(Press release)
Local folk-pop artist DEON has been invited to play at the prestigious Canadian Music Week 2013 this 21st March. Part of the crop of talents taking their music into foreign ground, DEON will be representing Singapore alongside local bands Inch Chua, The Sam Willows and Eli T.
Dan Chan, frontman of Xingfoo&Roy brings us his unique perspective of being a performer and audience member at Identite 8.4
I met Amir through a fellow local musician named Chris(also known as Bravepaper). After exchanging emails, Amir asked if our band would like to play at Homeclub’s Identite 8.4 and we gladly accepted!
We played Homeclub’s Big Night Out Launch party along with The Livid Suns and Deon Toh on the 25th (last Friday) and it was great. A fairy large crowd showed up and The Livid Suns kicked the party off with some of their original tracks. Ending with a cover of “Gold Lion” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Their fierce musical style reminded me of comparable local acts such as Fire Away! Samson and Caracal.
Xingfoo&Roy played next and we can’t express the amount of gratitude we have towards Homeclub and the crowd. The crowd was warm and cheerful which vanished our anxiety almost immediately. The sound was also the best we’d ever had, so props to Homeclub for that! The show was amazing mainly due to the crowd as they danced and sang along to our songs. Pleasing the crowd drove us to play so much better than we ever have.
Ending the event with a mix of alternative-pop tracks was singer songwriter Deon Toh. Deon sang as his backing band complemented his songs. His creamy and soothing voice toned the mood down quite a fair bit and left the audiences bobbing their heads to a set of his original songs which included the catchy, “Little Lives” and they ended with a cover of a Band Of Horses song. Deon Toh is a very talented individual with an immense amount of soul and we hope to hear more from him in the near future.
On the whole, Identite 8.4 was a success and we’d love to thank Homeclub for being such a great contribution to the thriving local music scene.
Another Friday, another Identite presented by Home Club and RSC. On 25th January, The Livid Sun, Xingfoo&Roy and Deon Toh take to the stage for the Big Night Out Launch Party. We managed to get hold of Daniel out of Xingfoo&Roy to respond to our queries…
What is Xingfoo&Roy?
Xingfoo&Roy is a band comprised of three boys, Gabriel, Jeremy and Daniel. We’ve been playing together since early 2011 and have been writing music ever since. The reason why we love to write music is because we’d like to share our views on certain subjects in the form of musical expression. The name came about from a short story Gabriel wrote about two characters. Xingfoo and Roy. We also decided on the name, as it was a reference to Sigfred and Roy, the magicians. We wanted a local sounding band name as well feel that many local band are trying to sound western. Got to stick to your roots man.
The line-up for this year’s Baybeats Festival (29 June to 1 July at the Esplanade) is decidedly Singapore-focused with 21 (!) local acts sharing the various stages with acts from Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan. The emphasis on Singapore acts befits the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Esplanade, a venue that has impacted the local music scene in a highly positive manner in the last decade.
So mark your calendars on the above dates and look out for Obedient Wives Club, For This Cycle, King King Jane, Black Diamond Folds, Godzilla, Rudra, Rachael Teo, ANECHOIS, Cashew Chemists, The Fast Colors, Embrace Them Ghosts, Great Spy Experiment, Plainsunset, Deon, MONSTER CAT, Pep Talk, Inch Chua & Metric System, Run Neon Tiger, Cockpit, A Town In Fear & In Each Hand a Cutlass.
An exciting time for the indie music scene beckons…
This was a relatively tough shoot as we (Pat & I) had to contend with the blistering heat, the erratic wind as well as the various school children running around but ultimately worth the effort! You can listen to more of Deon’s music at his Bandcamp page.
DEON TOH
We spoke to young singer-songwriter on the banks of the Singapore River about his new EP, Letters and what he’s been doing in the music scene recently. Check it out!
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NOISE-TIMBRE SINGER-SONGWRITER PROGRAMME (2ND EDITION)
Another packed crowd at Timbre at the Substation witnessed the 2nd edition of the Noise-Timbre Singer-Songwriter Programme. In truth, the majority of the Timbre patrons may have been present for the excellent pizzas rather than the Programme itself but the whole point of the Programme is to expose Singapore songwriting (and songwriters) to audiences unfamiliar with it and so on that count, the Programme has certainly achieved its aim, thus far.
DEON TOH Letters (Self-released)
There have been a couple of drummers in rock history who have vacated the drum seat to step up in front to take the lead role – most notably Don Henley (Eagles) and Phil Collins (Genesis). Well, Deon is probably previously best known for drumming with S-ROCK outfit Flybar but has now well and truly put himself out there as a singer-songwriter in his right. And on this debut ‘demo’ EP, Deon demonstrates that he has made the right decision in doing so. Indeed, the S-ROCK scene has been made richer as a result.
It’s interesting that Deon has labelled Letters as a ‘demo’ release – perhaps to scale down expectations somewhat (?) – cos to these ears, Letters can be easily considered a ‘proper’ EP release (whatever that means). So please don’t let that self-effacing manner fool you, Letters is a well produced, well performed and well written debut.
Since discovering he actually could sing (according to Deon, whilst studying in Berklee College of Music), it’s obvious that Deon has taken his new vocation (as a singer-songwriter) seriously and has applied his skill and talents in the crafting of these four tracks (five, plus the ‘hidden’ track, Higher). Simply put, Deon’s songwriting is of the pleasing commercial variety with strong references to the British soft-rock of Travis, Coldplay and Keane – in other words, radio-friendly alternative rock. There is a good balance between faux-classical piano dynamics and acoustic guitar ambience that certainly is reminiscent of Chris Martin’s songwriting choices.
All told, Letters is an excellent debut – although probably more variation in styles might have expanded the palette a little. But taken as a first effort, Letters is ample evidence of Deon’s potential as a singer-songwriter of note.
You can listen/download the EP below.
Deon will be performing his original songs at the Noise-Timbre Singer-Songwriter Programme at Timbre @ Substation on Wed, 23rd March, together with Saiful (of the Great Spy Experiement) and yours truly. Don’t miss it!
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