PAGE 12 THE CHRONICLE, MARCH 1996

When The Lilac Saints Come Marching In

BY SAMANTHA SANTA MARIA

Singers give strength to Saints’ debut CD

If there is a recipe for stumbling upon success, local band Lilac Saints must know it by heart.


What started out as a "fun thing" according to guitarist Kevin Tan, led to the release of their own CD and their being named sixth best local band by magazine, M3.

The band was formed in 1991 when four friends from Victoria School, Eugene Wee,Desmond Sim, Kevin Tan and S. Bhaskar decided to jam together on a regular basis.

According to the band, they got their name when they flipped open the dictionary twice and pointed at two words. The first word they hit was ‘lilac’, the second, ‘saint’.
(Webmaster: Hey! Isn't that so alike to the name of "Dreamz FM".. kinda impromptu kinda thingie. But according to another source.. the name "Lilac Saints" Came from two British group Pale Saints and Lilac something.. can't remember.)

Since its formation, the band has been making their presence in the indie music scene here. In 1992, they contributed "Gina" to the "New School Rock IV" CD, produced by Big O and Levis. The song was also included in the critically-acclaimed local release "Left of the Dial". Their current single, "Nightfall" is on the Perfect 10 charts, and receives frequent airplay on the station.

Last year, they finally gathered enough material for their self-titled album. "This is our D-I-Y CD," said drummer, Sim.

The band did not approach UNINTENDED SUCCESS. They started doing it for fun but the Lilac Saints have now jammed their way into their own CD.

They did not approach any recording company for help in producing their album. Instead, they collectively forked out $3000 to produce 500 CDs, which should be out in the shops in this month.

Said bassist Wee: "We did everything ourselves. We hand-stapled the pages together, typed out the words, did the layout. The only thing we didn’t make is the CD itself."
(Webmaster: Isn't that wonderful? Doing everything themselves.. can see their sincerity. Ric is still involved in the current album designs of Dreamz FM but I guess the financial backing between a DIY and record company is still vastly different.)

How does the band view its music? "We’re like a testosterone Lisa Loeb and a wimpy Oasis," said Wee, referring to the band’s liking for love songs and its acoustic feel. They are also heavily influenced by the Beatles and Teenage Fan Club.

Right now, the band is undergoing a small crisis. Their lead singer, Ric Low, has just left the band, having signed a solo contract with another re-cording company. Tan says that this is not such a big problem."Ric was brought in for some of the mushy love songs on our album, but he doesn’t sing every song on the CD," he said.

Bhaskar will take over as full-time vocalist.

Another problem is that all four members find it difficult to get together and rehearse. Wee is a first-year student at NTU, Tan is attending an Australian university, while Bhaskar and Sim are in the army.

However, they have made time to perform and write songs. Last year, they per-formed at Ngee Ann City and Hard Rock Cafe. This year, they started off by playing at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ graphic design diploma show , the "Queen of Queens" pageant at NUS and Perfect 10's end-of-month bash at Zouk disco-theque.

"We’ve never planned anything," said Sim. "We just wanted to do this for fun."


The question is: how good are they?

Honest answer:

better than most Singapore amateur bands.

The Lilac Saints’ self-titled album has 11 original tracks. Eight of them are moderately slow love songs played with acoustic guitars. Herein lies the problem. After a while, their songs sound the same, almost formulaic. The song "Gina", which was singled out by the Perfect 10, was rather disappointing. A simple love song, it was unimpressive and bland.

The strength of this CD, however, is in its two singers, Ric Low and S. Bhaskar. Both have good voices and can sing with great feeling.

The band itself has a wonderful acoustic sound, a welcome departure from the distorted guitars and heavy drums that are a trademark of most local bands. Think of the Beatles singing "Blackbird" and "Here, There and Everywhere", make them a local band, and you can approximate the Lilac Saints’ sound.

The few tracks in which the band uses electric guitars are uninspired ditties which fail to capture the attention. However, they are a change from the slow, love songs which dominate the album.

The best track is "Night-fall", a wonderfully plaintive ballad that has sparks of originality and musical creativity.

If love songs, soft guitars and local music are to your taste, their album is recommended.

Webmaster: Juz Some Thots: Well.. I guess actually local singers who are doing Chinese Pop are somehow still "luckier" as the market is there. You have the locals who are increasingly giving support to local singers & you always have the Taiwan market where listeners are open to new singers.
Whereas for local English Pop, the US and European singers dominate. Even Coco Lee the only International singer has only conquered a mere percentage of listeners. Many still are cynical about Chinese or Asians doing English songs. The local market is too small and people who appreciate local English Jam Bands are only the faithful lot. As said earlier, it is extremely difficult for local singers to break into the Western Market.
But still.. to all local Jammers and singers who still hold on to their love for music out there: Cheers!

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