Stefanie Sun shares advice and experience with aspiring musicians

SINGAPORE — Is a full-time career as a singer a realistic choice? Stefanie Sun thinks not.

“It is not, what,” she said, as her audience laughed in surprise at her candour. “Out of so many people who try, how many people get their lucky break?”

The Singaporean singer-songwriter was speaking at a talk organised by the Musicians Guild of Singapore on Monday night, during which she addressed some of the challenges musicians are currently facing, as well as her own experience navigating the Mandopop industry. Sun gave a short PowerPoint presentation (which the cheeky singer proudly announced she had prepared herself) and took questions from an intimate audience of more than 100 professional and aspiring musicians.

Acknowledging that her own phenomenal success as a Mandopop singer was due in part to being in the right place at the right time, Sun also shared that her 15 years of experience in the music industry has taught her that it is important for aspiring singers to focus on knowing themselves, their craft and the vision of what they are trying to achieve.

“You could be the next Jay Chou — I am saying that because it is possible. Is it realistic? No, it is not realistic. Is it impossible? No, it is not impossible,” she said, adding that whether you meet the right people “who can tell you what boxes you haven’t ticked”, luck does play a part. As does the right conviction.

“(If you’re thinking), ‘huh, not realistic, ah’, then give it up, seriously, (because) you don’t have the rigourous mind for it. You have to think, what else can I do to stand out, to be that singular exciting thing that you feel is within you, that you can’t wait to share with everybody else.”

Sun was open about how she got her break in the industry, and even shared about the different sources of inspiration behind the songs she has written. In response to a question about what she thought should be added to the curriculum of a university-level course on pop music, Sun played both the demo and completed versions of her song Kepler from her phone to illustrate the importance of understanding the technicalities involved in the design and potential of a song, as well as what made a song stand out — something Sun said she wishes she had known when she was starting out.

While she acknowledged she didn’t have all the answers, the star said she hoped her talk would inspire aspiring musicians, and encourage them to examine themselves and their art.

“Today, I talked about knowing yourself, the craft and the vision. I think these are things that, when you have it all sorted, you’ll know when you are ready to push out your work,” said Sun, in response to a question about how musicians should protect their artistic integrity in a world of shrinking attention spans.

“When you know yourself, you know what moves you and what resonates,” she added, stressing that the word “vibrancy” is a very important one that everyone should keep in mind, especially if you’re an artist or a musician. “Knowing yourself is a very big skill to learn, and I think it has helped me in a lot of difficult situations and difficult times.” HON JING YI