More than a thousand for a group that relies on looks? I mean seriously? It begs me to ask this question which probably would have been asked time and time again.
Why not the same type of support of local music?
I got +65 Indie Underground from Darkholme for X'mas 09. One of the best present I got.
It was a 2 CD album that contains songs from Singapore bands past and present. A must buy album I must say
+65 Indie Underground": a 3-CD set of recordings made in Singapore
Singapore music has indeed come a long way. How many of us would remember bands like Corporate Toil, fronted by Joe Ng (Yes that Joe Ng from Meepok Man) who later went on to front The Padres, Pagans, Opposition Party, Stomping Ground, Humback Oak, Concave Scream, The Crowd, The Oddfellows fronted by Patrick Chng who is another legend in Singapore Music. Also not forgetting the recent acts like West Grand Boulevard, Electrico and Ronin (no more already I know.)
The Padres (probably the first line-up)
How many of you know names like Ben Harrison, Suhaimi Subandi, Frightful Francis, Kevin Matthews on top of the fore mentioned Joe Ng and Patrick Chng. I do not know them personally, but I respect them in every way for their work done for the local music scene.
Of course there are the recent new acts like up and coming Amanda Tee, Ling Kai among others who were obviously shadowed by the Suns and Hos and Chuas.
Singapore music has been here for along time, so why are we not getting the support. Observations from trips like Thailand, Indonesia and Japan tells me that locals there strongly support their own music. Places like HMV, Tower Records and the big CD stores thrive on their local music scene. They dedicate one whole floor to selling their local products. In Singapore? I don't even see a corner.
Stereo Kinetic Spiral Dreams was the CD by The Pagans. I still have the Cd stored somewhere safe in my house.
Is there a reason there a reason behind this? I once read in a interview done with a fairly famous singer/songwriter in Singapore. He said something along the lines of Singapore music will never be popular if we keep calling it underground. I beg to differ, the reason why we still use the word underground is because of the lack of support.
Is there something we lack? We still have lots of bands out there who play good music comparable to your Kings of Leon or Paramore. The bottomline is we have got what it takes, we just lack the support of our own country.
So the next time you see a local video on youtube whiile surfing or album at any local stores, take sometime to take a listen to them.
Meanwhile check out this documentary done in Singapore titled "Radio Station Forgot to Play My Favourite Song" The titled is derived from a song from The Padres.
Also dont forget to purchase the +65 Indie Underground 3 Cd set. You can get it from here and all good music stores.
I hereby leave you with a classic song from the Padres, November'91
might as well leave you with another.. This is Still from Concave Scream.
Disclaimer : Pictures do not belong to me. They were taken off the +65 Indie Underground facebook group.
Special thanks to Patrick Chng for the photos uploaded there.
For more information on Singapore music. visit:
4 comments:
You just need to look at your own statement "Observations from trips like Thailand, Indonesia and Japan tells me that locals there strongly support their own music."
Thailand = in Thai
Indonesia = in Indonesian
Japan = in Japanese
Singapore = in English/Mandarin
For English, the acts are competing with the likes from US/UK and pretty much the whole world, unless local musicians are up there, otherwise, supporting local music for the sake of doing it is pretty much futile
Which is a valid, point, so does it mean language and identity plays a part in support?
nice post. i listened to the padres, have the album "night" too.
in my opinion, i think singaporeans are cultured in a way that they appreciate american-accented english music.
so sometimes it doesn't go down well with most listeners to hear local songs sung with a malay twang or chinese tongue.
next up, in an age of R&B and dance pop, guitar-driven music around the world is taking a huge blow. same goes for local guitar-driven music, considering we have tons of bands out there just struggling to get heard.
these days, the new media market is screwing things up a bit too. people are downloading stuff (for free most of the time), watching the good stuff they want to watch on youtube and all that. it's really tough for local bands to cut it.
the standards of musicianship (i.e. dumbed down pop music with dance or r&b flavour) and performance and aesthetics are raised so high it's really difficult for local acts to make a name for themselves.
the only critical mass of supporters you're gonna get are from the black skinny jeans-weaing, thick-framed spectacled lean-bodied indie youths.
support for local music has never been strong, even in the 90s. singaporeans are a tough crowd and aren't supportive on the whole. a local act will have to break their breaks many times over to win the over-rationalised singaporean's dollar and support.
hell, i'm a musician myself and i make guitar-driven band music, and i have lots of faith in my ability and songwriting craft. but i guess i'm just doing the wrong thing, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong life. it hurts, so for consolation, just get all the paper qualifications i can get and chase the 5 c's, because i know that music may barely put food on the table and may do jack for a retirement plan.
seeing that i could not post everything that i intend to narrate here, i've posted a link where you could.
it will be lengthy, but hear me out.
http://misinterpret.posterous.com/19-726
better days ahead.
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