Meet musical storytellers The Psalms

SINGAPORE — It is always exciting to discover a band that subverts all expectations with an invigorating musical agenda. Singapore’s indie music scene is often divided into two camps: The bright young things of indie pop and the angst-ridden avatars of visceral metal and hardcore. But rockers The Psalms has made the gap somewhat irrelevant.

On their debut full-length album, People Eating People, The Psalms attempt to present a hybrid of two seemingly contradictory styles: Soulful jazz and metalcore. Sure, it’s not done with surgical precision, but the artistic intention is clear enough. And this dynamic genre-bending quintet — Nur Suhaili (lead vocals), Kye (guitars), Mish’aal (bass), Wan Gondrong (keyboards) and Isyraf (drums) — effortlessly delivers unique numbers such as the robust Snake And The Mongoose, the sinister I, A Nomad and the pulsating track I Keep Silent with aplomb. There is little doubt that People Eating People is an album that progressive music lovers will revel in, but you can find out for yourself when The Psalms perform tonight at The Esplanade’s Outdoor Theatre.

Here, vocalist Suhaili talks about the band’s origins and their music.

Q: How did you get together?

A: The Psalms was formed in 2006 and most of us used to play together in various hardcore and grindcore bands. In 2009, the band wanted to shift to a different sound when the original vocalist decided to leave. The name The Psalms refers to how the band’s music is a form of storytelling. We became serious as a band when we realised how people appreciated the music we were trying out. Today, there is growing interest in what we are playing. At the same time, each of us acknowledges that without playing music, our lives would be pretty normal and dull.

Q: Why the decision to make wilfully offbeat music?

A: We just find it more fun and challenging to play such music while keeping things simple.

Q: What’s the story behind those strange song titles such as People Eating People and My Demigod Is A Cannibal?

A: The themes around the lyrics are mostly a commentary on the evolution of society, where we propose the notion that the further we progress, the easier it is for morality to fall. How do we become resilient against the tides of progress? We seek resilience in our way through our songs. My Demigod Is A Cannibal is one of the songs that question the morality of people in power, who were chosen by the people to lead because of how well they sell a vision, but when it comes to the crunch, they sell those very supporters off for their own benefit.

Q: What do you think is the best or worst part of the Singapore music scene?

A: The best part is how most bands these days are more than willing to help out one another. Older bands are more than willing to advise and help newer bands. This is based on our process of pressing the vinyl where we’ve run into some difficulties along the way. It seems close-knit. The interest in local music seems to be there as well. More local bands are playing alongside international acts and that is refreshing. (However) there seems to be a certain bias when it comes to opportunity and interest. Although we believe there are a lot of bands in Singapore which are worthy of everyone’s attention, the reality is that the same sounds are promoted and (a select number of) bands are featured. When that happens, Singapore bands are only known via a certain cookie-cutter. We know we don’t make money making music, but (part of) the fun of making music is being discovered and listened to. It’s exhilarating too when we find out about (other bands) because then we know this “scene” is not what it is made out to be.

Q: What do you hope people take away when they listen to The Psalms?

A: We hope people can be inspired to make their own music and to be more adventurous in their compositions where boundaries are pushed and “odd” music are given more acceptance.

The Psalms perform three shows today at 7.30pm, 8.45pm and 10pm at the Esplanade Theatre. Admission is free.