Daniel Chan
Seated on a chipped concrete pavement in the depths of a gloomy alley sporting a hoodie and his iconic “golf wang” hat, his mask lit by a single street light, and with a cigarette hanging loosely in between his fingers, Fauxe recounts his musical endeavors through a voice muffled by his thick plastic mask.
Fauxe’s rare brand of electronic music has given him the reputation of being one of Singapore’s most alternative DJs. However, before diving into the world of electronic music, he tells a story of his humble beginnings, mistakes he wished he hadn’t made, and why he decided to stow away his true identity.
“I used to sing for a band and I was very a proud musician”, Fauxe confessed, “I would play a show with 6 strings and end a show with none and I’ll still go on like the proud guy I was, and it wasn’t good for me,” he sighed.
With encouragement from his girlfriend who told him that he was becoming exceedingly attention seeking, Fauxe came to a realization that music mattered more than one’s image and thus decided to become anonymous.
Fauxe explains his personal philosophy, “I don’t think people should concentrate on my face or how I look, I think the music should be more important.”
In his final year of school, he was introduced to a MIDI (Music Instrument Digital Interface), an interface that is widely used in electronic music and, was intrigued by the fact that musical elements to a song can be created electronically without the use of the stereotypical guitar-drums-bass setup.
“It was just love at first sight,” he chuckled.
For the past 2 years, he had expanded his equipment from just a Macintosh laptop, to keyboards, turntables, MIDIs, samplers, synthesizers and several microphones. This led to the birth of stranger sounds and tracks that were eventually noticed by local radio station Lush 99.5FM. His track “Change is The Only Constant”, which was written alongside alternative singer-songwriter Chris Tang, 21, also known as Bravepaper, was one of the songs that was featured by the station.
Despite his mysterious demeanor and song titles that sound like poetry, Fauxe confessed that he doesn’t actually care about his titles and that “they’re mostly bullshit”. This can be shown extravagantly through the title of his latest EP Oh F*ck Another Beat Tape.
For every single show, without fail, Fauxe will show up masked. “I’ll hide in dark alleys, just like this” he gestured to his surroundings, “and put on my mask before anyone notices me” he continues.
Slowly but surely, he’s showing the world that a person’s exterior shouldn’t affect how others view their music. His tagline speaks the truth, “Nothing much to be said, nothing much to be seen, nothing but only music.”