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There are three things one may look for in a musician/band - good live shows, well produced album and personality. Cheating Sons passes all three criterias with flying colours.

The band exploded into the scene last year, practically a buzzword for the best local music has to offer and boy did they live up to it. From Baybeats in Singapore to Strawberry Festival in China, they proved their mettle with a relentless energy matched with their refreshing take on rock and roll.

Their music, a robust blend of anthemic hooks, melodies and signature banjo/guitar riffs, is made all the more poignant by the lyrics, which evokes a Bob Dylan-esque sensibility to the way it delivers stories of the common man. Songs like Out of a Job, Ah Long on the Run, The Kids Ain't Right from their debut album, Masters, Wives and Daughter, cuts into the mundane to deliver the raw emotion that is experienced in this city. Haunting but never pretentious, it is a narrative that is intrinsically local, yet relevant to the world in its themes on angst and heartbreak. Very much the band for people who are past the days of bourbon coke and now go straight for the whisky.

We caught up with the Cheating Sons in the videos below. Their album - Masters, Wives and Daughter is available at major record shops and on their bandcamp http://cheatingsons.bandcamp.com, where you can sample their music as well. Stay updated on their facebook, http://www.facebook.com/cheatingsons

Many thanks to Cream Pictures for the use of their premises.

Fans of local indie music will be no strangers to Lunarin. The power packed trio comprises of Linda Ong on bass and vocals, guitarist Ho Kah Wye and Loo Eng Teck, drummer/pianist. Part progressive rock, accentuated with unyielding metal influences and branded with Linda's distinctive vocals, Lunarin has proved its mettle not only in its staying power, but also in carving out a niche in the scene with a definitive sound that cannot be easily mistaken. It really does not matter what you drink to Lunarin, as long as you rock out.

Hidden in the compounds of Republic Polytechnic is a rehearsal room in its Cultural Centre. It is filled with gongs of majestic proportions, part of a gamelan ensemble which is brought to life every week by traditional and fusion troupes which practise there.

_Plainsunset

"We don't have a touring industry, we can't go out on the road, where you want to play? Pasir Panjang? Bukit Ho Swee?" quipped Daniel Sassoon in our panel discussion on local indie music.

Well maybe not yet, but some bands can now tick Tiong Bahru off the list.

Hear ye hear ye! Baybeats, Singapore's largest indie music festival, is upon us once more!

The boys from A Town in Fear settled into the interview, all having rushed down from different locations. Like many bands here, this was time given after a hard day's work. They write and play hardcore music, a genre most might typify with images of rowdy moshpits, tattooed torsos and complex melodies played to chaotic rythm and screaming guitars.

It can be quite polarising at first sight, specially if one is not inclined to such forms of expression. But in reality, hardcore and metal is not as frightening as the imagery that represents it. In fact, the stronghold for the genre has always been defined by a message of strength and community, kept alive by an unrelentingly roar of a sound.

Guitarist Wayne, for example, attests to the positive nature of hardcore metal, quoting the influences of straight edge, a subculture born out of a rebellion against the hedonism of punk rock, as a motivation to his own resolve to be a vegan and stay away from alcohol. So really, one ought to be proud to have a metalhead son.

Good times were had, as we picked the brains of four out of the five who make up this promising young band, with what I think is an album that is worth anticipating, based on the tracks made available so far.

Find out in the videos below, about how they started, what they hope for and their thoughts on the Backstreet Boys.

Wait... "stay away from alcohol"? :(

Find out more about A Town in Fear on:

www.facebook.com/atowninfear
www.myspace.com/atowninfear
www.atowninfear.bigcartel.com
www.atowninfear.bandcamp.com
www.atowninfear.tumblr.com
www.twitter.com/atowninfear

Baybeats is on from 29th to 31st June 2012 at the Esplanade.

Thanks to Hermione, housemates and Chewy the cat for letting us use their lovely apartment.

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Like a shot of strong tequila, Black Diamond Folds' music burns with a sort of matured melancholia that alludes to those moments of intense solitude and introspection we all have at some point in our lives. Coupled with the able musicianship of members from local legends like Fishtank, Sideshow Judy and various other bands who have made their mark in the scene, the result is a repertoire that is both nostalgic and fresh in this current musical landscape.

By Biddy Low and Stacy Ooi

It is hard to break into the music industry. It is even harder when the music industry is almost non-existent. Newbie bands/musicians in Singapore will need all the ammunition they can get and "How to get started in the music industry" provided it through insight into the fledgling local music industry as it aims to catch up with its international counterparts.

The panel, consisting of Saiful Idris of The Great Spy Experiment, Ian Toh, the principal of Thunder Rock School, Roland Lim of Sync recording studios and Syaheed from The Bedsty Group, shared their experiences and many, MANY pet peeves developed along the way with moderator Willy Tan, part of Aging Youth which organised this event.

And it is clearly not a gathering for hobbyists looking to twang on their instruments over the weekends to blow off some steam. This is for those who are in it for rizzles. The information gleaned from the event was a mixed bag of industry practices, expectations and songwriting strategy, all aiming at commercial success in one form or the other.

"Visions have to be grand." Says Saiful, he attributes having a clear vision of the band's creative and business direction as a major driving force in its success. It is also essential for everyone including the manager and team involved to be aligned to this direction right from the beginning. Together with Electrico before them, Great Spy has successfully squeezed itself into that yummy cusp which encircles both the "indie" genre as well as commercial viability. They are headline acts which draw crowds and are able to comfortably command a decent fee for a performance without organisers going "who do they think they are?".

How did a band which started out playing for a measly $80 a show get to play for 4 figure sums now? There is no sure way, but Great Spy seems to have achieved it by maintaining a high level of professionalism, putting serious effort into their songwriting process and picking the right shows for themselves. Their manager, Mike See, plays an integral role in everything outside of the creative process. He tends to emails, negotiates rates with gig organisers and the band is able to fully focus on their craft because of it.

The panel is essentially in agreement with the importance of good management. Syaheed, who manages musicians and bands such as Sixx, Kevin Lester and Singapore Idol winner Sezairi Sezali, emphasizes on the importance of choosing the right manager.

" The artiste manager must understand the band."

It is not enough to have representation, it must be the right representation. A good manager is someone whom the band can trust with their earnings as well as their branding. Someone who successfully manages metal acts for example may not be able to help singer songwriters or hip hop groups. Although it might be a fun ride to see how that turns out, for bands who want to go far and be connected to the right stage and demographics, having a manager does not guarantee success, in fact, according to Ian who recalls his own experience with bad management, having a bad manager can prove to be detrimental to the band's progress and leave you bitter for a long time.

Which is why in many ways, self management as a starting point is advisable, given that good managers are hard to find or overloaded and unable to take in more artistes. To this, Syaheed suggests interning with management groups such as his to learn the tricks of the trade. Use the experience to market the band with the aid of social media and other creative solutions which help circumvent the difficulties faced by musicians with no budget. Once a certain level of exposure is attained, it may in fact be easier to attract a good manager. " Give a s*** about your own success first and it’ll be easier to find a manager. It’s a chicken-egg thing." Explains Roland.

The panel also touched on what it means to be a musician. Why it is important to have strong internal quality control, while maintaining a balance between artistic expression and the music's ability to appeal to the masses. "(If you think) guitar drums bass vocals is enough – you gonna be f**ked man." explains Willy, driving through the point that music needs to derive from an identity beyond having a band, but also what the band is about and how that is reflected in the songs and performances. While the approach to crafting a good song differs with each panelist - some see no issue with borrowed elements from popular music, others seek out inspiration and prefer to see their music come from a more organic source, dedication and commitment to creating music that one believes in is the order of the day.

Says Saiful, " If you don’t love your songs you will never get other people to love them."

Stay tuned for part II of this coverage, where the panelists talk about what is wrong with local musicians and deal out some tough love.

Check out http://agingyouth.com/ for updates on future events.

The term "Passion" gets thrown around in creative fields left right and center as a primary motivator to "keep on keeping on".  But as the panelists at " How to get started in the music industry" started building upon each other's  tips and rants on recording and gigs, it became clear that it is not the only or even most important factor, probably just the most romantic.

Developing the passion, putting the band together and writing songs is just the beginning.  Producing a good album goes beyond these preliminary steps, it requires an acumen for sound, self awareness and discipline.

Panelists emphasised on the importance of being physically and mentally prepared for recording. Noting that many young bands often turn up for recording unprepared or in bad form, the panel did a run through on what one should always do before going into the studio to record that all important track:

Guitarists

Practice the heck out of your part, WITH A METRONOME.

Tune your guitars beforehand, and change your strings, especially if they look like they belong with the rusty wreckage of the Titanic.

Vocalists

Avoid foods that will irritate and compromise your vocals. Or if you are like panelist Saiful Idris of the Great Spy Experiment, buck the trend and load up on the sambal for that raspy rockstar tone.

Practice your enunciation and projection.

Don't just sing well, sing with emotion and personality.

Drummers

Avoid overplaying.

In what moderator Willy Tan of Aging Youth likes to call the "HDB Drummer Syndrome", there is a tendency to let loose too much in the unconstrained space of a studio, resulting in a straight succession of rolls and fills with no discernable beat that may be required for the song in question.  "Unless you are a hardcore band, playing in a hardcore gig, tone it down."

For bands or musicians who are strapped for cash but still want the best sound possible, Roland Lim of Sync Recording Studios recommends recording a single with a higher end producer, and then going to less established studios to record full length albums, with that single as a point of reference.  Not only is this more cost effective, it encourages new producers to meet up with the standards of the experts in the field. Everybody wins.

Lastly, it is important to review the mix using different speakers, added Syaheed of Bedsty group, to ensure that the sound is consistent regardless of where it's played.

"You are your business, you do not have to be under a major label to succeed anymore." He continued.

Indeed, given the availability of online platforms and independent events to play at, there is no lack of chances for exposure, and opportunities to reach out and build a fanbase. But at the end of the day, it is the music the artiste produces and stands by that defines the substance of the scene. Whether it is developing a set of work ethics and expectations to performances and recordings, understanding your marketability or knowing how to forge good working relationships with sound guys ( always be nice to the sound guy) and industry players, how you present your music to the world is quite an artform in itself.

Passion is just the beginning. But there is much fortitude required to stay in the game.

Are you ready to get started with the music industry?

Read the first part on the forum here.

Check out http://agingyouth.com/ for updates on future events.

Register your music at http://www.compass.org.sg/ to earn royalties each time it's played.

How much does it take to bring a Singaporean band to the stage of SXSW in Texas?

Apparently enough to make a movie out of.

Singapore's first full length music documentary is helmed by two first time film-makers -  Helmi Ali and Razin Ramzi. A two year labour of love, it follows the trials and tribulations of popular local shoegaze band - I am David Sparkle as they race against time to make it to their big show.

This is an encore screening following the film's successful premiere at the recent Singapore International Film Festival. Do not miss it a second time!

Ignore All Detour Signs featuring I AM DAVID SPARKLE

Date: 14 Oct 2011, Friday

Venue: SINEMA, Old School

Time: 8:30pm (duration 55mins)

Ticket price: $10

Watch the trailer here. ( or scroll down to view)

Buy the tickets here.

You may have to watch this video first before you fully get what Shelves is about.

It's impressive for a few reasons. It's shot and edited with a very professional touch; lead singer Noel Yeo fended off the hawker food melee with an affably steely gaze and a complete lack of vanity.

But more importantly, it reinforced the message of the song. A globally intrinsic sense of defiance against the odds, set in a definitively local context. (For this writer anyway, her Singaporean heart ached at the sacrifice of what appears to be a well made cup of kopi O in the video.)

Meet Noel Yeo ( Vocals), Mel Ho (Guitar),  Brian Leery(Bass Guitar) and Robin Chua ( Drums), the men behind the powerpop quartet:

You guys are all veterans of the scene and mostly family men, what made you start your first band/music project and what motivated this renewed gathering with Shelves?

Mel: Allow me to clarify please, Shelves isn't a renewed gathering of any sorts. We are a new set up. The idea was to get a band together, record an album and have a memento for keepsake. Everything else after that was unplanned, if we might say, a bonus.

Brian: The motivation for getting together with Shelves is that I get to play bass for legends, and they get to make fun of me.

Noel: Although I stopped writing or performing music for a decade, I never stopped listening to it, especially new music. Craved it. Eventually it became a question of whether I wanted to continue to be an observor or be back as a participator. Watching at the sidelines is rewarding enough, but to play and sing and write and shout and laugh with like-minds is like nothing else in the world.

When was the album produced? Any memorable moments during the recording to share?

Robin: The recording started late 2010, & carried on into 2011 with me laying down the drum tracks first. My "memorable" moment was during the first drum recording session when I injured my ankle because the drum stool fell on it. It happened when I was lifting it, not realizing that it wasn't secure. Not exactly a good sign to start with, but I had to push on for the recording. Thankfully, I managed to nail down eight tracks that day. Could have gone on to do more but I forgot to bring my cowbell for "Killer Concern". (Biddy: Cowbell is important.)

Mel: Vaguely we started close to 2 years ago but everything started coming together in the last 6 months of it. That was the real memorable part, watching it come alive. The album was deemed release worthy in the first quarter of 2012.

Brian: One memorable moment was when I was tracking in Noel's Loft, and he was wearing an eyepatch. So much for depth perception.

Noel: It started fairly early, two years ago, probably, but everything sped up towards the end when we realised we were performing more and more songs that weren’t gonna be on the album! So to save ourselves from embarassment, we quickly finished it as well as we could. Everything ramped up when Patrick Chng agreed to mix our album. He’s a local music legend by every definition and he loves power pop so we know he’d get what we’re trying to do, and he did!

What are the songs and inspirations behind the song?

Brian: We play the kind of music that we wouldn't mind listening to over and over again. Even if parents cover their babies' ears in mock horror at our fuzz-ridden guitar riffs.

Noel: Songs are about what’s going on in my head at that time. Often it’s a melody or riff first. Lyrics only come later. I struggle with lyrics, actually. I envy people who can freestyle. Maybe I need to take freestyle classes. That’s not very cool is it? To take classes for that?

The video for Against the Wall, who came up with the idea and what in your own words is it supposed to symbolise?

Robin: Noel... :-)

Mel: It was 100% Noel's idea conceptually from the start. Pretty brilliant I must say.

Brian: Noel... :-) Remember, DEFIANCE.

Noel: It started from a panic when we didn’t think we were going to have a video for our album launch tour. (We eventually did with ‘She Wakes Up To (The Beat)’ by Rayner Lim in collaboration with Lomography Singapore.) Anyway, needed something easy to pull off in a few days that didn’t require the entire band. I remembered my nose bleeds easily, and I thought that might be cool to watch on film. (That didn’t happen because none of my mates actually punched me in the nose!) The brief to the crew was really one word: Defiance. It has got to feel like a defying of all the put-downs, "no’s", obstacles, everything in our way. It’s the first song off the album, and it felt like the perfect introduction of a band some may have discounted because we aren’t technically new.

Qn: Discounted? I would think not being technically new is a strength...

Noel: Think there's a bit of ageism in music. Older folks aren't expected to come up with a new sound. So to have been around might not be as exciting to watch as someone new.

What's the best thing about being in the band?

Robin: Get to drum with wild abandon again. And being noisy musically.

Mel: The fact that we have 4 very different personalities and backgrounds all come together and connect on the same level. That's a beautiful thing.

Brian: You're pretty much sorted if you're wondering what to do with any free time, you meet great people, you get to stay out late and have an official excuse to party like a rockstar (without needing to be an ace geologist) and best of all, you get to do something that matters.

Noel: You know how in your day you have doubts? Or sometimes worry about the future? Am beginning to sound like an insurance ad, but really, it’s the only time in the day––when playing in a band––that I’m completely living in the present. At the risk of sounding like a douche for quoting a Shelves song, I mean it when I wrote, “There’s nowhere I’d rather be, than to be right here.”

What difficulties are there?

Robin: Not really considered as difficulties, but we all do have our families & other commitments, so getting together can sometimes be a challenge. But when we do meet up, every minute counts & that's precious to me. Unlike years ago when youth was on our side we tend to be a bit frivolous with our time. Now we're more measured.

Mel: Being in a band as adults living in a society like Singapore - its a choice. With every choice comes commitment and pain, if we saw every little obstruction along the way as a 'difficulty' then why bother making that decision to play music in the first place?

Brian: This depends on how you choose to measure your success. A band should always strive to achieve its goals, no matter what they are, no matter how difficult it is. So I'd say, planning and committing to attainable goals is the difficulty. How much is too much, and how much is too little?

Noel: Time. Then making sure the time you do have for music happens to coincide with everyone else’s time. It’s a miracle we could even make it work.

Do you think "local" is a dirty word? As in when a person says "local music", how do you feel? And why?

Robin: Nothing wrong with the word. Just the impression it sometimes give. Problem is a lot of artistes tend to worry about getting support when they should work at their craft first. Let their music speak for themselves, y'know? Push themselves to see how far they can go. Don't whine so much.

Mel: Doesn't matter really, local is subjective to where one is anyway. Likewise, a good song is a good song, its formats of representation make no difference. We're just happy to be making the music we love.

Brian: When a Singaporean tells me about local music, I know they're talking about Singaporean-written music. All music is local, and some music is global. I think people who like or dislike local music have certain pre-concieved notions, but at its heart, I think people either like your music or they don't. So no, I don't think "local" is a dirty word. Maybe if we did something that made everyone like or care about, then there wouldn't be those negative emotions that sometimes get associated with the word, "local". However, for perspective, being involved with Singapore's indie scene for such a long time, I think everyone in the band is immensely proud of Singapore's indie bands, and since we were willing to give it a shot, we secretly hope that more Singaporeans would give themselves a chance!

Noel: Music is music. Don’t think there should be boundaries. Where does it all end? Should we also promote Toa Payoh music? Or Jurong East music? Where does it all end? Bedok North Ave 3 Block 8? I believe that if your music is honest and true, it would naturally reflect where you come from and how you were brought up. If you are a true Singaporean son (Biddy: Ahem... or daughter.), your music would be local music.

When's the next gig?

Robin: There's one in May where we're playing The Pigeonhole, with Novak (featuring Max Ho, who's Melvin's brother).

Mel: After the performance in May and the band will be taking a short break after.

Brian: After promoting the debut album rather rigorously, we're thinking of recharging over June and July, head back to the rehearsal studios in August and start writing new songs and start gigging again after that!

Noel: It’s also a showcase of the drawings by Amanda K. Ang. Then we take a short break.

Who are your influences?

Robin: I'm quite an eclectic kinda person, so anything I listen to will definitely go into my playing. Sometimes it could be a rhythm pattern from a dub track. Or it could be how a guitar riff is structured that will affect how I drum. But I also adore drummers like John Bonham & Dave Grohl.

Mel: We knock a lot of ideas off one another actually, not sure if our individual personal influences show up in our playing...

Brian: John McVie of Fleetwood Mac influences me in almost everything I write on bass. Is it melodic, is it rhythmic? Does it add a songwriter's touch to the song or does it take something away? My lines may not sound like his, but I try to channel the thinking process when I write my parts. Bands without bass players also influence me (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Black Keys. etc), because I notice how they write without basslines, and they're usually very good songs! If I can't add to a song, there's no point playing on it. I think that sort of simplicity also adds to the appeal of SHELVES' music. John Maeda, a rather famous graphic designer known for his work in creating complex visual pieces using algorithms also famously said, "The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction." Long story short, so many things influence us because we consume so much creative information, but how we distill all that and then write music for SHELVES is really thoughtful reduction of what we know with the available materials at the time.

Noel: Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, and all of its power pop bethrens. Didn’t even realise that a lot of the music I enjoyed was called power pop till someone told me it was power pop. Pavement was also a huge influence. More than any other band, made me realise that being punk was an attitude and not how you look. If you could rock wearing a long sleeved shirt with a buttoned-down collar, then man, you really can rock.

Qn: Why the name Shelves?

Noel: No real meaning here. Wanted as plain a name as possible, without a hint of machismo in it. That way the music can start to define it. Same with Pavement, which was essentially meaningless until the music of Pavement defined it.

Shelves will be playing at the Pigeonhole on the 19th May in An Everyday Muse x A Family Affair, alongside local Brit pop/boyband inspired act Novak and the art work of Amanda K Ang.

They are also currently garnering votes for a chance to play in Germany along with many other local bands. Check it out and lend your support.

Find out more from their official website: http://shelvestheband.com/
or Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/shelvestheband?ref=ts

Sample or buy their album ( which is available in digital download or vinyl) at http://shelves.bandcamp.com/
or http://booksactually.com/index/flagship.html and http://thepigeonhole.com.sg/