Singers ‘invade’ schools with concert series

SINGAPORE — Students at Bishan Park Secondary School got a taste of what Singapore’s hottest musicians had to offer when the *SCAPE Invasion Tour kicked off yesterday with performances by Singaporean rap artist ShiGGa Shay and singer Gentle Bones (aka Joel Tan).

This year, the music tour, an outreach programme that seeks to showcase made-in-Singapore bands and musicians to youth, will bring live music performances and local music industry education to 32 secondary schools, junior colleges and institutes of higher learning, including schools such as CHIJ Katong Convent and Yishun Junior College.

Five headliners — ShiGGa Shay, Gentle Bones, The Sam Willows, THELIONCITYBOY and Ms Michaela Therese — will perform over two legs of the tour, which will take place in two phases: from April to May and July to November. Other acts that will join the tour include singer Nathan Hartono, indie bands Stopgap and HubbaBubbas, and singer-songwriters Daphne Khoo and Gareth Fernandez.

“I’m participating in this tour to set the tone for the next generation and have them realise that local music actually exists,” Mr Joel Tan told TODAY. “I feel like I wouldn’t have known local music if I hadn’t started in music myself. I feel the level at which local music is at now is a very good place for us to push local music to more people in Singapore, and to let the younger generation see that the local music scene isn’t as bad as they think it is.”

ShiGGa Shay, whose real name is Mr Pek Jin Shen, added: “I think it’s good for these kids to be exposed to Singapore music, so they can learn a lot more; they can grow and mature with Singaporean music. I just hope I can be a part of the process of local music being spread to the masses.”

Students were treated to performances by Singapore music acts Shigga Shay and Vanessa Fernandez when the *SCAPE Invasion Tour kicked off at Bishan Park Secondary School on April 22, 2015. Video: Jaslin Goh

The Invasion Tour is jointly produced by *SCAPE’s music programming pillar, *SCAPEmusic and Invasion Singapore, a social enterprise that focuses on market research and development activities for English music made in Singapore. The partnership revives the original School Invasion Tour, which began in 2007 and held its last run in 2012.

Other partners in the tour include popular nightspot Zouk, the National Youth Council, the Noise Singapore initiative by the National Arts Council, The Music Society, Singapore (SGMUSO) and MediaCorp radio station 987FM.

Mr Hyder Albar, founder of Invasion Singapore, said: “This partnership has been seven years in the making and we are glad it is finally here. We are excited to develop the *SCAPE Invasion Tour brand together for years to come.”

Mr Christopher Pragrasam, executive director of *SCAPE, added: “*SCAPEmusic provides several showcase opportunities for youths to explore and pursue their musical aspirations. We hope that through the *SCAPE Invasion Tour, we can bring established acts directly to captive audience in the schools, shore up support for locally-made music, and inspire the next generation of Singapore musicians and industry leaders.”

A mega *SCAPE Invasion concert will also be held in August to celebrate local music, in conjunction with *SCAPE’s SG50 celebrations.

A student was given the chance to show off his vocal talent when the *SCAPE Invasion Tour kicked off at Bishan Park Secondary School on April 22, 2015. Video: Jaslin Goh