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| Renee Lau |
"Have the courage to fail, so you can get up stronger than before."
- Renee Lau
Young, beautiful and talented, Renee Lau (also known as Meng Wai Lau) is a Music Business and Management Major at Berklee College of Music, the leading institution in the world for contemporary music (with their graduates earning more than 200 GRAMMY Awards around the globe).
Currently residing in Boston, USA, Renee is a work-study assistant in the Music Business office at Berklee, she is also completing an internship for a local video game and artist media company called Kaupang Studios, owned by a Norwegian entrepreneur. Her internship is focused on social media and SEO marketing in the Malaysian and pan-Asian region. Renee is currently completing her final semester in Music Business and Professional Music majors.
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| (Renee & the Chair of Department) |
WoM: Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you end up in Berklee College and why?
Renee: Being the eldest of three siblings puts me in the position to manage things and being able to fulfil my parents expectation to care for my siblings made me very attentive to details. I am also an organized, discipline and independent person when it comes to work. It all started when I was four, my parents enrolled me into a music class and I felt natural at it. Growing up in a family that does both business and creativity side by side, it felt compelling to follow my parents’ footsteps. By having the best of both worlds, I decided to do Music Business. I studied in Berklee College of Music as they offer the majors and minors that I wanted to take. Currently, I am in my final semester in Music Business and Professional Music majors, as well as a minor in conducting.
WoM: Was it tough studying in Berklee? What about your internship?
Renee: If you do not put in enough effort, everything is going to be tough. It is all about the time management and you need to know your priorities. This is where the management aspect is practiced on a daily basis. Being a music student, we have to do both theory and practical. When we are not in class, we are most likely out playing gigs to gain experience, jamming along with friends, practising our composition and music making. On top of that, some of us do work part time to gain job experience as well as to supplement our expenses. Thus, life as a music student is challenging when you have to juggle classes, work, performances, practicing and all at the same time! At the moment, I have not started my internship for the final semester, which is due to begin on the 8th of June.
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| (Renee Lau in Australia) |
WoM: What do you plan to do in the future?
Renee: Right now, I have an open view and open mind to any opportunities that might come by because music business is an ever-changing field where every day is different. In the mean time, I am planning to assist in my family’s business as well as starting up my own business.
WoM: You are also a musician, what instrument do you play?
Renee: When I first started in Berklee, I was a piano principal. But, things changed when I took a class in Berklee called Brazilian Rhythms and Percussion. The class gave me a different perspective to music in terms of sound and rhythm. Ever since then, it was a realization point for me. I switched my piano principal instrument to hand percussion. The transition from a classical pianist to a hand percussionist was definitely not easy, as I have to start from scratch. But, with the discipline I have and much encouragement from my professor, Mike Ringquist, I was able to pull it through for my final semester. As a hand percussionist, it was more about the rhythm, and there were more instruments to play such as ago-go, tamborim, ganza, pandeiro, and many more.
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| (Renee & the professors) |
WoM: What do you think of the music business in Malaysia compared to the States?
Renee: Music business in the States is clearly different from Malaysia. It is akin to comparing an apple to an orange, as we are fundamentally culturally different. Appreciation for different types of music, genres, instrument, is all a matter of taste and is totally subjective. We can see this from the size of the industry in the States itself. However, this does not mean that Malaysia is by any means lacking. In fact, the music business in Malaysia is starting to boom. More concerts are being held each year and many international superstar and artists are brought in to Malaysia to perform. In addition, local artists are now getting record deals with major record companies such as Universal, EMI, and Warner. This is definitely a turning point for the industry in Malaysia.
WoM: Lastly, is there any message or advice that you would like to share with all the young women out there in Malaysia?
Renee: Adversity builds character. We learn more from failures, as we will need to think through our strategy to overcome an obstacle, on the other hand, if we continuously succeed, there would not be a need to improve oneself to be better as there is no need for change. The world is not a static being. You cannot change the situation you are in. So make the best of each situation. Also, have the courage to fail, so you can get up stronger than before. This is what makes you a better person with each passing day.
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