SINGAPORE, Dec 4 — In a phenomenal year for music that’s made in Singapore, it seems there is still time to squeeze in one more highly anticipated release. This time, it’s in the form of Totems, the vibrant debut album from indie pop-rockers Stopgap, which is released today.
The band — vocalist Adin Kindermann, guitarists Calvin Joseph Phua and Lee Yewjin, bassist Grayson Seah and drummer Eldad Leong — had formed initially with the core group of Kindermann, Lee and Leong while they were still in secondary school.
They, along with other friends, would meet up for casual jamming sessions.
After secondary school, that bunch of friends drifted apart, but while studying in polytechnic, Kindermann met Phua and Seah.
“Our music interests aligned and we started jamming, which is how Stopgap started out,” he said.
Incidentally, the band’s name, said Kindermann, was born out of jest at the band’s first performance.
“It was back in June 2011. We didn’t have a band name when the organisers asked us what we were called — hence Stopgap,” he said.
“We showed up at the place and it was just a dodgy looking door at the bottom of some stairs right beside those big, green dumpsters. That was our first gig. I’ll never forget it.”
After a while, the band decided to take itself more seriously.
“I think it was back in 2013 when we started trying out for different music programmes such as Noise Singapore’s The Music Mentorship programme and Baybeats,” Phua recalled.
“We really wanted to take the band to the next level and after joining the Music Mentorship programme, things picked up for us.”
The release of the band’s first single Crossing Swords confirmed that they were moving in the right direction.
“When people none of us knew started buying Crossing Swords, that was when I thought, ‘Oh, people would actually spend money on our music’,” Kindermann remembered.
“Since then, a couple of people have covered our songs. It’s a special feeling hearing a cover of something you wrote.”
Leong agreed that Crossing Swords was a turning point for Stopgap, recalling how their popularity was confirmed when the band supported fellow Singapore rockers Take Two.
“Halfway through the set, the power tripped and people were still singing the chorus even though the stage was quiet,” he said.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The band’s initial attempt to play at Baybeats, Singapore’s biggest indie music festival, was curtailed when they didn’t make it past the audition stage.
“We were playing a show that night at Arts House when we found out we didn’t get selected for the festival,” said Seah.
“(But) that Arts House show ended up like angry sex! It just fuelled our hunger and desire to be better and play better. We kept at it after that.”
Stopgap did eventually perform at Baybeats last year, thanks in part to the mentorship the band received. There’s little doubt that the two programmes have been hugely instrumental to the band’s progress.
For Phua, Noise’s The Music Mentorship taught him that “there needs to be a balance between the creative side and running the band like a company”.
Kindermann said a crucial lesson was learning about the importance of community within the music scene.
“Being exposed to so many more like-minded musicians during the Music Mentorship programme really expanded our horizons.”
Despite this, Lee emphasised that Stopgap still had to rely on its wits and abilities to move forward as a band; and while Baybeats was not the be-all and end-all, it was “a breakthrough milestone”.
“It went by so quickly that it felt (like) we’ve struggled only to find out that we have to find our own way and direction in the industry after playing in it,” he said.
Like many other Singapore indie bands, juggling commitments outside the band remains the greatest obstacle to its development.
However, Lee was of the view that even as the band fulfilled another milestone — the release and launch of its debut album — what comes next remains an issue.
“Direction and vision of our future is still unknown,” he candidly admitted.
But these doubts and uncertainty are outweighed by the magic of five young men making music together.
“Playing in Stopgap is special because I’ve known them for the best part of my young adult life, since secondary school,” said Lee.
“It also empowers me to express myself without conforming to anything.”
“The guys are like brothers to me,” added Kindermann.
“What’s better than doing something you love with people you love? Plus I get to express myself through music.”
Phua concurred: “The best thing about being in Stopgap is the fact that I can do what I love with the people that I love.”
It is this gang mentality that pushes Stopgap forward to overcome the difficulties of being an indie band in the Singapore music scene, such as juggling full-time jobs with recording sessions.
But, at the end of the day, it’s all about making music, which brings us back to their debut album Totems.
Containing songs such as Crossing Swords and crowd favourite A Tough Nut To Crack, the album covers the band’s experiences to date — from serving National Service to dealing with stage fright — and the band has said that they called it Totems because the members have linked the songs to objects that represent the experiences behind the songs.
Whether that album becomes the album of the year is anyone’s guess, but Phua said the band’s sights are set a little differently.
“All the songs are different and carry different messages,” he said.
“But I think as long as people have that moment where they can connect and relate to one of the songs, that’s enough for us.” — TODAY
Stopgap launches its debut album Totems, at *SCAPE The Ground Theatre today. More information athttps://www.facebook.com/events/1528108440844086/
