Podcasts reproduced with permission from National Library Board.

Alt talk: what makes indie... indie?

Independent music, or indie music for short, covers a wide spectrum of music genres including pop, rock, metal and folk. It is usually associated with non-mainstream productions, artists or small independent recording companies. When talking about the Singapore indie scene, we should start with the history of English pop music in Singapore. The first wave of Singapore pop/rock bands began in the 1960s when rock and roll swept the world by storm in what some may call the British Invasion.

Dive into the conversation between National Library Board's performing arts librarian, Kong Leng Foong, and Baybeats indie music festival producer Sai Akilesh. Akilesh has been a programmer at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay since 2015. He was involved in various projects and festivals such as Kalaa Utsavam and Baybeats, and has developed programmes such as All Things New and Soundtracks. He has also conceptualised programmes which are aimed at providing opportunities for Singapore Indian classical musicians.

Credits

1. Audio excerpts from performances by Wormrot, Zamaera and Disco Hue at Baybeats 2018, courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.
2. Excerpts of audio from a performance by Bottlesmoker at Baybeats 2020, courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.
3. Listen to featured Singapore indie artists on MusicSG 
4. Browse BigO magazine on the NLB catalogue 
5. Learn more about Singapore indie music on Infopedia