I did it for…

Charity.

Mostly. Hahaha… So yesterday was RubberBand’s performance for the President Charity Youth Talent Challenge (or smth with a similarly impressive sounding name). Very very very eventful event (duh, events are eventful. hurhur.) but yah… really eventful. Even the rehearsals we had were eventful not just the performance itself.

So the performance itself was full of surprises. The first was that the keyboard I was supposed to play just wouldn’t turn on. For the longest time we were just standing there whilst the emcee tried to stall for time and the stage crew desperately tried to figure out what was wrong with the damn thing. Finally came to the conclusion that the keyboard was broken because the power wire leading out of it was broken. So instead we just decided to whack onwards with the performance whilst substituting a keyboard with a guitar instead. So that was me… playing what I was supposed to play on piano, on the guitar instead, at a last minute’s notice. HAHAHA. exciting.

Then the collaboration with Ai Jia was also surprising. Mostly because she pulled a big surprise when she suddenly said “停一下“ and tried to work the audience. Miraculously I instinctively responded to her shout and stopped. Lol. It was a big clumsy trying to get back into the song again after that but all in all I think not many people noticed that.

Overall, I think we benefited from this performance in terms of exposure. Definitely more people know about us now. So we’ve started a facebook fan page and a twitter account too. People please start becoming our fans and following us on twitter. I promise once the exams are over there’ll be loads and loads of updates from us.

Our facebook fan page

and our

twitter page

So keep watching out for us. x)

Into another dimension

And just like that one performance is done with. Just finished performing with RubberBand at the Kent Ridge Hall for the Nescafe chill out night event. Must say it wasn’t a super good performance but I guess it’s somewhat passable. Many learning points to be gleamed from this gig.

1. Soundcheck. soundcheck. If not be prepared for your instruments to sound weird
2. Prepare beforehand additional songs in case the organizer last minute just stun you by asking you to play a longer set than you originally prepared for
3. Be prepared that the lighting will affect your playing. Things like reflections or glare from lights can affect your accuracy in playing.
4. Learn to block out background noise. The background chatting noise and eating noise was really quite overwhelming last night.
5. Be more ra-ra! hahaha… sorry, i’ll never be able to do this. Just not me. I must say Nat is quite good at this, and I think his joke was freaking funny although other people just roll-eyes and think it’s lame.

The next gig up will be a super short 5 minute performance at Vivocity on the 21st of Nov. It’s a showcase for the Youth Challenge in support of the President Star Charity. Since we only have 5 minutes we’ll be doing some surprising mix of songs in a medley. more details as the date comes closer.

For now… I am just glad that this gig is over and I can rest a bit. although there are still a lot of things that I need to get done. Japanese Studies paper, Finals to prepare for and the Xmas caroling gig also. Ahhh. Kinda worried about that, the guitar arrangements are way more complex than I expected. =(

Final is so final.

OMG. It has only just recently dawned on me that I’m only 3.5 weeks away from reaching the end of the semester. After which it’s the FINALS. Haaaaaaaa! It’s terrifying but exciting at the same time. Exam exam exam. I’ve got really high expectations for myself and now I’m not so sure if I can meet it. =(

Stuck in a rut…

Haven’t done anything productive in a long while already. It’s quite irritating because there’s a lot of things I want to get done but the sheer inertia of not doing anything combined with the convenient excuses of the house being under renovation and myself falling sick is just stopping me from getting off my ass and doing anything. But the thing about the renovation stopping me from getting things done is totally true though (and not just an excuse) because I seriously have no space to set up my equipment to record anything. Will be so glad once the renovation is totally done and everything can be put back into it’s proper place and I’ll have everything up and running again. =)

Randomness but I have a few things I really want to get. Firstly, a video recorder. Somehow a video performance is just so much more interesting to watch than just a plain audio file. Secondly, a PS3. I really really want a PS3, even my cousin who stays next to me has a PS3 and all my cousin’s have PS3’s they can all play with each other why I don’t have. =( Thirdly, shoes and clothes. omg, so long since I last bought a nice new outfit. Hahaha… just some material happiness would be nice. Was flipping through the Style:Men magazine about a week ago and there are so many many nice clothes and things that I want to get but the prices are like O.O!!!

And performances have somewhat ground to a stop. =( Since the start of the term proper, In Finite Flight hasn’t really been doing anything. I guess everybody’s just busy with studying. Perhaps my idea that being a part-time performer whilst studying is a bit too idealistic but I still cling on to it and want to try to achieve it to some extent. Now, the only thing I have to look forward to is the Xmas performances. Looks to be quite fun because I get to play the guitar AND sing at the same time and with a big group of people instead of just alone. Somehow, groups always make me feel more comfortable than if I’m performing alone.

The newest song stuck in my head

Ironically the newest song stuck in my head is a really old one. The original was done by the rock band Journey!

Work work

Ha. School work is really piling up on me and I’ve got endless amount of readings that I need to be doing. I really want to do some music but I can’t seem to find the time or energy.

Feel so burnt out.

Love is when you wanna kiss and you get bit.

OH yeahhhh! One of my favorite rock bands is back with a new song I just heard it on the radio a few days back. Helluva good song!

The music video is the typical make no sense kind of video with a hairy wolf man cycling around causing trouble here and there but the song is so awesome. Simple but so rocking!!!!

Ahhhh. Sadly embedding is disabled so just click on the video and click on the link that shows up to watch in on youtube. So awesome definitely must listen.

Just so you know…

So recently went to watch Ivan and Sherlyn lao shi perform at DXO with the band Se7en. I must say the set was enjoyable and the band super tight. It really made me nostalgic about being in a rock band. I really really miss playing music with the sound of a live drumset filling in the song. As much as I enjoy the cool chill out performances that you can give with an acoustic setup, nothing really compares to the setup of a rock band. All I need is an electric guitar, an electric bass, a drumset and one vocalist and you can ROCK OUT!!! Woo. Of course keyboards add in a whole new dimension of layers into the songs. Especially love strings sounds with rock just like Yellowcard although they don’t use keyboard but use actual violins to make their sounds.

Oh… and I’m going to go a little bit off topic here. Firstly, before the performance at DXO, went to thai express with Nathaniel,Fiona and Julio. So Nathaniel and Julio both had soft-shell crab and Julio asked me a question along the lines of “how can there be soft-shell crab? How can a crab survive with a soft shell?” at least that’s what I recall him asking me. Well, the answer is that soft-shell crabs are actually normal crabs that have just molted so they aren’t soft-shelled all the time, just during certain molting seasons. Then he asked me if it’s seasonal how can there be a constant supply of soft-shell crabs to restaurants. Then my answer I gave him was that the supply just comes from different places at different times of the year as the crabs just molt at different times at different places. In response to my answers, Julio praised me as being a “genius” to which I replied if he’s gonna think that way then I can easily convince him of anything I say being true. But well… just to back up what I have said, check out the wikipedia entry on it. Soft shell crabs!

Ok… enough of the off topic stuff. I want to buy an acoustic guitar. Anybody got any good recommendations?

roll out!

So… just more updates. Had another bistro set on Sunday. Following which, had a guest performance with In Finite Flight for the welcome tea for the Original Music Society in NUS. So far it seems like many people have very positive reactions to Sarah’s original compositions. Hahaha… kinda envious. Music and I have had such a long-standing relationship but I have not done any original works.

Guess… I feel like it’s time that I start having something of my own. My own voice…

Esplanade!

Hahaha… so my Esplanade gig is over. Overall a fun performance, a lot of learning points for me.

Pleasantly surprised that the VS people turned up to watch.

Thanks to Ivan, Iris, Yikang, Christina, Chun Rong, Wen Hao and Nathaniel!!! (didn’t miss out anyone right)
You guys are awesome I really surprised that you turned up to watch because I was kinda expecting nobody would read my blog so fast and turn up the next day.
THANKS AGAIN!