Kind of Blue

Singaporean singer-songwriter Charlie Lim may just have the right idea on how to elevate the Southeast Asian music scene (if it even exists)

Charlie Lim has a lot to say, given that you know what to ask. When he talks, you can see his mind light up from the way he thinks over each statement thrown at him. He edits what he says as he speaks, and you can see his measured approach to a certain subject by the way he talks about it at length. He doesn’t just appear careful: He’s also filled with wonder, like he’s getting insights as quickly as he gathers his thoughts. It’s a visible process. His introversion may seem to be in contrast to his musicality, but in actuality, they work hand in hand.

Charlie Lim’s 2016 album Time/Space is a record checkered with emotional lyrics and falsettos—a vulnerable doozy. For his latest release Check-Hook he replaces the strings for a drumbeat, but his take on electronic music still carries the same emotional depth. His well-received discography, success through the years, and notable performances in popular festivals and concerts should earn him a spot in our pop culture consciousness.

But why isn’t he a household name yet? Is there something wrong with how he is being promoted, or is the market for singer-songwriters already saturated? Or is it something systemic? He might have the answers himself.

You’ve been making music for quite some time now.

My last album was called Time/Space, and it took about three years to make. It’s a very singer-songwriter style album that took a lot out of me, so I needed time to go away, recharge, rethink, and sort of challenge myself again. This new album is quite different in terms of production and arrangement. At the end of the day, I’m still a singer-songwriter, I can play my songs on guitar and piano. But I really like to challenge myself on the production level as well as the arrangement level, so a lot of the songs use a lot of dance music tropes and kind of subverts them. In a way, it’s kind of like my take on dance music. I always say it’s like dance music but for people like me who don’t go to clubs. So yeah, it’s something like that. I just… I wanted to hear [this kind of music], but it wasn’t really out there.

What are your thoughts on how you’re being received in Singapore?

Do you agree with being called Singapore’s greatest local musician? No, I absolutely don’t take that seriously. It’s never about you. You know, you’re only as good as the people you work with, the people behind you. I’m just… I don't know, I’ve been very blessed to be in the position where I can just make the music I want to make and not worry about pandering to people.

To be respected, to be in that position, like, that’s a real blessing and privilege. I don’t think much about what my place is in the music scene in Singapore, in Southeast Asia so much. I just want to keep doing what I do and hopefully, people like it, you know?

What’s your definition of success when it comes to being an artist? Since you mentioned you don’t really care much about how you’re received.

I think it would be dishonest to say that I don’t care what people think or, you know, that external validation doesn’t make me feel better. Like, everybody wants validation or fame to some extent. But to trust it for more than what it’s worth—that’s a bit dangerous, I suppose.

I think success is just being able to do what I love at a very high level and to keep improving in my craft. I don’t think anybody ever arrives or makes it, to be honest. I think you just keep at it, and if you’re able to sustain yourself with people that you respect, then… If I get to travel the world and play to new audiences, I think that would be really nice.

What’s the music scene like in Singapore?

We’re a very young country with a very small population, unlike places like Manila or Indonesia. But at the same time, we’re very connected, I guess. [We’re all] very supportive, even though the genres of music might be quite different. There’s definitely been a growth spike over the last maybe 10, five years alone, I’d say. There’s also a bit of government support for original music to be enjoyed now, which is nice. We have more venues to play original music, and bigger festivals are letting local bands and regional bands play smaller stages and open for international artists, so that definitely helps boost the profile of bands, gives them more exposure.

So I think there’s no better time to do music or, you know, original content than now, especially with technology and everything being so interconnected. I also think, because we’re such a young country, we’re still struggling to find our own sound. But that’s something not worth worrying about because you just do it and then a sound gets formed.

It would be a bit contrived, I think, to just go, “Oh, I want to sound Singaporean,” or “I want to create a Singaporean sound.” I don’t think that’s how it happens. For me, you can only probably recognize [the sound of a place] after a period of time has passed.

Are you familiar with artists based in the Philippines?

When I first came here in 2012, my friend Carlos Castaño brought me around and introduced me to a few local bands. He’s a singer-songwriter himself, I think he’s in a couple of bands, so everyone’s really just talented here. I think that’s one thing that Manila—the Philippines—is definitely renowned for everywhere: really good musicianship. I think we in Singapore really look up to you guys.

That’s good to hear. You found out about these artists through personal recommendations or by actually being here. And then on our side, we find out about artists from other countries through streaming services, which, you know, are always about the Top 40 hits. It’s always in these top charts where we find out mostly about these Western artists, these American or European artists. What I’m getting at is that in Southeast Asia, we don’t really have much interaction. Is that just me or am I being naive? What do you think?

No, not at all. I think what you’re getting at is a very big topic to unpack. It’s not just about music or content, because there is definitely good content coming out of Southeast Asia, right? But at the end of the day, there’s a huge machine behind what drives culture, what happens in Hollywood, that kind of just trickles down. The soft power of the US or the UK can’t be underestimated [in how] so much of that dictates the way we consume music or even the way we make music. I grew up with Western pop, even though I’m Chinese-Singaporean. Maybe in some sense, we are trapped in this system that the West has created, because it has this very strong sense of identity and this very strong machinery behind the whole system. But then again, there’s more and more attention being given, a few spotlights thrown here and there on Asian artists.

You could argue that, you know, it’s a big community, or it’s a matter of tokenism and all that, but we need to take baby steps. All we can do is try to make the best content that we can. And whether it’s a gimmick or we’re just trying to gain attention, at the end of the day, it’s a very tough industry—which is why when you ask me about success, it’s scary. If you base success on validation alone or how famous you are, it becomes a slippery slope because you have to play so many games or jump through so many hoops to get to a point that you think is successful or at a level with some of these Western artists, right?

I’m not saying that, you know, we shouldn’t [strive for] it, but we have to understand that there are many variables involved and the odds are against us. So why play their game? That’s what I ask. I think we can be inspired by what they do, but we shouldn’t be discouraged by [the existing system]. It’d be easy to be discouraged, but let’s not be… that’s why we got to support each other.

How can we support each other? Coming from my perspective as a listener, I don’t necessarily know what’s going on in Singapore, in Indonesia, and in all these other Southeast Asian countries. The fact is there’s no platform for these interactions to happen.

But it starts from somewhere. I mean, the fact that we’re having this interview now is amazing. I’m from Singapore, and I’m doing an interview here now in Makati at nine in the morning on a Saturday. Thanks, guys. To me, that’s probably unheard of 10, 20 years ago, you know? The fact that we’re in our 20s, 30s doing this here and sticking it to the man—that’s really very encouraging. And the younger generation, even they will look at this and go, “Oh, they’ve done that, we can do it, too. We can push it even further.”

So we just need to have faith. And we might not see it or, you know, reap the results that we hope to see in our lifetime, but we just need to have the faith that what we do will pave the way for more people. I think also we’re such an impatient generation. We’re just built for instant gratification. I’m definitely guilty of it. It’s probably important to just take a step back sometimes and remember that things take time.

“Maybe in some sense, we are trapped in this system that the West has created, because it has this very strong sense of identity and this very strong machinery behind the whole system.”