HYPE
Life would be a mistake without music. Baybeats would be a mistake without its kickass bands. hype snoops around this year’s festival lineup to uncover their dirty little secrets. And yeah, it’s going to be pretty darn good.
Walking on the Moon
Meet local band Lunar Node, one of the rare entries into the annual music festival <em>Baybeats 2009</em> with their shoegaze genre and instrumental music.
By Tanya Lai
hype: Why are there no lyrics in your songs?
Gerald: Instrumentals just give you that much more space to breathe and write your own lyrics in your head, don’t you think? The next time you listen to the same song, it may not have the same lyrics. It was an interesting concept for us to explore as musicians.
Daniaal: We want you to have your own interpretation of what our songs are about, and not tell you with lyrics.
Brice: Lyrics are overrated.
hype: Do you think people find it hard to appreciate your band’s kind of music without lyrics?
G: I don’t think people will find it hard. I think most of the people at Baybeats may be pleasantly surprised at just how much they like our kind of music. The only reason they probably wouldn’t is probably because of the stereotype that bands must have vocalists.
hype: How do you feel about the band’s progress since it started in 2008?
G: I feel pretty accomplished about the band’s progress so far. We’re just over a year old and I think we’ve done pretty good for ourselves – releasing an EP (a short compilation of three to five songs), playing at the Esplanade Waterfront and in Manila, and in a short while, Baybeats.
hype: So what was the most memorable gig for you as part of Lunar Node? Why?
B: I like the EP launch, since it was a full day’s worth of hard work that really paid off.
G: Oh this is a tough one. But I’d have to say it was the show we played at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre. Simply put, it was a dream to play there. Next stop, Powerhouse? Haha.
hype: Describe your band mates.
G: I think the rest will tell you the same about Asyraf. He’s forever in the virtual realm of World of Warcraft, but he’s surprisingly punctual for jams and shows and stuff.
D: Asyraf is also the laziest but always seems to get the girls. Gerald is the casanova of the band and has many girls after him. He’s also the brains of the band. Brice is the tallest and the hardest rocker among all of us. He’s half-French and has a very boring sense of dressing. Ariff is a music prodigy and also the most mat. (Malay word for roughneck.)
B: Gerald is Mr High-Strung-but-timid. Asyraf is Mr Lazy and Daniaal is Mr Curry.
hype: If you could be reincarnated as an animal, what would you be and why?
G: Why is this question even relevant?! A falcon, so I can look as cool as the bird on Cardinal Avenue’s EP cover.
B: An eagle. Flying’s cool.
D: Giraffe. So that I can be taller than Brice.