Among the many greenhorns in pursuit of major breakthroughs in the local music industry emerges a distinctive quartet who has dreams as humungous as performing one day at the electrifying Rock am Ring which, together with Rock im Park, form Germany’s biggest rock music festival and among the largest internationally.

In some minds, Cardinal Avenue – made of 4 Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) students, Brice Chambraud, John Liu, Prahlad s/o Prahbas and Mohamed Faris – may come across as having overly ambitious and wholly unrealistic aspirations. But the year-old band hasn’t been rising this fast in the industry by dreaming small.

“Over the past year, we’ve accomplished quite a great deal of things like composing and producing at least 10 originals that we’re very proud of and garnered a string of pretty good gigs, including the massive School Invasion Tour,” said John, who plays drums for the band.

“The journey’s been pretty smooth and fast as it takes a longer time for other bands to actually get together, make good music and make it to the School Invasion Tour; basically [to make it] to where we are now.”

With inspirations ranging from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Enter Shikari and Saosin to blues-rock legend, Eric Clapton, as well as fellow Singaporean bands, West Grand Boulevard and Electrico, who’ve opened windows of hope for new or rising local acts, Cardinal Avenue is speedily making a name for themselves in Singapore’s music industry.

But the band doesn’t plan on reaching too far too soon. “Right now, we’re working on just playing at Baybeats next year,” says bass player, Brice. “That’s our current target. As for Rock am Ring, if we make it there, it would definitely be a huge accomplishment.”

“It’s going to be a tough journey there,” added John. “This is currently a dream and we’re working our way to making it come true.”

From originals, “Donuts” and “Happy”, to their recently recorded “Happy Modern Love”, “Jane’s Summer” and “Notes On A Pavement”, these 4 teenagers have much to be proud of.

“These are songs that you can have fun with, dance to and sing along with,” explains lead guitarist, Faris. “They’re the result of our creativity and our hope for listeners to enjoy themselves and have a good time.”

As friends, the 4 band members go a lot further than the year their band has been in existence. “Faris, Brice and I were secondary schoolmates and we met Prahlad through a friend in another secondary school. We became close buddies from there,” John recounts.

“In this band, we know each other inside out and we stick with each other,” shares Brice. “So you can say that we’re pretty close friends. The chemistry between us is pretty different from that of a lot of other bands. We’ve known each other for the longest of time, way before we even considered forming a band. So we’re definitely friends first before being a band, so much that we leave our Sundays free for the band. Sunday’s like our band day.”

Although an “Indie-Alternative-Rock band by roots” as described by rhythm guitarist and vocalist, Prahlad, Cardinal Avenue has no objections to exploring and experimenting with new sounds and genres of music. Prahlad says that if given the choice and the chance he’d be interested in collaborating with DJ Tiësto, who’s been voted “best DJ in the World” 3 consecutive times by DJ magazine from 2002 through 2004.

“Tiësto’s very much into trance. I think it would be interesting to mesh our music with his and come up with something new altogether.”

But that’s a possibility for the future, of course. Currently, Cardinal Avenue is looking forward to their next gig at Confessions Of A Rock Junkie @ Scape on Dec 8 at Scape Lab, 7 pm.

“We’re looking forward to getting our music through to everyone, so you can expect us to give our all, from dance to heavy songs,” says Prahlad. The event will also feature The Fire Fight, Giants Must Fall and Indus Gendi.

“Considering it’s one of my major gigs, I feel more excited than nervous about showcasing our talents as a band, “ exclaims Faris. “What people can expect from us is nothing short of an amazing show!”

Performance Details:

Event: Confessions Of A Rock Junkie @ Scape

Date: Dec 8

Time: 7 pm

Venue: Scape Lab

*Admission is free.