June 2008

HK pop talks to John, webmaster of http://oursandylam.com . John has been managing a fan site for Sandy Lam 林憶蓮 since 1995. OurSandyLam is one of the few bilingual Cantopop fan sites. John talked to HK pop about maintaining the fan site, the music he listens to and, above all, his devotion to Sandy Lam as a fan.

When did you start the fan site?

I started a fan site around 1995 to 1996. It was one of the first Sandy Lam fan sites. This website collects Sandy’s news and public activities in Hong Kong and Asia. In the beginning the Internet only supported English, so my fan site was in English. I went to the States when I was in Secondary 3. I lived in Portland, Oregon and Syracuse, New York. I have a lot of friends who don’t read Chinese, so I translated all the news into English. I felt that it was my responsibility as Sandy’s fan.

Why do you maintain a bilingual site?

I found that a lot of Sandy’s fans are overseas Chinese. Though they grew up in English-speaking countries, they are still very much into Hong Kong Cantopop. They may know a lot more about Cantopop than you or me. These fans don’t really know how to read Chinese, so I just thought why can't I help them a bit? I can translate Chinese into English. Of course I am not doing word-for-word translation. I summarize and then translate. I am just doing a small thing for all of Sandy’s overseas fans. I know that a lot of her Japanese and Korean fans, or even fans from different parts of the world, visit my site on a regular basis, so I just keep it going.

How much time do you spend maintaining the site?

There is an official Sandy Fan Club and they regularly post news about Sandy. I get the news from them, then I can save some time and do the translation more quickly. I spend about 10 hours every week. Actually I don’t really spend a lot of time on the English translation. But it is time consuming to edit and make the website more beautiful.

Why Sandy Lam?

Sandy is a very hardworking singer. I guess I am not the only one saying this. I found her transformation into an artist a miracle. I officially like her from her album Wild Flower 野花 . That was the first CD that I bought. When I was young, I like her song Grey 灰色 . I found her voice very comforting, soothing, sensual and feminine. There is something in her voice that I really like. I can feel that she sings from her heart. This is not something you find everyday.

Sandy is a multilingual singer and she has released albums in four different languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Japanese. In which language do you like her singing best?

It’s very personal, but I do like her singing in Mandarin the best. I found her Cantonese singing a bit difficult for the ears sometime. Honestly, Cantonese is not the best language for singing, the vowels are too strong. Cantonese sounds like people arguing all the time. Sandy can manage to sing in Cantonese in such a soft tone that she really turns Cantonese singing into her own style. There is a real softness to her Cantonese singing. From her articulation and singing, I can feel that she has done a lot work on her Cantonese articulation. I find Mandarin to be a round language, so Sandy usually sings more love songs in Mandarin. I really like her Mandarin songs. When Sandy sings in English, I think she is a bit more nervous. She pays a lot of attention to pronunciation and articulation, so sometimes she doesn’t sound very natural. It is even harder in Japanese. I have a Japanese friend, and I let him to listen to Sandy’s Japanese songs. He said her Japanese was OK, but he can hear her accent. I found that when she tries too hard, you can hear it and her own style is lost in the translation. On her first Japanese album, Simple, there were some Mandarin songs. The style was more J-pop. I like her second Japanese album Open Up better. She was singing more in English. The whole album is jazzier and she was freer in her singing. I feel that it was more like her style. I like Sandy singing Mandarin the best, Cantonese and English songs come second and Japanese songs last.

How do you see Sandy as an artist?

I don’t find Sandy mysterious, but reserved. She is not the spotlight grabbing type. She is not like some celebrities who appear on gossip tabloids every week. She is a well-behaved artist. When she is not singing, recording or working on her concert, she stays home with her family. She keeps it to herself. I feel that a diva should be like that, there should be an air of mystery. A diva should focus on her singing, her performance and her concert. A diva is not someone who spends all her time shopping. This is why I like her. Sandy communicates with her fans through her songs, her performance or gathering with her fans. She knows that her fans are very devoted. She is a diva, not a celebrity.

How do you see her Mandarin albums?

Some people commented that her Mandarin albums sound too Taiwanese. Well, I think you can actually say too Mainland Chinese! She used a lot more Chinese instruments on those albums. I don’t think music should be divided whether it is from Taiwan or from Hong Kong. You should listen to the music, the melody, the arrangement, the lyric and the singing. I really like her collaboration with the Singaporean musician Dick Lee, it was really a great perfect match. I also like Sandy singing R&B or jazzy numbers. Her voice can carry that rhythm and sound, and makes the songs magical.

How will you introduce Sandy Lam to someone who has never heard of her or Cantopop?

I will definitely say she is a singer from Hong Kong. She is 100% made in Hong Kong! I will say that she emerged and was transformed from someone who didn’t know how to sing or use music to express herself to a mature singer. She knows how to use her music and lyrics to express herself and communicate with her audience. She sings from her heart. Sandy represents a Hong Kong sound, the sound from a particular era. City Rhythm 都市觸覺 really represents the voice of modern and independent Hong Kong women. She represents a golden chapter in Hong Kong pop music, the 80s and 90s. She also speaks for a particular group of women. You can say that most of her fans are also women who are about her age and grew up with her. Sandy does show the growth of a woman.

If Sandy is an icon for women of her age, why do men like her?

Yes, it is true that Sandy is not a great beauty by conventional standard, but she is a beautiful person. She is beautiful because she sings from her heart. I think men probably like her sensual voice. Her voice is very dreamy and sexy. When she started out, she was that innocent young girl, but then she grew into a sensual woman. I guess you can find every quality of woman in her voice. That is the fantasy for men.

Do you read Sandy’s lyrics?

I used to, but not anymore. I like Richard Lam 林振強 , Chow Lai Mau 周禮茂 and Poon Yuen Leung 潘源良 . Right now, I am really bored by the lyricists. It seems like we only have two lyricists: Lam Chek 林夕 and Wyman Wong 黃偉文 ! They are good but can someone else write more lyrics? I find it strange that Chinese people really put a lot of emphasis on lyrics. It is true in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland. I just hope that there is a balance between melody and lyric.

Do you find Sandy different from other Hong Kong singers?

Honestly, I think it must be very difficult to be a singer nowadays. Communication has changed. In the past, it was so easy for singers to communicate with their audience or fans. All they needed to do was to perform on TV or radio programmes. Now they have to compete with the computer and the internet. There are simply so many more channels to get music, YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, you name it. Nowadays, singers have to get into TV melodramas, movies and be spokespersons and make hundreds of other public appearances. The new generation of singers (or artists?) are more focused on their exposure but really not on their singing. I can understand that even when the singers work really hard, the sale of albums is still not encouraging.

What music did you listen to when you were growing up?

I listened to everything. When I was really young, I listened to Teresa Teng 鄧麗君 , Sam Hui 許冠傑 , and Paula Tsui 徐小鳳 . My mom listened to Sandy Lam, so that was how I started listening to her. In the eighties, I listened to Sandy Lam, Prudence Lieuw 劉美君 and Leslie Cheung 張國榮 . Before F.3, I also listened to Alan Tam 譚詠麟 and Grasshopper 草蜢 . I really listened to everything. I like rock, pop, basically everything. The only music that I don’t particularly like is rap. I feel that rap is really black music, and it is really something that I don’t understand. Music is a two-way communication. Rap originates from the street, I don’t think I really have that background to understand rap or what the rappers want to express. When I was in the States, I mostly listened to English songs. I was practically surrounded by English songs. I didn’t deliberately go seek out Cantopop at that time. I found it a bit odd to suddenly play some Chinese songs on my own.

Do you listen to any local singers other than Sandy Lam?

I listen to Eason Chan 陳奕迅 , Ivana Wong 王菀之 , Shirley Kwan 關淑怡 , Prudence Liew 劉美君 , Leslie Cheung, Miriam Yeung 楊千樺 and Hins Cheung 張敬軒 . The only album that I bought was Eason Chan’s album. Basically I have given up on Cantopop. I usually get my songs from iTunes Store or go to Myspace. But I usually listen to foreign bands or musicians. I don’t watch local TV and I don’t listen to local radio.