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Interviews

Songwriting and hotpots: A 3-way chat between Evanturetime, Linying, and Charlie Lim

Singaporean artist Evanturetime recently sat down at the Apple Store in Singapore to launch his new EP Folds, a delicate collection of songs we discovered and fell in love with not too long ago.

Amongst that EP was Vultures, a delicate composition featuring artists and friends Charlie Lim and Linying – both of whom were just announced as part of the BIGSOUND 2018 lineup.

After that launch show, over a hotpot, we asked the three artists to sit down together for a chat.

evanturetime charlie Lim linying axel serik
Photo: Axel Serik

Singaporean artists Evanturetime, Charlie Lim, and Linying sit down after a joint performance to discuss the different ways they approach music.

EVANTURETIME: Hey gang. That hotpot was quite something wasn’t it.

LINYING: Thanks for putting this together, Evan! Feels like it’s been ages since we’d first gotten to know one another. Back then, you’d taken on much more of a producer role in the projects you were working on. You’re as much a producer as you’re an artist now, but d’you think this new dimension to what you do changes the way you approach music a lot?

EVANTURETIME: I feel like a musical Swiss Army Knife (laughs). I’m busting out different mental tools for the right job. Being an artist was difficult for me. I had to force myself to be self-indulgent. But that’s healthy I think.

LINYING: Whereas in the past… you entertained others’ visions a lot more than you did your own?

EVANTURETIME: Correct! It was more about what they would want versus what I would want you know. Wasn’t it the same for you when you first started out doing top line work?

LINYING: That’s true; for some reason I very often forget that I pretty much took my first steps in this industry being pretty much like a… songwriting service provider. (Backstory to this is I used to be like any other stupid kid posting videos on Youtube until a pair of European DJs sent me an email out of the blue and asked me to write on their dance track. The song got picked up by a major and more DJs got in touch and then we ended up touring Europe together).

Toplining and making my own music used to feel so separate to me because each exercise entirely different muscles, but over time I’ve found myself employing some of the math I’ve picked up in toplining when working on my own stuff too. I wonder if this experience sounds foreign to an artist like Charlie – I mean, you started out immediately executing the vision you had for your music. Have you ever felt like a duality exists in what you do?

EVANTURETIME: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) – me looking at Charlie

CHARLIE LIM: I haven’t had much toplining experience to be honest, so it’s not familiar territory for me. Most of the things I’ve written are usually for myself to sing on, even if they were commissioned for a specific event or a different audience. And because I’m usually involved in the production and arrangement whenever I’m working on a song, the melody and lyric may not actually be the sole focus all the time because of the way the arrangement or a counter-melody can interact with the topline.

But I wonder if having a finished track helps speed up the songwriting process, because you’re working within these limitations and parameters set up by someone else.

EVANTURETIME: It’s amazing how you guys are able to make a living out of your own audible identity. Is this a conscious decision on your end? Like maybe even formulaic?

CHARLIE LIM: I don’t think formulaic is the right word, but at the same time people tend to romanticise artistry and the creative process as if whole songs just come out of the ether. It’s definitely a lot more left-brain oriented than most people expect when it comes to songwriting.

The trickiest part for me is usually keeping focus and prioritising what’s the most important aspect of the song at any given time of the writing and arranging process… it’s easy to get distracted with production ideas or nerdy musical things that might seem cool in isolation but may not contribute to the bigger picture.

What’s the hardest part for you guys when it comes to putting a song together?

EVANTURETIME: I think it would have to be balancing what is appealing to my listeners nowadays versus what I’d like to do. As much as I’d hate to admit it, there’s so much more to that than just writing good music. There’s branding, demographics, social media marketing, the list goes on. And you’ve got to figure that out while figuring out your own musical identity. It’s not easy… but nothing worthwhile ever comes easy does it!

LINYING: I can never remember which characteristics are left brain and which are right brain, no matter how many times I look it up… but yeah I completely agree. Songwriting’s a lot more tedious than it looks – but as a much less meticulous person than someone like, say, Charlie is (in light of the most recent session we’ve had together), I must say that I only feel this way because of how much production has come to be a part of the identity of a song, being something that artists now have much more control in.

I still find that with writing my own material, the process still feels really natural and trance-like, for lack of a better word. It’s getting into that state of mind (that is, the mood to examine, reflect, simmer and steep) that’s difficult and a bit frustrating for me, but once I manage to shut everything out and reel my focus in, the song really does write itself. The problem is that the basic melody and lyrics in a song make up little more than half of it, and it’s in the production that I spend a lot of time working and re-working and that I find tedious.

I get the idea of keeping your brand and your demographics and marketing in mind when you talk about it, Evan, but how d’you incorporate it into the actual music making process? Are there moments where you’re inclined to do something but find yourself stopping short because you realise that it might not be the best for your audience? I’m sure we all have set perimeters and filters in place when it comes to this but maybe I’ve internalised it so much that the thought never comes to me. I’d feel really conflicted if my two options were so clear-cut: self-expression/artist intention/integrity/whatever versus what I think my audience would want to hear.

EVANTURETIME: I think it’s important to be see/hear your music from different perspectives. To me, for us to write an audible opinion that will survive way longer than we do requires us to be sensitive to the listeners’ needs as well. Not at the risk of sacrificing your artistic integrity, of course. It’s all about balancing what my listeners would love to hear/expect from me versus what I’d like to do.

CHARLIE LIM: I’m honestly too exasperated with myself when getting something across the finish line to even begin worrying about what other people would like (laughs). I can’t imagine trying to please everyone. I just hope for the best that what I do overlaps with others’ preferences, and maybe even challenges them. I mean, at the end of the day, we’re still making pop-ish music and our influences fall within similar domains. It’s not that hard to make something inoffensive. But I think creating something exceptional and moving is what we all strive to achieve? I mean, that’s our job, right?

EVANTURETIME: Yea I agree. Coming from a music mercenary background and now stepping out as an artist, I still see a lot of similarities in both practices. Creating a good product takes tact, and being sensitive and true to the soul of the composition is still crucial in both disciplines – whether you’re an artist or producing for someone else.

There’s plenty of amazing lessons and concepts to take home from being a producer, too. Like I really enjoy picking apart tunes and seeing how different things would blend. That worked out really well in my own compositions now. For instance, I decided to make a synth sampled out of sticks and I went and mixed them with a kalimba. They blended surprisingly well!

I’m pretty sure the three of us have internalised some parameters when we write but for me, setting clear guidelines (it could be stuff as simple as taking regular breaks to prevent ear fatigue to remembering to honour the melody and building a song around it) is also more of a reminder of sorts. I tend to get too in-depth with geeky music production things and not see the big picture sometimes, so these guidelines are just glaring reminders for me to stay on track. I just want everyone (myself included!) to have a good time listening to good music.

 

Catch Charlie Lim, Linying and Evanturetime (playing in Charlie’s band) at BIGSOUND 2018 on September 4-7 in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Details here.

Evanturetime’s new EP Folds is out now.