Rebelsuite

Event Feature : From Here to Melbourne

Ronny from Plainsunset has been hard at work orchestrating this years best homegrown gig to say goodbye to his dearest Faye who is leaving for Melbourne to study. He has been able to summon the best of the best to turn up this Sunday, 28th June at the Homeclub.

The star studded homegrown lineup includes:

The Great Spy Experiement, B-Quartet, Plainsunset, West Grand Boulevard, Hear Me Toby, Amateur Takes Control 

You’ll be able to get more info on their tumblr or follow them on twitter!

See you there!

- JT

53A

After being in the local music for a while now, it amazes me to meet musicians who are in this industry solely for the passion. In Singapore, musicians rarely achieve the ultimate dream of money and rock stardom. So why do bands like 53A even bother?

The answer is pure, unadulterated passion. 

53A came from humble and unexpected beginnings. The lead singer, Sara Wee, and lead guitarist, Alvin Khoo, actually began as jazz performing duo ‘Sara and Alvin’ (or Alvin and Sara). They renamed themselves as 53A in 2007 after roping in Bani Hidir for Bass and Irwan Shah for drums.

It was a very clever move, because the sound they produce is excellent. They first caught RebelSuite’s attention at BeerFest. I remember turning to JT and saying: “They actually sound quite good”.

It’s apparent that we’re not the only ones that think so. They are quite active in the live band circuit around Singapore, frequenting Timbre @ Arts House on Tuesdays, Timber @ Old School on Thursdays, Wala Wala on Fridays. They recently started playing at BarNone on Wednesdays and Fridays and Acid Bar on Saturdays.

Yes, that’s pretty packed, so missing them is not an excuse. 

They also have a debut album, set to come out sometime next year. Needless to say, details are very much under wraps. However, RebelSuite was able to find out that it will feature original compositions from Sara, Alvin and Irwan. They are presently prodding Bani to write a few songs too.

Few of us ever follow our passions in life. 53A did and it may just be the recipe for happiness. All of them are presently in projects, all music related. Drummer, Irwan, even quit his job in Insurance to teach music full-time. Said Sara: “No matter what we’re doing, it’s going to be about music. It’s what we really like doing”.

- Cheryl Cheong

Rock the Sub : Weiwen Seah

Standing alone on Timbre’s warmly lit stage doing his sound check, Weiwen Seah barely turns any heads – until he starts to sing, that is. The sixteen year old was barely audibly introduced (we heard “Raymond Seah” and something about Taiwan) but had captured the attention of a sizeable portion of the Timbre crowd with his sound check alone.

He does his mandatory adlibbing after his first song and I cannot help but notice that his speaking voice is distinctly more reserved than his singing voice. In seconds, he makes the seamless transition from fish out of water to confident performer. But really, Weiwen has nothing to be shy about. His voice sits nicely with his style – an immediately identifiable meld of Mraz, Mayer and The Spill Canvas (I gave myself a pat on the back for correctly identifying these as his influences last night when I checked it against his MySpace this afternoon)

Though not quite commanding that much of a stage presence or roaring support from the crowd yet, there is still something about this boy. With a wealth of experience, a recording label behind him and an upcoming EP, it won’t be long before he starts finding his own sound and becomes something bigger. As Weiwen rightly puts it himself, “you know I’m worth waiting for…” He’s probably right.

- Beverly Wee

Rock the sub : Great Spy Experiment

For the last 2 years, the Substation and Timbre Music have collaborated to promote local indie music through the event Rock the Sub. Rock the Sub features veteran bands that have not only taken local indie scene by storm but have also made a name for themselves overseas such as Australia and America and also emerging young talents. One of such bands is The Great Spy Experiment. In just over three years, the band has gone from virtual unknowns to being to being indie rock stars, they have played in internationally renowned events such as the Baybeats, Singfest, Mosaic and ZoukOut festivals. In March 2007, the band travelled to the USA where they played an electrifying live performance at the South-by-Southwest Festival in Austin, as the first Singaporean representatives in the 21-year old event, as well as the San Antonio Indie Fest. In April 2007, The Great Spy experiment also performed at Singapore Day at New York’s Central Park. They have also since released a full length album, Flower Show Riots. I have to admit that I am a fan of them too. I have their album and love every track on it. At Rock the Sub, the band performed tracks off their album such as Class “A” Love affair , A Kind of Love, Flower Show Riots and Siti in the City. The band draw their musical influences from renown bands like Ash, The Killers, Mansun, Radiohead, Kent, Suede and Interpol. Their music is a tasteful musical fusion of electro pop and dance textures. When 5 of the band members are put together on one stage, they create music that speaks to fans of almost all the best genres: powerpop, indie, rock and dance. Do check them out at myspace and if any of you are interested in their music, their CDs are in major record stores or Straits Records located at Bali lane (Arab Street).

- Rebecca Sharon Fok

Datarock

Fa fa fa, fafa fa fa fa. Datarock hasn’t changed a bit since their last album 2 years ago. They are still the same 2 Norwegian cranks in their iconic red tracksuits bobbing to snappy lines and unexplainably disordered lyrics. 

Last album was filled with tacky likes like “we’re gonna give then we’ll receive”, this album, its no different. They got away with “we’ll hook you up with an enema, give it up! Ho ho ho ho.” It the same disarranged stuff with laser synths blazing away.

The duo was down at Zirca on the 2nd to promote their latest album Red. Playing for a little over an hour, the gig was highly energized with lots of bouncing about with hands high in the air. I’d swear that they were in Singapore in the early 90’s where the great Singapore workout was out in full force.

The performance was just like any other of their music videos, robo-inspired punk flops which great sync to the tacky lyrics. Kjetil Møster pulled out his sax for a couple tracks, which got the mainly aussie crowd off their feet. 

Towards the end, both of them were topless, showing off their golden-brown-salmon-poaching bear hair. The gig was awfully entertaining, sadly patronage could have been better if it were not a weekday.

Have a look at their music video from the latest album www.youtube.com/watch