 00:44:06.619
Yeah, very mature. The way she sings is so mature.

00:44:07.219 --> 00:44:10.559
Like, she's been doing this like forever. I mean,

00:44:10.559 --> 00:44:14.500
it's amazing. Some of the young people, you know,

00:44:14.519 --> 00:44:17.280
they basically give you evidence there must be

00:44:17.280 --> 00:44:19.699
such a thing as reincarnation because of the

00:44:19.699 --> 00:44:21.539
maturity they have at a very young age, you know?

00:44:21.619 --> 00:44:24.360
Yeah, when I was watching, you know, I had to

00:44:24.360 --> 00:44:25.820
watch all the videos and say, okay, which one

00:44:25.820 --> 00:44:28.159
do I put on the show? And when I heard her sing,

00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:31.380
I'm like, who the hell is this girl? Because

00:44:31.380 --> 00:44:34.780
she's, I would have half expected someone older,

00:44:34.980 --> 00:44:39.159
but no, she was holding it so well. Yes. I was

00:44:39.159 --> 00:44:42.519
really, I was blown away. Yeah. No, that she's

00:44:42.519 --> 00:44:44.119
really, I mean, if you see her again, please

00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:46.500
tell her. I will. Her name is Sneha Menon. Okay.

00:44:46.639 --> 00:44:51.739
And yeah, so she's, Sneha. Some people, some

00:44:51.739 --> 00:44:53.679
musicians actually say she sounds like a young

00:44:53.679 --> 00:44:56.260
Billie Holiday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Precisely.

00:44:56.420 --> 00:45:01.260
Yeah. But really, fantastic. You know, wow. Yeah.

00:45:01.380 --> 00:45:04.739
Blown, blown away. And that was your birthday

00:45:04.739 --> 00:45:07.800
gig and what was the vision behind that? So basically,

00:45:07.880 --> 00:45:10.340
we had two halves. The first half was with my

00:45:10.340 --> 00:45:13.780
small band, the trios and the quintet. which

00:45:13.780 --> 00:45:15.460
I've been listening to some of the recordings

00:45:15.460 --> 00:45:19.099
that we recorded. And that's an album right there.

00:45:19.139 --> 00:45:21.619
We can actually release that as an album. And

00:45:21.619 --> 00:45:23.840
then the second half, the Jazz Association, Singapore

00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:27.380
Orchestra, or Jazzo, came on with our special

00:45:27.380 --> 00:45:30.500
guest artists from around the world. And then

00:45:30.500 --> 00:45:34.679
we performed mostly original music on the shows.

00:45:34.780 --> 00:45:37.800
This was one of the encore tunes. This is original.

00:45:38.559 --> 00:45:40.260
No, this is not original. This is one of the

00:45:40.260 --> 00:45:42.280
non -originals. Maybe there are two non -originals,

00:45:42.320 --> 00:45:44.199
the whole second half. The rest are all original

00:45:44.199 --> 00:45:48.679
tunes of mine. And so, yeah, it was, the audience

00:45:48.679 --> 00:45:52.000
was very beautiful and really very, it almost

00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:53.900
felt like I had a bunch of people in my living

00:45:53.900 --> 00:45:57.719
room and having just a very intimate get -together,

00:45:57.800 --> 00:45:59.800
but actually it's inside the Esplanade concert

00:45:59.800 --> 00:46:02.639
hall. Yeah, I mean, living room, talk about living

00:46:02.639 --> 00:46:04.840
room, and it is the Esplanade. Let's take a look

00:46:04.840 --> 00:46:12.059
at the rollout, Kai. Esplanade was your living

00:46:12.059 --> 00:46:20.179
room, Jeremy. That's my son, Willingby. Together

00:46:20.179 --> 00:46:24.320
with some of my great supporters. And Esplanade,

00:46:24.420 --> 00:46:30.619
CEO as well. Wow. Doesn't the band sound great?

00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:33.400
I mean, Singapore should be proud we have a jazz

00:46:33.400 --> 00:46:39.050
zone. That's the thing, you see. That's why I

00:46:39.050 --> 00:46:42.389
have this tribute show. Okay, thanks, Kai. That's

00:46:42.389 --> 00:46:44.050
why I have this tribute show, and that's why

00:46:44.050 --> 00:46:48.889
I'm paying tribute to you. Because to me, musicians,

00:46:48.929 --> 00:46:56.510
music, is not so vaunted here in Singapore, you

00:46:56.510 --> 00:46:59.949
know, in my opinion. I want to show musicians

00:46:59.949 --> 00:47:03.639
and entertainers and people who support. the

00:47:03.639 --> 00:47:06.239
night scene the music scene in Singapore I want

00:47:06.239 --> 00:47:08.360
to pay tribute to them I want people to know

00:47:08.360 --> 00:47:13.159
and that we should bring these things back home

00:47:13.159 --> 00:47:17.320
we should I am very saddened and you hear me

00:47:17.320 --> 00:47:21.320
talk about this all the time you know and I read

00:47:21.320 --> 00:47:23.840
your letter man I read the one that went viral

00:47:23.840 --> 00:47:27.420
the day you posted it I read it I said oh this

00:47:27.420 --> 00:47:30.199
is so good because Jeremy's coming on so I have

00:47:30.199 --> 00:47:33.369
to talk to him about this and the realities you

00:47:33.369 --> 00:47:36.210
reflected in the realities faced by musos in

00:47:36.210 --> 00:47:40.369
Singapore and the stagnation of live gig fees

00:47:40.369 --> 00:47:44.110
since the 70s. Can you elaborate on how this

00:47:44.110 --> 00:47:46.510
has impacted the livelihoods of musicians in

00:47:46.510 --> 00:47:49.969
today's context? Well, the thing about it is

00:47:49.969 --> 00:47:52.590
that a musician, any kind of artist, you've got

00:47:52.590 --> 00:47:55.650
to continue making your art. Musicians have to

00:47:55.650 --> 00:47:58.269
play. Composers have to compose. Writers have

00:47:58.269 --> 00:48:01.829
to write. And whether we earn money from it or

00:48:01.829 --> 00:48:03.949
not, we're going to do it because this is our

00:48:03.949 --> 00:48:09.010
passion and our love, right? So the gig fees

00:48:09.010 --> 00:48:10.690
have stayed more or less stagnant. Of course,

00:48:10.690 --> 00:48:12.889
not everyone gets $150. Some people get $200,

00:48:13.050 --> 00:48:15.889
$250, $300. But you think about all the other

00:48:15.889 --> 00:48:19.159
professions and how much. more progression there

00:48:19.159 --> 00:48:22.940
is you know but you know musicians have survived

00:48:22.940 --> 00:48:25.579
all this time they find some way to make music

00:48:25.579 --> 00:48:28.719
money on the side whether it's teaching or even

00:48:28.719 --> 00:48:30.880
doing some day jobs and I think there's nothing

00:48:30.880 --> 00:48:34.099
wrong with having day jobs yeah at the end of

00:48:34.099 --> 00:48:39.119
the day to support your art because To me, I

00:48:39.119 --> 00:48:43.420
have a literary book called Late Night Thoughts

00:48:43.420 --> 00:48:46.000
of a Jazz Musician. It was my first literary

00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:48.099
book. My second book, my first book was a music

00:48:48.099 --> 00:48:49.940
book. My second book was a literary book. And

00:48:49.940 --> 00:48:53.059
to my total surprise, it won two literary awards.

00:48:53.780 --> 00:48:58.300
And one of the chapters, the title is, You Do

00:48:58.300 --> 00:49:01.159
Not Have to Be a Professional Musician to Attain

00:49:01.159 --> 00:49:04.340
a Professional Level of Musicianship. So if you

00:49:04.340 --> 00:49:05.900
can make money from it, great. If not, if you

00:49:05.900 --> 00:49:08.039
love it, just do it. Don't say, I don't want

00:49:08.039 --> 00:49:10.360
to do it because I can't earn money. Find some

00:49:10.360 --> 00:49:12.179
other way to feed. And I always say there's two

00:49:12.179 --> 00:49:14.739
things, your job and your work. They're very

00:49:14.739 --> 00:49:18.400
separate. Your job is the thing you do to make

00:49:18.400 --> 00:49:21.179
money. And your work is your life's mission.

00:49:21.400 --> 00:49:23.340
So it could be someone could be driving taxi

00:49:23.340 --> 00:49:26.139
from Monday to Friday. That's his job. And then

00:49:26.139 --> 00:49:29.179
on Saturday, Sunday, his work is to volunteer

00:49:29.179 --> 00:49:32.500
for free at the Salvation Army. So the same thing

00:49:32.500 --> 00:49:35.789
for us. It could be someone's working a day job

00:49:35.789 --> 00:49:39.800
or like for me, my job is playing. for corporate

00:49:39.800 --> 00:49:43.019
functions where no one listens to me. And my

00:49:43.019 --> 00:49:45.599
work is playing concerts like at Esplanade or

00:49:45.599 --> 00:49:47.079
playing in a jazz club where people are giving

00:49:47.079 --> 00:49:49.760
me pin drop silence attention, right? So, you

00:49:49.760 --> 00:49:52.920
know, to balance your pocketbook and your soul

00:49:52.920 --> 00:49:56.699
like that, just keep going, keep doing it. Don't

00:49:56.699 --> 00:49:58.340
give up just because you can't make a living

00:49:58.340 --> 00:50:00.619
from it, so to speak. Job and work, you know,

00:50:00.659 --> 00:50:04.320
Mr. X, when he was on this show, Mr. X said exactly

00:50:04.320 --> 00:50:07.420
the same thing. You know, it's either I got a

00:50:07.420 --> 00:50:10.800
job or I go to work. I'd rather go to work because

00:50:10.800 --> 00:50:14.860
a job's a job. Oh, okay, wow. Again, something

00:50:14.860 --> 00:50:17.679
about you guys from that generation. You say

00:50:17.679 --> 00:50:19.699
the same things, do the same things. Yeah, either

00:50:19.699 --> 00:50:22.960
it's great minds think alike or fools tell them

00:50:22.960 --> 00:50:28.139
differ. You take your pick. Nope. I don't mean

00:50:28.139 --> 00:50:30.900
to, you know, any disrespect at all, as a matter

00:50:30.900 --> 00:50:33.840
of fact. I'm just basically, you know, I'm basically

00:50:33.840 --> 00:50:36.380
sounding off an observation. It's really interesting.

00:50:38.119 --> 00:50:41.400
You also touched on the decline of full -time

00:50:41.400 --> 00:50:45.079
residency gigs. How has this shift changed the

00:50:45.079 --> 00:50:48.639
landscape for professional musicians? So, yes,

00:50:48.840 --> 00:50:50.539
you know, I mean, one of the things I've been

00:50:50.539 --> 00:50:54.179
talking to, you know, various government departments

00:50:54.179 --> 00:50:58.900
about is to try to create more places where musicians

00:50:58.900 --> 00:51:01.219
can perform. And it doesn't have to always be

00:51:01.219 --> 00:51:03.739
in Orchard Road. Right. It can be in Pasir Panjang.

00:51:03.820 --> 00:51:06.300
It can be in Seletar Hills. It can be all over

00:51:06.300 --> 00:51:08.840
the place. The difficulty is, of course, the

00:51:08.840 --> 00:51:10.599
fact that you need a public entertainment license

00:51:10.599 --> 00:51:13.239
in these places. It's easy to get those one -night

00:51:13.239 --> 00:51:15.539
public entertainment licenses, but hard to get

00:51:15.539 --> 00:51:22.480
the long -term ones. So, I don't want to, how

00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:25.800
you say, spell it by, because I think the authorities

00:51:25.800 --> 00:51:27.420
are already thinking about everything that I'm

00:51:27.420 --> 00:51:30.940
discussing with them. And hopefully, there'll

00:51:30.940 --> 00:51:33.360
be one day a landscape where musicians can work

00:51:33.360 --> 00:51:35.809
all over the island. And of course, what happens

00:51:35.809 --> 00:51:37.929
is that maybe the newer musicians, the musicians

00:51:37.929 --> 00:51:39.809
who are not that accomplished yet, maybe the

00:51:39.809 --> 00:51:43.690
ones who earn $100, $150, but as a result of

00:51:43.690 --> 00:51:45.909
many of these gigs appearing, then the Orchard

00:51:45.909 --> 00:51:48.650
Road musicians will stop earning $150, will start

00:51:48.650 --> 00:51:53.349
earning $200, $300, $400, whatever. And I really

00:51:53.349 --> 00:51:56.849
believe that this is the way we tackle this problem.

00:51:57.650 --> 00:52:01.820
And I'm in constant conversation. with people

00:52:01.820 --> 00:52:06.019
within these government departments. And they're

00:52:06.019 --> 00:52:09.079
very nice. And, you know, I think they kind of

00:52:09.079 --> 00:52:11.559
understand where I'm coming from. Now, just looking

00:52:11.559 --> 00:52:14.780
at the practical aspects of it, do we have someone

00:52:14.780 --> 00:52:16.800
else administer public entertainment licenses?

00:52:17.039 --> 00:52:20.539
Do we offer exemptions on occasion when it is

00:52:20.539 --> 00:52:23.579
a good place and a safe place and the music's

00:52:23.579 --> 00:52:26.219
not too loud or whatever it is, you know? So

00:52:26.219 --> 00:52:27.719
we have to, because, you know, the problem is

00:52:27.719 --> 00:52:30.940
that We've had situations where you have a bar

00:52:30.940 --> 00:52:33.360
next to someone's house. Of course, at 10 o 'clock,

00:52:33.400 --> 00:52:36.860
the kid needs to study, right? So then you need

00:52:36.860 --> 00:52:39.099
to make sure that if you do have a bar that's

00:52:39.099 --> 00:52:40.940
100 meters from someone's house, you have to

00:52:40.940 --> 00:52:42.960
make sure the bar sun -proofs enough such that

00:52:42.960 --> 00:52:45.500
the music can stay within the establishment.

00:52:45.980 --> 00:52:48.340
You know, you said a few things I would like

00:52:48.340 --> 00:52:52.059
to also speak my mind about. First of all, Orchard

00:52:52.059 --> 00:52:55.739
Road. What musicians in Orchard Road? There's

00:52:55.739 --> 00:52:59.300
hardly any now. This all happened post -pandemic.

00:52:59.559 --> 00:53:02.280
Pre -pandemic wasn't so bad. Along Contra Road

00:53:02.280 --> 00:53:04.820
is a hive of activity. You've got stuff happening

00:53:04.820 --> 00:53:07.239
at the Neon City Civic Centre. There's stuff

00:53:07.239 --> 00:53:09.480
happening across the road from there in front

00:53:09.480 --> 00:53:12.019
of the Paragon. You've got all kinds of things

00:53:12.019 --> 00:53:15.440
going on. Today, it's dead. It's been dead for

00:53:15.440 --> 00:53:18.780
a long time. Then there's this moniker. I'm calling

00:53:18.780 --> 00:53:21.300
it a moniker that's been given to musicians and

00:53:21.300 --> 00:53:23.679
entertainers per se, and that's called your non

00:53:23.679 --> 00:53:28.309
-essential. And that term, I mean, it seemed

00:53:28.309 --> 00:53:32.230
to be a very hastily drummed up description or

00:53:32.230 --> 00:53:36.829
adjective, you know, for occupations that is

00:53:36.829 --> 00:53:40.489
not essential, non -essential occupations, you

00:53:40.489 --> 00:53:43.989
know. And you know how badly musicians and bars

00:53:43.989 --> 00:53:47.349
even suffered during the pandemic. I'm not saying

00:53:47.349 --> 00:53:49.269
right or wrong, but I'm saying that now it's

00:53:49.269 --> 00:53:53.369
done, it's over. But it doesn't seem... it doesn't

00:53:53.369 --> 00:53:57.409
seem to be recovering. Hotels have, I think a

00:53:57.409 --> 00:54:00.530
lot of pianos are floating in the ocean right

00:54:00.530 --> 00:54:02.269
now because most of the hotels threw away the

00:54:02.269 --> 00:54:05.070
pianos. Yes, that's right. You know, it's ridiculous.

00:54:06.809 --> 00:54:10.070
I've said it before. I've told Stephen Francis

00:54:10.070 --> 00:54:12.650
and Rob Collins on this show, this season, that

00:54:12.650 --> 00:54:15.690
honestly, I don't think hotels have any excuse

00:54:15.690 --> 00:54:18.590
at all. to not bring back musicians to play.

00:54:18.989 --> 00:54:22.750
And then for bars and clubs that do, it's always

00:54:22.750 --> 00:54:25.530
the acoustic sets, the two pieces. At the most,

00:54:25.530 --> 00:54:26.969
if you have a three -piece, you've got to haggle

00:54:26.969 --> 00:54:29.469
with these guys. You've got to haggle for a three

00:54:29.469 --> 00:54:32.090
-piece? Are you kidding me? Now, on the part,

00:54:32.150 --> 00:54:35.889
this is a sore point to me. On the point about

00:54:35.889 --> 00:54:45.000
noise, the decibels. If a bar... or is located

00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:50.059
next to a home or next to homes. You know, honestly,

00:54:50.159 --> 00:54:52.159
I always feel that the complaints come because

00:54:52.159 --> 00:54:55.500
people are just too damn smug and too damn unvital.

00:54:56.019 --> 00:54:58.599
They will use the excuse that my son has to study,

00:54:58.719 --> 00:55:00.519
this, that, that, I work night shift, I come

00:55:00.519 --> 00:55:03.760
back, or I have to work early in the morning,

00:55:03.820 --> 00:55:05.920
then there's so much noise. To me, it's very

00:55:05.920 --> 00:55:11.130
simple. If you buy a house, next to a bar that's

00:55:11.130 --> 00:55:14.329
been there before you bought the house especially,

00:55:14.650 --> 00:55:19.170
you don't like it, don't buy the house. It doesn't

00:55:19.170 --> 00:55:20.829
mean that I want to buy the house, I like the

00:55:20.829 --> 00:55:23.050
house, I don't care about the bar. Then you go

00:55:23.050 --> 00:55:25.369
and tell the bar off. It's people's livelihood

00:55:25.369 --> 00:55:27.969
and business. So there's another side of the

00:55:27.969 --> 00:55:31.289
coin to look at besides all these usual and title

00:55:31.289 --> 00:55:34.130
excuses that I think the authority shouldn't

00:55:34.130 --> 00:55:39.789
pander so easily to. Because I have seen people

00:55:39.789 --> 00:55:42.769
in neighborhoods come to a bar where people are

00:55:42.769 --> 00:55:46.150
having a great time and literally show the owner

00:55:46.150 --> 00:55:49.869
of the bar a decibel meter. I mean, come on.

00:55:50.769 --> 00:55:55.530
Yeah, so, see, for me, maybe I'm not as militant

00:55:55.530 --> 00:55:57.469
as you are about this. I'm not being militant.

00:55:57.650 --> 00:56:01.960
You are not a gazelle. No, no. Because... The

00:56:01.960 --> 00:56:04.559
thing about it is, look, when you go and visit

00:56:04.559 --> 00:56:08.219
a house to buy, very often it's in the daytime.

00:56:08.500 --> 00:56:11.199
And at night, the bar next door is all shuttered

00:56:11.199 --> 00:56:12.559
up. You don't even know there's a bar next door.

00:56:12.719 --> 00:56:16.219
You know what I mean? At the end of the day,

00:56:16.280 --> 00:56:19.860
man, buyer beware. It's buyer beware. If you're

00:56:19.860 --> 00:56:23.699
silly enough to not check even at night, come

00:56:23.699 --> 00:56:25.820
see the place at night rather than at day. Because

00:56:25.820 --> 00:56:30.380
to me, I do. If I'm going to hunt for a house,

00:56:30.840 --> 00:56:32.760
I will come and see the house in the day and

00:56:32.760 --> 00:56:35.639
at night. But there's enough places around Singapore

00:56:35.639 --> 00:56:38.860
that are at least 100 meters from a potential

00:56:38.860 --> 00:56:42.360
bar. And we're talking about, you know, okay,

00:56:42.420 --> 00:56:44.599
I think these are far and few between because

00:56:44.599 --> 00:56:48.340
there are many places that are out in the neighborhoods.

00:56:48.719 --> 00:56:50.460
For example, in Selita Hills, you know, Jalan,

00:56:50.619 --> 00:56:52.900
I don't know what, Selase or whatever it is.

00:56:53.159 --> 00:56:56.380
So you have a bar there. you know, you just have

00:56:56.380 --> 00:56:58.400
to soundproof it so that upstairs, because don't

00:56:58.400 --> 00:57:00.619
forget, the whole row upstairs will hear you

00:57:00.619 --> 00:57:02.699
if you don't soundproof. So you can just mitigate

00:57:02.699 --> 00:57:06.579
your noise issues by putting enough sound insulation

00:57:06.579 --> 00:57:09.099
in the place. You know, across the basketball

00:57:09.099 --> 00:57:11.880
court, the house, you won't hear a peep. Okay.

00:57:12.880 --> 00:57:15.579
Granted. Granted, I'm not being militant. I've

00:57:15.579 --> 00:57:17.119
got to say this very clearly. I get in trouble.

00:57:17.320 --> 00:57:19.800
Okay, but I would just tell you, Jeremy, that,

00:57:19.820 --> 00:57:24.420
okay, I tell you, I can put a wager down with

00:57:24.420 --> 00:57:28.940
you, man. If I pick a bar, which I will on Friday,

00:57:29.099 --> 00:57:32.679
I will talk to the owner who's having these problems.

00:57:32.940 --> 00:57:36.340
And I will tell the owner, listen, listen, try

00:57:36.340 --> 00:57:39.039
to just soundproof, insulate your whole place.

00:57:39.300 --> 00:57:42.940
Just spend the money, just do it. And on the

00:57:42.940 --> 00:57:46.619
hypothesis that the person does it, I guarantee

00:57:46.619 --> 00:57:49.800
you. there will still be complaints. I mean,

00:57:49.840 --> 00:57:51.980
at that point, you know, at that point, we got

00:57:51.980 --> 00:57:54.179
to, you know. Ah, what do we do then? What does

00:57:54.179 --> 00:57:57.460
a bar owner do then? So, no, I think, there's

00:57:57.460 --> 00:57:59.920
so many locations around Singapore, even in the

00:57:59.920 --> 00:58:02.699
HDB estates, that there could be suitable locations

00:58:02.699 --> 00:58:05.320
for you to put an establishment that has live

00:58:05.320 --> 00:58:10.679
music, you know. So, I believe that we shouldn't

00:58:10.679 --> 00:58:12.340
fight this because I'm already fighting this

00:58:12.340 --> 00:58:17.250
fight now. I'm not trying to make it hard for

00:58:17.250 --> 00:58:19.829
you. No, no, no, because I believe that if we,

00:58:19.869 --> 00:58:21.909
because they will try. They will try. I think

00:58:21.909 --> 00:58:23.650
eventually we'll get to a pilot program with

00:58:23.650 --> 00:58:25.750
10 places, new places they can open across the

00:58:25.750 --> 00:58:28.130
island. And it doesn't have to be, you know,

00:58:28.150 --> 00:58:30.170
some places can be jazz, some can be acoustic

00:58:30.170 --> 00:58:35.269
pop, some can be folk music, a guy singing James

00:58:35.269 --> 00:58:37.329
Taylor songs, another place could be a classical

00:58:37.329 --> 00:58:40.130
string quartet, all kinds of music. All kinds

00:58:40.130 --> 00:58:42.369
of music, right? I think music is music. For

00:58:42.369 --> 00:58:44.550
me, I'm a classically trained pianist even though

00:58:44.550 --> 00:58:48.849
I'm known as a jazz musician. So I love all kinds

00:58:48.849 --> 00:58:50.369
of music. I believe there's only two kinds of

00:58:50.369 --> 00:58:52.869
music, good music and bad music. The genre doesn't

00:58:52.869 --> 00:58:57.789
matter to me. So let's hope that in the coming

00:58:57.789 --> 00:59:01.190
years, we'll start to see more places, proliferation

00:59:01.190 --> 00:59:05.869
of new places opening up with music and find

00:59:05.869 --> 00:59:09.219
a way to... Live and let live in the neighborhoods

00:59:09.219 --> 00:59:11.960
and so on and so forth. Yes, that's it. Live

00:59:11.960 --> 00:59:13.760
and let live. You know, I'm sorry, but I actually

00:59:13.760 --> 00:59:16.940
sympathize with that guy whose house is right

00:59:16.940 --> 00:59:20.559
next door to a bar because he may not have signed

00:59:20.559 --> 00:59:23.280
up for that. You know, he may not have, you know,

00:59:23.280 --> 00:59:26.539
honestly speaking, when you buy a house, did

00:59:26.539 --> 00:59:27.860
you come in the night? You didn't come in the

00:59:27.860 --> 00:59:29.260
night. You came and saw it in the day, you know.

00:59:29.260 --> 00:59:30.579
I'll be fair to you. I'll be fair to you. The

00:59:30.579 --> 00:59:32.599
reason why I said all this is because I've encountered

00:59:32.599 --> 00:59:38.920
different things, not just bars. across the Marine

00:59:38.920 --> 00:59:42.519
Parade on the ECP, on the beach, almost to the

00:59:42.519 --> 00:59:45.539
beach, on East Coast Parkway, there used to be

00:59:45.539 --> 00:59:50.280
a bar with bands playing. It's far away. I mean,

00:59:50.320 --> 00:59:55.360
the next home you see is across the highway and

00:59:55.360 --> 00:59:59.039
the flats, right? Yeah. Complaints. I mean, that's

00:59:59.039 --> 01:00:00.739
a good quote, right? But you know, technology

01:00:00.739 --> 01:00:02.539
would have fixed it. You know, there's now the

01:00:02.539 --> 01:00:05.840
Japanese technology where you put the, if they

01:00:05.840 --> 01:00:09.079
put a sound divider there, this would have completely

01:00:09.079 --> 01:00:11.860
quietened the place down. But nobody would do

01:00:11.860 --> 01:00:14.480
that because you wouldn't have expected complaints

01:00:14.480 --> 01:00:18.940
coming from flats that are just way across the

01:00:18.940 --> 01:00:20.659
expressway. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah.

01:00:20.780 --> 01:00:23.860
And then another one, school. School, huh? Yeah.

01:00:24.019 --> 01:00:26.699
Bell rings. The bell rings. School bell rings.

01:00:27.679 --> 01:00:29.559
Now that's why you hardly find school bells.

01:00:29.980 --> 01:00:34.760
Now you hear the big band tune, right? But when

01:00:34.760 --> 01:00:39.320
kids are having football or whatever, the residents

01:00:39.320 --> 01:00:43.940
next door to the school can call and complain.

01:00:45.389 --> 01:00:47.769
You know what I mean? That's not, that's just

01:00:47.769 --> 01:00:50.789
bad behavior. Exactly what I mean, you see. I'm

01:00:50.789 --> 01:00:54.110
saying that we have two, it may not just be about,

01:00:54.190 --> 01:00:58.670
you know, legitimate reasons, but there's a lot

01:00:58.670 --> 01:01:00.690
of other things that people use as legitimate

01:01:00.690 --> 01:01:06.010
reasons, which is just insensible and just very

01:01:06.010 --> 01:01:09.469
thoughtless. Yeah. You know, and the school thing

01:01:09.469 --> 01:01:12.510
that happened, right, it was on how many day?

01:01:13.179 --> 01:01:17.340
And it's like, you know, we celebrate multiculturalism,

01:01:17.400 --> 01:01:20.039
multiracialism, how many there? And so there's

01:01:20.039 --> 01:01:23.360
music playing on the school field. A hundred

01:01:23.360 --> 01:01:24.920
calls came in, I'm not kidding, of complaints.

01:01:26.440 --> 01:01:29.059
I mean, that doesn't make any sense to me. So

01:01:29.059 --> 01:01:34.679
maybe this is a societal issue. It's endemic

01:01:34.679 --> 01:01:38.440
in society rather than about, yeah, you know,

01:01:38.480 --> 01:01:41.019
it's music, I need to study it. I think it's

01:01:41.019 --> 01:01:42.960
more than that. But you know, it happens all

01:01:42.960 --> 01:01:45.960
over the world. I mean, it's not unique to Singapore.

01:01:46.000 --> 01:01:47.780
A lot of things that we think are unique to Singapore,

01:01:47.800 --> 01:01:49.139
as someone who's travelled all over the world,

01:01:49.179 --> 01:01:51.659
I can tell you, people are people. Everywhere

01:01:51.659 --> 01:01:55.179
in the world, we have the same issues. But we

01:01:55.179 --> 01:01:57.199
have to address those issues, rather than keep

01:01:57.199 --> 01:01:59.119
quiet about it and just be resigned to that.

01:01:59.820 --> 01:02:02.880
That's not me. I will just say my piece. I will

01:02:02.880 --> 01:02:05.360
call a spade a spade. But you know, a lot of

01:02:05.360 --> 01:02:07.039
these complaints, to be fair, if you do it in

01:02:07.039 --> 01:02:10.000
the daytime, and the people call and if there's

01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:12.460
a hundred complaints, no one's going to do anything.

01:02:12.639 --> 01:02:14.219
Daytime, yeah. No one's going to do anything

01:02:14.219 --> 01:02:15.920
because the police also won't do anything because

01:02:15.920 --> 01:02:17.460
you're allowed to have such activities until

01:02:17.460 --> 01:02:20.820
10 .30 at night. Just the poor admins sitting

01:02:20.820 --> 01:02:22.780
at a desk getting calls after call after call

01:02:22.780 --> 01:02:25.119
after call and being shouted at and screamed

01:02:25.119 --> 01:02:27.179
at and cussed at. You know, I mean, it's not

01:02:27.179 --> 01:02:32.760
funny. Fair enough, fair enough. Let's wrap this

01:02:32.760 --> 01:02:35.260
up a little bit, okay? The lack of employee benefits

01:02:35.260 --> 01:02:39.150
for many freelance musos. Is it a significant

01:02:39.150 --> 01:02:42.389
concern? Well, freelancers in general, whether

01:02:42.389 --> 01:02:46.969
music or non -music, we don't really have an

01:02:46.969 --> 01:02:50.230
employer -employee relationship. Very often the

01:02:50.230 --> 01:02:52.070
contracts will also say this contract does not

01:02:52.070 --> 01:02:55.610
signify an employer -employee relationship. Right.

01:02:56.170 --> 01:02:59.949
So I guess the musician has got to hear to make

01:02:59.949 --> 01:03:02.550
sure that he pays into his medical for his CPF

01:03:02.550 --> 01:03:05.429
so that he gets Medisave. And the other thing

01:03:05.429 --> 01:03:07.829
is to just cover themselves with when they're

01:03:07.829 --> 01:03:09.789
young especially, to buy insurance policies.

01:03:10.210 --> 01:03:12.909
You know, whether it's a health insurance policy

01:03:12.909 --> 01:03:15.489
or a lifetime or an endowment policy. No, I'm

01:03:15.489 --> 01:03:19.050
not, don't worry, I'm not, you know. Yeah, let's

01:03:19.050 --> 01:03:21.449
not go there. But you know, I mean, so I think

01:03:21.449 --> 01:03:23.929
they can protect themselves that way so that

01:03:23.929 --> 01:03:25.670
when they reach their old age, there will be

01:03:25.670 --> 01:03:28.010
this support system that they have worked into

01:03:28.010 --> 01:03:31.170
and paid into. Everyone pays into such a situation

01:03:31.170 --> 01:03:34.530
for their old age. So I think, I think that's

01:03:34.530 --> 01:03:38.440
a, I was very lucky. Mr. Isaac actually paid

01:03:38.440 --> 01:03:41.800
me CPF. And because of him and being in the music

01:03:41.800 --> 01:03:43.780
and drama company at the age of 21, I could buy

01:03:43.780 --> 01:03:46.179
my first HDB flat. I had enough money for the

01:03:46.179 --> 01:03:55.099
down payment. But not many music employers, club

01:03:55.099 --> 01:03:57.880
employers would do that. I think Harry's was

01:03:57.880 --> 01:04:00.579
the other one. For 15 years, the owner of Harry's.

01:04:01.440 --> 01:04:03.639
they actually paid all their musicians' CPF,

01:04:03.659 --> 01:04:05.920
which is... Well, that's cool. That's cool. I

01:04:05.920 --> 01:04:09.059
like people like that. Is it true that the public

01:04:09.059 --> 01:04:14.980
perception of musicians' earnings is that they

01:04:14.980 --> 01:04:18.519
earn a lot? Is that true? Yeah, people always

01:04:18.519 --> 01:04:20.260
think... You know, musicians always carry themselves

01:04:20.260 --> 01:04:23.179
very well. We dress well. You know, we are usually

01:04:23.179 --> 01:04:25.019
well -spoken because most of us are actually...

01:04:25.840 --> 01:04:28.820
educated enough. And some friends of mine have

01:04:28.820 --> 01:04:31.320
got law degrees and they're musicians and would

01:04:31.320 --> 01:04:33.619
rather be playing jazz piano than practicing

01:04:33.619 --> 01:04:37.920
law. More power to them. Wow. And I have many

01:04:37.920 --> 01:04:40.219
of these people who have got such degrees in

01:04:40.219 --> 01:04:42.780
economics and law. But they'd rather just be

01:04:42.780 --> 01:04:45.780
musicians. There's a very bad joke. How do you

01:04:45.780 --> 01:04:48.900
become a millionaire as a jazz musician? You

01:04:48.900 --> 01:04:56.590
start off as a billionaire. But we chose this

01:04:56.590 --> 01:04:58.570
for ourselves, right? So, I mean, if we did,

01:04:58.650 --> 01:05:00.590
then, you know, sometimes we just have to roll

01:05:00.590 --> 01:05:02.530
with the punches because we chose this life,

01:05:02.630 --> 01:05:05.090
you know? Yeah, and young musicians, you also

01:05:05.090 --> 01:05:07.130
mentioned young musicians, you've talked about

01:05:07.130 --> 01:05:09.750
financial prudence earlier, but you also mentioned

01:05:09.750 --> 01:05:13.070
about self -promotion. So, would you like to

01:05:13.070 --> 01:05:15.369
expound a little bit on that for the young musos

01:05:15.369 --> 01:05:17.090
that's watching or listening to this show? Yeah,

01:05:17.110 --> 01:05:19.389
some of them are very savvy about it and I think

01:05:19.389 --> 01:05:21.130
it's good that they are. But some of them, they

01:05:21.130 --> 01:05:23.929
look at self -promotion as something obscene.

01:05:24.639 --> 01:05:27.079
One day, one young jazz musician told me, oh,

01:05:27.139 --> 01:05:30.559
I never had to, you know, what do you call this,

01:05:30.679 --> 01:05:32.840
Wes Montgomery, the great guitar player, never

01:05:32.840 --> 01:05:36.000
had to do any self -promotion. I say, yeah, but

01:05:36.000 --> 01:05:37.719
he had six publicists, three from the record

01:05:37.719 --> 01:05:40.300
company and three he hired himself. Are you going

01:05:40.300 --> 01:05:42.679
to hire anyone like that for yourself? And if

01:05:42.679 --> 01:05:44.820
you're not, then you just have to do your own

01:05:44.820 --> 01:05:46.440
self -promotion. It's just part of life, you

01:05:46.440 --> 01:05:52.260
know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Your role as chairman

01:05:52.260 --> 01:05:55.199
of Compass and formerly, formerly, right, with

01:05:55.199 --> 01:05:57.260
the Jazz Association? No, no, I'm still the executive

01:05:57.260 --> 01:05:59.659
director. I'm co -founder and executive director.

01:05:59.659 --> 01:06:01.739
Apologies, apologies. What are some of the key

01:06:01.739 --> 01:06:04.239
changes or support systems you believe are needed

01:06:04.239 --> 01:06:07.940
to better sustain musicians here in Singapore?

01:06:09.159 --> 01:06:11.300
Well, as far as Compass is concerned, which I

01:06:11.300 --> 01:06:14.699
co -founded back in 1988 together with a few

01:06:14.699 --> 01:06:18.639
other friends, I sat in the chair from 91 to

01:06:18.639 --> 01:06:20.960
93 and then recently went back to the chair about

01:06:20.960 --> 01:06:25.320
two and a half, three years ago. you know, its

01:06:25.320 --> 01:06:28.360
main purpose is to make sure that the musicians

01:06:28.360 --> 01:06:30.639
are paid royalties for the compositions that

01:06:30.639 --> 01:06:34.150
are played either live or... or on air or whatever,

01:06:34.329 --> 01:06:37.170
or on aeroplanes and so on and so forth. And

01:06:37.170 --> 01:06:41.269
so it exists for that reason. However, you know,

01:06:41.289 --> 01:06:42.590
there's still a lot of support for musicians

01:06:42.590 --> 01:06:45.769
who want to record an album or want to do a tour.

01:06:45.849 --> 01:06:48.630
They can go and approach Compass for some financial

01:06:48.630 --> 01:06:52.570
support. The Jazz Association, we started nine

01:06:52.570 --> 01:06:55.210
years, we'll be nine years old this year. We

01:06:55.210 --> 01:06:57.969
have given out 10 scholarships for people to

01:06:57.969 --> 01:07:00.429
study for degrees, either bachelor's or master's

01:07:00.429 --> 01:07:02.690
degree in jazz studies, whether here or in the

01:07:02.690 --> 01:07:08.510
US. And we hire jazz musicians on a regular basis

01:07:08.510 --> 01:07:10.949
to play in our big bands, both the main big band,

01:07:11.010 --> 01:07:15.369
Jasso, and the youth band, Jazz Yo. And so we

01:07:15.369 --> 01:07:18.110
give them employment throughout the year on a

01:07:18.110 --> 01:07:19.989
regular basis, not full -time employment, but

01:07:19.989 --> 01:07:22.230
regular freelance employment. We pay very well.

01:07:23.150 --> 01:07:25.690
recently i found out that we actually we actually

01:07:25.690 --> 01:07:28.389
uh so very often you know big bands they go and

01:07:28.389 --> 01:07:29.949
play they don't get a single cent they just do

01:07:29.949 --> 01:07:31.869
it because they love it but we when we hire the

01:07:31.869 --> 01:07:33.789
musicians we actually pay them for rehearsals

01:07:33.789 --> 01:07:36.190
we pay them for the show and i've come to find

01:07:36.190 --> 01:07:39.550
out that actually we pay similar to some of the

01:07:39.550 --> 01:07:41.269
top big bands in the world for the freelance

01:07:41.269 --> 01:07:43.250
work which that makes me very proud that we do

01:07:43.250 --> 01:07:49.030
that wow so um Yeah, I mean, so that's my sphere,

01:07:49.110 --> 01:07:52.730
right? I got to think about where do I have influence?

01:07:52.869 --> 01:07:54.929
Where can I make a difference? Because very often,

01:07:55.050 --> 01:07:57.929
you know, all those Facebook warriors talking

01:07:57.929 --> 01:08:00.130
about, you know, you can't make a difference.

01:08:00.269 --> 01:08:04.090
I mean, you're just making noise only. But, you

01:08:04.090 --> 01:08:05.610
know, where I can actually make a difference,

01:08:05.670 --> 01:08:09.429
I think I have tried my best with my teams and

01:08:09.429 --> 01:08:13.489
my colleagues. But at the end of the day, I think...

01:08:13.679 --> 01:08:17.680
the support systems, we chose a profession where

01:08:17.680 --> 01:08:20.100
we are our own support system. You know, we've

01:08:20.100 --> 01:08:22.939
got to create not only the way to earn income,

01:08:23.239 --> 01:08:25.979
you know, do our own self -promotion, we have

01:08:25.979 --> 01:08:28.340
to do our own merchandising, we have to look

01:08:28.340 --> 01:08:31.640
after our families, maybe even if it means doing

01:08:31.640 --> 01:08:34.439
some kind of part -time job so we can pay for

01:08:34.439 --> 01:08:37.880
schooling for our kids. I mean, just the... the

01:08:37.880 --> 01:08:41.560
path we chose, good, better, right, or good,

01:08:41.640 --> 01:08:43.699
you know, good. Better or worse, for better or

01:08:43.699 --> 01:08:45.680
worse. Yeah, for better or for worse, good, bad,

01:08:45.699 --> 01:08:48.619
right or wrong. Yeah, you're right, you're right.

01:08:48.920 --> 01:08:50.859
Okay, last question, last question before I let

01:08:50.859 --> 01:08:55.279
you go. Your recent social media post on painting

01:08:55.279 --> 01:09:00.060
the town red. I actually enjoyed reading this

01:09:00.060 --> 01:09:03.159
one particularly. Let me just give a summation

01:09:03.159 --> 01:09:05.960
here. You encourage people in Singapore to be

01:09:05.960 --> 01:09:10.340
prudent but not prudes. Wow. Emphasizing the

01:09:10.340 --> 01:09:12.460
importance of spending on things like dining

01:09:12.460 --> 01:09:15.239
out and entertainment to support the economy.

01:09:16.000 --> 01:09:17.640
You know, I actually like that, you know, because

01:09:17.640 --> 01:09:21.260
not many people talk that way about going out

01:09:21.260 --> 01:09:22.960
and dine out and go out there and, you know,

01:09:22.960 --> 01:09:26.039
for entertainment and leisure, even during tough

01:09:26.039 --> 01:09:30.300
times. As a musician who relies on live performances

01:09:30.300 --> 01:09:33.880
and people attending shows, what are your thoughts

01:09:33.880 --> 01:09:37.079
on the current economic climate in Singapore

01:09:37.079 --> 01:09:39.500
and how it directly impacts the livelihood of

01:09:39.500 --> 01:09:42.659
artists and the entertainment industry? Well,

01:09:42.680 --> 01:09:44.500
I wrote that post before Donald Trump did the

01:09:44.500 --> 01:09:47.020
terrorist, right? Yeah. And decimated the whole

01:09:47.020 --> 01:09:48.979
world economy. I don't know whether that post

01:09:48.979 --> 01:09:50.699
would hold true or whether I would write it slightly

01:09:50.699 --> 01:09:53.180
different today. Yeah. But at the end of the

01:09:53.180 --> 01:09:56.659
day, I think that the only way the economy works

01:09:57.579 --> 01:10:01.899
we when earning our money spend money so that

01:10:01.899 --> 01:10:04.340
then this is a whole cyclical thing of the economy

01:10:04.340 --> 01:10:06.460
we support the economy all of us support the

01:10:06.460 --> 01:10:09.619
economy so part of the economy is entertainment

01:10:09.619 --> 01:10:13.680
of course luxuries now people don't go out you

01:10:13.680 --> 01:10:16.979
know go for so much nowadays because people start

01:10:16.979 --> 01:10:19.060
to actually think why do I really need a Rolex

01:10:19.060 --> 01:10:22.489
watch right so so that's that's important the

01:10:22.489 --> 01:10:24.109
same could be said about oh you know you should

01:10:24.109 --> 01:10:26.229
support the economy and buy the occasional expensive

01:10:26.229 --> 01:10:29.210
watch but now you can't imagine giving that advice

01:10:29.210 --> 01:10:32.470
to anybody because it just firstly it's not necessary

01:10:32.470 --> 01:10:35.470
and it's showy and flashy and people like to

01:10:35.470 --> 01:10:38.510
be a little less flashy nowadays so but as far

01:10:38.510 --> 01:10:41.510
as musicians and all are concerned I think that

01:10:41.510 --> 01:10:44.750
you still should spend some of your money going

01:10:44.750 --> 01:10:47.159
out to have dine out because you know last year

01:10:47.159 --> 01:10:49.439
3 ,000 restaurants closed down yeah you know

01:10:49.439 --> 01:10:52.039
and maybe 2 ,000 more appeared this year so far

01:10:52.039 --> 01:10:55.880
but you will notice they fall half in size because

01:10:55.880 --> 01:10:58.220
people don't like those large dining rooms anymore

01:10:58.220 --> 01:11:01.579
I think that's going to be the trend people are

01:11:01.579 --> 01:11:03.680
going to go for smaller intimate places yeah

01:11:03.680 --> 01:11:08.359
and as far as music is concerned you know I think

01:11:08.359 --> 01:11:11.260
to go out and have a drink and socialize with

01:11:11.260 --> 01:11:13.760
your friends or your loved one or loved ones

01:11:14.329 --> 01:11:17.510
You know, that you should really make an effort.

01:11:17.590 --> 01:11:19.329
And that was what that post is about. I guess

01:11:19.329 --> 01:11:23.430
it'll be sort of regulated a little bit more

01:11:23.430 --> 01:11:26.510
because now we're going to actually see our pocketbooks

01:11:26.510 --> 01:11:30.409
being hit very badly across the world. Thanks

01:11:30.409 --> 01:11:33.970
to the orange idiot. Yeah, well, yeah. I mean,

01:11:34.029 --> 01:11:36.010
you know, I think that there was a really poor

01:11:36.010 --> 01:11:38.909
choice on the part of the American people to

01:11:38.909 --> 01:11:43.659
choose him. believe in his rhetoric. But end

01:11:43.659 --> 01:11:46.380
of the day, you know, we have to do business

01:11:46.380 --> 01:11:49.840
with him and them. No choice, because he's going

01:11:49.840 --> 01:11:52.220
to be there. Maybe he'll have his wings clipped

01:11:52.220 --> 01:11:56.680
in the midterm elections, hopefully. But end

01:11:56.680 --> 01:11:58.899
of the day, the world has to deal. The world

01:11:58.899 --> 01:12:00.239
has to deal. I mean, Singapore, what are you

01:12:00.239 --> 01:12:01.600
going to do? You're just going to have to find

01:12:01.600 --> 01:12:04.079
a way. You know, I was saying in another recent

01:12:04.079 --> 01:12:05.800
Facebook post, the rest of the world should get

01:12:05.800 --> 01:12:07.760
together and form a free trade zone. Just leave

01:12:07.760 --> 01:12:09.899
them out. You know, and we'll still have to trade

01:12:09.899 --> 01:12:11.720
with them, but we should create our own world.

01:12:11.819 --> 01:12:14.279
Yeah. Because he's upended the entire world.

01:12:14.520 --> 01:12:16.819
There can't be a world without America. Yeah.

01:12:17.020 --> 01:12:19.100
You know, I mean, I don't know about that, but

01:12:19.100 --> 01:12:20.899
I certainly... I mean, without having to trade

01:12:20.899 --> 01:12:22.399
with them. Yeah, yeah. You know, we can trade,

01:12:22.460 --> 01:12:24.020
but then after a while, when you see that, hey,

01:12:24.140 --> 01:12:27.079
you know, this is all this trade and cooperation

01:12:27.079 --> 01:12:31.439
and goodwill going around without them, I think

01:12:31.439 --> 01:12:34.479
at some point they will go, maybe. I think it's

01:12:34.479 --> 01:12:36.359
temporary because there's no way that America...

01:12:36.670 --> 01:12:41.909
America can survive that way, having lost trillions

01:12:41.909 --> 01:12:46.909
in the first 24 hours. But you raise this based

01:12:46.909 --> 01:12:51.369
on geopolitics and geoeconomics, but when it

01:12:51.369 --> 01:12:56.149
comes to locally, domestically here, and I've

01:12:56.149 --> 01:12:59.710
spoken about this to many musicians, and it is

01:12:59.710 --> 01:13:02.590
the cost of the consumer going to a place where

01:13:02.590 --> 01:13:06.050
there's music, there's a DJ in attendance, there's

01:13:06.539 --> 01:13:09.720
a band playing you know go no more cover charges

01:13:09.720 --> 01:13:13.039
these days of course but they go in and they

01:13:13.039 --> 01:13:16.319
don't go like before every night you know after

01:13:16.319 --> 01:13:19.819
work happy hour happy hours and stuff you know

01:13:19.819 --> 01:13:23.420
uh and they probably go go out once a month yeah

01:13:23.420 --> 01:13:27.199
so the the culturally things seem to have changed

01:13:27.199 --> 01:13:30.399
post pandemic yes you're right yeah and and poor

01:13:30.399 --> 01:13:34.140
musos Clubs and bar owners too, they no longer

01:13:34.140 --> 01:13:36.880
want to hire musicians or DJs even because why?

01:13:37.039 --> 01:13:39.859
This is a state of affairs. And it's a very sorry

01:13:39.859 --> 01:13:44.859
state. It is. Yeah. And paint the town red, man.

01:13:45.100 --> 01:13:47.920
That caught me when you put up that post because

01:13:47.920 --> 01:13:50.300
when I saw it, I said, what? Paint the town red?

01:13:51.380 --> 01:13:53.520
Nobody's fucking painting the town red anymore,

01:13:53.680 --> 01:13:55.880
man. That's why I said they should do it. It's

01:13:55.880 --> 01:13:58.840
an old adage now. It's an old adage. It's an

01:13:58.840 --> 01:14:02.140
old saying. and I think even the young ones will

01:14:02.140 --> 01:14:03.960
probably go what does that mean painting the

01:14:03.960 --> 01:14:07.720
town red oh gosh it really hit me that one that

01:14:07.720 --> 01:14:09.640
really hit me no one does that anymore Jeremy

01:14:09.640 --> 01:14:12.960
no one does that but again this is my tribute

01:14:12.960 --> 01:14:16.340
to you thank you for everything you've done for

01:14:16.340 --> 01:14:20.000
musicians for music and for Singapore's music

01:14:20.000 --> 01:14:23.140
thank you very much on behalf of I mean I'm nobody

01:14:23.140 --> 01:14:27.180
you know I'm not like up there somewhere in leadership

01:14:27.180 --> 01:14:30.600
in this country but on behalf of Singapore and

01:14:30.600 --> 01:14:32.220
Singaporeans thank you so very much thank you

01:14:32.220 --> 01:14:34.119
so much thanks for being on the show thank you

01:14:34.119 --> 01:14:36.460
very much thank you pleasure thank you and okay

01:14:36.460 --> 01:14:40.109
everybody I've had I really had a music dignitary

01:14:40.109 --> 01:14:43.930
in my studio today. And it's been a great conversation.

01:14:44.510 --> 01:14:49.130
Jeremy Montero. And a whole while, I think, five

01:14:49.130 --> 01:14:50.810
more. All right, can I have five more episodes

01:14:50.810 --> 01:14:54.109
to go before we call it a day? Right about five,

01:14:54.130 --> 01:14:56.989
huh? Or four more. Before we call it a season.

01:14:57.529 --> 01:14:59.869
Season five will be coming to an end shortly.

01:15:01.520 --> 01:15:04.899
Watch out for the next episode next week. And

01:15:04.899 --> 01:15:08.140
until then, oh, next week, the next one, we've

01:15:08.140 --> 01:15:12.380
got Singapore's crooner coming on. And you've

01:15:12.380 --> 01:15:14.579
got to really watch out for that one. Until next

01:15:14.579 --> 01:15:16.260
time, stay safe. Bye -bye.