As some of you might know we held our very first songwriter’s circle gathering tonight…an event/circle which was initiated and organised by yours truly for the purpose of celebrating the art of songwriting in Singapore and meeting up with like-minded songwriting enthusiasts.

I’m really happy to say that everything turned out far better than I had dared to imagine.

It makes all the hard work and self-doubt in planning for the event all worthwhile.

Honestly, I really didn’t know what to expect tonight. I was kinda worried that either i) not enough people would turn up or ii) there would not be enough songs being presented such that we needed to plan a contingency programme (which I did at the last minute, but thankfully it never had to be put in use).

But as luck would have it, the turnout of nine, though a seemingly small number, actually created the perfect group setting for the night’s activities. The atmosphere was great (you could just sense the enthusiasm in the room), and the group chemistry was just perfect. Everyone was there to engage in stimulating conversation about the art of composition and songwriting, which was exactly what I had hoped for!

We heard a total of twelve original compositions, some full songs, some just music alone. I don’t mean to be subjective, but I thought some of the compositions were simply fantastic (not referring to mine lah). Really, I thought they were wonderful. And so did the rest of the group.

I shared a half-baked tune which I came up with recently. I thought the verse was ok, but the chorus I wasn’t too pleased with. I hope to get more fully-baked songs ready by the next meet-up (wah, organiser never do his homework!!!).

Ivan, a great guy whom I’m glad to have happened to know through setting up the Songcraft initiative, shared 3 of his song clips from his laptop. These were produced digitally via Garage Band software, and they were so well-produced that I remarked that it sounds better than some of the stuff on radio these days!

Marcel, my band’s lead singer shared 3 of his own songs on guitar, and they were very good.  One of them reminded me of those classic Skid Row/Styx/Damn Yankees rock ballads – anthemic, rocky, and very catchy. I think songs written on a guitar sound different than songs written on a piano.

Betty shared 2 of her compositions (nicely scored on musical manuscript paper, mind you!). One had a very interesting opening chord (Bm9 to be exact) which was a very captivating opening and which immediately drew the attention of my ears. I felt this same song had a slightly “oriental” or “mystical” feel to it, and true enough, others did comment that it sounded like a song Enya would do…which Betty didn’t take too well to, haha!

Hui Leng shared 2 piano compositions, without lyrics. I really liked the first one in particular. I dunno why, but I just kept smiling and nodding away to myself (like a fool) all the time she was playing it. I guess that’s what happens when I encounter a piece of music for the first time, which I like a lot. The chord progression, the arrangements, and of course, the melody…they were really well done. We all felt the piece sounds like something you’d hear in those poignant, teary scenes in a Korean TV drama serial. 

Lastly, Chin Hon sprang a surprise by presenting a song of his own. Great song! Sanny remarked that it was so simple but yet heartfelt. We all agreed. 

All in all, it was such an exciting night for me to see what was but a pipe dream six weeks ago become a reality.

So exciting that I forgot that I didn’t eat my dinner, until I realised it at around after midnight!