Dear all,

here's another piece for you for the month of November 2008.

It's heart warming, isnt it? to know that Jon always remember to write for us every month without fail...:)

keep on supporting him...no matter what...:) be patience for him album. we all know that it's going to be a great album...just wait....:)

Cheers
Eveline




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Hi guys,

how has 2008 been for you? For a lot of people I know 2008 has been
quite trying, if that is the case, hang on for one more month and its
going to be 2009. A month swings by really quickly.

The end of the year is many different things to many different people,
some see it as the time to start planning for next year, some see it
as the time to shop at all the year end sales. Others see it as the
time to start to unwind and have more fun. I am already done with my
christmas shopping for my family, all I need to do is spend a day
wrapping them up and I'm all set up for christmas. I decided to act
early and avoid the impulse frenzy that happens a week before the day.

As some of you know (through one of the recent interviews), this year
I successfully got my class 2 motorcycle license. I have been meaning
to go for a test ride at the Harley Davidson showroom but have not
been able to find the time to do so. It's definitely on my to do list.
I don't know if I will be able to squeeze that in before the year
ends though. There is nothing quite like the feeling of riding a
motorcycle. My love for it probably stems from the freedom I feel when
I am riding. I used to ride a Motorcycle when I was back in school and
it was always great except when it rained or if I had a lot of
equipment to carry with me. Having a big, bad motorcycle to enjoy on
sunny days is one of my aims in the future.

I have been busy this month, apart from xmas shopping (which actually
took a more time and planning than expected as I have a very big
family) I have been, as usual working on new ideas for songs... some
work and some don't. It seems that the longer I do this for, the more
I learn to be a little more innovative with ideas. I have been at it
for slightly more than a year. I first laid hands on a guitar last
august/september. Now it is easier for me to know in my gut what works
and what doesn't. It's a long process for now but I am quite sure that
it reap its rewards later on in my career. It's good discipline for me
to keep learning new things and experimenting. That's probably the
best way in which I can find myself musically.

The more I write, the more songs that I thought sounded fine a few
months back seem to pale and fade into the "out" pile. I hope to come
up with at least ten tracks that are definitive of the very best that
my writing abilities can muster at this juncture of my life. I do ask
for your patience, I know a lot of people have been pretty anxious
about the release of my debut album, many talk to me about this
whenever they see me. Some felt like I did not strike while the iron
was hot and should have seized the "wave" of Singapore Idol to come up
with an album that could sell because of the popularity of the show.
Many also tell me that a lot of people have lost interest in the show
and therefore have lost interest in me. People tell me I should have
rode on the tv show and cashed in while it lasted. Unfortunately, that
method isn't how I like to roll. Truth is, there is much more to it
than just that, but I know people mean well.

Anyway, one of the reasons why that approach wasn't taken was that I
didn't feel good about coming up with a "factory produced" album. What
I call a "factory produced" album is an album where the record company
goes out and buys songs from various songwriters(through their
publishers) and fill the whole album with typical tracks and the most
that the singer has to show for it is that they laid their vocals on
the tracks, have their picture on the cover and wrote a list of thank
yous at the end of the cd sleeve. Don't mistaken me, I am not saying
that this is a negative approach or that there is anything wrong with
artistes that do this. Its just that I find that albums done in this
manner sound very similar. I don't want to put out something that
already exists in abundance. If I had done that I would feel like I
ripped off the buyers of their cash. The pros of doing that was that
the album could have been put out very quickly because all I had to do
was to learn the songs that were acquired and go into the studio to
record the vocals.

I decided that I would rather put in all my efforts into writing my
own album. At least if people spend their money on my album or choose
to say they like my songs, they know that they are really getting what
they pay for. My songs. My Ideas. My style... from the time of
conception to the day its put on the radio. That when people buy my
album it's because they like my songs. Not a song that i simple sung,
but i song that I wrote. Talking about this now makes me realise that
it is quite a leap of faith on the part of my record company that they
are willing to go with me on this because it would have been easier to
market the album and have better sales if the album was put out right
after the competition. This is definitely a risk that Hype records and
myself are shouldering in terms of opportunity costs. I think it's
going to be well worth it. We are spending so much time and effort
(not to mention money!) going back and forth with melodies,
arrangements, trying this out, trying that out... with the weighted
possibility that most of the songs are going to be shared on the
internet. Hahaha. I guess this is the plight of creativity, but one
can surely hope.

"You may say, I 'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one"

Since I was talking about personal style and writing efforts, this
months recommendations are

To watch:
1) Audioslave: Live in Cuba DVD (their style is unmistakenable and
beautiful! I just watched it for the second time today)
2) Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands

To read:
1) Chuck Palahniuk: Lullaby.
2) Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club ( I have been meaning to read all his
books, but haven't got my hands on them except for these. He has a
style that I find very cool. If they are good I would recommend them
next time)

Have a good month,

Jon.

yea.. so fast it's xmas & then new year!

Nice to hear from you again, dearest bro! :)

take your time for the album ya?

Yes, i want your album with your compositions instead of.. yup..

Do take care & enjoy wadever you are doing,

these goes to my lovely jonatics as well :)

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your letter that provided such good info on what's happening to you.
Dont worry about taking more time to put your album together, your loyal supporters here have patience and faith.
Forget about those people who have lost interest in you because they have lost interest in the show.
The show is just a platform where you can showcase your talent, what people should have noticed and appreciate should be your musical talent which is in no way dependent on the show.
Anyway, when your album is out and when people realise that your music is good, interest will be stirred up again, so no worries.
Please take good care of yourself.

Hope to see you on your new Harley soon!! smitten

Dear Jon

Indeed, half of Dec is almost over. Dec has always been a busy month, closing the accounts for the year & meeting deadlines. And meeting up good friends and other family members before the year end.

Congrats on getting your Class 2 m/c license. Hope you'll get a chance to go for that ride on a really good m/bike. So what's next? A pilot license will be exciting but the fees for the flying lessons will be pretty expensive. Actually, while in JC, you could have applied for the Spore Youth Flying Club which is open to all JC & Poly students. There's some requirements plus medical checkup and once a student is accepted, the course is fully subsidised and most importantly, the selected candidate must be committed. Yes, I know, it's too late to mention.

Perhaps it seems that many people have lost interest in you but I think it's important that at least you still perform and appear on tv, gigs & adverts. I know some people who didn't see you for quite awhile do remember when they see you on tv or adverts and they will come up to me and talk about you.

I respect and support your decision on writing and arranging your own songs. This must the most valuable experience for you. It takes tons of determination, confidence, faith for you and of course for HR. I agree that one should dream and I do believe that dreams can come true. I personally experienced it before but be prepared that in reality, sometimes dream that comes true may or may not last forever and therefore be prepared for it and try to have backup plan. While it lasts, enjoy and live the moments without regrets.

Dreams that come true and last require our own effort. Walt Disney's inspirational words give hope to those who dream:
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."
"If you can dream it, you can do it."
"Get a good idea and stay with it. Do it, and work at it until it's done right."

Geez, it's fast approaching year-end & missing you already. Will we get to see you before the year ends? I really hope so.

Eat and drink healthy. By the way, you have been looking really good and fresh these days. It's always a joy to see your fresh, good-looking and smiling face.

Take care and continue smiling, $hug
Angelyn