Passion for music, support for homegrown bands, love for gastronomic indulgences. Spurred by these, Danny Loong decided to set up Timbre Music Restaurant & Bar, following the success of Ublues band and event company, Ublues Group, to make his dream complete.

Company: UBLUES GROUP PTE LTD & TIMBRE PTE LTD Address: Timbre Music Restaurant & Bar, 45 Armenian Street Website: http://www.timbre.com.sg & www.ublues.com Interview with Mr Danny Loong by Chen Lihui on 22-Mar-2007. Student can be reached at chen0338@ntu.edu.sg   Business Profile: Timbre Music Restaurant & Bar provides a rustic tranquility that brings one back to the more youthful days where things were less complicated. It serves a delicious menu that can be enjoyed with the company of expressive music from homegrown music talents.   Interviewer's Comments: Through the interview with Danny, I was inspired by his insight into the strong relationship between a country's arts and culture, and the success of its economy. Sharing with enthusiasm and sincerity, I could easily identify with his passion in music and pursuit of fulfillment in life.   1. What is the nature of your business? Timbre is a music restaurant and bar, while Ublues Group is an events management consultancy.   2. What made you embark on this venture choice? Being a full-time musician since graduation, I have learnt that as long as you have the determination, you can make a career out of your passion. Playing with the band for events has also exposed me to events management, something which I soon found interest in. I started doing events for some clients like Heineken and Borneo Motors, while at the same time managing my band. I have always loved the substation garden as a historical place worthy of preservation. So when I learnt that the place was vacant, I proposed to the management that I want to transform it into a music restaurant and bar. Within a month or two my proposal was approved, and Timbre was born.   3. How does your business work? We are a music restaurant and bar, where customers come to enjoy good food while appreciating the music of local bands. Ublues Group also operates complementary to Timbre, by providing events management services. It is a wholesome idea, where people can come to us, let us know what are their requirements, and we provide them with the venue, food, music and all, for their events.   4. Did you have the capital to start the business or did you have to borrow from someone to get started? I had quite a bit of savings, I took some loans in addition, but I have since paid them all off.   5. Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another? Both my parents have their own businesses. My dad had his own business in trading, interior designing and had a few companies. My mum owns a beauty salon, a smaller business, but I learnt a lot from her. My father, I learnt from never to give up. He came from a generation where you can't give up, or you can't survive. They had to struggle a lot back then, very different from the comfortable lives that we lead now. I like to listen to his stories about his struggles, and I learnt to appreciate the older generation. What I learnt from my mum was slightly different, because she dealt with customer relations in the salon, particularly with women, which can be sometimes challenging. So I grew up in the salon environment, learning to be sensitive, and to be attentive to body language. This helps in Timbre because when I see certain customers frowning or sorts I could go forth to address the issues.   6. What was your childhood dream? When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else? I have always wanted to be a musician and a film-maker. After graduation I decided to stay on in Australia for a couple of years to play with the band. That's when being the band leader, I started to send out emails, arranging for events and gigs for the band. And I just continued, to branch into events management and open Timbre since.   7. Why does someone decide to be on their own rather than join an existing company? I believe they have a passion in pursuing their dreams, and are willing to sacrifice the more stable and secured lifestyle that joining an existing company provides. To each of his own, I believe different people derive satisfaction from different things, and make their own choices according to what they want in life.   8. Are there at any point in your life that you experienced a significant event (WW2, racial riots of the 1960s, the Economic Crisis of the 80s or 90s, SARS, new competition or shifts in market behavior and trends) which affected or influenced you and your business that made you change the way you think and do your business? Not really, I wasn't as much influenced by these events as I was inspired by my parents to work hard and persevere to make it on my own.   9. What are some of the challenges in starting a business from scratch? In the Singapore music scene, our genre of music - blues and funk, was not the commercial music. It helped that the foreigners appreciated our music, our album was on the charts, and these helped the local industry identify with us better. We are lucky to be able to breakthrough, because of our tie-up with Perfect10, and soon people saw our market value and we grew.   10. Who/What motivates you? I would say the challenges I face motivates me. I am determined to overcome them. Nothing is ever easy, from the start of the band to maintaining Timbre now. For the band, my motivation is my desire to support a local band to play on the international stage, especially in the genre of blues music. I love blues music, and I would really want to bring the Singapore music scene up. For the Ublues Group, it is really the goal of organising a world class music festival, with foreign musicians coming in to play together. For Timbre, it is to provide a platform for local musicians to play and to gain the exposure and experience.   11. Tell me about the first few customers and the first few years of business. It is fortunate that Timbre did not start from nothing. We already had a huge pool of Ublues fans, and they knew that I set up this music bistro. When we played gigs outside, we also announced and publicized for Timbre. By inviting bands to play here, we also bring in their pool of supporters, and Timbre's name can be spread through word-of-mouth. It all ties in well, because most of these customers know about my music background, and they see Timbre as a place to support local music.   12. Please tell me some stories of your best day in business or your proudest achievement to date. For the band, my proudest achievement would be representing Singapore in a US blues competition, as well as playing in the biggest blues festival in Australia, alongside big names such as James Brown and Jackson Browne, where the Singapore flag was displayed and more people learnt about our country then. For Ublues Group, I am proud to have hosted the music festival at Fort Canning, which attracted 4000 to 5000 turn out for the two-day event, which was a great start. For Timbre, it is an on-going business, and I am proud that we have survived and come thus far. We have won some accolades from the media within two years, and that's an achievement.   13. Do you recall your worst day in business? Have you ever felt like giving up? The worst day in business was probably the start of the band, and the start of Timbre. It was tough for the band because we were young, could not get sufficient gigs, and initially for 6 to 8 months we were not making money. That was difficult, because at the end of the day, we will need the money to bring food to the table. We were lucky to be able to host and play on Perfect10, "Sing the Blues Monday", and that became quite a hit. We subsequently received a lot more opportunities to perform locally and overseas. For Timbre, there were of course problems in the initial start up days, and we had to deal with the problems. Its all about being flexible and dealing with the problems immediately. Never at any point in time had I wanted to give up.   14. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you? I was not even thinking about it, and that was how passionate I was about my music. I did not sit down and calculate the costs and figures. I knew it was going to be a loss-incurring business in the first year. This is common for most business, especially so for me, since I chose to embark on a more unconventional career. So I did not even stop to think about monetary issues, I just kept going. To say I was not worried is not true, as it's really not easy to start something unconventional like a blues band and blues festival. But I appreciate every moment of this journey, because I learn something through every challenge met and pushed my own limits.   15. What are some of the things you have had to sacrifice to succeed? Immediately, I would say that being a media studies degree holder, I gave up the opportunity to be making short films, doing advertising, and working in the PR industry. But I would not really call it a sacrifice, I still love making short films, its my passion, and I am just putting it aside for now. I believe in due time I will be able to continue to pursue that passion of mine. Also, as compared to my brother, who works for a company, I have to sacrifice the stable and less-worried lifestyle. I have no complaints though, I am happy with my life and am satisfied with it.   16. What are some qualities that you feel you possess which differentiate you from someone who works for others? I could not ignore the vision that was given to me. Back then, I could either stay in Australia and pursue music, or return to Singapore. I chose the former. I am thankful to have my parents' support, and I believe that is very important for someone who decide to come out and start something on his own. I never give up in my dreams, and this is essential when you want to start your own business.   17. To succeed in business, what qualities are essential? What are some of the secrets in making a successful business? To make the business successful, it is important to find a right partner. It is essential to find someone who complements you and you can trust. I am fortunate to find a partner who shares a great working relationship with me. We share similar mentality on most issues, but at the same time some of our differences in ideas creates variety and options. More importantly, you have to respect each other's space. Of course, to make a business work, every party has to be honest and hardworking.   18. Who or what inspires you? Even when times are tough, I have never thought of giving up. I am inspired by how my parents, and so many of our predecessors endure through hardships, and they never gave up. These inspirations keep me going.   19. Have you ever thought of expanding the business in some way or in multiple locations? How and where? Timbre has been approached before, and we are now looking into the different possibilities. I would definitely hope to open another outlet, but it takes time and careful studying, probably only after 1 or 2 years. I would also love to organise a larger scale music festival as well.   20. What aspects of expansion would you like to see for your enterprise? Timbre has been branded in a way whereby people come to Timbre, and recognise it as a place to support the local musicians. This branding took place naturally, with people knowing that I started off as a musician. So there is a more sincere relationship because I understand what the musicians go through. If we were to expand, be it locally or overseas, the branding should remain similar.   21. In your opinion, how would you define entrepreneurship? Personally I feel an entrepreneur is someone with great ideas, works very hard, and never gives up. It is also important to recognise the need for a holistic life. Support the arts, do volunteer work, or help the social causes. These, to me, would make a complete entrepreneur.   22. To what extent does ones educational level help or hinder entrepreneurialship? Education is important, in the general sense, but 90% is experience. You can't teach a person to be soulful, or to have drive. That's sometimes a gift from God, or derived from your personal upbringing or experiences in life. So whilst education is important, not all degree holders are eventually successful. Only a portion make it, and they are the ones who do not give up, they have passion, do things with soul, and not just for money.   23. As we try to select the final 2007 entrepreneurs, what qualities would you think a person should have to inspire others? I think the person must have passion in the things he do, do things not just for money, but more so for the benefit of others and the society in general.   24. What are some of your own values in doing business and what do you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation? Be holistic, contribute to social causes, not just for publicity, but because you recognise the need to help others. For me, I mentor young people with a youth organisation. It is also important to run your business in a honest and trust-worthy way.   25. What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business? Having passion and drive is very important. You have to be passionate about what you are doing, only then will you be motivated to do it well. And not only that, but also to appreciate finer things in life that are valuable, like the arts. I believe society is made up of many different segments, and arts constitutes a major part. It makes us happy. After a tough long day, we listen to some music and it soothes us. You share a special moment with someone, and the accompanying music adds to the ambience. Learn to appreciate the softer, kinder side of life.   26. Do you foresee the future entrepreneurs conducting their businesses in a different way than entrepreneurs from the past 5 years? (Yes or No) No   27. Do you feel that the future entrepreneurs have a higher chance to succeed than the entrepreneurs from the past 5 years? (Yes or No) Yes   28. What are your reasons for your answers in Q.26 and Q27? In pertinence to the music industry, we can definitely see a resurgence in the local music scene, and Timbre is very happy and proud to be part of this revival. Now I see the audiences coming for local bands, and its amazing. We have more Singaporeans and even foreigners supporting local music now. However, I do not think there would be many similar music restaurants and bars springing up. There would be a consistent gradual growth I believe, instead of a boom, because it takes time to develop the love for the arts, any art. Arts is an integral part of any society. Just look at US and Japan, the economic powerhouses all have very rich culture and arts. Their people are very passionate about their local arts and culture. I believe we need to learn to do that.