Martin Looi first picked up the violin at the age of five. Photo: AZMAN GHANI/The Star
It was two years ago that Martin Looi decided that performing live was something he wanted to pursue full-time. Since then, the violinist has been actively initiating his own projects in addition to accepting studio gigs.
The 25-year-old has a couple of big ideas in the making like planning a concert next year with fellow local artistes calling it Martin Looi And Friends concert.
Also, at the time of our meeting, he was getting ready to set a new Malaysia Book of Records for the “Highest Altitude Facebook Live Broadcasting Violin Performance”.
The proud Melakan would be standing 300m above the ground at Sky Box, Menara Kuala Lumpur, and playing Negaraku on an acoustic violin.
His performance would be captured using drones as well as conventional cameras for the live Facebook streaming.
An edited version of the recording will be aired on RTM’s Selamat Pagi Malaysia on Aug 31, in conjunction with Merdeka Day.
“Performing Negaraku on violin was something I had wanted to do since I was in secondary school. Every time we sang our national anthem during school assembly and the prefect raised the flag, I had imagined to do something grand with Negaraku,” the violinist recalled.
Bringing new interpretation with a violin to a popular musical number is something Looi has been interested to do, even when he was still mastering the musical instrument.
Looi was enrolled for violin classes when he was five years old. He progressed through the classical syllabus a bit reluctantly due to its rigid structure.
“There’s no room for improvisation, which is something I like to do,” said Looi, who is of Chinese and Portuguese parentage.
“And it takes months to learn just one piece of music.”
To channel his creativity, Looi picked up the guitar and taught himself to play it. Along the way, he started experimenting with various music genres. He loved the freedom guitar offered, stating that “there is no such thing as a mistake” when playing it.
Despite wanting to quit violin at grade six, he kept at it until he completed his violin examinations at the age of 16, earning the grade eight certificate.
“Once I finished my violin exams, I started treating my violin like the guitar. I broke all the rules because I had the foundation down,” he said.
That newfound passion for improvisation and pop music led him to immerse himself in the music scene in Sydney, Australia, where he was pursuing a degree in audio engineering.
After graduating and once back home, Looi started working as a session musician for artistes like Joe Flizzow, SonaOne and Aubrey Suwito.
He even collaborated on a track with Jaclyn Victor.
From time to time, Looi would release music videos on his YouTube channel.
Expanding his resume further, he started performing at gala dinners, award nights, anniversaries, launches, private events and corporate functions.
Then in December last year, Looi released a five-track EP featuring three original tracks and two covers, where he spins his own interpretation to Jungkook’s Seven and Sabrina Carpenter’s Nonsense.
In this interview, the violinist discusses his struggles with stage fright and finding his voice with the violin.
I had done mostly work in the studio so I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy interacting and serenading people on stage as I am a shy person.
But, on Aug 31 two years ago, I was given a chance to perform on stage (in KL).
Half an hour before the performance, I was in the hotel room contemplating whether to go and perform, or go back to Melaka.
But I had tailored my first custom suit and had put in so much work and effort leading up to the performance, that I knew I had do it.
I was getting really nervous as my turn was coming soon.
When they announced my name, I walked on stage, the light was shining. I couldn’t see anything.
Then all of a sudden, I wasn’t shy anymore.
When the band started playing the song, I just tried to feel the song. And then, I started enjoying the moment.
After I finished a song, everyone was cheering. That was something I hadn’t experienced in years.
The last time I performed was when I was nine years old at a Sunday School festival. It felt good to be on stage, performing.
That showcase led to more booking, including performing at the Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant (in Sunway Resort, Selangor) every weekend for two months.
Thankfully, they all requested that I play pop songs, which was perfect because I’d forgotten how to play classical music.
Martin Looi (left) now holds a Malaysia Book of Records after his performance of Negaraku at Menara KL. Sharing his achievement is Aemi Kamarudin, the chief business development officer of Menara KL. Photo courtesy of Martin Looi
Maybe I could sing when I was young, before my voice cracked. But once that happened, I was all out of tune.
I think the violin is my voice. The violin is maybe 10 times better than my voice.
If you play with a lot of feelings you can evoke emotions in a listener, even without words.
I just released a song with my sister called Senandung Anak Melaka.
He is constantly thinking on how to improve himself. Photo: AZMAN GHANI/The StarThe original version has a classic, traditional sound, but my version is more like pop music – easy to listen to, and you don’t have to overthink it.
When people can hum along to the melody, they’ll enjoy the whole piece.
You don’t have to complicate things when it comes to music, especially with the violin.
Only the musician should feel the complication, not the listeners.
I want listeners to simply be able to feel the music and connect with the emotions I’m conveying through my playing.
My hope with all that I am doing is to inspire younger people to pick up the violin.
And for them to realise that if you do pick up the violin, you don’t always have to be in orchestra or become a music teacher. You can do whatever you want.
I already knew how to play an instrument, so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money going to college abroad just to learn that. You can learn instruments at local music schools.
But for music production and audio engineering, I thought it would be beneficial for me as a musician.
Now, when producers in KL reach out to me for violin recordings, I can do it at home in Melaka and send the files back within an hour.
I have the knowledge in audio mixing and mastering, so I can prepare the files for them.
Otherwise, it would take a lot of time and money to travel to KL, book a studio, and hire an audio engineer. So, they save a lot by working with me.
So far, there’s none really.
I wake up thinking about music. I think about a piece of music and what I’m going to do after that.
Actually, I do like to cook, if you count that as an interest.
But I only know how to cook Chinese food, like sweet and sour chicken and steamed fish. I learned from watching YouTube videos.
When I was in Sydney, I ate out a lot but got fed up with the mostly western food available close by. I had to travel far to get good Asian food.
I wanted to eat Asian food whenever I could. Since I had a stove at home, I decided to learn to cook.
The first dish I ever attempted was fried rice, but it came out dark; the rice was mushy, and I had put in too much seasoning.
But I practised every day, and even my slicing skills got faster.
I make sure to sharpen the knife at the back of a ceramic plate too.
