Blog 1 - The Start
Started composing songs
how did i start writing songs?
One of the most asked questions is: How did I start? Or, how do you write your songs? (If only I had a dollar for each time… lol.) I'll answer them in two parts — this is Part 1, and Part 2 is in Blog 2 below.
I would best describe it as an “insane,” “amazed” and “quite incredible” period of discovery, and it really started in May 2021. Please note that prior to this I had no inclination about being a songwriter, because I never knew I had it in me. I was on a sabbatical in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, spending time with my ageing parents, when the government announced a three-month lockdown that began on 12 May 2021 — the third such lockdown due to Covid. I thought to myself that there’s only so many movies that I could watch on Netflix! I’ve long wanted to learn to play the guitar so spontaneously I went and bought a guitar on 8th of May, a blue Ibanez acoustic guitar for approximately RM$800 approx. US $200. I liked it because it was blue, my favorite colour.
I taught myself six main chords, Am, C, D, Em, F & G and within a month I was playing a decent tune and strumming quite well. Did you know that 90% of all number 1’s hits songs since the Beatles era were of 4 same chords? Yup it’s true and they are Am C, D and G.
By month two, I started writing songs and tunes, with words and chords scribbled on A4 paper or in a small notebook. I had to record each song immediately on my mobile phone — otherwise I'd forget their tunes and how the song was sung by the next day or next hour even! I had never been taught music or how to write music. Crazy.
From June 2021, when I wrote “Life’s a mystery” until now, June 2026, I have written over 200 songs. I try each time to write different tunes, lyrics and styles, and of course some songs sound a bit similar and give me a break. To write more than 200 songs and mostly they do not sound the same is not easy however I have many that differ, and those are the ones that stand out. It's the stand-out songs that are potential hits.
I'm sure others have faced similar journeys, but to have come this far and produced quality songs like I have, within a period of around five years, is truly an amazing accomplishment — one I still think of as being INSANE.
I am dedicated and passionate about my music. There are songwriters who reckon they have the best songs ever, but I wondered if I was really good enough, and whether I was being biased about my own songs. Therefore, I had to be judge by others. So about two years ago I started driving Uber to cover expenses, and I would play my songs to my riders, hoping for a reaction. I was pleasantly surprised. It's the responses from those riders — whom I can now call fans — that I'm thankful for. Their encouragement gave me the confidence to move forward.
One young guy 22 years said to me, after 20 minutes listening to six songs, that I had to “bring my music to the world.” I've had couples and individuals that wouldn’t get out of my car for 10-15 minutes after reaching their destination, just to hear more of my songs and open a big discussion. Thank you to all my Uber riders and listeners — I am truly grateful to you, and to God, for this gift. I still have three or four fans from those days who keep in contact, and I've met up with them once or twice since.
So here within this site, I parade the many songs that have been studio mixed and released but I have 8 unplugged songs in a private box only accessible by my G7eeFans. I know I have a calming voice and my songs are very listenable with catchy hooks so if you like what you hear and read then please join us and be a G7ee Fan, Thanks
Please feel free to add your comments.
How do you write your songs?
Great question — but I don't like answering it. LOL.
It's not that I'm scared of giving away secrets, because I'm not hiding anything and there are no secrets to this. Frankly, I DON'T REALLY KNOW! Ha ha.
I'm blessed with a gift so very late in life, and I'm grateful to have such a wonderful gift — and that's one of my reasons for putting my music out there: to give it a shot and dare to go as far as I can. I get so much joy and instant gratification when a listener really likes my songs. What job gives you that? Not many. Equally, sometimes a young teenager asks me to play something else instead of the “crap” I'm playing — only to get embarrassed when I tell them it's my own song. Still, I'd be annoyed that they didn't like it!
Sometimes creating a song flows so easily and beautifully; other times I struggle to piece two lines together or get a tune to sound right. All I can say is that it's never truly easy, and probably harder for someone like me with no musical training. For me, sometimes it starts as a notion or a sentence that I try to match to some chords on my guitar. It can also work the opposite way, if I have a tune to start with.
Another way is when I'm listening to music on the radio — a melody or some words come to mind, and slowly a song shapes up. A couple of years ago I challenged my friends to give me a title and I would compose the song. This led to “Supernatural,” “Golf XXX,” “Secrets of the Mind,” “Mind, Body & Soul” and “Rain, Rain Go Away” (the last from an old nursery rhyme). Think about it — damn tough titles, right? But I composed them all. They're not necessarily potential hits, but they're good songs and worth a listen. You'll find them creeping into the “Unplugged or Raw” section over the next few months, so keep a look out.
A couple of years ago I had a life coach, Wayne Donnelly, whom I'd vouch for. In our first conversation, Wayne asked me to imagine I was very successful, sometime in the future, and to picture what it felt like and what words came to mind. I said: “Happiness and love to the world,” “my kingdom,” “their belief,” “heal yourself,” “gratitude,” “honest,” “an achievement,” “success,” “pride,” “believe in God” — about ten words. Then he asked me to compose a song encompassing every one of them. Usually he'd ask people to write a story — but for me, a song! Bugger. If I'd known earlier, I'd have given fewer words. It took me a week, and I wrote “You Are the Man.” That one's also likely to appear in the Unplugged or Raw section soon, so keep a look out.
If you have a good title for a song and some background to incorporate, I'll give it a try — just send it in. Thanks.