http://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/music/sarah-cheng-de-winne-wants-your-help?singlepage=true
The Singaporean singer on why she is so intensely passionate about music
By
Hon Jing Yi
.
Published: 4:00 AM, July 25, 2014
(Page 1 of 1) - PAGINATE
SINGAPORE — I’ve always had the sneaking suspicion that some of my Methodist Girls’ School classmates would rather have been trodden on by a herd of overweight zebras, if it meant they could drop having to learn Mandarin altogether.
Which is why I was surprised when Sarah Cheng-De Winne, who was one year my senior, told me of her plans to make her mark in Mandopop. She released her six-track Mandarin EP earlier this year and has a new bilingual EP, Candle, in the works.
“I think you know me lah — I never speak Chinese. I took Higher Chinese, but I never handed up any of the work,” said the singer-songwriter. “It’s not that I don’t like Chinese, but I was not in an environment where Chinese was the main culture, growing up. I never actually thought I would be doing Chinese music, and it’s taken me all this time.”
And if this means more people will get to hear Cheng-De Winne sing, I am all for it. I’ve known the 26-year-old since we were in secondary school, long before her last name became so difficult to spell. She was one of those girls whose reputation preceded her: She was tall, smart and blessed with a most beautiful singing voice.
Of course, the songbird has accomplished quite a bit since then. Now a full-time artiste with international accolades under her belt, Cheng-De Winne also did a stint as a radio deejay at MediaCorp’s 938LIVE and helped with business development at the communications consultancy she set up with her husband, Mark De Winne, with whom she has an eight-year-old daughter.
But it became clear that Cheng-De Winne was very much the 16-year-old I remembered her to be — confident, assertive and deeply passionate about music. (She even grabbed my list of questions to make sure she had addressed every one of my queries.)
“I can be quite intense, because if there’s something I am really passionate about, then I am going to put what I can into it,” she explained. “But sometimes, that also leads me to make mistakes, because you’re overly passionate and you don’t seek enough advice or help.
“I’ve always thought I can do a lot of things on my own. But I’ve come to the point where I realise I need help with funding, with promotion and with building awareness around my work. And I just want to let more people hear what I sound like, so I can inspire them and add to their lives.”
Q: How do you take care of your family and career at the same time?
A: My family is very supportive. When I told my daughter that I was going up to Taiwan and that she was going to be totally alone for five days without her parents, she was really understanding about it. She told me we could Skype — I think she gets the idea of long-distance communication. But, of course, it’s not good to leave her for extended periods of time!
Q: What’s the most difficult part about being an independent artiste?
A: The most challenging part for any artiste is really letting people know about your work and promoting it. It’s really easier to create the song, to find people to play. But it’s not so easy and straightforward to let people know about the project. The other thing is funding. To work with good musicians, I have to at least cover the cost of the venue. Even if I am not giving my musicians professional fees, I have to at least give them a token for their time. As a creative, I firmly believe I should pay people as much as I can.
Q: How are you funding your projects?
A: I’ve kind of depleted all my resources already on previous projects. Every single project is a five-figure sum. Over the years I’ve spent close to a S$100,000 just investing in these projects. However, it’s still not enough money, because that only (covers) production. What about promotion, producing music videos, hiring a digital or marketing strategist? I can’t claim to know everything. This is why, for this bilingual project, I am going to be launching a fundraising campaign (on crowdfunding site Indiegogo).
Q: What is your end goal?
A: I used to feel like my ultimate goal was to be signed by a major label and to be singing at these huge pop concerts. But times have changed so much. I think the goal is to find a way to be completely independent, retain autonomy, but still find a way to make it sustainable. And this may eventually mean that I have to set up my own label, find my own investors and set up my own team. But I believe that’s the way forward for most artistes.
Sarah Cheng-De Winne’s Candle Listening Party and Crowdfunding Campaign is on July 29, 7.30pm at 2 Kallang Ave, #10-17 (Hall A), CT Hub. Special guest Nathan Hartono. Free entry, but online registration required at http://sarahcdw.eventbrite.com. Visit her Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/sarahchengdewinne) for more details and updates. Her crowdfunding campaign goes live on July 30 at http://igg.me/at/sarahchengdewinne
The Singaporean singer on why she is so intensely passionate about music
By
Hon Jing Yi
.
Published: 4:00 AM, July 25, 2014
(Page 1 of 1) - PAGINATE
SINGAPORE — I’ve always had the sneaking suspicion that some of my Methodist Girls’ School classmates would rather have been trodden on by a herd of overweight zebras, if it meant they could drop having to learn Mandarin altogether.
Which is why I was surprised when Sarah Cheng-De Winne, who was one year my senior, told me of her plans to make her mark in Mandopop. She released her six-track Mandarin EP earlier this year and has a new bilingual EP, Candle, in the works.
“I think you know me lah — I never speak Chinese. I took Higher Chinese, but I never handed up any of the work,” said the singer-songwriter. “It’s not that I don’t like Chinese, but I was not in an environment where Chinese was the main culture, growing up. I never actually thought I would be doing Chinese music, and it’s taken me all this time.”
And if this means more people will get to hear Cheng-De Winne sing, I am all for it. I’ve known the 26-year-old since we were in secondary school, long before her last name became so difficult to spell. She was one of those girls whose reputation preceded her: She was tall, smart and blessed with a most beautiful singing voice.
Of course, the songbird has accomplished quite a bit since then. Now a full-time artiste with international accolades under her belt, Cheng-De Winne also did a stint as a radio deejay at MediaCorp’s 938LIVE and helped with business development at the communications consultancy she set up with her husband, Mark De Winne, with whom she has an eight-year-old daughter.
But it became clear that Cheng-De Winne was very much the 16-year-old I remembered her to be — confident, assertive and deeply passionate about music. (She even grabbed my list of questions to make sure she had addressed every one of my queries.)
“I can be quite intense, because if there’s something I am really passionate about, then I am going to put what I can into it,” she explained. “But sometimes, that also leads me to make mistakes, because you’re overly passionate and you don’t seek enough advice or help.
“I’ve always thought I can do a lot of things on my own. But I’ve come to the point where I realise I need help with funding, with promotion and with building awareness around my work. And I just want to let more people hear what I sound like, so I can inspire them and add to their lives.”
Q: How do you take care of your family and career at the same time?
A: My family is very supportive. When I told my daughter that I was going up to Taiwan and that she was going to be totally alone for five days without her parents, she was really understanding about it. She told me we could Skype — I think she gets the idea of long-distance communication. But, of course, it’s not good to leave her for extended periods of time!
Q: What’s the most difficult part about being an independent artiste?
A: The most challenging part for any artiste is really letting people know about your work and promoting it. It’s really easier to create the song, to find people to play. But it’s not so easy and straightforward to let people know about the project. The other thing is funding. To work with good musicians, I have to at least cover the cost of the venue. Even if I am not giving my musicians professional fees, I have to at least give them a token for their time. As a creative, I firmly believe I should pay people as much as I can.
Q: How are you funding your projects?
A: I’ve kind of depleted all my resources already on previous projects. Every single project is a five-figure sum. Over the years I’ve spent close to a S$100,000 just investing in these projects. However, it’s still not enough money, because that only (covers) production. What about promotion, producing music videos, hiring a digital or marketing strategist? I can’t claim to know everything. This is why, for this bilingual project, I am going to be launching a fundraising campaign (on crowdfunding site Indiegogo).
Q: What is your end goal?
A: I used to feel like my ultimate goal was to be signed by a major label and to be singing at these huge pop concerts. But times have changed so much. I think the goal is to find a way to be completely independent, retain autonomy, but still find a way to make it sustainable. And this may eventually mean that I have to set up my own label, find my own investors and set up my own team. But I believe that’s the way forward for most artistes.
Sarah Cheng-De Winne’s Candle Listening Party and Crowdfunding Campaign is on July 29, 7.30pm at 2 Kallang Ave, #10-17 (Hall A), CT Hub. Special guest Nathan Hartono. Free entry, but online registration required at http://sarahcdw.eventbrite.com. Visit her Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/sarahchengdewinne) for more details and updates. Her crowdfunding campaign goes live on July 30 at http://igg.me/at/sarahchengdewinne
