Faith discovered at a young age that she could touch and light up someone's day, be it her loved ones or strangers around her, through music.
In Taiwan, a fan heard one of her song, ‘Angel’ and was deeply touched by it. She felt that she was all alone, empty, and that life had no meaning... but after hearing the song, it gave her courage, hope and the comfort she needed, and decided to give life another chance.
This incident kept Faith reminded till today that she has no regrets choosing music as her passion and choice career. And that Music, has such powerful influence.
One of the people Faith admired most at secondary school was her best friend, Justine. Faith and Justine later formed the successful duet group, '2 Gals'. Back then, she was in the audience supporting Justine through her frequent singing & song writing competitions. A judge, Sunkist, liked Justine and gave her the opportunity to make studio recordings, demos, and also gave her work singing for jingles.
One day, while Faith was at one of Justine's recording sessions, Sunkist tried Faith out for a particular song. And it all worked out well quite unexpectedly from then onwards...
At the time, Faith was active in a church worship team, and had started a band with her fellow church youths, called 'Channels'. She started to compose English Christian Music. From her church practice, Faith picked up an ear for catchy tunes, pitching and making harmonies. She then challenged herself and went on to composing her first mandarin song 'Faraway'. She never imagined that it would be published in Daniel Chan's debut in Asia. This success led to her being signed up to a music publishing house. This gave Faith the motivation to compose and do more demos,spending most of her time doing music, and experimenting with her mentor Zennon Goh.
Demos got published one after another.
Soon after, Faith and Justine was offered a recording contract from a local production house. But both their families thought that education was the only way to go. Especially so in Singapore... where education seems to be the 'Key' to success!
It was not until after they had both graduated that they released their first Regional Debut '2 Gals' under a major label in Taiwan. EMI. '2 Gals' (refer to Portfolio) was number one in both ' MTV' and Channel 'V' for their hit song 'Faraway' and 'Wood Pecker'. They have since been nominated for several music awards in Asia; Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. Following the success of their first release, they made 2 more albums and a compilation under EMI Taiwan. The albums were released regionally.
After their contract ended, Faith was offered a solo contract by her management cum production turned label. Justine married her long time boyfriend and migrated to the US.
It was during this period of time that Faith had to make a choice between making music or going for a more stable job, which is the path most taken. It took Faith time to discover herself and what she wants to do with her life. She did give the safe path a go, working a 9 - 5 job, and she did reasonably well. But after a year or so, she realized that this is not her mission in life.
Her mission is to be a light, a comfort, and a still small voice in the darkness. Faith believes God has given her the gift to compose and sing, to use music to touch hearts. To use her past experience for self-development and to pass it on to whoever is willing to learn. And most of all to have the creative freedom to remake music. In order to do that, Faith started her own independent audio production house, 'Rebirth'.
She took her savings, together with more than 15 years of experience in the music industry and invested in her own solo production. Playing the role as a producer, composer and vocalist for The single, and The album, 'Simple Living'. Both to be released first half of 2008.
This is done with firm determination and a strong belief in making music. But without the support and encouragement from her fellow musicians and creative talents, she would not have come this far.
During this period, she managed by giving vocal and composing workshops to the students who came to her by word of mouth. It was not all easy though, as she has to save up and do the production a step at a time, and find the right talent to work with. Time was a limiting factor, and with the kind of resources and capacity that she had, it was a tedious wait.
Although Faith is not a sentimentalist, she has a very imaginative mind. And so, in the process of composing, she would have a concept, a visual or animation going on in her head. Hence, the emphasis on audio and visual contents in her site www.rebirth.sg.
On rebirth.sg ,she works with talented individuals with their own expertise to join together in an effort to put up a creative contents related to her music. Faith believes that this is the new way to go about making good content. Especially when the music industry is suffering right now from 'keeping things safe' in their approach. A lot of what we see in the market right now is a replica of another...
She feels it is touching and inspiring when an artist is able to express themselves and be the individual that they are and not easily replaceable.
With Faith's music, she expands on her imaginative mind and lives another life. She sees Rebirth; She sees strength and power!
Her music lies somewhere in between Alternative and Commercial. It's a little unpredictable and yet catchy. And that makes her unique.
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This time around, I had the pleasure of working with Live musicians and put together my 1st 45 minutes solo set. It was refreshing to me to be working and rehearsing with my guest keyboardist, Clifton See and superb guitarist Jeff Long.And for the first time, my vocal student and I performed on the same stage! Both our first times! Valeri had been a good diligent vocal student of mine since I started giving vocal coaching.
I am looking forward to more of such platforms where the organizers recognize and value our craft and equip us well for our showcases!
Thank you. :)
