Aaron had co-founded a performing arts group and for some years now this group has been doing shows all over Singapore.
The name of this group is called Kill Your TV, KYTV for short. KYTV started from just 2 or 3 guys 'mixing it up together' but had attracted alot of interest and soon, there were some 12-15 serious members. Jeremy had also become a part of KYTV.
KYTV did all sorts of stuff, from tabla performances at the Substation - Aaron and Jeremy both attended tabla classes for this - through weird artistic theatre. I got an invite to one of KYTV's early performances at Zouk, where large styrofoam cut-outs resembling skyscrapers of a cityscape got torn, knocked and bitten apart by someone in a godzilla costume; amidst the chanting music and pyschedelic blue/intense-white flashes of lighting.
Despite the Ministry of Education having hammered incredibly complex stuff like calculus and moral education into me, I guess there are still things I will never understand.
There was a resident band within KYTV itself, made up of its own members, and this includes Aaron and Jeremy. Tiramisu performs regularly at gigs too and there must have been several instances where Aaron and Jeremy had to play for both Subdam and Tiramisu at the same show.
All eyes will be on Tiramisu whenever they take the stage because their frontman, Riz, incorporates alot of shock-theatre elements into the songs and it is not unknown for him to go running and screaming into the crowd and dangle himself with all sorts of props like plastic chains and fake blood as the song progresses.
In just about two years since its formation, KYTV had built up a nice little piggy bank of cash from the various shows. KYTV then decided they wanted a space of their own to get dirty in and started looking for a place - no more working out of each individual's tiny rooms.
I was surprised to hear from Aaron that they converted a section of the place they leased into a jamming studio.
I drove gingerly through the back lanes of Macpherson area looking for Shaw Road and the building which KYTV now calls home. It was night and deserted. Afterall, this is an industrial area. I got out of the car with my bass slung across my shoulder. A large dog came wandering out, no doubt disturbed by the noise. Gulp.
Fortunately, a security guard turned up and told me where to go. Obviously he had gotten used to KYTV's guests and members coming through at all hours of the day and night. I rode in what looked like a cargo lift and wandered through the dusty corridors. It certainly was creepy wandering around this very quiet building on my own. Every door looks the same, and industrial lighting adjusted for maximum efficiency - which means minimum illumination.
And then I found KYTV, nestled in between a woodwork company and some aluminium girdle distributor. Dimly lit interior, it had lots of props and arty things all over the place, there were some guys smoking and talking quietly in the corner. The place smelt of sweat and stale cigarette smoke. But come on, all studios smell like that. The guys were bare-bodied and lounging around in shorts. I was told that the members tend to stay overnight here alot. In fact, there was always someone staying overnight on any given night.
And for the next 3 or 4 months, this was where we jammed. I wasn't too happy with the sound but its free so what the hell.
For some reason, KYTV was given the boot a few months later.
They then found a place in little India and I was even more amused when I got there. The rented area consists on an upstairs, which had been turned into a jamming studio by virtue of egg-holders plastering every inch of vertical wall. KYTV also rented the back section on the ground floor of the unit. I couldn't believe I was at the right place when I stepped through the front section on my first visit.
The front section is an actual fruit stall.
I remember a scene when we were done jamming and I was leaving when I saw some 6 to 8 people huddled in front of a small TV set perched on a tiny console. They were captivated by whatever was on the screen and the room was eerily silent except for the TV. The lights were off and all I can see were their silhouettes crumpled all over the rug and sofa and the soft cigarette smoke hazily rising from their lit ends.
This is what I had imagined to be an Asian's vision of Bohemianism.
Fast forward a couple of months and again KYTV was looking for a new space.
They found a nice bungalow.
Overlooking an old Malay cemetary in Siglap, I was told that the rent for the entire place was incredibly cheap. Something like a thousand or so. Split between Aaron, Jeremy, Kar Fai, Dovan and a few others, it was really affordable for such a big space. No more jamming here, but at least the permanent 'residents' had their own rooms and more than enough space in the living room for all sorts of projects.
By this time, KYTV was getting noticed by the mainstream media and found themselves terribly busy with the many shows they have been asked to put out. As a result, Subdam jammed less and less and we hung out less and less too. In fact, only when we have impending shows would we see each other.
The name of this group is called Kill Your TV, KYTV for short. KYTV started from just 2 or 3 guys 'mixing it up together' but had attracted alot of interest and soon, there were some 12-15 serious members. Jeremy had also become a part of KYTV.
KYTV did all sorts of stuff, from tabla performances at the Substation - Aaron and Jeremy both attended tabla classes for this - through weird artistic theatre. I got an invite to one of KYTV's early performances at Zouk, where large styrofoam cut-outs resembling skyscrapers of a cityscape got torn, knocked and bitten apart by someone in a godzilla costume; amidst the chanting music and pyschedelic blue/intense-white flashes of lighting.
Despite the Ministry of Education having hammered incredibly complex stuff like calculus and moral education into me, I guess there are still things I will never understand.
There was a resident band within KYTV itself, made up of its own members, and this includes Aaron and Jeremy. Tiramisu performs regularly at gigs too and there must have been several instances where Aaron and Jeremy had to play for both Subdam and Tiramisu at the same show.
All eyes will be on Tiramisu whenever they take the stage because their frontman, Riz, incorporates alot of shock-theatre elements into the songs and it is not unknown for him to go running and screaming into the crowd and dangle himself with all sorts of props like plastic chains and fake blood as the song progresses.
In just about two years since its formation, KYTV had built up a nice little piggy bank of cash from the various shows. KYTV then decided they wanted a space of their own to get dirty in and started looking for a place - no more working out of each individual's tiny rooms.
I was surprised to hear from Aaron that they converted a section of the place they leased into a jamming studio.
I drove gingerly through the back lanes of Macpherson area looking for Shaw Road and the building which KYTV now calls home. It was night and deserted. Afterall, this is an industrial area. I got out of the car with my bass slung across my shoulder. A large dog came wandering out, no doubt disturbed by the noise. Gulp.
Fortunately, a security guard turned up and told me where to go. Obviously he had gotten used to KYTV's guests and members coming through at all hours of the day and night. I rode in what looked like a cargo lift and wandered through the dusty corridors. It certainly was creepy wandering around this very quiet building on my own. Every door looks the same, and industrial lighting adjusted for maximum efficiency - which means minimum illumination.
And then I found KYTV, nestled in between a woodwork company and some aluminium girdle distributor. Dimly lit interior, it had lots of props and arty things all over the place, there were some guys smoking and talking quietly in the corner. The place smelt of sweat and stale cigarette smoke. But come on, all studios smell like that. The guys were bare-bodied and lounging around in shorts. I was told that the members tend to stay overnight here alot. In fact, there was always someone staying overnight on any given night.
And for the next 3 or 4 months, this was where we jammed. I wasn't too happy with the sound but its free so what the hell.
For some reason, KYTV was given the boot a few months later.
They then found a place in little India and I was even more amused when I got there. The rented area consists on an upstairs, which had been turned into a jamming studio by virtue of egg-holders plastering every inch of vertical wall. KYTV also rented the back section on the ground floor of the unit. I couldn't believe I was at the right place when I stepped through the front section on my first visit.
The front section is an actual fruit stall.
I remember a scene when we were done jamming and I was leaving when I saw some 6 to 8 people huddled in front of a small TV set perched on a tiny console. They were captivated by whatever was on the screen and the room was eerily silent except for the TV. The lights were off and all I can see were their silhouettes crumpled all over the rug and sofa and the soft cigarette smoke hazily rising from their lit ends.
This is what I had imagined to be an Asian's vision of Bohemianism.
Fast forward a couple of months and again KYTV was looking for a new space.
They found a nice bungalow.
Overlooking an old Malay cemetary in Siglap, I was told that the rent for the entire place was incredibly cheap. Something like a thousand or so. Split between Aaron, Jeremy, Kar Fai, Dovan and a few others, it was really affordable for such a big space. No more jamming here, but at least the permanent 'residents' had their own rooms and more than enough space in the living room for all sorts of projects.
By this time, KYTV was getting noticed by the mainstream media and found themselves terribly busy with the many shows they have been asked to put out. As a result, Subdam jammed less and less and we hung out less and less too. In fact, only when we have impending shows would we see each other.
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