Youth.SG predict a good year for these smashing acts!
PHOROUS
It all started with a collaboration between then SteelCitySkies guitarist Fuzz Lee and then drummer/ bassist MC Vijay Singh in 2002. They decided that their music was pretty different from the ‘local’ sound, then roped in Electrico‘s Desmond Goh to play bass. When Desmond decided that he’d much rather flank the guitar, he made his transition and they found a worthy replacement in bassist Jeremy Lee from NVRLRN. The band came up with the name Phorous (pronounced as Foress) when Desmond joined them. Nevertheless, as they all say, the rest is history. When Phorous is in the house, art, improvisation and pop collide, ‘nuff said.
This year, Phorus will be looking out for…
Upcoming gigs from Canadian indie band Broken Social Scene, French minimalist Sylvain Chaveau and electronic mistress Colleen; The Observatory’s next project. The band also hopes that rumours of Japanese electronic pop duo Yanokami coming here are true.
They will be busy with…
Finishing their next album
Gemini; working on their “other bands and projects”; plus, plans for collaboration with Japanese musicians are on the way!
Check out the band’s music on MySpace at
www.myspace.com/phorousp and their website at
www.phorous.com.
LEESON
Formed in 2004, the band consist of Gerald Teo and Thomas Wu on guitars, Jamie Michael on vocals, Brian Koh on bass and Mark Cheng on drums. They released the EP Hero Music in early 2005. The original trio Thomas, Brian and Gerald have played together since 1998 when they banded up for a school concert. Jamie and Mark came in later when Leeson was formed.
This year, Leeson will be looking out for…
Plain Sunset, the comeback kings who are releasing a new album this year; B-Quartet, also releasing an album pretty soon; The Fire Fight, who, according to Gerald are Singapore’s answer to Bloc Party.
They will be busy with…
Their individual day jobs. However, Gerald assures us that the band will continue to “become the biggest band in the world (after Spinal Tap that is)”.
Check out Leeson on MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/leesonsg and their website at
http://leesonband.com.
THE MARILYNS
Made up of Aza TL on vocals, Kai on bass, Anne on keyboards, Sham on drums and Izrin on guitar, the band goes way back in 1996 (they are as old as Electrico!). Since then, the band have moved away from their previous indie-funk fused sound and improved their music (sound) throughout the years with jangly, mellow indie-pop with vocals their songs sung in Malay and English, which they are now more comfortable and confident with. Currently promoting their Malay songs though, the dexterous quintet are also equally adept at playing their English-sung numbers.
S.P.O.N.G.E are made up of Mohamed Rahmat on vocals, Kenneth Tan on lead guitars, Nor Syafiq on rhythm guitars, Muhammad Syairazi on bass and A. Qader on drums. This new line-up was formed in June 2007 after ex-bassist Risdian left due to personal commitments. It was then that Syairazi, a personal friend, stepped in with a bass sound that has drawn comparisons to bands like Coldplay and Incubus. To date, S.P.O.N.G.E. have played to crowds at Club Momo, DXO, Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore with songs that infuse pop-sensibilities with sing-along choruses, winning fans with their music and personalities. The band are now in the process of writing demos, with the aim of releasing a full album by early 2008.
B-Quartet (who will be releasing their new album this coming February!), Peepshow, Psychedelic 4 and King Kong Jane.
They will be busy with…
The recording of their full-length album sometime next week, scheduled for release in June or July this year. S.P.O.N.G.E. are now eyeing a spot in Baybeats '08 and are shortlisted for the auditions.
Youth.SG are fully behind them!
Check S.P.O.N.G.E. out on MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/spongemusic.
SILHOUETTE
Made up of four guys, Ahmad (guitars), Rizal (vocals), Mahfuz (bass) and Hafiz (drums), the band came together in July last after a two-year break due to other commitments. The founding members of Silhouette, Ahmad and Rizal, decided to reform the band with their help of their close buddies which makes up today’s Silhouette! The band have played covers and originals and now have five original songs under their belt, in addition to getting gigs here and there. The band is also currently recording with Leonard Soosay’s Snakeweed acoustic lab studios.
This year, Silhouette will be looking out for…
Amateur Takes Control, After the Sky, Caracal and lots of other local bands in the act. According to them, they (these bands) are an awesome bunch of people and are pure entertainers.
They will be busy with…
Getting more shows, coming out with an EP come April or May. Like S.P.O.N.G.E., Silhouette are also shortlisted for the Baybeats ’08 auditions and again,
Youth.SG hope to see them on stage at the festival!
Check out Silhouette on MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/sgsilhouette.
7 POUND VEIN
Into their tenth anniversary as a band this year, the band have music heavily influenced by bands like Rage Against The Machine, One Minute Silence, Sepultura, Machine Head, Manifest (fellow local band) and many others. Dhieyo was later roped in to provide backing vocals to give their music that additional punch. Formed back in 1998 with original members Zamry, Ismu, Fadly and Fathul (By Definition guitarist), the band gained recognition by playing a number of gigs and releasing five songs on their self-titled mini EP in 2000. Due to personal commitments, 7 Pound Vein made a few changes in their line up. Hakim, Faizal and Sumali were re-recruited and 7 Pound Vein was "reborn".
This year, 7 Pound Vein will be looking out for…
U.S. band Bleeding Through in their South East Asia tour. The band hope they will drop by here in Singapore.
They will be busy with…
The studios in the middle of this year. They hope to release their full length album soon.
Check out 7 Pound Vein on MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/7poundvein.
THE FULL PLEDGE MUNKEES
With their ska roots in Singapore’s local music scene firmly planted since 1999, the band first started out with a 3 piece skapunk band with Fid (guitar and vocals) and Ogy (drums) as pioneering members. Now they’ve got day jobs. They also claim to love music in all kinds of genres that a day without a dose is hell! They are also a really friendly bunch who love to dance, be on stage, banter with the audience, meet people, travel and makw new friends along the way. See? That’s how much they love you. The Full Pledge Munkees also released a DIY demo, self recorded at a school studio in 2002 and an EP in 2003 under Ignite Productions which was discontinued. The band’s debut album entitled Pick It Up! is now released under Malaysian punk record label, Nyaring Records.
Where’s the support you guys? The bands accolades include local airplays by Passion 95.5fm, TV appearances, interviews on Suria and Selamat Pagi Singapore, emerging as one of the top 10 finalists in the Yamaha Band Alert at Zouk and of course, they have played tons of gigs at local venues and overseas shows.
This year, The Full Pledge Munkees will be looking out for…
The upcoming Incubus concert in March; the rumours about L.A. based pioneer punk/ska legend Rancid coming to Asia AND Singapore!
They will be busy with…
Their Malaysian Tour with good friends Plague of Happiness (a southern Malaysian skapunk band) in mid Feb which will stretch all the way till July. The band will also start on fresh material for their next release. Sounds like a busy year ahead, but the band loves the buzz!
Check out The Full Pledge Munkees on MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/thefullpledgemunkees and their website
http://www.thefullpledgemunkees.com.
THE FIRE FIGHT
Set to open with West Grand Boulevard for Switchfoot on Jan 31, The Fire Fight have since gained recognition after playing at Baybeats 2007. A relatively young band in the scene, The Fire Fight is made up of Chris Ong on the synthesizer, Josh Barker on bass and vocals, Jonathan Leong on guitar, Iain Tham on drums and back up vocals and Joshua Tan on guitar and lead vocals. The band started out when Joshua Tan, previously from One Authority, got together with Iain — whom he had been playing together for a while with Sonic Edge Band — to write and use his songs in a band context when One Authority split up. Following which they roped in Jonathan Leong and Josh Barker, also from the Sonic Edge Ministry, to join them in Sept 2005. After playing together for a good year or so, the band felt that something was still lacking in the music, which led to the addition of Chris Ong to provide the synthesizer sounds to make the band more complete.
This year, The Fire Fight will be looking out for…
Cardinal avenue, You and Who's Army? & Indus Gendhi, Foreign Acts? The Police, Switchfoot, Incubus & Broken Social Scene.
They will be busy with…
Slugging it out in the recording studio as they are going to get ready to start recording for a full length album, hopefully released sometime this year. In the meantime, the boys are in the midst of writing a whole list of new songs, which one or two may be played at some of the shows, so do keep a look out for them then!
Check out The Fire Fight on MySpace at
http://www.myspace.com/thefirefightsg and their website at
http://www.thefirefight.com.
S.P.O.N.G.E.
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