Singaporean Local bands: next stop world domination!

PUBLISHED June 7th, 2012 02:05 pm | UPDATED March 28th, 2016 02:16 pm

This month, 10 local bands and artists will battle it out for a chance to perform, all expenses paid, at one of Europe’s leading music events – the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany. When I heard about this I have to say I was pretty excited that Singapore’s musicians were going to have such an exciting platform for recognition on the international music stage amongst 200 live acts to be showcased.

We all know we need to get behind and support our local talent both here and on the international stage, and so what better way than to vote for your favourites to get them that golden ticket to hold their flag up high in Europe?

So seeing as 10 acts will be in with a chance, we thought we’d select a few of our favourite picks to get all our Nomads behind them. Because it’s kind of a warm fuzzy feeling helping to make someone’s dream a reality…don’t you think?

1. Kevin Lester

I’m starting with my own personal favourite – Kevin Lester, Singapore’s own rap prodigy, songwriter and producer. This guy seems to be riding on rocket fuel since launching his debut album ‘Let’s Talk About Kevin Lester’ in 2010 which garnered rave reviews in Singapore and internationally so much so that the UK’s The Guardian picked the first official radio single from album –  Rockstar 2.0 – as its top 35 songs from around the world in 2011. And it’s no wonder seeing as his tracks stand up against the best of ’em. This is also the man with the plan behind the very awesome 9 piece hip hop band – SIXX which he both pieced together and fronts. Represent!

2. MONSTER CAT

There’s something beautifully mesmerising about the rich, emotive and haunting layers of melancholic melodies which MONSTER CAT is fast becoming known for. The five-piece up-and-coming alternative rock band’s unique folkrock sounds bring together delicate instrumentation in fractured love songs that are both fragile and powerful in the same breathe. Their debut 2011 EP ‘Mannequins’ has exposed them to fans around the world, and now they are looking to expand their reach to new found fans in Europe.

3. Charlie Lim

Full of lush delicacy and soulful nuance, Charlie’s velvet croon reaches down and touches your soul with his intimate songs from darkness to light and sadness to joy. Charlie’s debut EP cleanly captured his knack for tasteful, soulful numbers and though yet to be a household name in Sing, he has garnered support across several radio stations in Australia and is finding fame down under. Let’s support and embrace him here too!

4. Seyra

Forget your troubles as you are enchanted by this dreamy multi-ethnic indie-pop quartet who beguile you with their acoustic instrumentation, emotional lyricism, layered guitar melodies and the distinctive, ethereal voice of soulful lead vocalist Sarah Ismail. Over the course of just a year and half, Seyra has gone from being a singer-songwriter’s bedroom recording project to a full-fledged band. Gigging extensively, they have performed alongside a string of international acts and we think there will be much more to come from them so watch this space!

5. Silhouette

Serving up a good dose of powerful, expressive , atmospheric and experimental music these guys are said to have an ever-changing sound mashing up everything post-hardcore, progressive, strange noises, non-traditional song-structures – all of which adds up to a unique dynamic. Watch out for their debut album which they are currently busy in the studio working on.

So go on, take a moment to get behind one of these artists/bands and vote for them. It’ll only take a second and you’ll be helping to export some awesome local talent because quite frankly we have quite a lot of it but we need more people to KNOW ABOUT IT!  So come on Nomads let’s do this! You can vote for any of the above outfits until the 30 June here. And in the meantime, hats off to Music Services Asia for making this one happen.