Trick and treat

SINGAPORE — The dictionary defines the word “trick” as “an act or procedure intended to achieve an end by deceptive or fraudulent means”.

But there’s nothing fraudulent about Singapore music duo Trick. Musicians Marc Lian and Richard Jansen make up the outfit — an electronic hip-hop/pop duo formed only two years ago, but which have built up a significant fan base.

Singer/songwriter/producer Lian and rapper/songwriter Jansen have sufficiently impressed music label Sony, such that the company has signed them to a recording deal, a rarity for a Singapore act these days. Lian, who used to front the band Quick Quick Danger, and Jansen first met in 2012.

“He (Lian) contacted me for collaboration,” Jansen recalled. “So we worked on the song, but the song never came out.”

“Yeah, (Quick Quick Danger) actually split. So I was looking for someone to work with on a new project because I had a couple of new songs lying around. I immediately thought of him and the idea was to have a duo,” added Lian. “We started writing songs and thought the first ones we came up with were pretty good. So we decided to go full-on.”

Lian and Jansen quickly realised they could work well as a pop duo.

“We were both extremely happy with BPM, our first single. That was the moment we decided we should continue making songs like this,” recalled Lian.

It was obvious when talking to the duo that there was a working chemistry between them. For Jansen, it was about working on something new (“I have never worked with a band singer, so working with Marc was something different”), whereas Lian was drawn to Jansen’s rapping ability and the “the way he writes and his tone”. Ultimately, of course, what has brought Trick this far in two years is their fan base. The duo currently have more than 2,500 likes on their Facebook page and have a pretty good idea who their target audience is.

“Mainly younger kids in school,” Lian said.

“Primary-and secondary-school kids,” quipped Jansen. “Before we signed, we did a lot of secondary-school shows and it’s only natural they follow us on social media — those are the fans who stick with Trick.”

Jansen credits their success to the immediacy of Trick’s music. “The whole idea of a song is easy listening. You play it and know what the song is about. It’s very general. There’s nothing to decode.” Lian concurred, saying that for the most part, they try to create melodies that people like. One good example is the new Trick single Sunshine, a song Lian had been working on for a few years before deciding it would be suitable for Trick to record.

“I came up with the chorus a few years back and it was basically sampling the song You Are My Sunshine,” Lian elaborated. “I just had the chorus and it just sat there, but I always thought it was a cool idea. I let the A&R guy at Sony listen to the Sunshine demo over Skype and he said, ‘Dude, that’s the one’.”

The duo are now in full promotional mode for Sunshine with a music video on the cards. They also have a show at Hood Bar (for AMPed) on Sept 27 and are looking to play shows across the region. “(We’re) pushing the single out to Malaysia and Indonesia,” Lian said.

Whether they will make it there is anybody’s guess but, certainly, it won’t be due to any trickery.