Charles Lim, better known as Charlie Lim, is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, musician, producer and artist.
Personal life
Lim was exposed to music from a young age, especially since his mother taught the piano.
He started singing and playing the piano in church and in school bands, learning how to play by ear. He was educated at
Victoria School
Victoria School (VS) is a government autonomous boys' secondary school in Siglap, Singapore. Established in 1876, it is Singapore's second oldest state secondary school. It offers a six-year Integrated Programme, which allows students to skip t ...
where he was with the school choir which came in second at the
Singapore Youth Festival
SYF has seen the involvement of more than 30,000 students in the activities and performances each year.
History
The SYF was first launched on 18 July 1967 by then President of Singapore Yusof Ishak, and was initially a two-week affair involving ...
. At 14, he moved to
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia and wanted to pursue medicine or journalism, but "music got the better of him". In 2005, he topped the state of Victoria for music performance and was selected by
VCE's Season of Excellence to perform at Melbourne's
Hamer Hall.
He later returned to Singapore to serve
National Service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
, during which he joined the Singapore Armed Forces Music & Drama Company as their frontman for the combo band, which involved performing for foreign dignitaries, army recruits, students, black tie events, as well as goodwill tours in Australia and Brunei. Lim continued his studies at
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...
in 2008 to complete his bachelor's degree in Music Performance, before returning to Singapore in 2012 where he is currently based.
Musical career
Charlie broke into the Southeast Asian music scene in 2011 with his self-titled debut EP. Signing with management label House of Riot! in 2012, he continued to tour the region, playing major festivals such as
Mosaic Music Festival in Singapore, Singapore International Jazz Festival, Wonderland Festival in Manila,
Jarasum International Jazz Festival
The Jarasum International Jazz Festival ( ko, 자라섬국제재즈페스티벌) is an annual Jazz Festival in South Korea. The festival began in 2004 with 30 teams of jazz artists from 12 countries. Well established as a significant international ...
in Korea,
Urbanscapes in Kuala Lumpur,
Clockenflap
Clockenflap Music and Arts Festival, commonly abbreviated to "Clockenflap", is an annual music and arts festival held in Hong Kong. It incorporates international, regional and local live music, film, art installations, street, and kids' area. 60, ...
in Hong Kong,
Java Jazz Festival in Indonesia, Bigsound and
Brisbane Festival
Brisbane Festival is one of Australia's leading international arts festivals, and is held each September in Brisbane, Australia.
Its presence dominates the city for three weeks in September and its line-up of classical and contemporary music, ...
in Australia, supporting acts such as
Kimbra
Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and s ...
,
BADBADNOTGOOD
BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinski. In 2016, they w ...
,
Émilie Simon,
Hiatus Kaiyote
Hiatus Kaiyote () is an Australian jazz/funk band formed in Melbourne in 2011, made up of singer/guitarist Nai Palm, bassist Paul Bender, keyboardist Simon Mavin, and drummer Perrin Moss.
History 2011–2013: Formation and ''Tawk Tomahawk''
I ...
,
Lucy Rose,
Sigur Ros,
Lenka
Lenka Kripac (born 19 March 1978) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress best known for her song " The Show", from her debut album, ''Lenka''. " The Show" has been used in numerous advertisements, most notably for Old Navy, as well as ...
,
Ta-Ku
Regan Mathews, better known by his stage name Ta-ku, is an Australian musician, producer and photographer.
Life and career
Mathews was born and raised in the Australian city of Perth. He is half- Filipino, half-Māori. Mathews attended high ...
and
Snarky Puppy
Snarky Puppy is an American instrumental band led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won four Grammy Awards. Although the band has worked with vocalis ...
.
Lim released TIME/SPACE in 2015, an introspective and melancholic double EP that explores "different polarities" of his musical interests, with TIME reflecting his singer-songwriter sensibilities and SPACE a manifestation of his DIY approach to experimental pop/R&B production.
The album went to #1 on Singapore's iTunes charts within an hour of its release. Singapore's leading newspaper
The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...
gave it a glowing review of 4.5/5 stars, and was also awarded Best Pop Album of 2015. Popular media outlets such a
TODAYBandwagonPopspokenVulcan PostBeehypeHoneycombersNative Entertainment an
JUICEalso considered the record as one of the best music releases of the year.
Following two landmark, sold-out shows at the 10th edition of the Mosaic Music Festival – an achievement never claimed by a Singaporean artist – Charlie premiered TIME/SPACE to another sold-out crowd at Singapore's premier concert venue, the 1600-seater
Esplanade Concert Hall
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
, as part of a triple bill with
Inch Chua and
The Great Spy Experiment.
In 2015, Lim was commissioned to write two theme songs for the
28th Southeast Asian Games and was asked to perform his song "Still" at the
Singapore National Stadium for the Games' closing ceremony.
In late 2016, Lim signed his first major record deal wit
Universal Music Singaporeand released his sophomore album CHECK-HOOK in 2018, which also clinched a #1 spot on the iTunes chart and was awarded Best Song of The Year by Apple Music.
For the
2018 Singapore National Day Parade, Lim updated the classic 1987 National Day song, We Are Singapore, which it was performed during the parade. His prelude was then turned into a full song, Room at the Table –which was the opening song for 2020's National Day Parade, with proceeds from the song donated to charities supporting migrant workers during the pandemic.
In 2021, Charlie won the Young Artist Award conferred by the National Arts Council, Singapore's highest award for young arts practitioners aged 35 and below. He is currently music director o
Indiego a local internet radio station and platform for local and independent music.
Discography
* ''Charlie Lim'' EP (2011)
* ''TIME/SPACE'' (2015)
* ''CHECK-HOOK'' (2018)
* ''Hollow'' (2018) with Katz
* ''CHECK-HOOK: Remixes'' - ''Wave 1'' (2019)
* ''CHECK-HOOK: Remixes - Wave 2'' (2020)
* ''Welcome Home
wimful Remix' (2020) with BIBI
* ''Hummingbird'' (2020) with Linying
* ''Two Sides'' (2020) with Gentle Bones
* ''Room at the Table'' (2020)
* ''Live at the Star Theatre'' (2020)
* ''Ashes'' (2020) with Miho Fukuhara
* ''Won't You Come Around'' (2021) with Aisyah Aziz
* ''Forgetting'' (2021) with Katz
* ''So I Say What's Up'' (2022) with Sheikh Haikel
* ''Boyhood'' (2022) with ABANGSAPAU
* ''Into Dreams'' (2022) with Ng Pei-Sian
Music videos
References
External links
*
Charlie Limon
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Charlie
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
21st-century Singaporean male singers
Singaporean singer-songwriters
Singaporean male singer-songwriters
Victoria School, Singapore alumni
Singaporean people of Chinese descent