I grew up in old shophouses selling car parts till I was 10. I loved sports; I was a very “outdoors” person and very non-studious. As a teenager I became rebellious, made a lot of mistakes and learned things the hard way.

I come from a huge family, my dad has 14 siblings. As older people say, “Last time there was no TV!”

I quit junior college after a year and planned to go to the States to study. While looking at schools there, I was amazed by the size of the country and how different prices were compared to Asia. I was stirred into doing business instead of pursuing an education.

I opened my first company in 2000, dealing with automotive parts. I started small, but it built up pace and I started to get more passionate about it.

I spent six months in China on my first trip and traveled to 17 cities alone; just knocking on doors, trying to get sales.

Carl’s Jr. was the only fast food I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner because it felt like it was proper food. After signing the deal for the franchise, I went to the US to train for four months, feeding fries into the fryer and learning how to be a restaurant manager; that’s when I fell in love with the food industry.

People thought we were crazy back then, the market was already so crowded. There were 147 McDonald’s, 56 Burger Kings and more than 70 KFCs. For a moment I asked myself too, “Are we crazy?”, but it’s been five years so I think we’re safe.

We want to say, “Burgers are not for kids anymore”.

I’ve had a piece of paper with me that last 10 years. It’s a saying from Meng Zi (Mencius), which tells us that if great responsibility is given to a person, he must go through hardship, pain, hunger, total loss and emptiness. Only then will that person be stable and withstand all challenges in life to come.

I carry a personal pair of chopsticks because I think about the trees that die just to make chopsticks for cup noodles. I cherish life a lot, it shouldn’t be wasted.

Whatever extravagant lifestyle comes with the job is a plus point, but it’s the mental satisfaction that I look for in business.

My passion in life is art, because to me, everything is art. I have a full body tattoo about the life of Zeus. I want to show the world that being tattooed doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.

I want to help youngsters out there. I want to tell those who’ve made mistakes not to give up. If there’s a will, there’s a way.

I won’t say in terms of wealth that I’m successful, but in terms of people, I’m very successful. People are more important than anything.

I started writing a diary when I started my business, and I still write today because what’s happening today is important.

I hope that the people who are with me now will walk with me my entire life. The day a person leaves this world is the day that you will know if they were successful; it’s what’s left behind.

Tell us more about the name Russian Circles.

There's not much to tell; it’s the name of one of the band's earliest songs. Mike (Sullivan, guitarist) and Dave (Turncrantz, drummer) decided to run with it as our moniker.

How would you describe your style of music?
I tell people who aren't into our subculture of music that we're an instrumental rock band. If I'm talking to someone with a better frame of reference for underground music, I tell them we're a punk/progressive band. The post-rock/post-metal tag is used a lot by journalists and fans, but I feel like it’s kind of an empty buzzword.

How do instrumentals, particularly in the genres of rock and metal, capture an audience?
Popular music is vocal based, and that bleeds over into underground music. A lot of heavy music and even indie rock is very instrument-driven. The vocals in those realms of music are often the last piece in the puzzle; as if they're really only there out of an obligation to keep up with convention.

What are some of the things you can do that bands with a vocalist can’t?

Vocals occupy a weird sonic territory. It's far easier to dial in the sound at a concert without trying to fit vocals into the mix. To put vocals at the front of the mix, guitars have to be turned down so that mid-range frequencies aren't battling with the singer. It's infinitely easier not having to worry about that. Not having vocals also means we don't have a microphone on our stage. We don't have to bother with between-song banter; we just set up and play.



What was Russian Circles’ most hardcore on-stage moment?
At a show in Chicago before I joined the band, some guy in the front row was so drunk that he kept falling on the bass player's effects pedals, which was f*cking up his playing. Dave spit on the guy from behind the drum kit and threw a drum stick at him, but the guy kept f*cking up the bass player's gear. Dave got up from behind the kit and started choking the guy, then pushed him out of the front row so the band could continue playing.


What can your fans in Singapore expect?

I'm not sure what our Singaporean fans can expect; we don't even know what to expect. Hopefully it will be loud, dark, and dynamic.

Rock hard to Russian Circles on Sep 18, 8pm at Zouk, 17 Jiak Kim St., 6738-2988. $55 from Hell’s Labyrinth, Praise and www.kittywurecords.com or $65 at the door.

Tell us more about the name Russian Circles.
There's not much to tell; it’s the name of one of the band's earliest songs. Mike (Sullivan, guitarist) and Dave (Turncrantz, drummer) decided to run with it as our moniker.

How would you describe your style of music?
I tell people who aren't into our subculture of music that we're an instrumental rock band. If I'm talking to someone with a better frame of reference for underground music, I tell them we're a punk/progressive band. The post-rock/post-metal tag is used a lot by journalists and fans, but I feel like it’s kind of an empty buzzword.

How do instrumentals, particularly in the genres of rock and metal, capture an audience?
Popular music is vocal based, and that bleeds over into underground music. A lot of heavy music and even indie rock is very instrument-driven. The vocals in those realms of music are often the last piece in the puzzle; as if they're really only there out of an obligation to keep up with convention.

What are some of the things you can do that bands with a vocalist can’t?
Vocals occupy a weird sonic territory. It's far easier to dial in the sound at a concert without trying to fit vocals into the mix. To put vocals at the front of the mix, guitars have to be turned down so that mid-range frequencies aren't battling with the singer. It's infinitely easier not having to worry about that. Not having vocals also means we don't have a microphone on our stage. We don't have to bother with between-song banter; we just set up and play.

What was Russian Circles’ most hardcore on-stage moment?
At a show in Chicago before I joined the band, some guy in the front row was so drunk that he kept falling on the bass player's effects pedals, which was f*cking up his playing. Dave spit on the guy from behind the drum kit and threw a drum stick at him, but the guy kept f*cking up the bass player's gear. Dave got up from behind the kit and started choking the guy, then pushed him out of the front row so the band could continue playing.

What can your fans in Singapore expect?
I'm not sure what our Singaporean fans can expect; we don't even know what to expect. Hopefully it will be loud, dark, and dynamic.

Rock hard to Russian Circles on Sep 18, 8pm at Zouk, 17 Jiak Kim St., 6738-2988. $55 from Hell’s Labyrinth, Praise and www.kittywurecords.com or $65 at the door.