Denise Tan
Come February, a gaggle of indie singer-songwriters from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia will bring a mix of music and rhythm to the Esplanade. The Theatres at the Bay will celebrate the Chinese New Year with a 10-day Huayi Festival and part of the revelry that exalts the best of Chinese theatre, dance, visual arts and music is the in::music initiative.
From Feb 9 till Feb 17, artistes like guitar-wielding aniDa, Gloria with her blithe lyrics and bubbly duos, at17 and PixelToy, from Hong Kong; Malaysian, Wu Jiahui; Singaporeans, Ngak, one of the biggest names in the local pub scene, and Eric Ng, the music director of the 881 soundtrack, will play their original compositions in a series of concerts.
But before they begin to enthrall with their tunes, they discuss and reflect on the Asian music scene then and now.
In the Dark Ages of Disapproval and No Technology
Songwriter and veteran producer, Eric remembers the time when picking up a guitar could not be more than a hobby for hobos. He recalls the “lack of support from teachers in school” and “being stereotyped as useless drug-addicted bums”.
Besides taking all that flak from esteemed members of the public, musicians also had to fight hard for attention from the audience. Even though he’s since gained much fame from singing the catchy theme song, Zi Lang Zi Bua (a Hokkien song telling of sharing between 2 kindred souls), from the movie, 881, Jiahui spent much time developing his unique style of music to cater to the larger target audience.
And even when artistes garnered attention then, it wasn’t always good. Ngak, who’s worked with Emil Chau and Alan Kuo and sang in local pubs with his band TIMMY, had to deal with the humiliation of audiences coming up to him to point out the wrong music chords he played and his mispronunciation of lyrics. Now, with more seasoned indie artistes for young, aspiring musicians to watch and look up to, Ngak believes the new musicians can learn and avoid making the same gaffs as him.
High-Speed Cables and High-Strung Creativity
With the growing industry, musicians need not fight the same battle as their seniors. Like aniDa and Gloria, they find themselves in a “good environment to create”, especially because, aniDa continues, “the Asian world is moving towards individuality and creativity”.
That, coupled with what Gloria calls a “more diversified scene” and the advent of the Internet, can only result in more musicians sharing their music online.
PixelToy’s Candy agrees and continues to exalt the benefits on online music promotion. She talks about sites like YouTube and MySpace that give growing musicians the chance to share with the world their brand of music and all this for free. She trusts that this is the “new way of sharing and publishing music” and it also allows bands to “no longer depend on labels or record companies”. They can then “be self-managed and do whatever they think is suitable for their band or music”.
Just the Place for Music
Having entered the scene only 5 years ago, the younger at17 found themselves at the right place at the right time in Hong Kong’s thriving pop culture. That allowed them to make the music that they love and still attract the many fans that they have.
Singapore’s pop culture is having its own uprising too. Eric refers to the ubiquitous “super-idol” programmes on TV and while he doesn’t “entirely enjoy” them, he applauds them for “showing the public that there is talent in Singapore and that music can be a career”.
He also mentions that Singaporean singers no longer need to first succeed in Taiwan or China before returning to Singapore to bask in the limelight. With more monetary support and better sound production equipment, local singers like Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin have become “a force to be reckoned with”.
For in::music
Everything’s going rather well and the Chinese music scene is growing quickly but these relentless singer-songwriters hope that in::music would achieve so much more.
aniDa wants to raise enough awareness until young artistes can get the opportunity to be on-stage because “performing on stage is essential for a musician to grow”.
And Singaporean music maestros like Ngak, wishes for the scene to flourish with young singers trying to “make Singapore proud” by writing more good songs.
Besides a flood of splendid songs and catchy new material, Eric is also asking for the Chinese indie music scene to have as much exposure as the English one, since that would mean enough response to call for another festival next year!
Festival Details:
These artistes will be performing at the Esplanade Recital Studios with tickets priced at $38 each. Other artistes include Taiwan’s Pur-dur and Panai.
Artistes: Eric Ng, Ngak and Wu Jiahui
Date: Feb 9, Sat
Time: 7.30pm/10.30pm
Artistes: aniDa and Gloria
Date: Feb 10, Sun
Time: 3pm/7.30pm
Artistes: at17 and PixelToy
Date: Feb 15, Fri
Time: 7.30pm/10.30pm
Artistes: Eric Ng, Ngak and Wu Jiahui
Date: Feb 17, Sun
Time: 3pm/10.30pm
Other events at the Huayi Festival include the Sound Seed Project where Taiwanese electronic music artist and multiple Golden Horse Award Winner, Lim Giong and three Singaporean artists, Jeffrey Yue, Ng Wen Lei and Lim Wei Ling, will meld music and visual arts to come up with installations that tell of the universe and the environment.
Also, catch the many free outdoor programmes like performances by international Chinese singers, film screening and traditional puppet shows.
For a full list of programmes, visit the Huayi Festival 2008 website.