'Mi Lu Bing' Band Profile - The Milo-Bing Experience

Written By Tan Wen Hui
Edited And Vetted by AJ Chen Weijie
April 23nd 2009

If there are two words which best describes local boy-band Mi Lu Bing, youthful and energetic sure deems fit.

The mini-band, made up of three happy friends - Wei Qi (24), Nic (25) and Sam (23), became an overnight mando-pop-rock sensation after clinching the title of overall champion of the first SuperBand contest in 2006, has since been actively playing in local charity shows and concerts despite their tight personal schedules.

Wei Qi, who is currently attending to his undergraduate studies at the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, majors in art, design and media while Nic is an audio engineering graduate and Sam, a national service freshman.

Amazingly, all three would fork out time just to put their heads together and conjure up an original song to play! No music, no life.

In their debut album 'Mi Lu Bing' released in 2006, not all 9 (but only 3!) tracks penned were based on their personal life experiences which they wish to share with audiences through creative music-making. Same goes to their second album 'Triangle'.

Feedback: Thanks for the comment from Mi Lu Bing in clarifying that only 3 songs were written by them in their first album.

It's great to see musicians providing their own voices to the blog rather than
having the facts being distorted on them. I believe that one can still provide
entertainment and interesting news without having to tell "juicy white lies".
It's all depends on the way how the writer crafts the story: For the sentences above in blue, I extend my apologies to my fellow co-writer/interviewer Tan Wen Hui Joyce for the article in maligning her writing on the article. She has done a good job in terms of the facts as accurate as possible and shown her professionalism in her writing.

Interested to know the 3 songs written by them in their first album? Be sure to check it out on my blog again as I seek answers from them to bring u guys the latest reliable music news on Singapore and Asian Music.

"We've never thought of winning the Superband contest. We joined for the fun." Admitted Nic shyly during an exclusive interview with Razor TV's host Bryan. "We just enjoy playing music, and it so happens that someone - our mentor cum bassist who's turning 50 soon - encouraged us to join and we thought, why not just go and try?" Added Sam.

One of their latest contributions to MediaCorp TV was their performance of 'Bai Wan Bao's' (A Thousand Treasures) theme song written by budding singer and songwriter Zhang Le Sheng.

Nonetheless they each share a common interest in jamming and are Christians too.

Below is an e-mail interview with 'Mi Lu Bing' conducted by me and my co-writer/interviewer Tan Wen Hui. Facilitated by Winnie Chan (Esplanade Staff)

Q1: Why was "Mi Lu Bing' chosen as your band name?
A: It was an impromptu decision while we were deciding to name our band when taking part for SuperBand competiton. We were having Milo Ice then at a coffee shop, sine all of us like the drink, we decided to call ourselves Milo Beng. We needed to give ourselves a Chinese band name, and the name Mi Lu Bing was close to how it sounded like MiLo Beng in Chinese and so Mi Lu Bing. It also fit our band then, being lost and new in the industry then.

Q2: How long have you guys known each other and what inspired you guys to form this band?
A: We knew one another while still on diapers! We are family friends. Our parents knew one another before we were born.

Q3: What was the factor which ignited your interest in music?
A: We have liked music since we were young. It was thru our regular jamming that we felt we could try as a band and took part in the competition.

Q4: How long have you guys been playing your respective instruments?
A: WeiQi is classically trained in classical piano. Sam and Nic took up drum and guitar along the way.

Q5: As a band, what are your future plans for your music career path?
A: We'll take it one at a time, now we'll put in our fullest for the Esplanade concert “Three In Transit” on this Friday. Afterwhich, we'll be full gear on to prep for our next album, scheduled for year end release.

Q6: Amongst all the songs played by your band, which is your favorite track?
A: We like all the songs we have penned. It all had a special meaning to us at one point or the other, so we can't specially pin point one fav one. They are all special to us one way or the other.

Q7: For your band's up-coming performance 'Three In Transit' at the Esplanade on April 24th, what are the new exciting song hits you have for the concert?
A: We'll be playing the hits from our two albums, songs that we performed during our competition, and also our very first attempt in acting, in a short feature film style. Well, more of a MV style in fact.

Q8: What music experience does the band hope to bring for audiences through this concert?
A: Hopefully audience can see the effort we've put in for this concert and how MLB has evolved (musically sense) since our competition days.

Q9: How's life been for each of you as celebrities after becoming the champion for Superband 2006?
A: Not much. We're still living pretty similar life. We still drink MiLo Beng, eat at hawker centres, travel by public transport etc. No, not really a big change in terms of our daily lives. We still iron and wash dishes at home!

Q10: How do you guys handle die-hard female fans who follow you 24/7 since famous soloists and bands have their fair share of media princess-wannabes?
A: We have a group of ardent supporters, but they have been more like friends then die-hard followers or stalkers. We are no heartthrobs... we are heartlanders!

Q11: Complete the following statement: If I had to relive my life all over again, I would...
A: not want change a thing! It's been great so far!!! Yeah!

Q12: And lastly, do you guys have any parting words that you wish to convey to all of your fans out there?
A: Life is a Challenge..., Meet It! Make it a journey worth tavellin.... not a Destination to halt!

Thats the end of the e-mail interview. Check out their RazorTV videos on the section "Featuring local Singaporean Songwriter Singers, Musicians" in my blog. (To find the section - scroll all the way down to the bottom of my blog). If u guys still can't find it, let me know. That's all from me.

Signing off - AJ