By day, Jamie Lim is a fourth-year life science student at the National University of Singapore.
But look beyond the lab coat to uncover the Tigerlilies’ lead guitarist and her love affair with band music.
Lim belongs to a growing community of student-musicians who are bonded by their passion for music, and Lim said she believes that the varsity’s vibrant arts scene has contributed greatly to the growth of the student-musician community in NUS.
Lim joined Tigerlilies in March 2010, an all-girls outfit comprising existing and former members of the Kent Ridge Rockers, the resident band of Kent Ridge Hall. The band consisted of vocalist-guitarist Vanessa Keng, electric bassist Peklyn Teo, keyboardist Nina Lee, drummer Rachel Tan, and Lim.
Keng, who was also the former president of the Kent Ridge Rockers, explained the formation of Tigerlilies.
“Because my dream’s always to form an all-girl band and we were looking for a lead guitarist. So finally when Jamie came, we were like, ‘wow yeah!’ So we got this group together and decided to join a competition and see how far we can go,” she said.
As ‘the Krooks’, they edged out other student bands in Stardust 2010, a nationwide talent competition organized annually by the NUS Students’ Business club, to bag the band championship.
Lim gave the thumbs-up to such competitions as “it gets viewership for performers, no matter how good or bad the performance is, which is a great learning platform for aspiring musicians.”
Tigerlilies was also invited to perform during the NUS Arts Festival at the University Cultural Centre on March 12, alongside 25 other local acts such as Tay Ke Wei and Inch Chua.
“It gives us the opportunity to perform alongside established musicians in the local scene, which is an honour for student bands like us,” Lim said. It is also a good opportunity to network with veterans in the music industry, she said.
Prior to joining the Tigerlilies, Lim has already had her share of live performances.
Lim said her affinity with live music performances dated back to her school days at St. Andrew’s Junior College, where she started a musical band with like-minded friends “just for fun.”
In late 2008, Lim started performing with NUS Geyao, a performing group under the varsity’s Chinese Society. She was introduced to the group by 23-year-old Lau Yu Ching, whom she knew through common friends during their secondary school days in Tanjong Katong Girls’ School. Lau, a final-year history major at NUS, was an active instrumentalist with the group.
Lau was immediately impressed by Jamie’s skills on the electric guitar when she entered NUS Geyao. “When she came, it was then that I realized she was so good. I had to make her stay,” Lau said.
“She’s very particular about getting techniques right and playing the right stuff, the right feel.”
She also played lead guitar for the Latecomers, at Latin-themed restaurant La Salsa Bistro weekly for three months in 2009.
Lim’s big break came early 2010, when she was introduced to the Kent Ridge Rockers. The group, also known as the KR Rockers, comprised nearly 30 residents of Kent Ridge Hall, one of the six halls of residence at NUS. It boasts alumni such as former Nominated Member of Parliament Eunice Olsen, as well as Ghaz, vocalist of local band The Goodfellas, which has played at popular venues such as Hard Rock Café.
Lim has performed with the KR Rockers at several campus events.
Her musical skills did not go unnoticed by music instructor and research engineer Raymond Huang. While mentoring as an alumni member in NUS Geyao, Huang met Lim during her first instrumentalist practice session with the group.
According to Huang, Lim has a keen ear for details and perfect relative pitch, which is the ability to identify the intervals between different music notes.
“She can intuitively pick up rhythms of challenging music styles, such as bossa nova and Latin,” Huang added.
Tigerlilies’ member Keng attributed Lim’s guitar skills to her insistence on practising for at least an hour every day on her two-year-old Ibanez electric guitar even if she was on a tight academic schedule.
Lim’s guitar skills even landed her a part-time position during her mid-year semester break in 2010 at Novelty Music Labs, a music studio-cum-guitar shop of Huang’s friend David Wong. According to Huang, Wong was impressed by her skills on the guitar when she first played at his studio.
“He even talked about starting a studio and letting Jamie take charge of it when she graduates,” Huang said.
What differentiates Lim from other musicians of similar calibre, Huang said, is her non-discriminatory attitude.
“When she looks for opportunities, she doesn’t differentiate between big and small. She’ll even jam with musicians who may not be fully prepared or as skilled as she is. When she has the chance she’ll go for it,” he said.
Despite the praises, Lim reckoned that she has reached a plateau on her learning curve, and admitted that she is grappling with sight-reading and jazz techniques.
Lim said, “I guess the greatest challenge is breaking out of this phase to reach to a higher level in music.
“It is annoying, but at the same time it gives me a goal to work towards.”
Lim attributes her achievements to Paul Danial and Addy Cradle, independent local musicians she met in 2007 during a music camp, as well as her guitar teachers, Abdul Shukor Jalil and Gerald Wong. While she is no longer taking lessons from them, Lim said she is greatly indebted to them.
“They taught me more than just music, but about life as well, and it is what I live by today, which is to ‘share knowledge’. For what you give, you'll get in return.”
Lim said she is unsure of her post-graduation plans.
“To be honest, I really want to play music, but, right now, it’s not exactly going anywhere,” she said. Lim added that she was lacking a permanent band to perform with because many of her band members are still studying.
“You know people won’t give up their studies to play music. That’s why I’m kind of stuck.”
Lim chose do study life science, although it is unrelated to her interest in music. “Music is my interest, but you’ll still got to have a backup plan. So this is something like a backup plan, something to fall back on,” Lim said.
Lim’s parents have never objected to her musical pursuits.
“Of course they’ll be like all other parents. They’ll say like ‘you cannot earn money from this. You better focus on your studies,’ but they’ve never said, like, ‘No you cannot play’,” Lim said.
Her peers, however, remained hopeful for the budding musician.
“I really hope that she will become like those very good guitarists,” Lau said, “maybe play at concerts or Timbre or Wala Wala where they can really attract a crowd and she can really showcase her talent.”
Huang was also positive about Lim’s future in the music industry.
“She has the skills, she has the talent, she has the potential,” he said. But he was cautious about the reality of the music industry.
“Music as a business is very different from music as a leisure activity,” Huang said.
Differentiating herself from the rest, he reckons, is the only route for Lim to fully harness her talents.
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