newbie here... getting the feel of the local music scene...

M

monkeyhouse

New member
hello everyone... i just want to know about the general vibe of the music scene/industry in singapore... obviously... im from some place else around asia...
are you guys more into rock/guitar oriented music? or more into hiphop and rnb? is the industry more into western modern music? or more into the local music scene? thank you so much...:):):)
 
mostly metal only? you would be suprised. I say for local music, its metal and the overplayed, overmentioned, overused singaporean bands favourite genre: indie. Well in my opinion rock in general.
But for mainstream and the whole population, yea its like 98% western music and 2% local. maybe even less in fact, sad to say
 
We do have awesome bands in our local circuit who have wonderful sounds and are never appreciated.

There are tonnes of opportunities for the local music scene to prosper but it all depends on the bands themselves to work towards gaining support and enlarge their own fans base.

We're not like international bands where we get spotted and signed. We need to do everything DIY.

And the local scene is growing with more support from the media and sponsors.

It was so much harder to be heard back in the 80s and 90s. I tell you if you wanna make it big, you should start now. Opportunities are flying and will continue to fly even further the next couple of years.

I think I posted this replyin the wrong thread. haha.
 
im not sure what indie rock is.

but caracal, west grand, plainsunset, fire fight, etc. are under that genre?
because i believe those are the most popular ones in sg.
 
thanks guys... btw im here in manila...
so it seems like the scene is more into... guitar oriented materials... like rock, metal, alternative, indie music and the likes...

how bout different combinations or formats? like RHCP or RATM + DJ/turntables... rock + rap + electronica + a bit of funk +/and/or downbeat hiphop kind of stuff?

and lastly... how about session work for different established local mainstream/commercial artists? is it rewarding?

@wantonne >>> thanks... nice reply... very encouraging... =)
 
1: baybeats is an indie rock festival, i wouldn't expect to see say a classical indian act playing! they started small and worked their way up.

by the way, alot of us seem to have the misconception that if you were in the US or UK or elsewhere, and you play good music, you would get "spotted" by A&R and immediately be thrust into the global limelight.

This is not true! Bands like My Chemical Romance, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Fall Out Boy, etc all had to work their asses off to build and consolidate their fanbases before they could get any attention. Effective hard work pays off, no matter what.
 
If you're talking about the club scene here, I guess most of the musicians and DJs here are regular sessionists in pubs and clubs.

Pop/Commercialised stars here are mostly being marketed through Asia like Taiwan for the Chinese artistes and Malaysia for the Malay artistes. We still have yet to really touch ground with English artistes, being the most successful would be our first Singapore Idol, Taufik who also intends to break into the Malay market.

In my opinion, the English market is still being largely dominitized by the English speaking countries liek the States, UK and Australia. So the chances of making it big worldwide is pretty slim except for an occasional few.

These are just my personal views. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. :)
 
Yes! So true, Visa. You can't just start a garage band and hope some big megastar producer to come and get you a signing.

Hard work is not an option. It's a neccessity for any band to succeed. That's why networking and building up your fanbase is really important for a band.
 
What most people listen to in S'pore are mainly Kylie (God bless 'er!) and Justin (God bless 'im!). They move ard 12 - 15,000 units per album. Not too much in the bigger scheme of things. R'n'B still works the best in the clubs. Cuts across the demographic of students to the older working crowd. The mainstream Singapore Idol winner can shift ard 30,000 units for his album. TV helps, I guess. Being a Chinese-dominated society, Mandarin pop albums move a lot in S'pore.

There are a lot of Pinoy cover bands in S'pore. But unfortunately, they are usually not being paid a lot as well.
 
=visa

I echo your sentiments! I am from the UK and will be moving to Singapore soon. I have worked in bands for some time now and although there is more chance to get noticed here you can easily get lost within the flood of bands. The sheer volume means that many many good bands are lost not because they weren't talented enough but because they just didn't have the luck to get noticed.

I am completely new to this scene and I need to listen to a lot more local Singapore bands, but the few bands I have heard so far would not struggle to hold their own in my local scene at all.
 
Last edited:
Actually.. i don't really like mainstream music nowadays..

the famous music scene in singapore that i know is indie rock and ska

not many metal or punk rock scene.. maybe they are underground scene in sg.. :)
 
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