Homing In On Good Music
You'd expect a musician who chooses Leonard Bernstein and Bela Bartok as his heroes to be in the classical scene. But that's being too presumptuos. New Yorker Wang Leehom, for one, can rock your socks off just as easily as he could score an honours thesis with a Broadway-style musical. Like a sponge, Leehom, who made it big as a pop singer in Asia, has absorbed the various musical styles he comes in contact with.
"Growing up in New York, a lot of what I heard was Broadway, pop and rap. My first exposure to Chinese music was when I came to Taiwan(a few years ago)," said Leehom, whose latest album is entitled Revolution. "I've discovered a lot of good music(in the Chinese scene). I hope to produce a variety of sounds. Maybe not on my albums, but I could try the other forms on soundtracks." Eager and open to experiences, the lad intends to mix his studies-he is a freshman at Berkley School of Music-and his music career. "I'll have the time to produce records. At school, I'm learning about production and other technical stuff."
Take a stroll down memory lane and one will discover his musical bent took root early in Leehom's life. "I'm the oddball in the family," revealed Leehom, who has two brothers. "I like music while everyone else is into chess and mathemathics. Nobody knows why I'm so different." He remembered a time when he would specially write birthday songs as birthday gifts. "My little crafts! I wanted to give people something personal. My goals when I was younger was to make my mother happy and yo have my brothers think that I was cool. When we had guests, I'd entertain them with my violin playing.
It wasn't so long ago that the 22-year-old was still in high school and burning himself out with a myriad of school activities. "I was such a curious person that I wanted to try everything in school. I was in seven different clubs(among others, the band and choir) and I couldn't seem to say 'no' to anybody. There was also another problem, I was stretched so thin that I couldn't really excel in any of them." He added, "my brothers are so much more focused."
A middle child, Leehom's elder brother is a doctor in Chicago while the younger brother is still in junior high. "My brothers think I'm so lucky to be in this business, but they don't realise how fickle it is and how much hard work it takes," he said. Mom, however, has a better perspective on things and helps to ensure that it stays that way by being his business manager.
In college, Leehom finally settled on a major in Music Composition; he wrote the musical The Bite That Burns for his final thesis. Now that he is in the major league, Leehom's ideals remained surprisingly untarnished. He has often been quoted saying he wants to create his own sound, a sound that is neither Western or Oriental, yet combines the best essence from both worlds. With that ambition in mind, Leehom has every intention to be around for a while.
"I want to do a lot of things and I want to see them come true. To create your own unique sound, I think that's the key to longevity in this business." He was quick to point out that he will not, however, be obsessed over it. "In my quest as a musician, my goal is always to improve from the last album. It's a progression."
"Music is my life. And I'm going to spend all my life making music. "
The Star Paper, 1998
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The midi file that is playing is the courtesy of Robin's Chinese Midi Files Page. This is a song by Leehom and William So(also sung by Jacky Cheung and Roland Cheng), Zuo You Wei Nan.
