SUSANNA LAM-AKA SLAM
Director/Songwriter/Producer
What shaped your music?
The music of Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beatles.Elvis Presley, The Temptation
What shaped your music?
The music of Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beatles.Elvis Presley, The Temptation
Are you the only one in your family doing music?
Yes and No. In my immediate family, yes, I'm the only one pursuing music professionally meaning I actually put in the time and learn the craft and make money from it if you measure professionalism through money. My mom knew a couple of instruments when she was younger such as the piano, the Vietnamese zither,the gourd zither (đàn bầu) or one stringed zither. She never pursued music professionally. In my extended family, a few of my uncles used to be in a band that played mostly in the Vietnamese community in the US called Chi Tai Brothers band. One actually became quite famous and later switched field to be a comedian and actor. Unfortunately, he passed away in late 2020. In his memories, I created a page for him here The other uncles now just do music as part of their churches and play professionally within the Vietnamese community in the US. Looking at a generation older than that generation, I have my maternal grandparents who played a few musical instruments such as the mandolin and the accordion back in the 40's and were part of a band, too. However, due to wars I have no souvenirs of that life that they were a part of.
When did you realize you were going to make music professionally?
Late 2018, a few weeks before Can't Steal My Deal was dropped. I was just playing with that track for fun without putting any thought in making it a public track. Something happened and then I decided it was time to put myself out there. What's that something? I talked about it down below so read on.
How do you prepare for your performances?
I do not perform. I enjoy being in the force that drives changes using music as a medium. If I can keep this force alive for the next few decades then that'll be the best thing that ever happens in my life.
What ignites your (song) writing flow?
A shocking event and a good catch phrase.
to know exactly why I'm here and intentionally live my life out, be a creator of my own future if you will. So many people in this world live their lives because someone tells them that's how they should live it. They basically are imprisoned with limiting beliefs about their potential by other individuals who really don't know them personally. To me, that's not living. Living is to learn, to grow, to explore and see what I am capable of doing and creating, making things better from five important angles: SPEMF Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Mental and Financial. Most people just focus on the "F" which is the making money part. This is not to degrade those who have social vices but to me what's the purpose of living life when due to bad eating habits, or personal habit such as smoking weeds for example my physical health deteriorates over time? Everything happens over a period of time, I call it a compounding effect, which I talk about a lot in my songs. Bottom line: success is being able to accumulate as much as possible over my life time positive experiences that define life which I think is SPEMF.
Does your music support any specific causes? Do you do any charitable work or do you plan to in the future?
Yes, many people in the world live their entire lives chasing a future that may or may not come. The art of living in the present has been lost so I'd like to be able to use music to revive this art again so that every moment every minute counts, not only in my life but also in the lives of countless other souls around the world.