Talking Soul Music with TAJ: Singapore’s Instrumental Jazz Trio
PUBLISHED May 4th, 2016 07:00 am | UPDATED June 7th, 2016 03:24 pm
Each song is a vision, each movement a painting, and each composition a story that completes itself when listened to. That is the music of TAJ, an instrumental future-soul trio from Singapore featuring Tim De Cotta on bass, Audrey Tengkey on keys, and Jia Rong Teo on drums.
Tackling a genre not commonly favoured by musicians and youths of their age, TAJ has been contributing greatly to Singapore’s contemporary jazz scene with their poignant, illustrious pieces.
The trio released their debut EP, The Astral Journey, in 2015 under local independent record label Darker Than Wax; recorded, mixed and mastered by The Susuwatari Brothers. Since then, they’ve collaborated with locals musicians such as DJ Kaye and vocal powerhouse Ginny Bloop of The Steve McQueens.
The first of many compositions to come, the cross-pollination of psychedelic beats and post-rock in Astral Journey is just a start to their sonic journey. We chat with bassist Tim De Cotta on the TAJ’s beginnings, their brand of music, and upcoming projects.
How did TAJ come about?
We were 3 musicians who randomly jammed in a jamming room in LaSalle. Two of us, Jia Rong and Audrey, were studying there, and I came along after meeting one of the students on a tour to France in MIDEM with a contingent of Singaporean bands.
We all decided to hang in a jam session with other musicians in the scene today, and once the three of us got on our instruments – bass, keys, drums – at any given time, the chemistry was undeniable. We then started meeting exclusively to jam and create, wrote our first EP and then started releasing music and playing bigger and bigger shows.
What music style would you say best describes your music? Soul? Jazz? Funk?
Instrumental Fusion Jazz Soul.
What’s your music writing process like?
Spontaneous. We literally sit down and start playing. Then we record the ideas frantically using iPhones and then keep going. Some ideas we complete in one sitting, while the rest we shelve it for marinating, then come back and finish it over time. We listen a lot to each other and share a lot of music all the time, so things happen quite fast in the studio without us trying sometimes.
We hear some of you are trained in classical music. Can you tell us more about that?
Audrey used to take classical piano in LaSalle before switching to jazz after a few years and Jia Rong took classical percussion in LaSalle as well. Both of them graduated from there, but I’ve never had any formal music training. I graduated from NTU’s WKW School of Communications and Information.
Which musicians are you guys inspired by, individually and collectively as a band?
We listen to a varied list of influences, from Taylor Eigsti, to Benny Greb, to Derrick Hodge to Maxwell and the Funky Knuckles. To Snarky Puppy and all the way back to D’Angelo, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, back to Thundercat and back again to George Duke and Earth Wind and Fire. We listen to jazz and samba and a lot of music basically. We also get inspired by a lot of experiences and happenings and what we hear from day to day. You can’t just get inspired by music to write music. That’s a dead-end type of approach. We get inspired by how we see life.
Where do you think the Singapore music scene is going, and what’s difficult about being a musician in Singapore?
I’d say being a musician in any country is difficult. Each one has its setback and challenges, but in Singapore, the culture of looking outwardly for validation is a plague on any local content, not just music. People in Singapore are in an identity crisis. We have lost soul over the years despite having excelled in a very superficial way. That’s a huge fundamental challenge for music in Singapore, where there is a systemic disconnect. It’s hard when you’re in the business of connecting with people and touching lives with music and art.
What’s the jazz community in Singapore like?
The jazz community has a long standing tradition of great local musicians that exist under the radar yet create flourishing careers out of music here and internationally. Singapore is full of amazing acts that are world-class versus two to three years ago.
Who would you say is a highly underrated musician or band in Singapore?
ColdCut Quartet is a CRAZY group who also plays fusion instrumental music. Watching them play and do their thing is really a delight for us as we can really relate across the music that both groups write.
What’s next in the works after The Astral Journey?
We’re about to jump into the studio for the second EP, for which we are currently saving up for. Our music videos will be dropping really soon, two from the debut EP The Astral Journey and one upcoming single from the upcoming record which will feature very special guests!
Any plans to ramp up exposure and reach out to the international market?
Well, it is a progression. We need to evolve and slowly grow our listener base. We would like to increase our presence in the region while creating a strong foothold at home. We don’t see the use of a one-off gig on the other side of the world and being a flash in the pan, although it would be a bonus to gain a huge cult following in Iceland by some fluke *laughs*.
Basically, we will let the music take the lead.
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Keep up with TAJ online:
www.facebook.com/TheAstralJourney
www.theastraljourney.bandcamp.com
