Gin's and Nat's


Wish you were there. Serenaide's The Other End Of The Receiver album is available from Fruit Records.

On my way to Newton one March night, I had the Killers' Indierock n Roll out loud on my ipod (thanx Edwin for it) and singing along to it. Without knowing I instinctively changed the words and broke out into “its local indie rock for me/ its all i neeeeeeeddd/ Its local indie rock for meeeeeeeeee." Eugene (bassist) from Morphy was at Newton and after knocking back a couple of Tsingtaos, I said to him "Hey let's form a band and do only local songs."

A week or two later, we roped in Calvin (drums) from Nuance, Tim (guitar) from Highrise, Alexius (guitar) of defunct the Stroll and Yap, one of my drinking/karaoke pals and also the voice behind Durian King's theme song. Next We started choosing the songs to cover, settled on a band name and last night we had our 4th jam. On 1st of June 2005, if you aren't doing anything much and you fancy doing some karaoking/sing-a-long to local music (yep, lyrics will be provided) come come to Prince Of Wales Pub where LOCALBARBOY will try our best to entertain.

Its unanimous. We all agree Nat wins the most adorable indiepop fan award.


This was recorded and digitized about 2
years ago. But it was only this morning that I dug it out to listen and wow... wow .. wow...

"I just called to say hi".... that killed me.

Thats Jacob's hand. Beaming away in the background is long time pal Noel.

Noel fronted Suchness and this was at Sparks in 1997?98? Damn it! He writes really terrific songs. Scroll down and grab his solo stuff, a demo titled Edna.

Been tagged by Brandon with this Musical Baton thingie. So here it is...

Total volume of music files on my computer:
3,497 songs, 10.71GB

The last CD I bought was (Except for M83 and The Tears, the rest was from KL. Good price for the anime soundtracks):
Full Metal Alchemist Soundtrack
Ghost In The Shell Soundtrack
M83- Before The Dawn Heals Us
Gerhana Skacinta- Live & Loud In Singapore
Ministry- The Mind Is A terrible Thing to Taste
???? ?? soundtrack (I don't know what this is but the cover looks good. The music is awesome)
Tears- Refugees (What a lacklustre single...)

Song playing right now:
Thieves by Ministry (I used to blast this out loud on my walkman in '89, walking down Orchard Road and thinking the world won't understand. The world still don't and never will)

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:
(Shit this is tough. Too many. It has to be a list of three hundred. Ok so this list is just from off the top of my head right now)
1. Bryan Ferry's version of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
2. Johnny Boy's You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserved
3. Mark Eitzel's acoustic live version of Last Harbour
4. Zbgniew Preisner's Puppets off the soundtrack of Double Lives Of Veronique
5. Naif's Jikalau

Five people to whom I’m passing the baton:
1. Patch
2. Candice
3. Gin
4. Riz
5. Nat

Ive got a desire to hear Shriekback now.

Mostly I read sports and some entertainment. Most times I try to avoid the other sections. It makes me less angry. Less aghast by some of the most blatant spelling error ever- like casino is spelled C.A.S.I.N.O. Not I.R. By doing so I can smile more, be a happier person, contribute more as a productive member to the vibrant workforce serving the Empire. I should have some time to watch Episode III tomorrow.

Last December in Malacca. Reminds me of New Order's 1982 album cover "Power, Corruption & Lies"


23rd September 1995 at the Substation Garden. This was off my Sony tape recorder. Hence the muddier sound but sometimes its better, grittier that way.

Slept on the bus to KL. Slept after check-in. Swam in the afternoon and fell asleep lying by the pool. Back to room to TV and slowly drift into sleep again. Woke up meander through some work, quick dinner and a quicker return to bed for another dose of sleep. Last weekend in KL was probably the most restful holiday break.

Twilight Action Kelvin's when we brought him out for tulang action.


This is awfully scary to jam to. Another quality product from Tiramisu. Solid!

Was falling all over the place last night. On stage over the drums. On the dance floor. In front of the DJ booth. Never mix. Just stick to 1 evil.

My old neighbour Sharon's and old long time friend Lina's.


Breaking Glass must be the biggest band when I was a teenager. Their reputation precedes them. I think they played very few gigs and hence never saw them. Releasing DIY demos was also unheard of in the mid-80s. Then another name pop up... Fection Dasche. They tried recording some stuff but it took them years to get anything off the ground. By the time they issued their EP, it was the early 90s. Then I bumped into one of the the members and told them I've heard about Fection and would really like to listen to their music. He passed me a copy of the EP. This was done in 1987.

One of Neil Gaimen's early works was a Constantine story titled Hold Me. My copy became one of those many things one loan to friends and never came back. That was when I was still in school. Subsequently I forgotten the title and the name of the author except that it was a Hellblazer annual. Just a while back Gaimen reissued his early works under Midnight Days. I bought it, flipped through the pages, saw Hold Me inside and flipped. Nearly fainted. Nearly died.

Three days ago I re-read Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve #1. The second story Echo Avenue has similar overtones with Hold Me. But it was the last story Lunch Break, about a lonely elderly lady who tries to hold on to happy memories of her youth and her husband who had passed on that gutted me. Nearly cried. Nearly died.

Later 10pm karaoking.


This is the first love song I wrote many years ago for my first love. Its called Hold Me.

Outside the studio at 615pm yesterday I release a thunderous howl. It was a roar of relief. Then I punch my fist in the air like I just scored the last second winning goal for Losers United against the much hated SAFFC in the final of the Singapore Cup. No thunder clap nor dark clouds descend. Just a couple of passing motorist staring at me thinking "siao". I couldn't be bothered. After months of frustration, I don't give two hoots. I'm so relived its over. If not or I will end up in jail for committing murder.

Aida has this incredibly positive aura about her. I just love hanging out with her. Last night we yakked at Hideout. Last Sunday I passed out at Poptart during the final hour but I didn't miss snapping Aida's handbag.


How can anyone not love this. Everytime I hear Naomi's voice I just wanna melt and die. The CD is available in the shops. Its a 4-disc box set titled "Singapore 60s". No excuse for not buying. Please lah please... go buy lah. Don't be a cheap bastard just coming here to download freebies... BUY!

No work today. None. Zilch. Kosong. Nothingness. Hence I swam. I cooked. I rotted. This morning I even entertained whimsy thoughts of doing Melbourne or London. What pleasures!

Europe used to be somewhere I always wanted to go when I was a teenager. Now it ranks very very low on my travel desire list. Like I rather do Port Moresby in New Guinea than London (Unless its free like how Jon got his). These past years I have been doing South East Asia and there are so much that is closer to home to marvel at. Having done Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, its time for north Thailand or venture deeper into Borneo. Climb some Gunungs. Snake through another deep jungle river and drink some evil local ricewine.

4hrs 30mins to Poptart but this was at Hideout early this year. I remembered there were some mad dancing that nite.


This and this are real gems from the Eyerazor compilation. I think the Raw Fish issued 2 demos then in the late 80s/early 90s. Hope I still have them.