Sonja Cher
If Two Door Cinema Club had a Singaporean counterpart, it’d be Take Two.
This quintet establishes a sound that paints the local landscape with a slight British pop edge. They deliver lyrical brilliance, creating poetry out of ordinary experiences like overindulging in barbecued pork. Take Two has not only conquered international music festivals such as the Chiang Mai Music Festival 2014, but also earned themselves a Noise Singapore music mentorship.
Originally established in 2012, they were known amongst National University of Singapore (NUS) students as the “Eusoff Hall” band. Bassist David Siow, 26, shares, “We were from this orientation group called ‘T House’… we wanted to create an alliteration with T’s like ‘tantalising tickler’.” And it turned out their answer was right on a pack of Aspirin, ‘take 2 as required’.
Hello, We Are…
It took 2 years of adjustments for the band to reach their current line-up of 5.
Like a walking fact dispenser, Peng Sing is unceasing in sharing bits of trivia with those around him. “You will learn a lot of things just by having dinner with him,” says Jonathan. Likewise, guitarist Johnathan Lim, 24, is chock-full of quirky life skills that range from bread making to guitar building.
Hiding behind the drums is Jeryl Yeo, 23, ‘the spell-checker’, according to Peng Sing. His incurable inclination for detail has him sorting out all the paperwork. As for David, Jonathan says, “If the band was a car, he’s the driver.”
The Noise
Before scoring a mentorship with the front man of The Great Spy Experiment, Saiful Idris, 35, they had to make a decision of paramount importance. Baybeats or Noise? With scholastic and vocational commitments, it’d be unwise to spread themselves thin. Evidently, they went with the latter.
“Saiful was perfect because he’s so experienced. He’s the pushing force behind Great Spy and that’s why we chose Noise over Baybeats. It was a slightly more structured approach to mentorship,” says David. Despite being an informal introductory session at a coffee house, Saiful had much food for thought to offer during his first meeting with Take Two. Their mentor left them something to ponder about with 1 statement: Go back and figure out what your mission statement as a band is.
“We’re more or less known for pumping out energetic songs, but we want to take that to the next level – energetic songs that sound like they belong to Lush 99.5FM,” David conveys.
Vis-à-vis the final Noise showcase concert at the Esplanade, the sole game plan on their minds is to keep up with traditions. “We’ll probably be throwing candy at the audience,” spills Peng Sing, who has distributed them twice before whilst performing, “and it’s legit candy. It’s not like Fruit Plus.” David interjects.
Besides Noise, they’ll be bound for Madrid, Spain from Aug 5 to 11 for the Ecopop Festival. “Must have been like 50 applications to get that,” says David.
With their first EP out, it sounds like this quintet is slowly gaining momentum. Will it preserve? It takes only 2 words for David to answer that: “We’ll see.”
Sidebar: Take Three More
If you find yourself nodding along to Take Two, here are three more indie bands from Singapore that may further salivate your musical tastebuds.
7nightsatsea offer an experimental sound, each song from their Drift Easy, Heavy Hands EP. Despite each song dripping with a different sort of modern angst, it remains a cohesive album with its post-rock instrumentals.
Not in any way affiliated with dark magic, Sub:shaman, pairs slow rock with soulful vocals. Their debut EP, released in early February, is the result of this unusual combination, definitely a mesmerizing mix of tunes.
In a similar vein of music, Pleasantry plays a recycled sound. And we mean that in the most tongue-of-cheek in ways. The band rotates members, pulling musicians of its ever-changing lineup from other bands.
Images courtesy of Klix Photography