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Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 9,080 Gender: 
Total SGC$: 17,340.42 |  After 10 years on the club circuit, Chirlyn Tan is releasing her long-overdue first a
NO one can accuse singer-songwriter Shirlyn Tan of not paying her dues.
-- CHOO CHWEE HUA
For 10 years, she worked the club circuit. And for 10 years, she has been singing in various cover bands, most notably and recently The UnXpected.
During her time, she's won over patrons at Wala Wala Cafe & Bar, Muddy Murphy's and Balaclava with her powerful voice.
Finally, she is tasting the fruit of her labour.
The 30-year-old rocker signed her first major endorsement (with German audio company Sennheiser) two weeks ago, worth $20,000, and will release her first solo album.
'It feels like I'm finally getting something done,' she said, jokingly.
Shirlyn, who counts Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke among her heroes, said the album took so long because she needed time to figure out what she wanted to represent in her music and mature as a songwriter.
Entitled Newfound Jealousy, the pop-rock album is produced by Leonard Soosay, and features 10 songs, all composed by her.
One of the things she learnt performing in pubs is the importance of thinking how her songs will make each person feel.
'The way I write songs, a lot of it is personal but a lot of the listeners' experience comes out of their own lives too,' she said.
As for Shirlyn's connections, getting to meet lots of people and having a platform to showcase her music helped.
'The different people you meet along the way are the people you eventually need,' she said.
One of them was her manager, Chris Leong Tokunari, who signed her to his company Addicted Entertainment last year.
Without Chris, she said, 'none of this would have been done'.
It was he who approached Sennheiser. The audio company then appointed her a spokesman. Not only are they providing the equipment Shirlyn needs during promotions, she will also be featured in their bus advertising campaign, which starts in July, said Chris.
She also met the folks working on the upcoming indie movie Being Royston, which will feature one of her songs, Window.
'It's been quite a journey,' she said.
Though she has to work on her album, she has not stopped playing gigs with The UnXpected. However, it doesn't leave her much time to socialise.
'I have a lot of friends to catch up with,' she said.
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I can learn from Tanya but still be Shirlyn
IT'S the inevitable question: Can Shirlyn Tan see herself as the next Tanya Chua?
After all, both are singer-songwriters and both are bona fide rock chicks with big voices.
Her first reaction was humble, saying that although Tanya did do gigs, it was only for a short period, while she took a much longer time - a key difference.
'What I can try and do is learn certain parts of (what made Tanya successful), such as her discipline, and some of it is still Shirlyn,' she said.
Can she imagine herself going the Mandarin route and being as successful with it as Tanya has done?
'Well, I'm bilingual.
'I'm open to the idea. I'm definitely open,' she said.
But what her management has in mind is closer to a different Singaporean singer-songwriter.
Chris said she was signed on the strength of her English songwriting, and he hopes to export her music to Japan, where he has contacts.
'It's not something that has been done... not since Dick Lee almost 20 years ago,' he said. |
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