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If you were to compile a list of Singapore's Top 10 Greatest Music Acts Of All Time, who would you pick?
Would you reach back into the golden age of Singapore pop for an act like The Quests? Or, would you prefer indie progenitors The Oddfellows or more recent alt-rockers West Grand Boulevard?
While you are mulling, here are three names to consider: CC Sound Factory, The Analog Girl and Faith Yang. If things go their way, these three lasses may be well on the way to making an indelible mark on the music scene here.
SOUNDS QUITE SHIOK
Take CC Sound Factory for example. The name might not be well-known here, but in the United States, CC has carved a career as a respected DJ and electronica musician.
"CC Sound Factory is mainly me," said CC she prefers not to reveal her surname or age. "I'm not excluding the possibility of adding other people later on, but now, it's just me and my machines."
The machines are the array of laptop, samplers, loopers and other instruments she uses to churn out her music. But she didn't start out as a musician. Born in Singapore, CC went to New York to study and after stints acting in drama, she plied her trade as a DJ under the moniker CC Arts Factory.
"Later, I called myself DJ CC and when I was playing with a couple of bands in New York, I was just called CC. It was only in 2005 that I became CC Sound Factory during which I did everything on my own, with my own gear."
Last year, she released Shiok Waves, her debut EP (with remixes and a music video) to rave reviews in Canada, the United Kingdom and the US. CC was also one of the first artistes to release music on the USB driver, Mu-Stik.
"For the record, we actually did this before White Stripes and all the rest. There was only one German band that did it before us."
Another coup was filming the music video for her upbeat single, So Shiok, on Singapore's MRT. "No, it wasn't a shoot-and-run! We had to get permission for that," said CC. "We had blue screen on the windows for other shots done in the studio." The video went on to win Best Music Video at the 2006 DigiFestival.
The EP will be re-released in April, and is a harbinger for her upcoming North America tour, where she'll do a DJ set, but mix in a live performance as well in cities across the US and Canada throughout April and May. She's also one of two Asian finalists the other is from Japan in the International Songwriting Competition the results of which will be announced in April.
SIMPLE GIRL, BIG DREAMS
Having blazed the trail as a member of Chinese pop duo 2Gals, Faith Yang found herself with a lot of spare time when the duo split up.
"I actually left the scene for a while. I worked in pharmaceuticals, did the stay-at-home good girl thing while waiting for something to happen. But I couldn't keep away from music," she said.
Coming out of the "low point" in her musical career last year she was previously reported as being in depression and implicated along with other Chinese pop stars such as Elva Hsiao in a drugs scandal that later proved to be unfounded Faith starting making music again.
Her current venture is her single, Simple Living, released earlier this month. A full-length album is expected in June. The single also coincides with her website, Rebirth (www.rebirth.sg), which she says is not only a platform for her music, but also an avenue for creative local talent to showcase their wares in collaboration with her.
"I got to work with Hong Kong and Taiwanese artists, stylists, photographers, but I was thinking: 'We have our own talents in Singapore; why aren't any of them being packaged for the region?'" said the 33-year-old. "Rebirth is more or less a collaboration showcase with other creative talent film-makers, photographers, artists. Hopefully, our talents can get more recognition because of this."
The photos, video and artwork for her single and album, for example, were done by local artists and photographers, whom she said, were relatively unknown to the scene at the time. "It's not just about me, ah! But in Singapore, it's like if you're established, you're there for a long time and there's no space for new blood," she said.
ANALOG NAME, DIGITAL MUSIC
Like CC, the Analog Girl, a.k.a. Mei Wong, (picture, far left) relies on her laptop to make her music.
Having dabbled on the fringe with music for years she worked for MTV and record label Warner Music Wong finally did something about it in 2002, and The Analog Girl was born.
Her current release, Sometime Next Galaxy (album cover, left), contains seven tracks she wrote over two years. It is receiving rave reviews in the US and will be released in Japan soon.
She was listed in January's edition of Time magazine as one of the five Asian acts to watch out for this year. Many have compared her music to that of Bjork, Moby and Tricky but really, it's all Mei.
But even though her music is digitised, the 34-year-old said she never thought of doing electronic music at first.
"I never wanted to do just that. I only used the laptop because that allowed me to be a one-person band. I would love to do stuff like what (Icelandic band) Sigur Ros does. They travel across the country and play in small pubs and stuff.
"That's the free spirit I like. That's also one of the reasons I became a musician, so that everyday is, you know, free!"
Mei said her big break came when local music icon X'Ho played her songs on the radio, but her music has since gone on to bigger and better things.
In 2004, Nike used her music for an ad campaign. And in 2005, she did a "club-hop tour" of six venues in New York City which included places such as The Knitting Factory and CBGB's Gallery.
"That's probably my most memorable gig the one at the CBGB's Gallery," she recalled.
"It's a small place next to the club and is owned by the club. They had a book launch, a photobook of CBGB's, and they had an exhibition of the photos.
"So, it was quite funny and surreal because on the walls, there are pictures of The Ramones, Velvet Underground and there I was, spinning my digital music. It's special to me because it reflected the indie spirit."
It's a spirit that the former Singapore Chinese Girls' School student said is also prevalent in Singapore.
"The music scene here is reminiscent of the indie scene in New York back in the '70s when bands like the Ramones would be standing in the crowd watching another hot new band like Blondie playing on stage.
"I don't mean we are lagging behind. I'm talking about how exciting this period of time is for local music. This spirit is something we should try our best to preserve back home."
Shiok Waves by CC Sound Factory is available online at www.ccsoundfactory.com. Simple Living by Faith Yang and Sometime Next Galaxy by The Analog Girl are out in shops now. - TODAY/ar
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