"Support local!" — This is a simple word or slogan that completely depends on involvement in circles around you; it can be a refrain even as a command. "Support local lah," the sheepish comment that was given by a musician who was on the stage "Support local", a point or comment on Facebook added with smiley sign emoji or victory. Think of what do you mean to say when you point “support local”. You may always ask the question before; the context is needed to be described. "Support local!" the passionate merchandise seller defines you to peruse shirts and CDs.

It's pretty fine to describe Singapore's indie music scene, which is thriving popularity presently. It might be the dawn of a new golden age; these are the words of Eddino Abdul Hadi of the Straits Times. Hadi is a musician by profession and a veteran of the scene undoubtedly; there are numerous players that are helping Singaporean music to get the spotlight in op-ed for going from strength to strength.

Hadi extensively did coverage of the painstaking work done by musicians, with labels and supporting organizations, but it's about the fans. They said that they are at gigs with home-grown indie talents." This comment is true but no one asks about the fans locally?”

Now let's think again and we thought for discussing "fans" because they're an inclining vital subgroup that has been a long lasting cause for curious fretting among the rest part of the scene. What a musician can be without an audience? Are local musicians capable enough to compete with international musicians for Singaporeans' eyes and ears? The perennial questions and worries are seemed to have been answered and assuaged by healthy crowds at gigs; it is having an encouraging chart show on iTunes.

The line for the release show Gentle EP in the year were extended till the block. Inch Chua, Charlie Lim, and Great Spy Experiment Hall where been sold at the music venue. Take Two and more, Great Spy Experiment, Gentle Bones, The Great Spy Experiment, The Sam Willows that can be enjoyed in the iTunes.

The line for the release show Gentle EP in the year were extended till the block.

Inch Chua

(in photo), Charlie Lim, and Great Spy Experiment Hall where been sold at the music venue. Take Two and more, Great Spy Experiment, Gentle Bones, The Great Spy Experiment, The Sam Willows that can be enjoyed in the iTunes.

Hadi noted that "the indie scene is no industry yet but only a mere scene. Many musicians do odd jobs to pay the bills and it's not new to walk away for the musicians. The blame should not be on the fans alone; there are multiple reasons why the scene is undeveloped as it's like now. Somewhere, it's true that as Singaporeans have been accustomed to accessing local music as free or cheap.

No need to look hard at all to find a free show. The most vital and important festival of Singapore is Baybeats.

Just ask fans about Charlie Lim, who has been clamouring physical copies of his latest album, Time/Space.

It would frankly be rude to define shame to people, who takes the cheap route to tight finances. It would also be exclusionary priceless to all Singaporean music to the extent the participation in the scene which becomes expensive. But it doesn't hurt to reconsider the ways to pay (or don't pay) for local music, and perhaps buy the favourite band for a round of beers after a gig that will be really enjoying. It's not rare to hear the accusations that Singaporeans value international music more than home-grown sounds, just because it'll shell out hundreds of international bands' but not extend the same to local ones.

The international music still dominates the Singaporean airwaves. Local bands always open for international headliners, never another means of around — if it ever happens at all. It's not unfairly common for people to mentally separate the locals with the international and make a comment as "This is the favourite band of mine and it's, of course, local!"

Whether it's making tribute art, or to volunteer for some music festival trying a hand at gig photography or booking local bands for a show, the possibilities are endless. The investment depends on the music scene. When listening earphones or when you are in the concert as an audience is no longer enough for the audience; know that it always takes the first step to working.

This article aims to reveal the backdrop of Singapore's music scene, as a wide range of musicians and artistes provide their share of the story. The music scene went from a quiet dead period to a lively one. It has been more than 20 years since rock and roll was banished underground, bars are prohibited from playing jukeboxes and men are not allowed to keep their locks long and hairy. Now Singapore has revived the music scene to top levels once more. Bands after bands can be seen progressing from performing privately in their rooms to shaking up audience via live performances on stage. This is just the beginning.

A dozen of independent musicians, bands and entrepreneurs were gathered around to hear them speak their mind on an uncensored manner. First in the list is Bandwagon founder Clarence Chan. He shared that there is an obvious uprising in the music scene, in areas of talent pool and artists. Digital media helped expedite the rise. Local band Gentle Bones were famous within a short span of time from the first videos produced. The hit song had more than hundred thousand views. Gentle Bones went from Youtube star to renowned mainstream musician with a contract with Universal Music.

Bandwagon aggregate performances and there is a steady increase in gigs by 28% every year. Pubs are more open to hiring local bands. Beer Market started an Original Sundays theme day for local bands to perform. Timbre Originals as well as Hood Bar are also some of the pubs embracing local bands.

Bands have taken control to organize their shows. JAWN is the perfect example of a singer-songwriter who took charge of everything right from album launch to CD décor and distribution method. They have good attention to details. The music scene begin to boom due to the singer taking charge of their baby project. The passion is in them. They were able to handle posters décor, marketing and managing their Facebook page.

Cellist for Vox, Tow Huiwen shared that it is much easier to produce music. Singapore's population has become more receptive for local gigs since the last few years. There are plenty of platforms to market a musician. Musicians are partly responsible for their own career besides relying on organisers. Guitarist for Stopgap Grayson was concerned that there is over saturation. Vocalist for Stopgap Adin Kindermann begs to differ and commented that good music will take care on its own and people will readily share good music. Grayson replied that the most important issue to address is to make a music stand out. Adin further commented that creativity is imperative in order to make money. Bands must ferociously market themselves. That is the only way to earn a teens' money.

Bands must be true to themselves to succeed and the best tracks are the ones that are unconventional. Band must strive to perform better for every performance and it is positive for all. Musicians must be creative on their distribution as well. For example, a unique method could be giving out codes or links for download. It is easy and convenient.

Entertainment head for CE´ LAVI Joshua Pillai began as a DJ. His had his first gig when he was 13 years old. His dad owns a company specializing in DJ entertainment and he could have the opportunity to perform when other DJ were absent. This is a good practice and he knew music is his life whenever he goes back home. He was happiest when he got into DL console. He performs at the same level of energy for one or thousands of people. He started from the underground music scene, playing all genres from funk to soul. He enjoyed the attention at the underground music scene as he was less well-known. I recently changed only when he joined CE´ LAVI.

Grayson concurred that the ones who look for you in the underground music scene are the best supporters. Joshua Pillai commented that not all is smooth sailing as there will be times where there is no crowd. There will also be rude crowd showing vulgarities and handing out weird requests. Some even wanted him to play a tune from his private phone. It can be tough facing these abuses. Nevertheless, as more people start to appreciate musicians as decent jobs, there will be opportunity for pay and salary progression and gigs will be paid a fair reward.

Well-known singing competition organized by Radio Malaya named Talentime in the 1950's ignited huge following from citizens of Singapore and Malaysia. Many amateur singers started forming local bands to produce locally made music. The next decades saw the growth in live performance music and successful album launches followed by crowd warming audience.

In the 1960's it was known as the Golden Age for Singapore local music scene. A performance by Cliff Richard's rock band and their collaboration with local Singapore band was monumental. It provided inspiration to immature music enthusiasts to establish local Singapore bands. Thus began the growth of Singapore's music scene, famous for producing local talents like The Quests as well as The Thunderbirds. Their debuts in the early sixties broke many records. The Crescendos were the first ever local band to establish a partnership with renowned music record label Philips International. The Quests hit singles had been at the pinnacle of Singapore music charts for twelve consecutive weeks. Invitations poured in to the bands to conduct their performance overseas. Malay bands were extremely popular in the sixties as well. A local hit named Pop Yeh-Yeh, which is a unique blend of rock and Malay melody, provided heavy influence to subsequent hit bands such as Siglap Five. They had conducted performance all over Malaysia, including perfoming to a royal family in Malaysia. Malay rock band Sweet Charity had enjoyed success for more than 20 years up till the eighties.

In the 1970's, it was a period of rapid decline for the local music scene. There are a couple of reasons for the decline. First reason would be the independence of Singapore in achieved in 1965. British military soldier began returning to their home country and demand for band performance fell dramatically at the clubs. Another reason is the rise of the hippie culture. Singapore government has openly discouraged local young males from keeping a long hair as they are concerned with the hippie culture's association with drugs and sex. Singapore government proceeded to ban rock bands from performing in Singapore in order to curb the hippie culture from spreading. Popular band Bee Gees had been ordered to leave immediately after their performance in Singapore. Many local bands' careers were unstable and many disbanded as well. Most went to overseas for greater opportunities.

In the 1980's, a hit song composed by the famous Tokyo Square named Within You'll Remain reignited Singapore music atmosphere. It was covered by Chyna lead singer and was a success with the combination of many instruments combined, including a Chinese zither.

A total of 5 Singaporean bands combined forces to release Class Acts, a hit music record which went to sell more than ten thousand copies. It was also extremely popular in Thailand with more than one thousand copies sold. Within You'll Remain even topped the Thai music charts. The song production was troubled due to music piracy when illegal vendors starting selling pirated music cassettes.

In the 1990's, it was a period where music which are non-mainstream began to flourish. “So Happy”, a hit song composed by The Oddfellows topped the local chart for the Singapore famous radio station. They were one of the first music producers to create and provide self-funding for their first album. BMG, a renowned record label subsequently bought over the distribution rights. The album sold well, and is a huge achievement to the local band. It sold over 2,000 records locally and propelled the bands into stardom. The Padres, an independent rock band, was the first local English music band to form a partnership with Rock Records. For much of the 90's, many bands were formed and they started producing non-mainstream rhythm categories such as garage rock and punk. The older generation may have recalled several of the bands such as Force Vomit or Concave Scream.

From the 70's to 90's, music piracy hit the local Singapore music scene hard and many bands were unable to achieve commercial success. Local support was not encouraging as well. The pinnacle of the local music scene will always be in the sixties which all Singaporeans can be proud of.

If one looks closely and scout around in details, pouncing at every opportunity, something will materialize. That was apt for the case for Singapore's homegrown music entrepreneur named Mah Chern Wei. A latest trending news was on the front page music scene where renowned giant Fender, a producer for the famous Stratocaster guitar, is venturing into the headset business after making an offer to acquire Aurisonics. Aurisonics was based in Nashville that is a boutique ear phone maker. It was a huge accomplishment for the 5 year old business company. Mah had played a pivotal role in bringing the company to its success today.

With an illustrious history dating back to 1946, Fender has touched and transformed music worldwide and in nearly every genre: rock ‘n' roll, country and western, jazz, rhythm and blues and many others. Everyone from beginners and hobbyists to the world's most acclaimed artists and performers have used Fender instruments and amps, in the process making the company not only a revered music industry name, but also a cultural icon.

It all began with a conversation via Skype. In 2004, Mah had been peddling bass guitars during his 2nd year term as a student in Singapore National University. He was majoring in Communications & New Media. He saw an opportunity to sell top range USA products. He began putting full focus on those high end products range.

In 2012, he made a decision to diversify his business ventures and market a brand new product segment. Earphones and headphones sales were just taking off and sales were growing year on year. Around 290 million earphones and headphones were sold all over the world in 2011.He discovered Aurisonics after scouting around, which were still small and growing. Aurisonics produced an extremely niche product which is a sophisticated earphone for musicians, expert audio engineers as well as sophisticated audiophile. They used it in studios and during live performance for the highest sound quality when listening to the music.

Mah recognized the potential of the company and product instantly and immediately called the founder Mr Dale Lott for a negotiation to purchase the company. Mah initiated one Skype conversation with Dale and the two hit it off on the right note. Mah recollected that they did not know that only two person is running the company from a basement. He was amazed that the two-man co-operation can produce such a fine quality products. However, he believed in the good branding and product Aurisonics had. He did not have a single doubt the quality of the products.

Business and sales was good. From 2012 to 2016, Mah assisted in growing the business and own career. The growth in sales had propelled his own fortunes and career. He started by managing retail sales for Singapore and finally moving to international sales. He became business partner. Aurisonics had very little marketing dollars to spend and channeled all resources to build up the brand by fusing high end technology with sleek craftsmanship in order to make the products sound better compared to other similar products. The good personal culture of the company was maintained.

His strategy and focus had established Aurisonics as a famous brand with a supportive fan base. Business is growing by viral marketing. The distributors had been supportive as well by investing in Aurisonics and growing the brand in key export markets. Mah sincerely believes now that Aurisonics, being a component of Fender, will be able to continue the innovation and make better products. Mah hopes that their products will bring joy and positive impact to customers, which in turn translate into good growth for the company. Only the sky is the limit. And it all began by keeping a close watch on the ground.