Dennis Lau for VIMA 2010

Rachel Chan needles a violinist for variation.

Holding a red and black themed violin on the cover of DiversiFy, his debut album, Dennis Lau looks relaxed and assured. The back of the album shows a rather sensuous pairing of the man and his violin, shirtless in bed. While we might have heard of Dennis, we have not yet heard about some of the things he does with his violin, and so I was sent by Voize in conjunction with the VIMA 2010 to find out.

Arriving at Coffee Bean at 1 Utama for the interview, my first reaction was to be taken aback that Dennis had dressed in red and black, the same colours I had picked for the day. Fashion disaster, thought I. Later on, I was to find out that those were the theme colours for the album DiversiFy. I was better relieved.

DiversiFy marks a momentous beginning, or rather, another step forward for Dennis as the first Malaysian instrumentalist ever to be signed by Sony Music Entertainment. It has 11 tracks and is about 45 minutes long.

The classically trained musician started out as a pianist, beginning his music adventure at only 3, and then reached Grade 8 by 11, one of Malaysias youngest at the time. He is now 24. He then obtained what normal people such as myself would have difficulty understanding which are the the ATCL, A.M.U.S.A, Dip ABRSM and LGSM (hons). He had also attained the UCSI Bachelors of Music under the Newcastle Australian Music Degree Program. Somewhere amidst this, he made friends with performers such as Syafinaz Selamat, Liang, Atilia, Jimmy Sax, and Yuri Wong, which led to todays collaboration in the newly released album.

Among his professional posts was the 1st violin position for the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO), and currently as a regular orchestra sessionist with the RTM & National Symphony Orchestra.

dennis2A rather enterprising youth, apart from choosing theme colours, Dennis had also decided it was his business to make music his business. With quotes like Music is my business and The Stage is my Oyster, he set up the music company Mosaic Music Entertainment. He has performed for Malaysian Royalty, Malaysian commoners, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Korea and shared the stage with Ning Baizura, David Tao, Lewis Pragasam, and Francisca Peters, to name a few. Mosaics tagline is tuning events to the perfect pitch.

Those who can, teach is yet another of Dennis mottos. In his home studio, this former music prodigy conducts music lessons for the young, where they are sometimes are granted the chance of performing alongside him. His mother, Mrs. Lau, a piano teacher, remains Dennis inspiration, although he admits that as a child he was not allowed to watch as much TV as normal kids. Today however, Dennis is thankful for the hard-core practice instilled in him as a child, attributing to it his success.

An interesting fact is that Dennis is not only inspired by classical musicians (his favourite is Chopin), he has also been influenced by Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Ryan Leslie, Wang Lee Hom, and John Mayer.
dennis back cover

The album's back cover

So what else does Dennis do with his violin the latest 5 String Yamaha Electric Violin EV-205? The decision to instrumentalise on a violin is summed up as such: My first album, DiversiFy, showcases how diverse the violin can be as an instrument. Truth be told, the violin is the closest instrument to the human voice. On the album, he uses his faithful companion (the violin) to create music from a whole range of genres, including R&B, Jazz, and Pop. The same violin bears witness to the voices of his collaborators, some on upbeat, breezy tracks, and some on rather sentimental ones. As for now, the ever enterprising musician is seeking to make a short film based on one of his pieces, Prelude in F minor. Hopefully, we will be seeing more of Dennis the Violinist at VIMA 2010.

The album is available in all CD Rama and Rock Corner Record Stores. It is also available in Marmalade Bangsar Village 2.

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