[Channelnewasia] Kit Chan's labour of love
(發片會獨家的怨念到今天?XD 有兩小圖)
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainmentfeatures/view/1112977/1/
.html
SINGAPORE: "It really feels like I was pregnant for nine months! Really! We
have been working on this album for about nine months.
"I have never given birth, but I imagine this is the closest I'll get to that
feeling," said Singapore singer Kit Chan with a laugh, during the launch of
her new album "Re-interpreting" at the Royal Plaza on Scotts hotel late last
month.
The Singapore icon had worked on a slew of major projects since she made her
high profile return to showbiz in Toy Factory's melancholic theatre
production "December Rains" in August last year.
She recently produced a Singapore Civil Defence Force music video for the
iconic song "Home" with 39 other local artistes and even performed in a
series of concerts with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra for the Huayi
Festival that were completely sold out in less than two days.
But of all the projects she's done in her showbiz career so far, few are as
personal as her latest album "Re-interpreting", which cost her S$100,000 to
produce and was released under her very own indie label Banshee Empire.
"In the past six years, people have asked me why I have not released a
comeback album. I could only tell them 'I don’t have the feel'.
"When you don't have the right feeling it is very difficult, especially when
you don't have a music contract and nobody is forcing you to do it, so I just
left it at that until December 2009, when I started getting the right feeling
again."
Chan spent the following year juggling her other projects and recording
"Re-interpreting", which sees her cover a variety of hits in English,
Mandarin and Cantonese hits like Mavis Hee's "Regret" and "Bridge over
Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel.
An original cover
Fans are bound to whine about the lack of original compositions in her
highly-anticipated new album, especially since it has been six years since
her last one.
However, Chan believes that each track on the album captures her unique take
on songs she loves to sing and aren't "just covers of past hits", which is
also why the album is titled "Re-interpreting".
"As a singer, there are so many songs that I really want to sing, accumulated
over the years.
"It's very difficult to do cover songs, you have to clear the rights, you
have to re-invent everything. I feel that to sing a cover, you must be mature
enough with enough experiences and emotions to re-interpret it, or else you
are just copying it" explained Chan.
"[Previously] I always refused to do covers. I did not agree with the way
they (her record label) chose the songs they wanted me to cover.
"They just picked from the Top 40 because they felt it would be a big seller.
When I heard it, I told them 'Not interested'. I feel that to do an album,
the starting point must be correct."
She recounted how one record label employee was so focused on getting her
album to sell that they even asked her to mispronounce the lyrics of "Wind
Beneath My Wings", the only English song she ever covered.
"I could not understand it. The music label actually told me 'Could you not
pronounce the English lyrics so accurately? Could you pronounce the words
more like a Taiwanese? It will sell better'," said Chan with a look of
exasperation on her face.
"From then on I was very reluctant to do any covers."
Living by her own rules
Now, things are different for Chan.
The singer, who once said in an interview that she disliked being signed to a
music label because "labels own you", has her own label Banshee Empire.
That means she finally has the freedom to do what she wants and sing the
songs she loves.
"This is my own label so nobody tells me what to do, there are no rules. I
think it's more fun," said Chan.
The 38-year-old singer admitted that it is a lot harder on her now too,
because she has to handle many matters on her own, from song selection to
proof-reading the copy to be featured on an album.
Still, she won't have things any other way.
"This is the first time I am involved in the production of the album from
start to finish. It is difficult, physically but spiritually, it is very
fulfilling," she said.
As unflappable as ever, Chan isn't too concerned that her 'baby' might turn
out to be unpopular, at least in terms of album sales.
"Actually, if I win, I am happy, if I lose, I am happy too. If it sells,
we'll celebrate but if it doesn't I am willing to accept that," said Chan as
she lounged comfortably in her chair.
"Whatever the outcome, I spent every cent happily."
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