Hom Ground Advantage
In America, he pursues his music interests in total anonymity. It’s a different scenario in Asia; here is his fan base where he basks in their adulation as a pop idol. Welcome to the world of contradictions that is Mandopop singer Wang Lee Hom.
East meets West. And never more intriguingly—or with more contradictions—than within Wang Lee Hom.
On one hand, the New York-born singer’s commitment to his craft is indisputable the way he goes on and on about production techniques, about wanting, no, needing to create a new international sound for the Chinese music, a distinctive Asian-American identity.
On the other hand, Lee Hom(as he's known to his adoring fans) loves being a “popstar”—surely not a term associated with serious musicianship? Especially not with a man who wrote, produced and arranged his latest album on his own. Or someone who would rather consider Taiwanese singer-songwriters like Shunza and David Tao his peers rather than Hong Kong huge pop idols.
But there is it: “I love it!” he declares.
“But as long as I don’t let it lead my creativity. Rahter, I hope it is the other way round. My pop is not purely pop because I incoporate elements like jazz and classical,” he says of his seventh album, Forever’s First Day, released in Malaysia 2 months ago by Sony Music.
And let’s not even get started on his dual identities:”I’m very American but I’m also very Chinese…” He seems to be living proof that, occasionally, you do get the have cake and eat it, too.
Lee Hom’s Malaysian promo tour from September 9th to 11th underlined to contradictions in his life. While the 23-year-old attracted huge crowds of teenage fans screaming for his attention just as any pop idol would, he also spoke with firm authority about music.
He does, after all, have 4 years of experience in the music business to dram on since he relased his first album in 1996. He didn’t reach genuine po-idol status, though, until his sixth album Impossible to Miss You and its huge hit Julia—which, by the way, he said he wrote in five minutes while he was getting his hair cut!
His slow take-off could have something to do with the fact that catchy tunes like Julia are not exactly his choice for radio singles, although he did suspect that the record company would be plugging them.
“Peronally, I like less commecial songs,” he sighs, completely acknowledging for once how misplaced priorities are in the pop industry. “And I’m not going to reacord an album in a week or release 3 albums a year. That’s a lot of pressure to handle.”
He does consider himself lucky to be so young and new, relatively speaking, yet in control. That control allowed him to record what he considers a rather risky album. “I’m always willing to take risks,” he states unaplogetically.
Even the risk of ticking off the press. He once wrote in exasperation in his diary which is available on the official Sony Music Taiwan Website :” I can spend an hour talking about music and five minutes answering the reporters’ questions about my love life and the next day’s newpapers come out all about my love life!
To counteract the frivolous media, Lee Hom writes comprehensively in this webdiary about the musical virtues of Forever’s First Day. He leads you not only into the concept or even a track-by-track guide, but a verse-for-verse introduction to the minutest detail and the phiilosophies behind each arrangement and song.
And a glance, the essays may appear drudgingly dry, not something a fan who worships the idol more than the music would care to read. But for those who bother to give them a careful read, these essays show that Lee Hom is more than a pretty face with a great physique. And you feel much R-E-S-P-E-C-T for the lad for the sheer amiunt of effort and thought put into making the album.
Actually, his record label could have safely let Lee Hom loose behind the mixing console long before since he does have a major in music composition and he’s doing his Masters at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music. In fact, he’s been composing since he was a kid growing up in New York, when he used to write songs as birthday gifts.
Since then, it’s been steady progression to reach Forever’s First Day, which Lee Hom feels, is his best effort yet. “I took the most time to work onthis album. It’s been doing well despite the fact that I only did 11 days of the promotion in Taiwan compared with the two months previously.
Taken from the Star Paper, Malaysia.
September 19th, 2000
Click HERE to read the interview with Leehom in the Star paper!
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