I checked all their profiles and seems that none of them will be having any tours this mth or the next...
Held at the high-end performing arts centre Esplanade on Friday 20 August to Sunday the 23rd, BayBeats
featured local as well as international bands from different genres and walks of life. Admission was free and warranted a successful turnout amongst the youths, but one would only find out about the existence of BayBeats if one were sauntering down Singapore’s Formula-1 race track towards the “Durian”. Much as I would have liked to run around interviewing the 30-odd number of bands on all three days, Singapore’s sporadic wet weather only permitted me to do so much…
TECHY ROMANTICS
I stopped Techy Romantics immediately after their assigned first half-hour performance timeslot so to catch them still absorbed in their little Cloud 9s. Hailing from the Philippines, they were so amiable a group one would wonder why they specialized in emo-love songs mashed with techno music. “Different tastes,” agrees the band with a lot of head-nodding and back-slapping, “but there is equal collaboration, with what you call a free flow of music.” Dondi Virrey, who creates samples from his computer, was looking to form an electronic band so he sought Camyl Besinga who could sing and her then-boyfriend-now-husband Ryan Villena who could strum. When they formed and performed live in small gigs, Ryan made most of his riffs impromptu, very jazzy, for which the concept I fell in love almost immediately. Their first single which came out in 2008 was mainly “a new wave pop with a 70’s feel” that I would attribute to the sounds of Savage Garden.
Dondi, in a high-spirited manner, had a piece of honest advice for young musicians: “Be courageous and write. Your songs may suck, but it’s good to take the criticism.” With a gorgeous face and to-die-for voice, Camyl is befitting as lead singer of the group as she can visually grip any passer-by. Even Kevin Mathews from PowerofPop.com admits it. All the songs of electro-pop, it is mostly techy and introspective though accompanied with monotonous beats. The techno kills the quality of the jazzy moods but get their album if you are in the mood for hip-hopping or some remixed versions of Simon Webb.
CHECK THEM OUT
ONLINE: Facebook.com/techyromantics
Myspace.com/techyromantics
WHAT TO DOWNLOAD: Get it On, Out of My Mind
