THIS SANCTUARY

Sydney's This Sanctuary was also in town for Music Matters!

first got to know about the band's existence when the boys from USS was tweeting bout then saying they'd need to check them out in Singapore, and being the busy body me, i went to check them out on YouTube..

the first one i heard was a remixed version of one of their song Rumour and the words of the song stood out immediately!

bumped into them on the streets of Clarke Quay and actually know who i was from twitter ha ha and then i finally caught these guys live two days later!

THEY.ARE.REALLY.AWESOME!

honestly, when i met them for the first time, i thought they were just friends getting together and jamming and having a good time playing music, but after watching them performed, you could feel how passionate they are about music and they are such awesome people as well! OH, And they are Australians, what's not to like about this band? ha ha

if you like the sounds of a female fronted band like that of Hey Monday and Paramore, who plays good music and who writes songs which make sense and mean something, or whether the above mattered or not, check out This Sanctuary here!

Renee Sieff
Vocals

Neil Burmester
Guitars/Backing Vocals

Ben Tan
Guitars/Backing Vocals

Sammy Sudhakar
Bassist

my favourite - Brendan Tan
Drummer



Neil was very nice to have given me a copy of their EP, Maybe We Weren't Meant To Get It as well! y'all can get your hands on the 4-track EP too here.. 

as usual, my signed stuff.. :) 

leaving you with my favourite track from them and a remixed version of Rumour!

DIRECT INFLUENCE

with Marcus Ross
Direct Influence
26 May 2012

with Dylan Smith
Direct Influence
26 May 2012

Melbourne's hip-hop/rap/pop/rock/dance duo Direct Influence were in town recently as part of the Music Matters Live at Clarke Quay.

on stage with a macbook pro, some crazy buttons and a microphone, i have to say they were making some very sweet music and some of the songs they played were pretty commercial friendly and im sure if they do get a major record deal, they would be invading the airwaves soon enough heh

i have to say that as much as their music is pretty good and all, it didn't leave a big impression like Manafest, who played just before them at The Arena.

i guess it could be because of the fact that the music they played were pretty broad and that they don't really have their own 'sound' yet but looking at what they did, im sure they will eventually figure what they enjoy playing best and here's wishing them the best of luck! :DDD

here's a video of their single, Far East. :))
take a listen, if you liked experimental sounds like early Daft Punk, you'd probably like them too. :))

LUCAS SILVEIRA

Lucas Silveira from The Cliks was in town playing bass together with Hill & The Sky Heroes, namely SBT, Danielle Duval and Hill Kourkoutis, all part of Music Matters, of course! :DD



Lucas Silveira
on stage with Hill & The Sky Heroes
Clarke Quay
25 May 2012

chanced upon his YouTube video for his cover version of Kanye West'd heartless, prior to meeting him, and he left a tear on my face. just as i thought dia frampton's version on the voice was good, y'all should check his version out - that is the shit!!

first met Lucas at the Nokia pool party and told him bout how much i enjoyed that cover and he passed me a copy of his -track ep, mockingbird!

he covered the likes of Leonard Cohen, Lady Gaga and another one of Kanye West on it and, i could be bias but.. it was pretty damn good!

then went on to listen to some of his solo stuff and those with The Cliks, if you like some good rock music and if you're sick of what you hear on the radio, take a listen to The Cliks here.. :))

and here are my signed stuff..

imma leave you here with Lucas' cover of heartless.. <3333

SAIDAH BABA TALIBAH

Saidah Baba Talibah or SBT for short, was in town together with her Canadian friend, Hill Kourkoutis to play at this year's Music Matters!

And prior to her arrival, i went online and googled her,
previewed some of her tracks on youtube and seriously,
gurrrrrrl is so damn fly no kidding.
love those vocals and love those arrangement on some of my personal favourites, 'Revolution', '(S)cream', 'Place Called Grace'.

love love loveeeee! :D

and upon meeting her for the first time at the Nokia party,
i told her all that and she was so shocked!
so cute to see her expression at that point -
must have been a surprise for her to know that i have heard of her music..
good surprise, me thinks! hee
and when we met her again,
she gave me a copy of her album and no kidding,
besides those that i have heard,
the ENTIRE album is actually pretty good..
it is soulful, it is rock-ish - me likey likey! :DD

besides her music,
she's also really really awesome live.
even though she was on keyboard duties with Hill & The Sky Heroes,
she is such a cool performer,
her killer dress sense, and the swagger she posseses,
seriously,
you just gotta watch it to believe it! ha ha

here's a picture of SBT performing live at Clarke Quay just last weekend! :D

Saidah Baba Talibah or SBT
performing with Hill & The Sky Heroes
Clarke Quay
25 May 2012

here's what she signed for me with 'SO MUCH LOVE'!! :DD

DANIELLE DUVAL

Danielle Duval was in town recently together with her Canadian crew, Hills & The Sky Heroes and was on guitar duties while on stage at Music Matters Live 2012!

here's a quick snap of her on stage

Danielle Duval

performing with Hill & The Sky Heroes

Clarke Quay

25 May 2012

Danielle was so kind to have given me a copy of her album, Of The Valley, and i gotta admit, she's got this very raw voice which reminds me on Joan Jett and a little old school rock 'n' roll which is pretty unique seeing as most music we hear on the radio are all either guetta or auto tuned. well #justsaying 

some of my favorites off the record are, Control, Day Becomes Night, Did You Se It Coming and the single Imposter! i can't really explain what i like about her style of music, but you just gotta listen to know it, really. 

and here are my signed stuff! :D

y'all should totally check her out here!! 

HILL & THE SKY HEROES

Hill Kourkoutis - this is the front woman of Hill & The Sky Heroes from Canada who was also in town for Music Matters and after meeting them at the Nokia pool party a couple of nights ago,

i promised myself that i would catch them on stage since prior to meeting them,

i have previewed some of their tracks and i do like what i hear.

'alien surf rock' - that's the genre they label their brand of music which to me, is pretty awesome. 

me thinks you should check out The Moon from Hills & The Sky Heroes for it's a really really cool track - no kidding! :))

i love the energy she has on stage and she is just a cool cool rock and roll chick!

they are bout to release their debut LP, 11:11, 

and hopefully they would pop by our shores again in the near future.. 

do you think she reminds you of Cher Llyod, 

just a wee bit? no?

#justsaying heh heh

Hill Kourkoutis (Hill & The Sky Heroes)
 LIVE at Clarke Quay
25 May 2012

don't think it's very visible but here's my Hill's autograph! :))

MANAFEST

this is Manafest from Canada,

who was also in town for Music Matters as well.

we managed to watch him play his last set at the Arena before he left town,

back to California where he was based.

he has got this sound that is very mainstream and am sure he would appeal to the music industry in Asia also.

think Linkin Park, P.O.D, Papa Roach.

a little rock-ish, meets rap-ish.

shame he only did three songs, 

but we really liked this song 'Human'

here's hoping he would pop by our shores soooooon! heh heh

Manafest LIVE at The Arena
26 May 2012

here's the autographed he signed for me thought im still wondering what he wrote down there at the bottom.. heh :))

JKYUN + REX-D

J'KYUN IN DA HOUSE BABYY!!

this would be the second Korean artiste on here ha ha

trust me - no idea who he is but was just following instructions to watch him perform at the Arena and i gotta say being a rapper/singer, he's pretty good.

of course, with such stiff competition in the K-pop industry,

that itself is insufficient,

and the fact that he doesn't have a decent enough wardrobe,

that is pretty disturbing, especially those shoes which im glad i didn't have any photos on here..

ha ha

J'Kyun LIVE at The Arena
25 May 2012

apparently, DANIEL is written like that in Korean.. COOL AINNIT! :P 

and this is Rex.D - J'Kyun's back-up singer/dancer

know why i took TWO pictures with him?

well, he's rather cute aint he? HA HA! :P

#justsaying

here's wishing the duo all the best and hope to see them Rex.D back on our shores again! :D