AT THE tender age of 16, Reinchez Ng began learning to play his first musical instrument, an electric guitar. But never in a million years did he ever think he would make music his career, and a such a big part of his life.
“I picked up the guitar because I was looking for a hobby, aside from my school work,” says 30-year-old Ng.
“I wanted to play the piano. But my father convinced me to take up the guitar,” adds Ng, who has two other younger siblings, one who is a clinical psychologist, while the other is a zoologist.
Both of his parents are bankers, as well as ardent music lovers. They love listening to all types of songs, from singer-songwriter Elton John, to rock groups like the Scorpions and Japanese artistes like Kitaro. Ng strongly believes his parents’ passion for music influenced his own interests as well.
He started his formal musical training at the International College of Music (ICOM) in Malaysia. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Scoring from the world-renowned Berklee College of Music of Boston in the United States.
“In Berklee, I learned the piano,” he says with a smile.
His composition, Melancholy, was performed by the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra (BCSO) led by Francisco Noya, resident conductor of the Rhode Island Philharmonic.
At Berklee, he studied under renowned musical talents such as Eric Reasoner (who has been a music editor for several Hollywood movies such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Last Action Hero and Lethal Weapon 4), Duncan Watt (a performer and composer on several video game soundtracks) and Richard Davis (an orchestrator for several Hollywood films and TV series).
“I took film scoring because I feel you have to create the music from the scratch,” he says.
“You have to come out with original content. [That way] you become a creator.”
After graduating, Ng based himself in Los Angeles for two years beginning in 2016 to gain experience working in the American music scene.
He worked as an assistant to bassist and orchestrator, Dr Norman Ludwin (who has worked on the soundtracks of several acclaimed Hollywood films such as Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes and Inside Out).
He also got the chance to be an assistant to Oscar-winning film composer and world music artiste, Yuval Ron. He was featured as the lead and rhythm guitarist on the album Unity of The Heart, by the Yuval Ron Ensemble.
In 2016, he provided additional music for the Nigerian film called A Trip to Jamaica. The film became the third-highest grossing film in Nigeria.
Ng was also the score production coordinator for the award-winnng 2017 musical Love Sick, whose soundtrack was described as fusing a “thrilling, original world-music score [with] Middle-Eastern harmonics.”
Ng even worked at Music and Motion Productions, a company run by famous composer Lucas Vidal, who created music for Fast and Furious 6, while assisting in-house composer, Tom Howe who has worked on Hollywood films such as Wonder Woman and The Legend of Tarzan.
Ng also composed the music for the Los Angeles short film, Claws Out, starring Tom Jenkins who has had minor roles on popular TV shows Criminal Minds and How to Get Away with Murder.
The film was an official selection at the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood 2020, and the American Horrors Film Festival 2019. It bagged the Silver Award for Best Female Director at the Independent Shorts Awards in Los Angeles.
In 2018, Ng left the US and returned to Malaysia with the aim of making his mark here.
“I have always been a big fan of Malaysian films,” he says. Some of his favourite films are Kabir Bhatia’s Pulang and Dain Said’s Dukun.
Ng wants to use the knowledge he has gained from working in Los Angeles, and contribute something interesting for the Malaysian film scene.
To date he has created soundtracks for three films: the first was for horror film Roh which opens on Aug 6, followed by Rahsia and Prebet Sapu.
“When you create a soundtrack, you need to understand the story and the intention of the film maker in telling the story,” he says.
“It is important for the director and the composer to be on the same page.”
When asked if he will ever go back to Los Angeles again, he says: “You can never predict the future.”
However, for the time being, he is more interested in establishing himself in Malaysia, because home is where his heart is.
