If I am a Vampire, You're the Next (Louise)

I aspire to be a Vampire
So I can glide into your room
So late at night to plant on your neck
My lovebite

Thrust a stake through my heart
To your most tender part

Tell you the truth
I'll turn into a Werewolf
And I will rip your nightgown off of you so gently
To feast upon your naked body

Shoot a silver bullet in my chest
I'll press my wound against your breasts

And I know that you're called Jane
And I know that I'm to blame
And I know that you're called Jane
And you will raise a hurricane
If I ever let you go.

I am good at changing to a Bat
And I will hover over you
For everynight
To keep your passion satisfied

Place a wooden arrow through my tip
With your sweet and luscious lips

P/s:
This is the last post.

At 5 minutes & 22 seconds, our longest song ever. Looks like Aaron got it covered both ends.

Fantastic song, I just hope it really isn't about that apparition sighted on 172 at Lim Chu Kang.

Note 1:
Before this song became Nightrider Girl, it was originally named Cemetary Girl.

Note 2:
I used to be the singer for this song when we played shows, since Aaron was largely stuck behind the drum kit.

When I told him, Aaron got a little miffed to find out that I have been singing the second line as:

"Have you seen a herbivore? Its ok."

Nightrider Girl (Aaron)

Searching for, my Nightrider Girl
Have you seen her before? Its ok.
Should have took the bus cos' that was the last I saw of her
Can't forget that smile for me, its ok.

She would disappear in a mist
And would appear again my dreams
Even if she's another ghost at the nearby cemetary
I wouldn't mind to be with her.

Nightrider Girl, I know not where you work
Do not know where you live
Let's go, hang out at the park
Forget about this cynical world
You would keep that smile for me? Its ok.

Will you stay? Oh will you stay? Yeah?

Even if she's another ghost at the nearby cemetary
I wouldn't mind to be with her.
Be with her, be in love with her.

Is she another ghost?

Who says hauntings are for ghosts only?



Haunted House (Louise)

I don't have much to offer
But I guess there's just no other
One that wants as much as me
To have you totally

I guess it must have crossed your mind
That I am the sick, perverted kind
But you don't have a choice, you see
Cos' I'll haunt you till' you agree

How does it feel to be staying
In a haunted house that I've been haunting?
Well, thats too bad for you.

Although I know you must be terrified
Of all the strange little sounds and sights
But don't you worry cos' its only me
Joining you - albeit - creepily

And you must have known from the start
That I am actively playing a part
In all the manisfestations that you feel
But I am doing all of it for you!

That's too bad for you.
(That's the best for you.)

A Siren (Louise)

If you had X-ray eyes, would you have even realized?
That I sneaked to your house late at night
Just to be real close to your side

If you had the Nose of a Hound, would you have found me chugging down?
Not because I was bored that day
But to chase the melancholy away

This is...the world's most beautiful sound
Your voice...makes me want to come around
Even if you're half a fucking world away
I still hear your voice everyday

If you had ESP, would you have detected me?
But I am not a Russian spy
I just wanna see you with my naked eye

If you had the ears of Wolverine, would you have caught me listening?
Not to eavesdrop or get into your mind
But to hear your sweet voice one more time

In the early morning when
My stomach flet like an empty can
I ran from shop to shop
Not for food
But to see
If I could meet you on the way

A personal favourite of mine. And I don't know why I can identify so closely with a stalker.

Fantastic work on the guitar loop by Jeremy.

Anthem For a Stalker (Louise)

I wish that I was your lipstick
Then at least I get to brush against your lips;
Your barber is a lucky man,
He gets to touch your hair now and then.

And I wouldn't mind being a piece of gum
Permanently attached to your arm

I want to be your slippers
Protect your feet from blisters
No, it won't be a curse
But being your bra is best
Directly in contact with your breasts!

Don't wanna be a million miles away HAHA!
Gonna watch over you everyday HAHA!
Wanna hear every word you say HAHA!
Gonna be with you any-way HAHA!

Oh-woh-oh uh uh uh...oh...

Our Last Show.

Although we didn't know it at the time.

It seemed fitting. Our first performance some 8 years ago was probably at the Substation and here we are at our last stop, also at the Substation.

It felt like it was back to the old days, with a 6-hour show and sun-baked stage out in the open greenery. I think Ah-Boy did the sound on this one too.

Jungle Aaron

Bi-axles in the axis of terror?

And that, as they say, is that.

P/s:

It is a pity things ended aburptly. We had a few good songs like Mutter, 10 punches and The Real Angela left unrecorded and sitting within the strings, just waiting to see life again.

Pp/s:

The songs we recorded in 2002/03 for Let's Cross have been sitting around for years, pending one of us to go retreieve the DAT and release them. It was taking forever for that to happen. I called Aaron and we decided to release them to the world here.

In 2003, Kiss My Act compilation was launched.

Adam managed to get the launch organized at Hard Rock Cafe. Peering across the road towards Ming Arcade brought me back memories of learning percussion at the Guitar Workshop there. Time does fly, it has been more than 1o years since.

Guitar Hero Jeremy & me

It felt like I was playing in a cathedral, with the stained glass behind us but with blinding and intense coloured-lights in our faces.

I distinctly remember I screwed up at the opening of Like Chopin. Aaron was screaming behind me: "Cannot! Cannot! Again !" And I did it again, much to the laughter of the crowd.

We had Atan as our project guitarist for this one and I am sure Kate of Kale was playing this show too.

Atan on the far right

Aaron on the old site:

"With a new set of songs which had different guitar layers, we find ourselves inadequate with just one guitar, so we stole Kate of Kale guitar player, Mohd Riduan aka Atan to booster our guitars."

Doesn't Aaron in cap look more like a DJ here than a drummer?
The hi-hat and cymbals look like some high-tech floating turntables.

Quite unexpectedly and without collusion, both guitarists turned up in orange and both me and Aaron in the same shade of blue.

2004.

It seemed like a blackout to me ever since the gig at Hard Rock. I don't remember very much of what went on in the year in between that and...

Trust Aaron to come up with something like this.

Very witty and check out the phonology in the chorus.



Foreign Talent (Aaron)

He's been living in this city for 20 over years
But he's got a foreign accent overnight
There's nothing nothing nothing you can do about it
He's got a foreign accent overnight

Today, today,
He's a punk rocker
He's a skater
He's a Japanese
He's a beach bum

Today, today,
He's a punk rocker
He's a skinhead
He's a model
He's a hip-hopper

Its happening in our society
Its not real
But its true!
If you wanna stick it up his arse
Then do it! Go! Go! Go!

Mum I wanna be, I wanna wannabe...
Mum I wanna be a foreign talent.

I absolutely love this one, a mosh-perfect. And at 17 seconds, our shortest song ever.

And Petty does in fact exist, although thats not her real name. She turns up at your doorstep in the wee hours and threatens suicide.

You'll Regret (Aaron)

My name is Petty
And you're gonna get it!

S-U-F-F-E-R-I-N-G

IS THE WORD YOU'RE GONNA SAY
FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

This one never had a title.

Aaron just started calling it fierce song and so it stuck.



Fierce Song (Louise)

I am stuck inside the Alamo
Davy Crockett's beckoning me to go
Guns and fire surrounding on all sides
This might be my last breathing night

I've got to get this off my chest right now
Cos' tomorrow I might not even be around
I never had the guts to say this until
Now I am going: I can't stop loving you

This night is short the dawn is coming
Very soon I will hear myself screaming
I wonder why I never made it clear
Until this moment my death is near

Mamamamamama Lemon Lemon......

Also known as Kathy II.




The Day They Forgot to Lock Kathy in Her Cell (Aaron)

Kathy's back, oh no!
That psychopathic girl, she ran away from the asylum today

They forgot to lock her in the cell
Letting her run around in the flower garden
They forgot to lock her in her jacket
There she goes storming through the streets

Its gonna be...the end
For everyone, including
Suburban Dammit, who is
Kathy's most hated punk rock band

Taking time looking for an adversary
Everyone is staying out of sight
On pretext of being a punk rock girl
Where she can hide that stupid oversized smile

Oh no, nobody's gonna leave here alive
Psycho-Kathy oh...

Irony.



Sally Used to be the Girl I know (Aaron)

Sally - she used to be the girl I know
But now she's fallen for the dope
Sinking deeper in the abyss
Scratching at the back of my memories

Sally - I used to sing her pretty songs
But it didn't last too long
Sinking deeper in the abyss
Scratching at the back of my memories

Drugs are not for me, drugs are not for free
You must never be, a slave of your own dignity
Sally's wrecked her fucking future
Sally's gone now, gone now, gone now

If you love me then do hear me:
STAY OUT OF SHIT

Sally be happy.

Sally, she used to be the girl I know
But now she's fallen for the dope.

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.

Wendy sits in the corner cubicle, right by the door and framed behind her is a large glass window. Slightly plump, thin-frames bespectacled and obviously extremely introverted. She hardly says a word to anyone, even when people try to have a few words with her. She has her lunch at her desk every single day.

She's pretty.



Wendy Come Along with Me (Louise)

Oh my Wendy don't you want to be with me?
Get in the car; we could drive to Arizona
You - could pay for the petrol
And purify my soul
You can be the One
And I will be a rock star

Wander aimlessly...
Only you and me.
(Oh my Wendy, don't you want to be free?)
We could watch the stars
From the bonnet of the car.

Oh my Wendy, don't you want to be with me?
Get in the ship we could take a little sea trip
You - could put out all the sails
And hammer in the nails.
You can be the captain
I will be the dumb Flip

Slowly sailing by, underneath the orange sky
(Oh my Wendy, watch the sunset with me)
Slowly sail away, together with the fading day

When my Wendy says its fine
Then I know my Wendy's mine
When my Wendy looks at me, she is everything I see

Oh my Wendy!

Oh my Wendy don't you want to be with me
Walk by my side, we could stroll along the seaside
You - could hold on to my hand
And I will be your man
We could leave our footprints in the slimy wet sand

Hear the waves crash
See the sea splash
Kiss me with the tip,
Of your luscious lips

I have a real soft spot for this one, a punk's dance song at a ball.

This is the song we spent many evenings in the Padang practising its tricky harmonizing.



I Wanna Dance with Her (Aaron, Jeremy)

I wanna dance with her!
I wanna feel her body close to mine!

She is my battery pack
Oh wouldn't you keep me warm in the sack?

Woooo!

As close to a duet as we can get it.



2 Drunkards at a Karaoke Bar (Louise)

(A's drunken mumbling)

A:
Hi, do you still remember Karen?

B:
I will never forget even if I've got
One million phone numbers of the prettiest models
Karen is something stuck inside my mind

I can't help but not deny
She is something stuck in my mind
She's the loveliest thing I've ever seen
She's the sweetest moment in

My ugly teenage life
She is the dream of mine
She is my inspiration
As well as my adoration

I will not
forget
forever.

I felt a buzz of excitement in me when I woke up that morning. This is incredibly unusual, as I had awakened in an army camp. The first thing I see are the uniformly gray-green surroundings and the quiet hustle and bustle of the other 10 guys I slept with as they went about their ablutions.

Today is the day Suburban Dammit is going to be heard on public radio for the first time!

Aaron called me weeks before, informing me that we are going to be on air this Tuesday at 10.20am or thereabouts. I went about my morning chores with both eyes on my watch and by 10.10am, I was done with canteen break and sitting excitedly in the soldier's musky non-airconed office and tuning the radio's knob in an attempt to log onto Singapore Jam.

At that time, there was a new radio channel called Singapore Jam. If I remember correctly, between certain timings, they ran exclusively local bands on the airwaves. Aaron had been contacted and Singapore Jam wanted to play a song or two from We Nearly Killed Each Other. Obviously I don't remember which song/s.

The problem with these antique boombox radios complete with a damn long antenna was that there was no display, just this red vertical line that moves as you turn the knob, indicating approximately which frequency you are on. Damn the numbers are so fine and the line so thick. A problem especially when our channels are all 90-something.

I ended up having to finish hearing whatever song is being played to get to the universal "This is 'whatever at number point number' FM, your favourite radios station" message to figure out whether I am actually on Singapore Jam. You see, the pangolin sitting nearest the radio normally listens to the Mandarin channel.

Time was marching on. I don't seem to be at the right station.

When I finally got to it, our song was already playing halfway. But still heartening to hear the DJ speak our name out after the song. At least I caught that.

Two years later was the second time (that I know of) we came on radio. And they were going to interview us too!

Aaron wrote on the old site:

Suburban Dammit/Live Interview on Passion 99.5FM
/morning/13th Aug/2003
*New song 'Julie Run Run!' will be air-played as a sample to our new album
titled 'Let's Cross'.

I remember that we had selected Mirage II, Julie Run Run, Foreign Talent and We Nearly Killed Each Other to be played as interludes during the interview.

It did not appear to me that the DJ was aware of the selection. She had left the choice to us, so long as we brought along a CD with the track.

"So remember guys, this is public radio so we can't have any swear words or obscene stuff going on air." DJ said with a cheek in her voice.

A: "Don't worry lah, these songs wouldn't have obscene stuff and swear words."

J: "Wait, wait. Mirage and Julie sure don't have but Foreign Talent..."

L: "Yeah hor, your that kind of song sure got..."

The three of us went dead quiet right there and ran the lyrics with accompanying music on fast forward in our heads.

A: "Stick it up his arse can or not?"

DJ: "Of course not! This is public radio!"

A: "Ok, like that play something else."

And of course, the offending song got switched with Andre and Anthony's Lifelong Enrichment Program. Foreign Talent does indeed contain the phrase 'stick it up his arse'.

And for the full version of artists' verbiage:

Julie Run Run (Jeremy)

This world's got fangs, she's gonna swallow you
You better Julie run run, Julie run run
This world's made up of crooks and hooligans
They take advantage of you, Julie you you
Listen to whatever they say
You better make your way way, Julie way way
Girls like you, they fall into the trap
Because they are so dumb dumb, Julie dumb dumb

Oh Julie girl, you know how I feel
And I protect you from harm
Come stay with me, I'll be by your side
Know that I am waiting for you Julie long long, Julie long long

Julie run, run, run!

Don't Walk Out That Door (Jeremy)

Do you remember the time? When we were just seventeen
We had the time of our lives, we didn't give a damn about anything
How I used to talk to you, for hours on the telephone
But now we don't even talk, I guess you needed time to be left alone

Don't you want me baby, I am really sorry for the things I have done
I wanna to be your number one again you know you dont have to walk out that door
I will do anything just to make you change your mind
How did you come to this conclusion that I am always the last to know

Do you remember the time when we we ran naked on the patio
Made love in your parents bed while they went to church on Sunday morning
How you used to laugh at me, you said I was such a funny guy
Now my jokes are just corny, you brush me aside like you would a fly

Whatever the distance, whatever the crime
Whatever the cost I want us to be fine
I want us to be happy, what we are built for
I want you to just don't walk out that door

Just don't walk out that door

Our jamming favourite, I love playing the undulations in this song.



Maharaja Song (Jeremy)

She kills me, she kills me, she kills me
When she smiles
Am I to see her again?
I don't know anymore

She got me, she got me, she got me
Frozen in Time. Space.
From that moment
That she said hello

Could you be the queen and I the Maharaja?
And build my very own Taj Mahal for you
Amongst the stars in a distant universe
The satellite that brought me ever close to you

She killed me, she killed me, she killed me
When she smiles and I agree
That I'll die many happy deaths for sure

She got me, she got me, she got me
For telling lies cause I love
the the image that I cannot decipher