Career Education :: Stage 3 - Research and Explore Options and Opportunities

Graduated with a Social Sciences degree in Criminology in 1999, Garlum Lau pursued further studies in Gender Research and Anthropology at the Waseda University in Tokyo from 2000 to 2002, where her passion towards music ignited. Same year, she won the music competition “Motoclub903「音樂出頭天」” organized by Commercial Radio Hong Kong. Impressed by judge, Keith Chan Fai Young (陳輝陽), she was invited to contract with EMI Music Publishing HK. Eventually, after completing her Master’s Degree of Philosophy in Criminology at HKU in 2004, she began her journey as a multi-talented singer and composer. She hosted a RTHK television programme, “Cultural Venues” (藝行四方) in 2005 and is currently a 903 DJ of “Sound of Music” (叱吒903＜最佳配樂＞) with Keith every Sunday (1-2pm).

First and foremost, one should have a clear career plan. With passion, initiative and drive, you will get where you want.

Take Garlum as an example. She is passionate about composing songs. In order to show her interest and talent, she participated in many music competitions. Her advice to young people:

Do not procrastinate – once decided to enter the artistic field, be seen and let people learn about you.

Garlum was no expert in music back in her early years at HKU. She spent most of her time in “chong”, singing karaoke and dating. While studying aboard with little money, all she could afford was buying a second-hand guitar and consuming her time in learning guitar from classmates. This feeling of alienation gave her extra time and space to think about life and future. She developed a strong passion in music. Knowing “Do-Re-Mi” was quite sufficient in writing a basic song, especially for pop-songs.

Her advice to students who wish to be composers: do not be baffled by complicated music theories, as music is after all, emotions and sentiments, rather than “hard” notes on music sheets. A friend of hers with no music background kept singing Hackken Lee’s (李克勤) songs at Karaoke to study his patterns, and successfully written a song for him.

Composing is similar to fashion; trends vary within 3 to 5 years. One can tale the trend to produce ‘fashionable’ songs that are marketable, or be original with a unique style. For a typical canto-pop (i.e. 3-4 min), a functional demo is a melody that has a simple and inspiring storyline. Choice of instrument and lyrics are of little concern. Use what you are confident in, to bring out the best sentiment. Lyrics can be substituted with “laaaa….” for simplicity. Cross over can produce better result. Using her as an example, co-writing folk with her rock friend created “folk rock”.

Fortunately, in the blooming economy today with countless new artists each year, music variety can be more diverse. To distinguish herself, Garlum specializes in Bossa Nova and Folk. She encourages new composers to accumulate musical pieces of their own fashion.

Those who wish to test their composing skills may send their demos to record publishing companies. Remember to burn your MP3s in CD-R format, as tapes and MDs are no longer valid. Common software like Cakewalk and GarageBand are available in the market. USB microphones as audio receptor would be a good starting point. Do not bother spending thousands on buying equipment before start writing a song.

In general, demos need not be fully arranged. A musically fascinating piece with compassion or sentiment will be appropriate for mailing to record companies.

Garlum stressed, students pursuing a career in music should start saving for the unstable fluctuating path ahead. She had witnessed her counterparts fading out the industry when the part-time jobs that they do for a living begin to swallow their time and space in composing. In the downturn, one can be idle for several months. Garlum shared some successful stories though. One of her friends suddenly became a millionaire, after composing a hit song for Taiwan’s F4, which sold over one million copies worldwide. Another friend makes small profits from stock trading every morning, and then composes songs in the afternoon.

Expectations differ among individuals, so it is meaningless to blindly follow others’ footsteps without a clear objective. Garlum added, to enhance our performance and live a healthy life, we must prioritize our life components, such as leisure, health, money, value…etc. As long as we have thought deeply, planned thoroughly, and stayed on-track, gaining others’ respect would not be problem.

Life is full of possibilities and opportunities. Like her, she was invited to host a TV and Radio programme. Now, as a radio DJ, she plans to publish a prose on Japanese culture and music in the near future.

Garlum encouraged students to prepare their career with a “HKCEE attitude”, meaning to try with utmost efforts, just as we prepared for HKCEE in the past. With strong faith and determination, one will succeed.