A place where you'll be able to find updates, information, videos, photos, writeups and interviews with Singaporean musicians and Singapore's music events. Be it indie, pop, acoustic, top40s, jazz, blues, fusion, SO LONG ITS LOCAL!
Music Matters is an international music event which is free and open to public and was held in Hong Kong previously. Singapore had the honour of playing host this year round with a total of more than 40 bands from Canada, Belgium, UK, Australia, China and of course Singapore. From the Singapore entourage, well-known local bands and duos like Jack and Rai, 53A, Typewriter, Cheating Sons, Sixx and Charles J Tan featured.
I just got wind of the event just the day before and looking at the line-up of bands set to play, I knew I had to get coverage on the event. Favourite home-grown band Typewriter was playing on the first day and they were the first band I managed to catch hold. When I eventually got there, perhaps it was Thursday, the crowd were hardly in sight. I was just muttering to myself perhaps the event was not getting enough coverage thus explaining the phenomenon.
A band which has journeyed for 10 years in the scene, the quirky and witty folks from Typewriter delivered Indian Head Massage in 2010 featuring hits like "Cry So Well". The album was originally slated to have been released back in 06/07 but was put off due to various reasons. Chang Kang who's responsible for the most of the lyrics in the album explained that they wanted a few last songs to bring a closure to the album while not forgetting to balance the chemistry and the tonality of the songs. Indeed, much effort and intricate thinking has gone into the making of the album as each track had its surrounding theme and "space". Say for example, "Cry So Well" like Chang Kang described was penned to encourage and spur some of his friends experiencing depression on. Check out videos of the set below as well as a not-to-be missed interview with the fine folks from Typewriter:
Check out the light-hearted video interview I had with fun-loving people from Typewriter:
If the event was a buffet, Skunk Jive would have been considered to be the perfect icing on the cake. The main course was good but no one could refuse desserts or extra helpings of it - Skunk Jive was every bit of it and more! By the time Skunk Jive hit the stage, it was around past 10pm and it seemed like some of the audience were ready to be calling it a day. Not Skunk Jive. Throwing in bluesy and funky numbers such as their original "Borrowed Time" (you can check out the video below), Kelvin "Smokey" Ng and the rest of the band managed to retain most of the audience, and even brought a standstill to some of the passer-bys.
Here's a Skunk Jive number which features frequently at their gigs "Borrowed Time". (videoed with permission from Esplanade and the band):
If you're still wondering how you might not have heard of Skunk Jive, then let me reply you in words of the own band themselves "We play the purest of blues in Singapore". Accolades include Jazz By The Beach@Sentosa, Mosaic Festival, Old Brown Shoe, Esplanade Waterfront and more. And notably Kelvin Smokey Ng who a fore-runner in the local blues scene, has honed his harp playing skills and impressed in venues as far as the holy land of blues music, Chicago USA.
"The sky was overcast, the heat sweltering. Guitarist Harry Manx was halfway through his set at the 2004 Chicago Blues Festival when he decided to throw the audience a curveball. Enter stage right: Kelvin “Smokey” Ng. As Smokey took a seat by the microphone, there was some halfhearted applause, along with a couple of groans. Just a day earlier, a Japanese samisen troupe in full kimono garb had played on this same stage, resulting in a muddled attempt at an “East meets West” blues jam. And now here was Manx introducing a Chinese harp player whom he had met in Singapore. I could almost hear the crowd sigh, “Yes, globalization is nice and all, but we would like to hear some blues, please.” True, I could have pointed out to these folks that thanks to globalization, you can indeed buy a Marine Band in Singapore. But I held my tongue; I knew Smokey would give them what they deserved: a rude and bluesy awakening. What followed was a hoodoo-drenched acoustic version of “The Thrill Is Gone,” with Smokey blowing some of the fattest harp licks heard at the festival. He took his first chorus, and passers-by were stopping in their tracks. I had seen Smokey hypnotize an audience countless times, albeit on smaller stages that were literally on the other side of the world. Now the stage was Chicago. Whispers rose from the crowd: “Who is this guy?” Manx was happy to oblige an answer. “That’s Kelvin Ng,” he said. “All the way from...Singapore.” And that, my friends, is how Smokey was introduced to the city of Chicago." - Ken Chang, who has written for Allmusic.com and Bluesrevue magazine.
Jason Benedict Cruz, the drummer of the band shone particularly at the event as well. He was talent-scouted out by Kelvin himself at one of the open jams at Crazy Elephant to join Skunk Jive. Slotting in as the drummer slot with Skunk Jive at the back of a mere rehearsal coming just days before, Jason showed flair, showmanship and groove in the execution of his chops. A drum instructor at Rhythm House which also houses Mr Mark Boatman (from Mean Jeanne and the Blues Machine) and Mr David McGuire (from Heritage), Jason remains a humble and enthusiastic musician at heart who's a firm believer in taking his playing to the next level instead of dwelling on his current achievements.
Hi there, would you introduce yourself? Jason: Hi! My name is Jason Cruz and I play the drumkit. I've only being with this band for barely a month. I'm 27 years of age and I teach drums as my day job.
Wow you've got a long road ahead of you then!
Jason: Yeah definitely! It's my first foray into playing pure blues as it is. I have grown up listening to this music but never really had a chance to be playing it like the way we did tonight. It's a great opportunity!
Let me just say you were in your element tonight, teetering on the edge of being flamboyant but I think you really kept your playing right where it should be.
Jason: Big thank you!
Do you guys happen to be playing anywhere as of now?
Jason: For the time being, we're doing one-off gigs. We move around quite a bit, to places which welcome blues music. We've got heavy commitments outside and are unable to commit to any form of resident band gigs.
One final question before we let you go. Your take on our local music scene?
Jason: Wow that's a tough question. Over the past few years, I've been noticing as far as musicians are concerned, the standard is going up. Especially the late teens and early 20s. More of our local bands are slowly venturing out and touring outside of Singapore and it's encouraging! I myself am inspired to do likewise actually. In addition, Kelvin's a firm believer in the nurturing and giving exposure to young, talented blue musicians. 17-year old Joshua Francis and 23-year old Bryne Leong were welcomed onto the big stage and certainly held their own against the big guns, while being nothing short of impressing the audience along the way. Here's a video of Joshua whom Skunk Jive helped to feature at the event. (Do read on for the interview I had with Bryne Leong)
Other than young Joshua Francis, Bryne Leong was thrown into the limelight on the night. Read on to find out how he kept pace with the rest of the band.
Hi there, Bryne it was good playing there!
Bryne: Hi thanks! Its the 2nd time I'm playing at the Esplanade and its a life-long dream be on the Esplanade stage. Thanks to Kelvin who invited me to jam, whom I've playing and jamming with for quite awhile already. We did a few gigs together.
I can only say you're in good hands if you play with Kelvin.
Bryne: Yeah definitely, when I was 16, 17, I was watching Kelvin play on stage. Playing with him is really cool.
This I have to ask. Blues is not the preferred choice of many in Singapore. Why would you want to go down this route?
Bryne: As any other kid out there, I listened to a bit of everything out there. I listened to punk rock and metal back in 90s and 00s but when you look back further beyond that, guitar players were all blues. I mean Kirk Hammett plays the blues. Angus Young plays the blues. As a guitar player you would pick up from then. For example, guitar player Stevie Ray Vaughn and BB King, I've heard of them but not heard what they do yet everyone respects them. But once you're past that, you'll get blown away.
What do you think could be done to try divert the immense attention the top40s and radio hits musicians are getting onto events such as Bridging the Blues?
Bryne: The tricky thing here is that people want to be entertained in the company of friends and unless they're music lovers in the first place, they would not seek out an awesome playing band. I feel as long as there is booze and music, people are generally fine with it. Ambience noise unfortunately.
I think its a process that people have to slowly discover for themselves. Even more so when it comes to blues music.
Bryne: Everything in modern music came from there and even Lady Gaga herself. You can trace it back.
Well I'm not so sure about the Lady Gaga comment. Haha!
Bryne: Well Lady Gaga came from disco. Disco came from RnB. RnB came from motown and motown came from the blues! As long as there are people willing to hire blues and jazz acts, and these acts are good with people willing to enjoy the atmosphere that they put out, I'll say that's a good start in itself already.
If local acts are getting the recognition that they are deserving, they shouldn't be playing free in front of a public audience. They should be right where they belong - inside the Esplanade Concert Halls.
Bryne: I fully agree. If the bands are good, they should have greater monetary rewards. Playing music is not cheap. The instruments aren't cheap, the rental of jamming rooms, the practice time and the opportunity costs involved don't come cheap at all. If Esplanade could involve greater monetary incentive for the musicians, musicians themselves would appreciate it tremendously. Bars and pub owners should be willing to shell out more for bands if they feel bands can help pull in the crowd though its entirely at the discretion of the owners themselves.
As the night progressed, the music at the Waterfront did not lose momentum at all with Raw Earth and Skunk Jive picking up where Heritage left off. It was a like a music 'buffet' going on man! Raw Earth, another local band featuring members from another well-known local blues band Ublues such as Danny Loong and Francis Chan, took to the stage next. Like raw earth itself, the band's style revolves a lot around roots-based music such as blues, old school music and good old evergreen classics. They immediately made their presence felt (with or without Danny, haha) with a rendition of BB King's classic Thrill Is Gone.
Francis Chan, whom many have dubbed affectionately as the "James Brown of Chinatown" also sang on a couple of songs on the set was met with nothing but plenty of cheers from the crowd. You might also want to look out for Surath Godfrey (from FAIIEZ entertainment) who sings regularly at several of the Timbre outlets. Here he's seen serenading the crowd with the band's rendition of the ever so popular "When A Man Loves A Woman".
Did that leave you hanging for more? You'll be glad to know they play on Wednesdays at Timbre Substation at 45 Armenian Street from 9pm onwards.
As you probably can tell by now, this post is way later than it should have been. But nonetheless it definitely deserves coverage. Blues events don't feature locally as much as it should be in all honesty. In John Mayer's exact words "Blues.. is if you're human, you just get it." And the bands line up on the second day were everything the crowd wanted to see. Atwell Jansen's fronted Heritage took the stage first and was met immediately with the warmest reception from the audience.
Heritage may be overlooked in the eyes of most the Y generation, but if there is any authentic local Singaporean band that has come a long way, it has to be Heritage. (pun not intended again) A band that started way back in the 1970s (that's almost 40 years ago) with a music palette spanning across different genres such as rock, blues and jazz, they have carried the flag of Singapore to many overseas blues and rock festivals and concerts throughout this period to places as far as Holland and Amsterdam. Heritage was the first local band to release a self-produced album of 10 original compositions under the prestigious WEA label in 1979.
They have played at prestigious venues such as Harrys', Crazy Elephant, The Saxophone, The Blue Note, Victoria Theatre and the Esplanade. It is noteworthy that they have been awarded the Artistic Excellence award by COMPASS (Composers and Authors Society of Singapore) in May 2007. Here Esplanade has kindly allowed me to put one of their videos of their performance on that day itself and do read the interview I had with Atwell Jansen below.
I was excited to have been granted an audience with the man himself, Atwell Jansen. Throughout the conversation, he carried little airs about himself and was more than happy to share with me his vast experience over a cup of coffee if there had been a cafe nearby.
Hi Atwell could you tell me about yourself?
Atwell:Hi I'm Atwell Jansen and I play with the band Heritage. I play the violin, the flute, the harmonica and I sing as well. How about the lineup?
Atwell: There's Ashlee Jansen plays the electric bass as well as lead vocals (he sang a couple of songs on the set). There's Sadeq who plays the electric bass as well and there's David McGuire who plays the drums and he's a PR here. Robert's on electric guitar.
How long has this band been around? We know it's been around for sometime but how long has it been?
Atwell: This band actually dates back to the early 70s but there have been couple of changes to the lineup. People have come and gone but one of the members that have stayed is the bassist. (Pointing to Sadeq the bassist and chuckling away)
We play a mixture of rock and blues, especially the progressive and the fusion type of blues. We do some of the blues, but we can't play blues the whole night, we have to move onto something more inventive. But you know, the blues is where it sprung from.
Oh yes the blues isn't just old man music.
Atwell: Exactly, exactly. We actually pick songs we like to do and where there are places we can improvise on because that's what we like to do.
Oh yes, I do notice some of the unique arrangements Heritage had on some of its covers. For a moment it seemed like it was going to end, but you guys brought it up a notch.
Atwell: Some of it was following the original and some of it evolved into our own arrangement. But we always choose songs where we can stretch out to. We're improvisers and thats the way we express ourselves.
Where is Heritage playing now currently?
Atwell: We're playing at a place called JJ Atlante in Duxton Rd. We've been playing there for 7 years because we've been giving the license to play freely. Most of our customers are expats and they've developed into a small following and the place has become a niche club where they can come and enjoy the music.
Do you get your fair share of support from the locals? A younger crowd perhaps?
Atwell: Oh yes we get our fair share from some of the locals - mostly from the older generation but some are young too. They havent been exposed to a wide variety of the music and they listen to some of the Jimi Hendrix covers we do, it opens their minds.
One final question for you sir. What's your take on our local music scene? Atwell: I think the big trouble with our local scene is that there is not enough support for the musicians. Its not just music alone, but in general people do look towards the foreign stuff and I would really wish there would be more support for our local bands. Such as events like this. I actually feel that our local bands should be put in the concert halls instead of the Waterfront as it gives more credibility this way. Its like if you make it to playing inside the concert hall, its indicative of the kind of level a band has reached. Even for the Arts festival, I feel more of the local acts should be headlining the event.
At the request of the guitarist, I was going to drop by on an acoustic duo who recently got contracted to play at Bungy Bar. In all honesty, I was pretty clueless about what to expect but again, I am not one to dismiss bands quickly by saying "Oh they playing top40s.. oh it's just another indie band." Its a mentality that more people can do without.
Oh wow, serendipity showed up at the gig. (serendipity - serendipity is when one finds something that one was not expecting to find)
Their set was to start at 945 and when I got there at 920, I saw that both Khim and Cheng were there already. Shaking their hands, I introduced myself and could sense that though there was still sometime before the set kicked off, they were feeling a little edgy already. And then I commented that I might have seen Khim from somewhere before. It generated a big laugh from her and Cheng let me in that she competed in Campus Superstar a couple of years back. "OOHH!" No wonder I was thinking to myself I might have been seen that face somewhere. Khim was proving to be bubbly as we made conversation about her background, her schoolife and Cheng was filling in all the gaps. Turns out that this was a mere 2nd week at Bungy Bar for them and the first contract gig they picked up.
Throughout their set, the duo kept the energy up song after song, to the point I tried to get them to slow down to catch a breather in between the songs. Oh they needed none of that really!
By this time, a handful of passer-bys had formed a group right next to the Bungy Ride behind me, giving Khim and Cheng undivided attention. There was also a group of faithful supporters of the duo who had showed up and were whistling and egging them on. In addition, I couldn't help but notice the number of passer-bys who stopped and listen in onto them, giving them the thumbs-up and offering their encouragement. One Indian lady also stopped to take pictures of them and asked of me to take one of her with Diverse Attention. Still not convinced? Alright here's the proof:
I managed to catch up with them for an interview later on, read on:
Hi there, would you introduce yourselves please?
Khim: Hi we're Diversed Attentions, I'm Khim the vocalist! (with enthusiasm) Cheng: Hi I'm Cheng the guitarist! Khim: Hi we're actually a four piece band but due to the requirements of the bar, only both of us are able to come here to perform without our rhythm section. Cheng: We're studying in Republic Poly which is also where we met our band members. We met them through Replug IG where it collects versatile musicians and is also where we perform and practise as a band from there.
Oh that means you're from different musical backgrounds?
Khim: I do a lot of pop, rnb and (pointing to Cheng) he does a lot more funk. Cheng: Yeah rhythm kind of thing and in addition, our percussionist does a lot of samba as well.
You want to tell us about your bandmates as well?
Cheng: There is Alex - he's a very tall guy and he's the bassist. You'll be able to recognise him in our band easily but he's pretty soft, like a BFG. Khim: Ridzuan is the only Malay in our band and plays percussion.
Would you also want to tell us what do you do outside of your life, other than singing? Your hobbies?
Khim: For me, I'm very interested in percussion. I recently joined Bloco Singapura and I've been playing the tambourim and its proving to be a real experience for me. Its because I've always been singing and the first time I'm playing the instrument is proving to be refreshing for a singer like myself. Cheng: For me I've been working on sonic recording and sound engineering outside of regular studies. I've recorded bands and acoustic covers and more into re-arranging of music.
Wow for the both you, your lives revolve a lot around music?
Khim and Cheng: Yaaaa (excitedly), we hope to venture into this particular industry in the future! Khim: Although its tiring but the motivation comes from the fact that we're doing something we enjoy and pushes ourselves further. It gives us the drive to go on and on.
Just for the record, how old are you guys?
Khim: I'm 19! Cheng: I'm 20!
I would just say those were not the kind of answers I was expecting from you both.
Do you have any goals/ambitions for yourselves that you would like to proclaim out loud?
Khim: We hope to get more support as well as more people to like our music. Cheng: Yea, we also hope to gain success in this industry in the future in Singapore especially. Khim: (chirped enthusiastically): Its not easy but we'll try! Well put! You don't go down without a fight these days don't you Singapore musicians? Brave words from the duo and you can be expecting more of them at the Bungy Bar along Clarke Quay River (next to the bungy rides) on Saturdays, 945pm onwards.
Wow it's been really a while since I posted and things need to be set into order right. I've been bogged down with exams for the end of April to the first 2 weeks of May and have been doing videos for bands on and off, albeit not as much as I would have liked to. There are going to be some recaps of some bands I've videoed within this period but have not blogged about and posted the respective pictures. You'll be glad to know I've got some interviews with some of these musicians.
Btw, the giveaway still stands all the way till the end of this month. A big congratulations to West Grand Boulevard! Now you can win their new album "Life, Love And a Loss for Better Words" autographed by all 5 members of the band. All you need to do is (1) subscribe to www.youtube.com/drumsolo86 AND (2) post a comment on any of WGB's videos ON MY CHANNEL on why you like WGB. Winner will be contact via PM on Youtube and posted on bulletin. http://www.youtube.com/user/drumsolo86?feature=mhee
