The incident was an over a year or two ago when I listened to the album World Grooves by Putumayo. During that time world music selection was not all that varied plus the number of nightspots who were brave enough to venture there were close to none. It was my first introduction to world music from putumayo, one that I have been able to happily indulge myself again at Putumayo music’s 15th anniversary.

I was able to sample some of the sounds from the amazing new compilation African Party. The album itself is a colorful mix of music from South Africa all the way to Ivory Coast, a blend of the old & new. I found the music so infectious that I was playing it all the time on my music machine.

Raised in multicultural India, music has been something that has had a profound significance to my life & has transcended borders & Africa is home to some of the best music in the world.

I have always believed that art needs strife & Africa has more than it’s fair share of it. So the music that comes out of the continent is soulful & original.

Even though the majority of us myself included may not be able to understand the songs, the beauty of the music is hard to escape.

Listening to the African Dance Party compilation made me look up some of the names on the internet…. Some names are not really out there yet. The names that are there amazed me with the simplicity & originality of the music & visual accompaniments.

This is definitely an album you should check out. I got mine from Borders @ Wheelock place.

I will be having an interview with one of the artists pretty soon. Watch this space.

Get the album online Amazon or the Putumayo site.

Get it in Singapore at Borders.

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I was still soaking in the realization of having completed my first interview. I know not for sure this unfamiliar feeling but I relate it to what an overachieving bookworm of a teacher’s pet must feel like upon completing an Everest of ten-years ‘O’ level series in a day.

Before I could soak any more, I was summoned to chase another interview by my editor. Not one to sit back and relax (Ha! A joke!), I hunted down Singapore’s very own West Grand Boulevard for an interview and they graciously complied. With a wicked sound and attitudes to match (which I soon found out), it’s no wonder this band is synonymous with good Indie rock

Varian: Whew! Big thanks for doing the interview guys. Alright, let’s get down to brass (heh heh, bras-s) tacks.

Dharma: I play some geetar and sing backing vocals.
Jude: I play some bass and kick everyone’s ass in the band.
Syed: I play ze drums.
Erik: Guitar.
Bryan: I’m the main vocal-er and the guy who suffers serious convulsions on stage.

V: Hmm, you should see a doctor for that. So how was West Grand Boulevard formed?

Jude: Well I was in another band called Dead End and Erik, the other guitarist, formed, well yeah, West Grand with Dharma. And they kinda needed a bassist so he asked me and I joined.
Syed: I came in much later into the band.
Bryan: We’re a collaboration of many bands that started out in the humble abode of a mama shop/studio at Leng Ann’s in Commonwealth Ave. Played drums and backing vox with both Erik and Jude in our pop/punk band Dead End. Erik asked to try out for fun and it took off from there onwards.

Varian: Perfect timing eh? How would you express your brand of music definitively?

Dharma: Country ballad.
Jude: Sound of sex from dusk till dawn.
Syed: Like Thai green curry. Spicy, but sweet at the same time.
Erik: Different.
Bryan: Power-poppy-metal-indie-groove, and that’s one word.

Varian: Way groovy, man. So why is West Grand Boulevard performing for Love is Indie Air?

Erik: Great line-up.
Syed: Art and music together. What better combination is there?
Bryan: I’m with Erik and Syed on this one.

Varian: I’m siding with you guys too. Amen. What’s your cause of choice to promote during the event?

WGB: Cross-genre, cross-cultural, cross-medium love. Support creativity, passion and hard work.

Varian: Love! Just like the event (Love Is Indie Air) is named! Speaking of which, what is your biggest love?

Erik: Music….second only to love for girlfriend and family.
Jude: Friends, music, family, DOTA, DOTA, DOTA.
Dharma: Good music and great friendships.
Syed: Friends, family, music.
Bryan: Friends, family, music, cooking good food, eating good food.

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Recently, I managed to catch up with Giants Must Fall, one of our most promising local Indie bands. I took a swig from the emptying-way-too-fast Chivas bottle within reach to steady my nerves. The band was busy revving up for Love Is Indie Air but I did get in touch with the effervescent Jean Low. Here’s how it went:

Varian: Thanks for doing the interview! Right then, who plays what?
Jean: I sing and play guitar, Gab plays the bass and dances like Mr Bean, Gerald plays the drums and triangle, Kelvin (who has replaced Jon Leong) on lead guitar and his low, low voice.

V: Sorry, another unavoidable question. Why the band name?
J: Derived from a sermon we heard at church. It circles around the concept of having giants in our lives that hold us back, that keep us tied down, and to release ourselves so that we may achieve our intended purpose. Those giants must fall, thus the name!

V: Very interesting. How would you describe your sound in your own words?
J: Our music is…a message. It’s messages in every note, every tone we play. Not just tunes, not just melodies but always something deeper infused in.

V: As simple as that huh? –laughs- And which cause will you be pushing for the event?
J: Probably To Write Love On Her Arms. Can’t really call it a cause but it’s a really cool movement we support even though it’s not local but applies to everyone alike.

V: Love is indie air indeed. Are Giants Must Fall performing (regularly) anywhere at the moment?
J: Nope. We do a couple of gigs a month unfortunately. Too many regular gigs here involve top40 songs which we aren’t that good at playing.

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Marathon runners. What stamina. What determination. What sweat. How do they do it? I ask this because at the exact (I use this term broadly of course) moment I hit “send”, yet one more interview plopped into my lap. “Get the interview”, the booming voice suddenly erupted. “Get it done and get it done NOW”, the voice commanded and the heavens rumbled. I nearly shat my pants. Lucky for me, colourful and funny frontman Rizman Putra of Tiramisu had just enough time for a quick Q & A bout. In next to no time, I saw why Tiramisu is becoming, if not already, a staple for local music lovers:

Varian: Just what exactly is a Tiramisu?
Rizman: Tiramisu is Noorazlan Misnan aka Lan Cum (bass), Keith Su aka Dr Soos (vocals, guitar), Syed Ahmad aka Bobo (drums), Athif aka Gained Tail (guitar), and Rizman Putra
aka Woom-ber-the3x (vocals).

V: This one’s a standard. How did all of you come up with the band name?
R: Most of us are half-Italians and we love the dessert so much that one of the band members got choked on the cocoa powder while eating it. Hence, the name.

V: Ah, good ol’ friends. Describe Tiramisu’s musical style.
R: We sound like a mutated animal with 2 legs, a hairy tail, a mullet, one eye and a broken banjo.

V: That sounds like something out of a Mary Shelley book. I understand that each band is voicing out a cause for the event. What cause will the group be promoting?
R: Love is real, real love, and love is in the air. All we have to do is breathe…

V: -inhales deeply- Yup, it’s unmistakable that Love Is Indie Air. Of all the gigs, which one tops the list?
R: Our London gig in 2005 because it was in London. It was a dream come true.

V: Tell me something about this “bad side of the music business” that we (everyone outside the music scene) so often hear about.
R: Organizers paying peanuts to local bands and paying triple for foreign bands.

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I recently sat down with nightsound+ for a look at this band’s stuff, this is what they had to say:-

TAI: How did you come up with the name of your group Nightsound?
NEIL: Nightsound was just a catch phrase back in school that we used for a school project. Not anything meaningful, but we just needed a name. Stuck with it since?
EUGE: Sorry, no comments. I’m only the cool bass player. *smile*
K: cuz we be nocturnal creatures of the night that function dependently on post-supper coffee.
ALAN: “Daysound” just doesn’t sound right.
XR: I think it was at night.

TAI: Tell us a memory of one of your live performances that you just can’t forget.
NEIL: Performance? Arts House Playden where we were playing with all kinds of musicians like Edmund on sax, Luke on percussions, the Fritz Quartet, and guess what? Taisuke Yamamoto, all the way from the Indian Ocean island of ChaCha who did a rap for us!
EUGE: I would have to agree with Neil on this. The Arts House Playden gig rocked! With all the talented people working on this show? It would have definitely made the republic of the “red dot” proud.
K: err…read the above.
ALAN: Yep it was one hell of a show with all the participating musicians rocking just above a restaurant.
XR: All the happiness, we’ll soon forget… all the promises…that we break…it comes around in time…

TAI: If you had to force Gandhi to fight you, how would you taunt him?
NEIL: Ow… Your last sentence nearly got me lethal…
EUGE: Knuckle his head.
K: use his bald head as a mirror whilst I brush me teeth.
ALAN: Pronounce his name as “Ghand Hai”?
XR: Why would i want Gandhi to fight me??!

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Hi Peeps, here we are with Singapore based Swiss DJ & Producer Saint Laurent to check out if he feels the shizz…

George: If you blend a cow with cucumber, times it by 1024062 multiply it by centrifugal gravity what would you get?
SAINT: a record!

George: who are you? what do you do?
SAINT: preacher of the sounds of music

George: Describe your music style?
SAINT: That’s a hard question… I love to play everything that has a nice electro sound and that has something unique like my favorite song of the moment: “So It Goes” from “Bart B More”. I particulary like “Switch” for his style. The music i play can go from electro house to minimal or electornica without forgetting some deep, funky, disco house. I actually hate mixing commercial music but I often have to because of the crowd and the organisators who don’t really give me a choice.

George: Major influences to your music?
SAINT: My entourage; everything i see or hear gives me inspiration for my productions. I have to admit that a lot of my influences come from people i experienced something with; this explains the names of my songs like “Tashou” or “Sophie Mania”. When it comes to mixing my main influences are Brendon P. (DJ of Velvet Underground) who introduced me to mixing, Joachim Garraud who has showed me that being a DJ is also being a musician and the crowd which guide me throughout my mix.

George: what according to you is the state of music in Singapore & its clubbing scene?
SAINT: I have to say the clubbing scene is amazing! Almost every week there’s a world famous DJ in town that pumps up the crowd! The only bad thing about the clubbing scene is the crowd; it’s rare to find clubbers that actually know what they are dancing on. Music in Singapore is not that great but it’s getting better. It’s too much about the money and not the quality when it comes to local performances.

George: What gonna be new with you in terms of future collaborations?
SAINT: Well right now I’m quite busy with school but I’ll probably use my december holidays to produce some new songs for the label I’m currently on: Dustpan Recordings. I also intend to release next year a Progressive House EP under a label which is owned by one of my DJ friend Seng Wei. Next year, during my National Service in Switzerland I’ll try to get a residency in a good club in one of the big cities of the country and keep on producing.

George: What was your Grandma’s favorite song?
SAINT: I wish it could have been one of my songs

George: if you were a homosexual who would be your partner?
SAINT: Bob Sinclar. If he would ditch me for his wife i’ld go for Victor, my frenchie!

George: what would your tombstone read?
SAINT: “dont dig me up, i didnt die rich , you woun’t find any jewelry on me.”

George: your favorite drink?
SAINT: Rivella, a Swiss drink.I love taking it when i come back from a crazy night

George: who is the coolest dude with sunglasses on?
SAINT: Tiga

George: you are most likely to get caught for……
SAINT: flirting with women police officers

George: why should I come to hear you spin, is it worth it?
SAINT: To see someone doing what he loves and to release yourself on good electro sounds. Then it is for you to judge if that’s worth it.

George: where do you wish you were right now?
SAINT: With Tash on the sofa, watching a movie.

George: leather, lace or handcuffs?
SAINT: leather & lace

Peace out peeps, shizzzzzzzzzzzzz.

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Do you need a helping hand to cross the road?

Do you need someone to decide what you’re gonna eat at the restaurant?

Of course not, but its crazy to see music listeners eating anything that’s put on their plate - artistically, creatively & musically.

I hate the Pussycat Dolls. I heard one of them was a lady-boy, not that it makes much difference to their music, I hate Mariah Carey and other pop singers “yo!-yo!-ing” in their crap collaborations with rappers.

I think all of that is as gay as Elton John joining the Bolshoi Ballet.

But I sat in my toilet for a couple minutes and pondered the question “why do I hate all of it?” and I came to the conclusion that these “musicians” people have lost their musical “juice”, that mojo, that energy, which makes everyone who listens to it want to join in for the adventure and dream.

You see it’s all about being Human, be YOURSELF.

It’s about standing on the street trying to sell your CD’s, its forcing people to come to your shows, designing and printing your own flyers.

It’s not about the brand clothes or the rented Porsche car in the MTV video’s and compromising your music so some 14 year old girl can Harlem shake to it in her room!
I’m on the search for the real, the original, the innovative innit. Imma bring you the independent scene of Singapore and beyond, and show you what music is, and what you’ve been missing.

-so make sure you keep in touch like a stalker-

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