Sophie Osbourne
4December 2001

Leonard Ng is a high flying lawyer from Singapore, representing most Chinese parents' dream of academic and social success. Well-respected in the top drawer international law firm he works in, he experiences some positive discrimination as his colleagues assume (rightly) that as a South East Asian man he has a high level of pride in his work and is hardworking. Yet when you speak to him Leonard implies that he only had one reason for seeking his competitive job in London, that is music.

Although a lawyer, Leonard considers himself a musician. 'To work here I need a permit,' he says, 'they are not going to give me a permit as a musician and do some bar work on the side, there are plenty of people here doing that already. The only job I could get to come here was as a lawyer so I thought, "ok I'll do it." Law was a convenient excuse.'

Having grown up in Singapore, he moved to London three and a half years ago. He has been writing songs for ten years and was already successful in music, making good money from gigs and even having one of his songs used as the theme tune for the Singaporean equivalent of Dawson's Creek. Yet he sneers at his past success: 'the thing about Singapore is it's actually very easy to get your songs played on the radio.' He felt that the only reason the songs were being played in the first place was that there was no competition, 'I knew that that wasn't good enough. To really succeed is to come to a place where you are anonymous and break a product there and if you play a concert and people come, then you can be satisfied that you have achieved something'.

Leonard comes across as fiercely independent with his music claiming that commercial success is not his aim. His latest CD is a sensuous and melodic collection of tunes that gently seeps into your consciousness rather than engages you in an aggressive way but he has written more obviously commercial songs as well. So does this mean he would take a contract if an offer was made?

'I would, the catch is that a lot of people have done that before and become very miserable for the experience.' He describes it as a type of pact with the devil in which record companies insist on employing the producer they want to create a product that sells. 'It's all marketing. The record company has shareholders and shareholders expect to be paid.' This sounds like he has personal experience of the corrosive influence of corporations on art. So does Leonard, unrestricted by record company dogma, produce music he is entirely pleased with? 'Nothing is ever perfect, no musician I know produces a record and says that's perfect.'

Leonard's parents are very proud that he has achieved such a prestigious job in a high-powered profession. 'All parents bring up their kids to do something they value and think is respectable because they don't want their kids to suffer,' he adds, 'In the community I grew up in, the family is more important than the individual and society more important than the family, so if you have some kind of standing in society then it puts your family in a good light and you are encouraged to do it.'

After his law degree he travelled extensively on the earnings of his music gigs and writing for travel magazines. He did the same Raleigh International expedition to Chile that Prince William worked on. ('I saw him cleaning a toilet on TV, we didn't have toilets, we had holes in the ground.') This was so unusual in Singapore that there was an article written about him in the national press.

His favourite artists have changed through various stages ranging from the Indigo Girls to Tracy Chapman and Suzanne Vega in the late 80s. He sites Brazil as the largest musical influence, particularly in terms of rhythm. 'For me they are the only original creators of music left, incredibly simple songs with such difficult melodies, I would love to achieve that.' He has absolutely no Chinese influences, 'Chinese pop music can be really cheesy; on the other hand traditional Chinese music can be beautiful and complex but it uses a different set of notes to western music.' He seems to be in a love affair with Brazil, 'it's a great country, a mix of people live there without too much violence, a bit like Singapore. People don't think of racial issues every day like they do here and in America. In Brazil some people are so mixed race they don't even know what they are.'

This is the first time Leonard has mentioned race. Like most people he has experienced some isolated incidences of racial abuse but he tries not to let this affect his music. 'I always feel like I stick out here. On my Birthday I did this charity gig and when I turned up it was at the local Conservative club, I felt so out of place, I had no idea what I was going to play but in the end it turned out great.' Although he has been in a fight before, he thinks some of the problems may lie in his own perception. 'If people look at me in an unfriendly way I get defensive but maybe that person isn't thinking hostile thoughts.' He is curious to tour the UK and see what his reception would be like in, say, Scunthorpe ... although he suspects if people liked his music it would be ok. Perhaps the novelty of a Chinese man playing pop music could be used as a marketing gimmick.

So where does Leonard Ng see himself going, who does he want to become? 'I can tell you who I don't want to become,' he says, 'Britney Spears, she's like the Coca cola of the pop industry, that must be so much hard work.'

As a Chinese, male musician Leonard is unlikely to be rivalling the busty blond pop icon in the hearts of teenage boys anytime soon but this does not mean that his brand of thoughtful, quality music will not find a niche in the Western market.

You can catch Leonard Ng performing his work at the Kashmir Klub on Wednesday, 12 December 2001 starting at 9:00pm. The address is 6 Nottingham Place (Tube: Baker Street), in the basement of Fabrizio's the restaurant on the street corner. Reservations are recommended if you would like a table for food (Tel: 020-7224-2556)