Singapore’s largest alternative music festival is back with favorite local, regional and international indie bands such as Electrico, Force Vomit, Sourgrapes and The Karl Maka taking centerstage in a weekend of punk, indie-pop, post-rock and hard rock. But there are also 11 new bands making their first appearance, and here’s the clincher—up for grabs is a set of Gibson bass and electric guitars worth over $12,000 for the favorite new band of the festival. To give you a feel of what’s out there and what they might sound like, here’s a lowdown on the 11 bands competing for your ears—and your votes.
Anna Judge April
Who they are: Founded by Ash (bass) and Luq (synthesizer), with guitarists Harith and Roland, drummer Fred Chin and vocalist Nurul.
Music style: Indie-pop/rock with strong rooted influences of pop-punk.
Music influences: Blink 182, New Found Glory, Motion City Soundtrack and The Killers.
Another Epic Story
Who they are: Reez on vocals, guitar and screams, One on bass and screams, and Qai on drums.
Music style: A sound that spans hardcore, emo, screamo, metal, punk, ska, indie, hip hop to punk rock.
Music influences: Non-musical influences derived from fairytales.
Cardinal Avenue
Who they are: Prahad on vocals and rhythm guitar, Faris on lead guitar, Brice on bass and backup vocals, and John on drums.
Music style: Alternative-indie rock.
Music influences: Paramore, Lost Prophets, Enter Shikari, UnderOath.
Leeson
Who they are: Guitarists Gerald Teo and Thomas Wu, vocalist Jamie Michael, bassist Brian Koh and drummer Mark Cheng.
Music style: Catchy, melodic pop-rock.
Music influences: Anything that has a good melody.
Midnight Marvel
Who they are: Vocalist Shirley, guitarist Evelyn, bassist Alfred and drummer Lennat.
Music style: Minimalistic, straight-forward and catchy rock ‘n’ roll.
Music influences: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sleater-Kinney, The Ramones, Led Zeppelin.
Morning Utopia
Who they are: Fad on vocals and screams, Esa on bass and tones, and Rom on drums and skins.
Music style: A blend of rock, metal and blues.
Music influences: Tunes from ‘70s rock as well as Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin and Dream Theatre.
The Oslo Castaways
Who they are: Vocalist Joe, bassist John, keyboardist Joanna and drummer-cum-vocalist Nazrey.
Music style: Alternative indie rock.
Music influences: Wide—ranges from Dream Theatre to Death Cab for Cutie to Coldplay.
PeepShow
Who they are: Vocalist Zaki Razali, lead guitarist SK, rhythm guitarist Mikail, bassist Samuel, drummer Edmund and keyboardist Yuk.
Music style: Generally pop-rock but “that’s what everybody labels us. We play a lot of other genres of music,” they say.
Music influences: Zaki listens to R&B and pop like Usher and Robbie Williams, SK listens to heavy metal—Metallica, Cradle of Filth, etc., Edmund listens to retro and jazz, Mikail listens mostly to rock, like Goo Goo Dolls and 3 Doors Down. Their one common favorite—Incubus.
Silhouette
Who they are: Vocalist Shahrizal, guitarist Ahmad Khaliq, bassist Mahfuz and drummer Muhammad Hafiz.
Music Style: Modern, edgy hard-rock and alternative.
Music influences: Incubus, Glassjaw, Deftones.
Sourgrapes
Who they are: Bassist Rizal, drummer Ashri, guitarist Shuhaimi and vocalist-cum-guitarist Faizan.
Music style: Alternative.
Music influences: Nirvana, Foo Fighters.
You & Whose Army?
Who they are: Adam Shah on bass and guitar, Benita on drums and keyboard, Bonk on vocals/guitar/keyboard/drums and James L. on guitar.
Music style: Alternative rock.
Music influences: Radiohead, Björk, Leslie Low, Imogen Heap, The Mars Volta.
