Bands: Astroninja! Oh You’re So Ninja!

by Annabelle A. Dubois

This crazy bunch of pop-punkers have let known their handphone number. Awesomely put, they are the first band in the entire world to release their own private handphone number to their fans, receive SMSes, not to mention spams, and really really reply.

I tried. They did, sounding as crazily as ever although I wasn’t sure whether it was Levann’s answer or another group mate.

Revolutionary I would say. I mean usually one has to be a very close friend – like a manager, studio producer etc. – to be able to communicate with the band at that level. All this years girls have been shouting and screaming in vain and here, a band willingly gives them what they want.

However, the discovery of where exactly they gave away their phone number is not to be written here. Not that they restricted us but T.S.O.A would let the band keep their dignity by only having their closest fans who follow their progress to know and to get the number themselves.

The band has recently completed their album, and according to their Myspace blog:

“The mixes have been sent to the mastering studio, the prints have been sent to the shop, the hand written thank you notes are being scribbled!”

The album features 11 songs:

1. Cacophony
2. The Bukkake Udon Song
3. Anthem For The Ordinary
4. Holly Jean
5. Jess (Yes you, Jess!)
6. The Ballad Of Chuck Norris
7. I’m In Love With A Zombie
8. LucKY CuCumBer
9. YoYo Girl!
10. Teenage Masquerade
11. Thunder

The official availibility of the album has not been made known yet but it will be towards the end of September.

Till then, T.S.O.A wishes Astroninja all the best!

Review: Baybeats 2008

Well, I was supposed to post this like on Saturday but I had a headache from all the fun and gosh is this belated!

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Singapore, Esplanade Outdoor Theatre and Nokia Powerhouse – In support of Zaki Razali, I started my Baybeats journey with Peepshow’s performance at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre which was simply blissful for a fan of the band. They started off well and Zaki’s searching vocals and the magnificent work by bandmates and especially their wondrous keyboardist definitely had a good feel to it. It was just too bad the audience was seated. Nevertheless, the band did well for an outdoor performance with a seated audience.

Then there was Force Vomit. You got to give it to them for having a local flavour in their songs.

“They have a distinct sound, almost like you are seating under the block for a kerja kahwin [Malay wedding.." said a member of the crowd.

Certainly, they have much to say through their music but the long pauses in the middle of songs reserved for guitar works and solos did not manage to draw energy from the seemingly lacklustre crowd. C'mon crowd!

What definitely caught the crowd's attention was a band from KL, The Otherside Orchestra. The technically strong band with a pitch-perfect vocalist made up the best indie party band in possibly Asia, being compared to The Rapture. What with their hypnotic, pulsating keyboard/effects [there are two keyboards, one keyboardist was zany wacky groovy with his luminescent shades] and powerful drum rythms, the crowd could not resist from jiving in their seats. The vocalist reminded me of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Their stage presence was so awesomic that the crowd could be seen stomping their feet and head banging in rythm and echoes of “Hey! Hey! Hey!” to the beat of their songs could be heard. The band had an obvious international appeal despite Malay songs but it did not matter what they sang, the crowd was ready to party in their seats. Keyboards/Effects was entrancing, enhancing the overall feel. The smooth mix of synthesized sounds and the beats of the bass drum put the party in their groove. The Otherside Orchestra was a standing challenge to local bands in their own turf!

By Annabelle A. Dubois and M. Haziq B. Jani

Your Ticket To Happiness

Check it out!

Review: Astroninja [Punk / Pop Punk / Visual]

They’ve got an image and they’re unafraid to brandish it. Just look at their song title: “The Bukkake Udon Song”

Makes you wonder what they’re thinking.

Singaporean-flavored “ho sey ah” attitude echoes through their work with a smell of some Motley Crue and Sex Pistols minus the drugs. Wacky lyrics and nice tunes are a definite.

If you’re in the mood for the kind of punk that was in the old times but with a new taste, Astroninja is what locals can look forward too.

The “punk” here tastes good because it is not brought forward through in-your-face palm muteage but it is felt through the lyrics. Anyone can punk by palm muting and using the oh-so-familiar chord progression you hear in the likes of Blink 182, but to punk good, you gotta BE a punk and FEEL like a punk and LOOK like a punk. I’m not asking you to throw away the teenage-target-group albums. I’m only asking you to at least add “The Bukkake Udon Song” to your punk playlist so at least you’re not listening to different songs with the same style and chord progression.

Advice to punks out there, unless you got good stuff to talk about other than “falling in love” and “broken hearts”, the kinda stuff that kinda contradicts your image, spare us the rebellious “palm muting” and get a grip on your “oh so sad” life.

Back it up with the visual aspect of the band, this is good, Levann! Like it!

The Local Music Scene

Leonard Soosay, a prominent figure in local studios,  highlighted the following which I will summarize:

If I I make it big as a rock band in Singapore, I will have sold 2000 albums to a population of 4 000 000. Which is about 0.05% of the total population.

That will bring about $27 000 in album sales.

But consider an album every two years as the average, I will have $6 750 until the next album sale and $3 375 a year, making me poorer than Bangladeshi and McDonald’s workers!

“moving out of the country won’t solve the problem. Firstly, bands can’t afford the airfare. And secondly, prejudice. In the words of a president of a major record label overseas “how do you expect me to market and sell a bunch of asians to a country of whites and blacks when your own country doesn’t even support you. And selling 2000 copies of an album is just, laughable!” And kidpsy, how many great australian bands have you seen, that play night after night to crowds of a few hundred, that don’t even make it? Imagine a Singapore band doing that in Australia. I could get into how the american or australian music industry works, but that is a 4 year degree course in the music business, and this blog won’t have space.

The support has to come from home, where the prejudice is even more so. “local bands suck” and “sorry, but the band is made up of too many of the minority race which makes it harder to market and sell” are phrases usually associated with our local bands. A case in point: if the majority of Australian bands were aboriginal, would there be a thriving music scene in Australia? I know i’m opening pandora’s box here but the issue has to be dealt with and not shoved under the carpet.

Our government has stated it’s intention to turn Singapore into a life sciences biological hub and an arts hub, but try getting a grant from the National Arts Council, if you’re a rock or pop band, forget it.

A quick check into the statistics page of the National Arts Council would show that in the year 2006, 474,100 people attended music performances, 121,200 people attended dance performances, 574,200 people attended theatre performances and 120,900 people attended acrobatic arts and cultural performances. However, they clearly state in the statistics that “Pop and Rock concerts are not included”. Why so? i don’t know. Maybe the figure is too small to even make a statistic, or maybe because rock and pop aren’t considered art. (http://www.nac.gov.sg/mus/mus01.asp). Follow this link to find out what types of music is considered art, in our fine country.” – Leonard Soosay

Gosh…………

But money is obviously not what this is all about, Q.E.D., this bunch of people are vigilantes. WE ARE AN ART FORM. WE DON’T DO DRUGS IF THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT.

Would I be honoured if i was ever part of this revolutionary movement, If I was one of the few hopefuls who want to make a name for Singapore even if Singapore didn’t like us?

Yes

I

Would!

The Frustration

The need to look fresh and original in the local scene. It’s just pivotal and SO DIFFICULT. You And Whose Army has MUSE inspired songs, Electrico has a MUSE-ey one. Punk is in the scene but we’re NOT it, anyway Silhouette doesn’t sound so bad even though their vocalist is Malay and they’re singing punk. Big problem band, big problem. Really, it’s just a matter of time before someone comes up with what we have in mind. There are just SO MANY new bands, we have to be EXEMPLARY to stand out. Singapore’s scene is underground and hence it is also much harder although the good thing is it doesn’t have the high expectations like the Western scene which is more established. GOSH this way, even the B-sides must sound A-side!

Tighten up boys, tighten, we shall show them what chamber pop, the father of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and Vampire Weekend and Duffy has to show in the scene! Ravi Veloo wanted something new, i think we really need to listen to him now. It’s back to the blueprints!

When Rock Met Chamber Pop

I think I’m imposing some sort of creative control on my band. Let’s face it, I wrote the lyrics and I chose how I want to sing it and normally it works like Hotcakes and Painful Silence. Now, Ashri’s done some jazz chords and of course I pick them out immediatley and started to sync the lyrics with the music. It’s easy writing lyrics but making a song is goddamn difficult. The song we’re working on went through 2-3 different styles and chord progressions before we hit something that sounds right. I don’t want to be seen as a control freak but a band is like a relationship; sometimes you have to initiate. I think Ashri and Mahmud have got to tolerate my Jazz, Bossa, Classic, Indie, Reggae and Ska influence all under the big umbrella of chambre pop. With bands like The Killers, local acts Great Spy Experiment, Force vomit and Peepshow as well as The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys and even Duffy running through my playlist, there is alot of indie, brit and chamber pop influence in the way I think.

Of course I let them write their share with Mahmud coming up with Malay songs and the band originally having an alternative rock feel a la Chris Daughtry. I guess my interjection made the band move forward. I hope they tolerate my influence; and my eccentricity. I don’t want another Beatles-break-up scene even before we start recording proper. I must admit they have been very patient. Maybe someday they’ll like my kind of music too.

Listening is one thing, i’ll listen to techno. Appreciation is another; sometimes I just want to make sure whatever I’m listening to contains sweat and skin tearing not just pressing buttons – I’m sorry Shermaine if I forced you into MUSE and I myself can’t take One Republic and flo rider (?) that song rafay likes to sing. A long long long time ago, R&B was much more, in the indie scene way, “truthful”. Take Mary J. Blige’s One feat. U2.

Hey, I listen to Nina Simone, Joe Dassin and some french stuff even if I don’t understand the lyrics because you can feel their sincerity. Which is why, even though Buble has a very very nice voice, I prefer the originals.

Different taste is no reason for hatred. Just sulking whenever I hear “apple bottom jeans”. I think Sherice understands. AND HEY! I was once a fan of Black Eyed Peas.

When Ash and Rave [mahmud] thinks of our concerts, they visualize the mosh and the head banging. So do I, but I also picture the black piano with a polished-finish, the carpet, the chandelier, the exclusive 50-seater halls and the tours in hotels as well.

I take John Lennon as my major influence minus sex and drugs and Yoko Ono.
I make Paul McCartney his supplement in terms of style.
I enjoy the mystics of George Harrison.
I ensure I’m as down to earth as Ringo Starr, well not really.