IF MUSICIAN David Tao is passionate about his work, it's because he's the child of two passionate people.
His parents eloped when they were in their 20s because of parental objections to their relationship, David explained.
"Both my mum and my dad are very passionate people," the 36-year-old told Today on Thursday. "I hope for a romance like that but I'm not going to create a fantasy for myself, even though I'm a passionate person too. But I'm more logical and realistic than my parents were. Even my dad says so.
David was in town to promote his fourth album The Great Leap, which continues what he began in 2002's Black Tangerine, namely, socially-conscious pop music with strong rock elements.
David will perform at the Singapore Expo Hall 1 on Saturday at 7pm in an hour-long show. Passes are available with the purchase of The Great Leap.
Be it Sept 11, warfare, the paparazzi or the state of the Chinese race today, no topic is too serious for him to write a song about.
Or too personal, it seems. In a surprising move for a celebrity who is deeply private, he wrote about the "love-hate relationship" he has with his mother in the song, Catherine.
The move did not go down well with his mother, who hung up on him midway through a conversation after she heard the song. Their relationship has improved — thanks in part to a NT$1,000,000 (about $50,000) hong bao he gave her for Chinese New Year.
"Part of me is very private but part of me is very willing to open up. If I can share a story that may have a positive effect on people, I will. A lot of times, sharing feelings between people can be very therapeutic."
If David's experience with one reporter is anything to go by, Catherine has certainly had a positive impact on people.
"This reporter told me that she was very touched by the song. She had had a lot of problems with her son. After listening to it, she realised that good intentions can sometimes put pressure on people and make them feel uncomfortable."
While the radio-friendly R&B tunes that catapulted him to fame in the late 1990s are still a big part of his later albums, the David Tao of today seems set on establishing himself as the conscience of Chinese music.
But the self-reinvention is to be expected, considering how different he is from the slickly packaged pop acts that saturate the Chinese music industry.
Raised in Taiwan and the United States and once called The Americanised One, he revolutionised Chinese pop music with his brand of R&B.
The next step for the articulate psychology and film graduate from the University of California is directing films — that is, after he takes his music to a certain level.
There is much to anticipate when that happens, considering that David's favourite film is Martin Scorsese's controversial and critically-acclaimed The Last Temptation of Christ, which is banned in Singapore.
"I know some Christians view it as being anti-Christian but I know it's not because Scorsese was an altar boy and he made it as a tribute to Christ. I'm a Christian and that film changed my views. It made Christ real and powerful for me."
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