Terry Lin wants 'difficult-to-sing' music July 23, 2001 Don't mistake this soft-spoken singer with a gentle voice and heart for a real softie. He knows what he wants and he definitely knows how to work and fight for it! By Peng Wan Joo (Click on pictures for larger image) As part of the now defunct singing duo, Ukelele, 35 year-old Terry Lin, has come a long way in the last 10 years. At 25 years old, Terry partnered Liji to form Ukelele, a 2-men band known for their great harmonies and acoustic playing. When both went their separate ways in 1995 to pursue their individual careers, little was heard of the both of them till now. Here in Singapore to promote his latest album Cha Sheng Er Guo 2 weeks ago, we caught up with the man and found out that beneath those soft, gentle vocals lie a driven, focused singer who is passionate about his music. His new album His latest album, a compilation of songs by his other celebrity friends is just proof of dogged spirit. "I wanted to sing the songs of my friends. The songs I choose need not be the popular ones. Just the ones I like. I want people to take notice of this songs and let people have a brush with a different kind of music," explains the singer. Strongly passionate about his craft, Terry says he likes to make demos of songs he hears and likes and inject them with his own interpretation and feel. "And when you have like 400 over demos on hand, it is natural that the next step you take is to make an album out of it," he jokes. But other than expressing himself through his love for singing and wanting to help promote good music, Terry is keen to do is part for the lagging music industry. "If after listening to my song, they like it so much that they decide to purchase the original album, I would also have done my bit for the music industry by encouraging consumers to purchase 2 CDs instead of 1," he says with a smile. His other passion- graphic design "I used to take art in school and I had wanted to go into school to take up art but my father refused. How was he to know that I ended meeting a music teacher who inspired me to become a singer," laughs the only son of a printing factory owner whose father had wanted him to take over his business. "I am currently working in the printing business too," he says of his family business. And when he does that, he takes on another persona. Gone are his his trademark glasses (he is not short-sighted, the glasses are just part of his image) and that's when people mistake him for his younger brother. While working at the printing business, he could not resist his love for music and thus decided to come up with his own moolah to produce this new album. Wanting to do his best, he oversaw the production of the whole album from the advertising promotions aspect to music production. A keen student of art, he even invested in an Apple G4 iMac to design his album covers. Explaining his concept for the CD cover, Terry says that there were 2 versions for the covers of his latest album. The first version which features him at work during the production of the CD was sold out and the second edition, which is currently available in Singapore, depicts scenes from his MTV. "I did not want those typical covers with this huge face plastered on the cover. I wanted people to listen to the songs and feel as if they were with me while I was recording the song in the studio or that they were right beside me when I made the MTV," he said. "I am very interested in this and I would like to further develop this passion of mine," says the arty singer. Whenever he is free, he doodles with his iMac and tries to pick up new design skills. "In future, you see some CD covers with my little signature at the bottom. Please do not be surprised, that is probably my designs," says the 35-year-old with a cheeky grin. "I will probably start to help my friends design their covers since my cover did get some positive feedback." Starting a band Other than being busy with his work at the printing factory and also the promotional aspects of his new album, Terry is also in the midst of starting a band with friends and they are currently trying to record some tracks for the band. "Alas, it is difficult because we all have very high expectations. We are all quite old so this album is important to us because it is make or break. But everyone keeps wanting to improve their part and we end up taking a long time to even record one song," he laughs. Making his lofty ambitions known, Terry says he does not want to churn out contemporary pop with this band. "I want to do music that is different. I don't want commercial music that will rate high on karaoke charts. I want music that rocks but is really difficult to sing. I want people to go, 'This song is beautiful,' but when they try to sing it, sorry, they can't. I want the song to be so difficult that even I have difficulty singing it," he laughs. Ok Terry, as long as we get to hear your soothing vocals.     Join the discussion on our message board. Terry Lin Zhixuan Like our digital photos? Print them into hard copy versions with Photoprints.