The making of the song, "West Coast"

I have always wanted to compose a song about the ocean especially after visiting Venice Beach, Los Angeles in 2018. I have never seen such a beautiful beachfront and was mesmerized by the vast blue dazzling sea and the clear blue sky. There were many birds, seagulls flying up close to you and I could feel the freedom in the air. However the song was only composed unexpectedly after I got lost at West Coast in Singapore. I was invited by the Nature Society Singapore for a nature walk that day for a Bird Watching activity. While being lost, I manged to discover many beautiful sights. West Coast Singapore definitely has some similarities with LA. It made me realise that in life many things happen for a reason. Every detour in life somehow leads to a new discovery.

I sat down for 30 minutes after the nature walk and penned down my thoughts and eventually wrote the lyrics to West Coast. The rhythm was based on the pacing of my footsteps while I was lost and since I was humming the song by George Michael, Last Christmas as it was Dec 2019, I tapped on some of the chords used. Did you know George Michael died on Christmas day 25 Dec 2016? And so this is how the melody of the song, West Coast was created in the most unexpected way.

As time passes by, this song takes on a new meaning, it becomes that song I want to sing and hear whenever I miss travelling and the beautiful ocean during the stay home period.

This is one of my favourite original songs that I composed. It is a song in which I found my own voice and sound. A very big thank you to Shannon Luke, the guitarist and Dickson Low, the music producer for this song. Without these talented musicians, this song would not have been created so beautifully.

There are many ships in West Coast in Singapore and I saw hornbills among the trees.