Budak Pantai have Something, even if they say it's Nothing
By Susan Ferroa, channelnewsasia.com | Posted: 13 November 2009 1716 hrs

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They sing, and very well, thank you very much. But the Budak Pantai which translates from Malay into Beach Boys are not the Singapore version of those Surfin’ and Fun, Fun, Fun guys. And thank goodness for that.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the Beach Boys, so BB fans don’t get me wrong.

But once you hear Singapore’s Budak Pantai you’ll be glad that there’s no strand of California blonde among the five and the songs they sing are way different in chorus and content.

“Do you ever sing Beach Boys?” I couldn’t help but ask when I met the members of Budak Pantai at Starbucks where they’d been singing.

Apart from a firm no, it was also stressed that they are not the local version of the Beach Boys because “its copyright, number one...” the Budak lawyer Michael Loh, starts to list.

“Have you ever heard the group Queen called Nu Wang in Mandarin?” asked Michael the only Mandarin-speaker in the group.

“No! It’s always Queen! So Budak Pantai in any language is Budak Pantai” he concluded to nods and rumbles of agreement from Joseph Wong who is a banker, design consultant Ho Kah Keh and market researchers Gordon Wong and Danny Lai.

If you think these guys are amusing in a conversation, wait till you hear them sing.

Nothing seems to get past them, be it Il Divo’s style or nostril hair, which the Budak Pantai weave into song artistically.

Although they assault your senses with what you think a song should be, you’ll happily allow the Budak Pantai to take you on their musical journey with Danny’s lone guitar accompanying the rich voices that harmonise and provide accompaniment at the same time.

You can catch them in action November 13-15 at 30 Starbucks outlets across Singapore.

“Some groups tour London, Paris and Moscow. We tour Tampines, Jurong…” quipped Michael on the group’s appearance which is tied in to their December concert at the Esplanade and the launch of their latest CD, Nothing Also Happy.

While the global economic downturn left few with much to smile about, the Budak Pantai took inspiration from their island home of Singapore and drew on their reserves.

The result, a 12 track album with songs, some of them original, including titles such as Retrenchment, Piah (Hokkien dialect for persevere) and Lighthouse which is about the territorial dispute over Pedra Branca.

Joe is the song-writer. “I wake up in the middle of the night to write it all down” he revealed to a chorus of “waaahhs” from the other Budak who rib him good-naturedly.

It seems that the only thing the Budak Pantai are serious about is their music.

“So many groups out there long for the support that we have – the infrastructure, the manpower, the ability to buy equipment…” said the Budak Pantai in a moment of rare serious reflection.

“Actually most of the groups we meet are much better than we are, but we are just lucky!”

Even though all of them save Kah Keh, are married with families of their own the Budak Pantai still make time to meet each week.

They can’t quite agree on how, or how much, they practice when they get together but there is consensus that they are spontaneous in coming up with a repertoire or arrangement.

“Because we are so used to each other’s range, we naturally assume that each person will take a certain part in a song” said Joe.

Picking up the thread, Kah Keh explained “Technically, even if there’s no music we can depend on the ears and imagination… which is nice as the songs are never the same, twice.”

“It’s never the same because you can never remember your part!” jumps in Danny as the rest of the group dissolve into laughter.

“Most of the time Joe will come up and say ‘ay, I just heard this song on the radio that we must try” said Michael.

Danny who hasn’t stopped strumming his guitar during the interview, chimes in to outline the rest of the creative process.

“So he’ll just give us the basic words” said Danny nodding to Joe who looks on.

“We’ll hum the tune, try to work out what the chords could be, then Gordon and I will try to chip in certain formations of the harmony… usually we just let him (Gordon) sit quietly and say "bass is now.”

Amid the gales of laughter Gordon adds “actually we’ve gotten less spontaneous with time, I think it’s got to do with age.”

Aged somewhere between 30-something and 40-something, the Budak Pantai have been making music together for 15 years after winning a pre-Singapore Idol talent show in 1994.

They have no intention to call it a day and take pride in being the only Current Affairs singing group, based on the topics and themes they sing about.

To date, they have five albums and a fairly long list of gigs, from performing at the 2006 PAP Convention, to singing before ASEAN officials in 2008 and even stints in Mumbai (2009), Yokohama (2007) and Penang (2005).

Their yearly musical calendar also includes at least one big annual show, and for 2009 the Budak Pantai will be staging Happy Songs for A Great Recession, which is two-night concert at the Esplanade.

Music and mirth, may seem an odd combination – but then again, so is the Budak Pantai – but odd in a nice way.

Get a taste of the Budak Pantai at Starbucks with their Nothing also Happy tour that will leave you grinning ear to ear.

Starbucks Stops

Friday 13th:
Capital Towers (1800hrs), Singapore Land Towers (1840hrs), Raffles City (1930hrs), Citylink (2010hrs), Suntec City (2050hrs), Marina Sq (2130hrs), Liang Court (2200hrs)

Saturday 14th:
Tanglin Mall (0800hrs), Orchard Parade Hotel (0845hrs), Liat Towers (0930hrs), Pacific Plaza (1010hrs), ION (1100hrs), Wisma Atria (1145hrs), Paragon (1330hrs), Centrepoint (1420hrs), Plaza Singapura (1510hrs), Cathay (1600hrs), Parkway Parade (1700hrs), Playground@Big Splash (1800hrs), Jln Jamal-Siglap (1910hrs), One Fullerton (2100hrs)

Sunday 15th:
Tampines Mall (1200hrs), Bugis Junction (1300hrs), Great World City (1400hrs), Vivo City (1500hrs), Vivo City II (1540hrs), Jurong Pt (1700hrs), Holland Village(1820hrs), Bukit Timah (1900hrs)