Former Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) scholar Tat Tong has gone from riding the waves with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) to making waves in the international music scene.
CPT (NS) Tong, 34, is no stranger to seeing his songs on music charts around the world. He is one half of songwriting and producing duo The Swaggernautz, which he formed with American Idol finalist Jovany Barreto.
Their biggest hit to date is Happy Little Pill, which topped the iTunes charts and launched Australian singer Troye Sivan into superstardom.
But nothing prepared him for when Age of Innocence, the song he produced with his EDM (electronic dance music) group Trouze, peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in January.
"It's definitely one of the biggest highlights of my career as a musician so far. It was special because it was our own -- even though it was a collaboration with (EDM artiste) Elephante, our name was there as the artiste, so it felt very good," he said.
To be the best
Certainly no mean feat for the former Operations Officer on board RSS Steadfast, who read Computer Science at Cornell University on the SAF Merit Scholarship.
"Meaningful" is a word that pops up often when he describes his time in the RSN.
"Till today, I still think my time in the Navy was very meaningful and I learnt a lot," he reminisced.
"It was a very special time: a ship is a very confined space so you have to sort out any conflicts. Being in such a tight-knit community, it's something very meaningful. I still miss the working environment."
His decade in the uniform also taught him valuable qualities: "(Local songstress) Tay Kewei, always relates this story: she said that she was struck by my level of discipline, such as my time management and scheduling skills.
"It became very natural for me to maintain a strict schedule, keep people updated, and deliver on the day or earlier. All these were drummed into me when I was in the Navy."
He added: "Her words definitely meant a lot to me. She is a very dear friend and one of the first artistes I worked with. We've been working together since her first album."
In the five years since he embarked on his musical journey, he has gone on to work with local and international artistes the likes of Kelly Poon, VanNess Wu and K-pop boyband 2pm's Junho.
Another skill CPT (NS) Tong learnt was adaptability, which has given him a boost in the diverse music scene: "I started with Chinese Pop, which is the main market here. I didn't grow up listening to a lot of it, so I had to get used to that.
"But it was good practice because recently I've been doing a lot of music in Spanish for the central/South American market. My earlier experience in the Chinese language market prepared me for this latest challenge, which is learning Latin American music."
Inspiring new artistes
Ask CPT (NS) Tong about his songwriting inspiration, and he offers interesting insights to a songwriting session: "We'll have a conversation with the artistes at the beginning, things like, 'What have you been thinking about?' and when we know them better, 'How's your relationship? Is it going well?'
"So we conduct a mini-interview, or as some would say, a therapy session, and invariably we'll find something that becomes a song. That way, it's real -- it comes out of their experience, and it means something to the performer."
He added: "Happy Little Pill came about when Troye told us he wrote poetry. He had a book with some of his writings so we read them and a fragment we took became the chorus of the song. He had written it about his mum!"
Although CPT (NS) Tong now splits his time between Singapore and Los Angeles, he makes it a point to reach out to aspiring musicians when he is in town.
"I've been invited to speak at seminars, which I'm always very happy to do. Sharing costs very little, but hopefully it means something to the people who come," he explained.
"My team also makes an effort to carry out outreach activities at least once a year."
He added thoughtfully: "People here have been very kind to me. This is my way of contributing back to the community."
"It became very natural for me to maintain a strict schedule, keep people updated, and deliver on the day or earlier. All these were drummed into me when I was in the Navy."
- CPT (NS) Tong, on how qualities developed during his time in the Navy has helped him in his musical journey
