Theodora Lau on Her Journey
Rising singer-songwriter, Theodora Lau, shares about her challenges pursuing music and credits Ngee Ann Polytechnic for encouraging her
By Ria Riana
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“I tried the life that was ideal for every Singaporean and I didn’t like it. It wasn’t enough for me.”
When asked to describe herself, Theodora said she was ‘irreverent’, but she may be selling herself short. The trait also comes with a drive that is always reminding her to do what she wants to do and take the risk.
Theodora also called herself a ‘nonconformist’ and thanked her parents for influencing her to be that way when growing up.
She remembered her father telling her, “You don’t have to pander to the system, and you can have a life for yourself as long as you figure it out.”
The singer-songwriter wants to prove that she doesn’t have to follow the ‘system’
That is exactly what Theodora did, “beat the system”, as she said. She decided to pursue music full-time after working for a corporate company for a short period of time.
Like many young artists today, Theodora had many worries choosing music as a career.
In an interview with bandwagon, Theodora said that working full-time as a musician is both exciting and terrifying. While she is able to pursue her passion, she was concerned with her financial security.
“Most of the work we do is seasonal so [for] some months, it’s really good and other months, it’s slower,” Theodora further clarified about her worry.
Although the career has its challenges, Theodora recalls her experience while in Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) to motivate herself.
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It was during her years as a Mass Communication student at NP where she pursued music properly. She recalls balancing going to classes in school and rehearsals outside of school back to back to train herself to do music professionally.
Theodora commended the enabling and supportive culture that NP provided for students that it encouraged her to pursue what she wanted.
“It (NP) wasn’t the kind of school that only focuses on your academics. They celebrated students who had acting gigs, their own business and start-ups and any kind of success outside of school. This made me want to go out and do more [gigs and performances],” Theodora commented.
When asked what she would do differently during her transition from a media professional to a recording singer-songwriter, she said that she would have taken more time to figure out what being a full-time musician entailed.
“It all happened very quickly, and I did not figure out how it would change my lifestyle. It felt a bit harsh,” she said.
She also added that it was only at the beginning of this year when she realised that she had a lot of loose ends to tie up. These loose ends include proper financial planning for her future.
She wished she had taken more time to prepare herself before changing her career because the drastic change and its effects “hit [her] like a truck”.
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This did not stop her from releasing her extended play record (EP), ‘letsnotcallitlove’, early this year. The EP has amassed a little over 2.4 million streams to date on Spotify alone.
Theodora hopes people understand that being a musician is a ‘normal’ career.
(Photo by flightsch)
“I’m an indie artist from a small music label so I do not have a big budget. To see the numbers climb was very surreal. It gives me hope to not quit music even though it is hard,” Theodora said in response to her achievement.
While we are achieving the signature ‘Singaporean Sound’, fellow singer-songwriter, Umar Sirhan, said that it is hard to stand out because the industry is getting saturated.
“Music is written for many different reasons, with endless means of expression and different styles. The best way to stand out is to be unapologetically yourself,” he added.
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If she has the chance, Theodora hopes to collaborate with the American singer-songwriter, Childish Gambino. She described his music as music that “straddles between being very artistic and self-indulgent but still commercial”.
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Childish Gambino is known for writing and producing extremely personal songs that have social messages but still are easy on the ears and able to do well on charts. 'This Is America' is one of the many songs reflecting his style of music.
If that seems too far-fetched, all she wants is to able to purchase a house and be able to go on vacation if she wants to. Theodora’s actual goal is to be financially stable while pursuing music full-time.
Fans of Theodora can expect new releases in the future. She is looking to explore Chinese R&B with a singer-songwriter approach. Although she is not committing to it, a transition to regional music may happen in the future.