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English Summary:
The interview mostly talked about music and dreams, not until the end Sandy mentioned just a little bit about her point of view on relationship.
Sandy is going to finish up her new Mandarin album first, and then she is going to start working on her new Cantonese album. In the new album (the article didn’t specifically point out which one), she has worked with lots of new or young musicians, who could actually compose the whole song, write their own lyric, and even arrange it. When she was listening to the demos, she wouldn’t care if they are famous or not, but seek for interesting melody, idea, or arrangement; something that she likes when she listens to it.
When asked what’s the different the old and new musicians. She said in the old days, you basically work with the same people all the time; they would follow your idea and compose something out of it, and then talk to the lyrist. In those days, if we figured out some melody, we would play that section out, but today, the composers actually finish the whole song when they present it to you. It saves mush time at times, and more direct.
So, how does Sandy choose from all these demos? She said when a demo gives her an imaginative space when she listens to it, she would give it a go. After all, a demo needs to be re-arranged and fine tuned, but it got to leave it some space to expand. When she listens to the young composers’ works, there are areas that aren’t very mature professionally, but that doesn’t matter, because you can listen to a different point of view of a song, and then fill in something to fits herself or the song itself later on.
“At Least I’ve You” is a great example. When she first listened to it, she found it all right, not until later when it got polished and re-arranged many, many times, and the lyrics came along, it turned out really good. So, it’s rather difficult to define what is the best. It’s something we need to work with the arrangers. After we fill in the right instruments or arrangements, the song might turn out better then it could be. The so-called “right sound” is something very personal, it’s different from one another.
Sandy still believes that music has chosen her. She grew up in a musical family, a musical environment, so as time goes by, Sandy realized it’s music that helped her to discover herself. When she looked back, many great people and friends are brought together through music, and music has become a channel to express her feelings. Sandy finds herself very lucky as a singer, and she still believes music has chosen her.
Who taught Sandy to sing? Nobody at the beginning, she said, she would only listen to English songs that played on the radio; Mandarin songs when she was even younger. She has never thought of singing, and she thought she couldn’t sing anyway. Until she signed her first contract, she confirmed to herself – she could not sing well! That was when she wanted to take vocal lessons with Ruth etc. She went to America several times to take vocal lessons, even it’s as short a week or two. She wanted to learn how to use her voice. Sandy remembered she was a bit worried before her first concert. She wanted to be good in front of her audiences; it gave her the motivation to go to the America for a month, just to work on her singing and dancing skills.
Her first concert was a great experience. Recording in the studio and performance live on stage is totally different. In the studio, there are areas where she needs to put a stop, but during live it’s not necessary. Or the distance between herself and the microphone, she could whisper but the mixing can still caught it, but in live performance, what we need is power. Therefore, it wasn’t until her second or third concert, she found the feeling of “in control” of her vocal.
Sandy still found herself the quiet one in a group, especially those award ceremonies, and press conference, but she has worked on it, after all, it’s her job nature. She feels a lot more comfortable now. She couldn’t understand why she had to do so much promotion and talk so much when she was younger, but as she matures she accepted it.
Would she agree that she has those artist behavior (being so quiet all the time)? First of all, she said she couldn’t say she is an artist. She has met with many great artist, they are different because they have different thoughts, and thinking. It doesn’t mean they are quiet. Perhaps they can talk days if you hit on something connected to them!
How did she become a DJ? All because she thought she could play anything they want on the radio! But that is not true. She had to talk a lot, but it’s still better than today’s DJ. Although not all, but she could play certain personal favorites at her show. Later on, she wanted more, so she left.
Is it hard to produce something better than before? It’s something that happens to everyone, especially on herself, it always happens. What is good? Better? Or best? At certain stage, some people thought this is your best, or that is the greatest, but is it so? Perhaps you weren’t so satisfy with the outcome, but people thought that is the best of you. Then expectation comes along, what should I give them next time? Creation depends on your stage, your emotion, your experience, and there comes something different. There are songs that could reach certain people’s heart, or sometimes, there is a song that really touches me but it wasn’t a hit, then you will ask yourself, can it be better? To me, we need to improve ourselves all the time. It doesn’t matter if the result is not as good as the previous. It would be great if has great result with great reaction and sells good. But what matters is what we have learnt, and how we have grown from that project.
That’s why it’s great to heard from some people that they liked some b-side songs, something the recording company wouldn’t choose to promote. Not every-single-song can be a hit, what’s more important is to let an album contain some elements that you enjoy, something different, even though not everyone would accept.
So, are we looking at the real Sandy? It is impossible, she said. When you are on stage, you are not exactly who you are already. The entertainment business is full of illusions, with lights and packaging, that’s what you see on stage, but it’s not close to who I am. Unless you have known me for years, otherwise, it’s impossible to know who I am. But in my music, everything in there is the real me.
What do you think about illegal download? She believes record companies should work together on this issue. We need to educate the people why is it important o respect the copy-right owner, why is it harmful to download the music, but not purchasing the actual CD. In the states, they have illegal download too, but they would also buy the actual product too.
What do you dislike about Hong Kong? Hong Kong people are too self-centred nowadays. At the entrance or exit, people wouldn’t let you go first; or sometimes, when we walk into a lift, they wouldn’t even give a little smile. She believed it’s not that they don’t know what to do, but they are afraid to do. Perhaps the living environment in Hong Kong is too small, too tight, too much pressure, people don’t know how to balance themselves. Shanghai is very much the same, but Sandy like Beijing a lot, big space, nice people.
So, what is your point of view on relationship now? When you love someone, you want to be with him/her, but I started to feel that we don’t have t be like that. After several relationships, we would gain certain knowledge on it, and we have more expectation. We wanted him to be like this or that, turn it around, through relationship; we get to understand more about ourselves. If you don’t know how to express yourself, you would encounter lots of problems, and it hurts really deep every time. For a period of time, you would rather live without anybody but yourself. A good relationship really depends on the timing, the people, and fate. When we are younger, we thought we could go through all the ups and downs no matter what, if we try. But as you grow up, you realized it’s something only happens in the movies. Relationship needs lots of love, understanding, commitment and communication. All human beings needs love, it’s our human nature. We want to be understood, loved. So, what is the key point of all these? It is also the most important issue of my life – communication.
Source: Marie Claire/South China
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