Jenny Ganeshrays
From the way the audience screamed for an encore, you would’ve thought that an international rock band had just finished their set.
Instead, the audience was clamouring for more from Ingride, a Singaporean rock outfit that was just one of the six local acts performing at CHANGE. Held on Jun 25 at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), CHANGE was a benefit concert for the Singapore Red Cross Society’s international disaster relief efforts in Japan, Haiti and beyond. The concert was the brainchild of SCHZM, a student-run arts and events promotion company, and featured a diverse bill of both prominent and up-and-coming local music sensations.
NP’s b-boy dance crew MnM set the tone for the evening by warming up the crowd with their slick dance moves (1 crew member spun effortlessly on his head for almost a minute!), but the party only really started when hip-hop/funk/soul band Sixx, who recently performed alongside international acts at Music Matters Asia 2011, took the stage.
Like a fusion of Jurassic 5 and a groovier Arcade Fire, the 9-piece band infected the crowd with their gritty, hour-long set of originals. Interweaving an array of instruments (from the usual drums, guitar and bass, to electronic loops coming out of a MacBook and even soaring horns), Sixx filled the venue with a sound that can only be described as lush and soulful. When the final song ‘So Far’ kicked in, a large group couldn’t help but get out of their seats and surge to the front, with some even clambering onstage to dance with the band and revel in the music.
Sixx, like all the other acts at CHANGE, performed for free. “We wanted to do this show because of all the recent happenings and crises in the world. We have friends who’ve been to Japan to help, and this is our way of helping out,” lead vocalist and NP alumnus Kevin Lester, 27, told UrbanWire.
Diverse beats for a good cause
Alternative rock band Stopgap took over and entertained the crowd with a set of acoustic covers and originals. Six-member Ingride followed, gripping the audience with their blistering brand of trance, electronica and post-hardcore rock. ‘Trance This Spirit’, off their 2010 debut album Asceticism, was a clever marriage of synths and intense guitars that led to cries for an encore, which was graciously granted.
18-year-old rapper Shigga Shay was up next, complete with backup from DJ Nashd as he worked the stage and got the crowd bopping along to 2 originals from his debut mixtape Shigga Shay’s in the Building. Local indie’s ‘It Girl’, Inch Chua, then joined Shigga onstage and lent vocals for his last number, his cover of B.o.B’s ‘Nothin’ On You’, which received more than 33,000 views on Youtube.
“It was our first time together on stage actually, singing to one another,” laughs Inch. “The 2 of us collaborated on the video entirely online, through Twitter, and we were sending files back and forth,” explains Shigga, a Singapore Polytechnic student whose real name is Pek Jin Shen.
Fresh from opening for David Choi’s Jun 21 concert here, Inch was the last act for the day. Backed by her band, the bubbly 22-year-old joked and chatted with the audience, even borrowing a capo from an audience member as she had forgotten hers. Armed with her acoustic guitar, Inch’s crystalline voice shone through ditties like ‘Discern’ and ‘Rule The World’, from her album Wallflower. “It’d be just you and me and the higher being, loving thy neighbour, keeping things just and right,” sang Inch during the final song ‘Rule The World’, against a backdrop of images from humanitarian crises worldwide.
“CHANGE is a refreshing initiative because it shows that students, or youth in general, are more proactive towards global issues. And best of all, it’s fun,” Inch enthused.
“It’s also interesting because there are different genres coming together and getting to collaborate on the same project. More of this should happen. It’s not really very often that you get to meet other musicians who are not in your scene (in one event),” Inch said.
Inch, who’s also touring local secondary schools as part of the School Invasion Tour 2011, commented on the increased outreach of local music to youths today, as compared to her experience as a youngster. “I’ve always been interested in making music, so I would say at that time, I was one of the minority who researched and went out to look for local music… It never really came to me,” she recalled.
Spreading the love for local arts
It is precisely this desire to connect youth to the local arts scene that triggered the formation of SCHZM in the first place. Jason Lim, 21, a Ngee Ann Polytechnic Business Administration student and managing director of SCHZM, explains, “We’ve always wanted a platform so that more youth would know about the local arts scene, for them to buy into the brands of local bands. We want local artistes to come to us to do events, and from there we can link them up with other companies to do bigger events. We’re non-profit seeking, but of course we aim for sustainability.”
“What started out as ideas soon became weekly meetings, and like-minded friends who were passionate about local arts, brought in more friends into this group, and that became SCHZM. For our first event, we wanted to give back to the community, and also we took into account the recent natural disasters around the world,” said Jason. He presented the cheque for $1300, raised from ticket sales, to the representative from the Singapore Red Cross Society.
In the near future, SCHZM hopes to take on a bigger, more ambitious project: to turn youth park *SCAPE into ‘a living arts hub’ for 1 night. “There’ll be flea market, a performing area where bands can have gigs, a dance showcase for local dance crews, and an art gallery for local artists to showcase their works,” says Jason. Other arts events in the pipeline include a dance crew battle and a clubbing event featuring local DJs.
“Sometimes the problem about local music, especially for less established acts, is that you don’t really get people talking about them. I’m always asking friends who are local music junkies about the scene, but it’s not always easy to find out about the acts,” says audience member and NP student Mohammad Hariz, 17, an aspiring artiste.
“I’ve always supported local music from the start, and gigs like these let me get up close and personal with the bands.”
Not everyone who came to CHANGE was there for the music, though. However, bringing the talent into the campus does seem to have worked out.
“I’m actually here to support the charitable cause, not so much the music. I’ve not really listened to local music before,” admitted NP student Regina Er, 19, during the show’s intermission. “But,” she said with a small smile, “I’m definitely quite interested in it now.”
All photo credits to Leon Lim of LiveStudios Interactive Photography