under a blood red sky

by Lounge Lizard

Photos Courtesy of E.P.I.C. and soft.com.sg

Who or what is E.P.I.C (http://www.epic-the-band.cjb.net/)? A Singaporean quintet which traverse between different musical genres. For a young group, E.P.I.C has a frightening huge back catalog of work as featured on their official site. In their relatively short years of formation, they have dipped their toes in musical pools such as indie pop, funk-rock, spaced out electronic music and jazz fusion.

Aging Youth finds out that this is a group that refuses to be pigeon-holed into any category, preferring to tread their own path. Wesley Choo (bass/vocals), Bob Tan (drums), Bernie Chia (lead guitars), Varian Lim (keyboards) and Ronald Lee (rhythm guitars) re-affirm that faith and belief in themselves and their music. They took some time out, telling us what it means to be E.P.I.C, how playing jazz gets the chicks and their future direction.

When E.P.I.C came out in 2002, frankly, the band name pretty much put me off. It seemed to reflect that you guys are rather full of yourselves, naming your band E.P.I.C . Were you guys ever accused of being arrogant wankers?

That's a good question. Definitely one of the more shocking openers we've faced. Wes, Varian, Ronald and Bob have never been accused of being arrogant. We believe Bernie is the culprit. In any case, note the dots between E.P.I.C, they mean something... As for wanking, I'm sure you're guilty of that too. Arrogant wankers? Does that mean we do it with gusto in our private time?

On a more serious note, the name E.P.I.C came whilst the gang was having a cup of tea in Adam Road, reflective of our collective goal of re-defining how music should sound and making it all happen. Our motto can be seen as pretty arrogant too, “We were there when it all happened” if you understand the concept of bi-location and synesthesia, it might paint a better picture of what we are trying to communicate with our band name.

If you believe in horoscopes, you’ll find that this is a pretty impossible combination. A gathering of musicians who realized that we need not be confined to the reality of one primary songwriter whilst the rest are mere accompaniment.

We’ve been around for almost 2 years now, and the amazing combination of Bernie’s utter defiance towards the conventional, Varian’s attention to arrangement and disdain for plebeian sounds, Wesley’s attention to pulsating bass-lines and radio-friendly sounds, Ronald’s youthful exuberance and Bob’s constant whining about the Verve (No one in the band likes the Verve). This eclectic bunch is working together fantastically.

We understand that Bob and Wesley were introduced through Bob's ex-girlfriend. How did Bernie and Varian come into the picture?

Well, Bernie has always had problems making friends, right down to actually dissing our rhythm guitarist's first song, ‘Wounded’.

Bernie and Wesley are childhood friends and they have a yellow secret: playing in a Chinese rock band called Vinyl some time back. Wes inspired Bernie to master the guitar and now Bernie's returning the favour by teaching him music theory. It all works out nicely.

Varian came into the picture sometime in 2003. We managed to save enough money to buy ourselves a keyboard from Japan and it came with a free keyboardist (instruction manuals included). Quite a joy really.

Ronald left the band to pursue his higher education recently. Was it a conscious choice not to replace him?

Well, we're friends first and music's the vessel that holds us together. Ronald's an integral part of our sound and he's working on his parts overseas. With the amazing advancement in technology nowadays, it's not exactly rocket science to send our work over via the Internet for him to work on over there.

I've heard E.P.I.C 's contribution to the Misinterpreted Original Hits of Singapore (MOSH) compilation, "Let It All Out". That was clearly very much inspired by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. How did that tune come about?

It all happened at Boon's Studios, really. We would like to take time to thank Boon for constantly giving us extra time to jam despite his many last song fingers. But we digress... the lyrics came from a Zildjian poster in Boon Studio 1.

Wesley simply rattled off the words on that poster and voila, everything fell into place.

On a side note, Wesley and Bob are huge Red Hot Chili Peppers fans. Perhaps, the similarity came subconsciously. But what we really wanted to do was to create a neo-Led Zep song. Just days before, we cocooned ourselves at Wesley's place and spent some private time watching “The Song Remain the Same” DVD... Woo. All those psychedelic colours.

The earlier days of the band signified a funk/hard rock-based sound. With Varian onboard, E.P.I.C seemed to shift more towards jazz fusion. What gives?

You’re quite right. The big shift happened when Varian came on board. And what great timing too!

Bernie 's always been quite a jazz fiend. With the addition of Varian in the band, that jazz vibe was amplified. The two of them have a common love in Fourplay; that should explain it. Bernie's also the only professional musician in the band, spending hours holed up in libraries reading up on obscure music developments and sounds. He brings into the picture a very forward-looking (musical) direction.

I like '7 Ways To Say How I Feel'. I can't even remember, with the exception of Stoned Revivals and Moods, indie bands playing jazz-tinged tunes. It's really heartwarming to see young Singaporean musicians playing jazz-influenced songs. It's rarer to see them trying to break into the local indie scene with them.

Why, thank you. This song was actually written for a girl who eventually broke our drummer's heart. The power females hold over us... Gosh, the whole band and our mini studio uprooted to Bintan for this. For the record, we wrote this under a supremely starlit night in a villa called Banyu Biru 12. The whole song works around the magical number 7. We're fanatics over the numbers 3, 7 and 12… Bernie's theory on this is rather interesting. Go find out at our next gig.

Does shifting to a jazzier direction have anything to do with scoring more chicks? When I was at the Chi-Jazz Festival, there were a considerably high number of cute girls around.

Chi-Jazz was pretty spectacular wasn’t it? I think when we decided to make the paradigm shift to jazz; we made it knowing that it would not do us any favours when it came to girls. We never really had much luck with them anyways! A common joke our friends used to pull on us was how we keep writing songs for the girls we’ll never meet.

But yeah…Chi-Jazz proved us wrong! Gosh they flooded the place, not to mention that over-zealous lady who steals the show year after year with her saucy dance moves!

Doode, I’d hardly consider her moves saucy at all. You guys are too kind. Back to you.

The move to jazz signaled a massive change in the way the band thinks. Anything lyrical and ‘mainstream’ has a risk of perpetuating messages we don’t really mean. The mostly-instrumental jazz move meant we were quite ready to take on a bigger social responsibility, leaving our listeners free to interpret the climate of our times.

I believe what's striking about E.P.I.C is the inclination to what we Hokkiens call "Bao Shuah Bao Hai" aka "Cover Mountain Cover Sea" literally (for the non-Hokkien dialect speakers, it means cover all grounds). Why so?

That could be interpreted as Kia-su or Kia-see. Do you mean to offend us? We are E.P.I.C.

We’ve all heard enough of people saying they dare to be different, or following a formula that already works. People who know us know that our music speaks louder than words for where words fail, music speaks. We have attempted most genres audible to the human’s aural range (save for Hip-Hop which we’re still trying to figure out and digest) with the demos to prove it and will keep doing so. We’ll remain cutting edge and we want to be known as the band that left an indelible mark on the global hum.

Or are you guys basically music whores like us?

You could say that too.

As advertised on your website, E.P.I.C is constantly on the lookout for collaborations with other musicians. What drives you guys down this road? Wouldn't it be easier to concentrate just on the band?

The realization that talent was all abounding on our sunny island set in the sea drove us down this road. We could always use MIDI to replicate sounds, but MIDI can never replicate the feelings of a human being.

Music's just like communication. The more people we communicate with, the better it's understood. We've got collaborations with top local DJs from Frontal Labs on the cards, and a string section waiting in the ranks to layer our sound further. We’re really excited about that.

How does an E.P.I.C song come about?

Hmm, that’s a secret at the moment. We’ll fill you in when we release our album.

You guys are advocates of free downable music. I mean, E.P.I.C even has a tune, 'Music For Free'. What's your take on this?

The band started off with that noble intention. Music for free. We wanted to do the official soundtrack for Napster back then. We’ll quote the bridge of that song here.

“Now there was a rich man, so we played our music for that man/ Thought he knew it all, but he just couldn't understand/ So he raped it to make us see, that that's the way to make money/ but we couldn't sell our souls like that.”

So What?

Indeed. Aging Youth drops more questions to every member of E.P.I.C and finds out more about these guys.

I know your inspirations come from diverse musical genres. Yngwie Malmsteen is a long running joke in Aging Youth Productions. So let's not go there. What are your other influences?

Bernie: Yngwie has been a perennial guitar idol to me since my teens. But I started losing interest in him when obesity struck him. Moreover, his receding hairline turns me off! So I started to listen to F4, 5566, Energy, Blue and other boy-bands in the market. Oh yah, my personal favourite is the SPICE GIRLS!

Your playing in the 16 minute 'Discussions Of The Forewarned (Batttle of Brothers)' is really reminiscient of David Gilmour. David Gilmour's my bitch. The fucker's got amazing feel and chops. Could you share your love for the man?

Bernie: ‘ Battle of Brothers’ was a joke! Haha, we were on for some subconscious jamming to fill up the spare recording time we got. Tragically (and on hindsight, magically), my 2nd string broke during the session but Bob and Wes kept plugging away. Everything was unplanned. The vibes were good and as the title suggests, it was a spiritual experience. A broken string led to an instrumental discussion by 3 minds awakened by music. Because of that, I thought that having my guitar tuning process recorded in the song was a cool thing. It’s a compliment really, to say that I sound like Gilmour but then again, I don’t think my tone holds a candle to his.

The Toneknobber, our AYP contributor, mentions that some of your licks are based on (legendary jazz fusion guitarist) Mike Stern. How much of his playing has influenced you?

As I’ve mentioned earlier, my influences are boy-bands and Spice Girls. I think it's purely a coincidence that sometimes my playing sounds as grotesque as his. Maybe he's a Scorpio too…

Bob, you dip your toes in doing electronic music. Most drummers we know would rather sacrifice their Tama Iron Cobra double pedals before they go near a drum machine. What prompted your interest in this musical form?

Bob : I think my time spent away from Singapore studying overseas made the difference. I got my hands on a Roland MC505 Groove box from a lecturer at my university and that piece of hardware blew my mind. 13 years of drumming and there it was, a machine that could express itself without the physical limitations of a human drummer. I thought it’d be smart to harness its capabilities and incorporate the use of it into my repertoire. To me, electronic music previously was either noise or muzak for the longest time previously.

With that machine in tow, I started to embrace electronic sounds too. Many days were spent in the Aussie outback, worshipping the sun and moon, saying generous hellos to wallabies and finding electronic tracks that had soul in it. When I found Welsh electronic masters Hybrid, masters of what I call symphonic breaks, everything fell into place. I was in love.

To be honest, I’m not the best drummer around. I like to classify myself as one “Solid average drummer”, preferring to keep things simple, tight and mistake-free. Haha, my band mates call it honest drumming.

You switch back and forth in your drumming styles. Who do you count upon as key inspirations for your drumming?

Bob : E.P.I.C’s eclectic repertoire requires me to constantly evolve my drumming patterns. Major influences on my style include Larry Mullen Jr., Chad Smith, Dave Weckl, Harvey Mason and Don Henley! Don Henley proves that drummers can write beautiful lyrical music too. I do quite a fair bit of singing, but at this point, everytime I open my mouth during drumming, the band can expect unexpected tempo changes. So, I refrain. Heh. Additionally, electronic maestros Hybrid, Chicane, Underworld and Frou Frou give me a million and one subtle percussive ideas too.

On the band's website, you post quite a fair amount of your poetry online. Are you the main lyricist in the band?

We all have our fair share of lyrical contributions. My limitation as a drummer is that it’s a little difficult to sing along to my own drumming! I wish I was a guitarist. It’s a lil hard to serenade a loved one under the stars with percussion eh? So the creative process goes like this. I write a poem, create a melody in my head then send the words over to Bernie or Wesley for their musical interpretation of what I meant to say. It works out perfectly all the time.

Among the poets and authors, whom do you seek your main inspiration from?

Bob : I won’t count any one of them as a main source of inspiration. But one Zen quote certainly inspires me in the way I live, and write. “Leap, and the net will appear.”

Though I must admit I'm not all familiar with the jazz medium, I do see some of Chick Corea's stylings in your playing. Guilty as charged?

Varian: Definitely guilty. I love the man!  Someone came up to me after the gig at Bar None and asked if I was a fan of Bob James.  I laughed, acknowledged and started to worry about sounding like too much of a copycat.  The last thing any musician wants in jazz improvisation is predictability!  But thank you, it is indeed an unparalleled honour to be associated (however oblique in verity) with two jazz giants in the span of 30 minutes. I’m not worthy!

Would it be safe to presume that you are a jazz pianist? How do you approach your playing in E.P.I.C?

Varian: I’m best described as a jazz pianist wannabe. I started out early, bugging my parents to get me into Yamaha Music School which, annoyingly, wouldn’t let me in till I was 4 years old. I learnt a great deal as an Electone player/performer and was exposed to the widest array of musical styles and virtual instruments ever.  But before this is seen as a shameless plug for the organisation with a practical monopoly on formal musical education (in Singapore), I have to say I left Yamaha after 13 years. And I think I started getting better after that.

With E.P.I.C, I’ve always favoured keyboards or digital pianos over acoustic pianos even though I’ve been a sucker for real acoustic instruments rather than synthesized ones ever since I’ve come of age.  The benefits manifest themselves through the practical flexibility in opening up the band’s musical range and reach, especially during live environments as well as during pre-productions or the creation of demos.

Who would you count as key influences in shaping your musical style?

Varian: “Key” influences eh?  *chuckles* (Come now, everybody groan.) That’s an easy question.  Bob Tan, Wesley Choo, Bernie Chia and Ronald Lee.  They’re talented musicians from one of the best bands in this part of the world. Check them out if you haven’t.

Other key idols though include Bob James, David Benoit, Joe Sample, Jay Oliver, Chester Thompson (Santana’s keyboardist), Keiko Matsui, Masa Matsuda, Diana Krall, Barry Manilow (gasp), Axl Rose (he’s good what), and Garfield (a 1991 album release called “Am I Cool or What” – don’t miss this, seriously. Buy it off Amazon.com today!).  I’d also like to acknowledge that, on serious reflection, the greatest influence has to be my inspiring Electone teacher of eight formative years, Ms. Ruth Tan. I was the only kid in class taught to play bossa nova at the age of 10.  I am truly living in eternal gratitude for that.

What's up with all the stories about the girl and all that stuff during the BarNone gig?

Wesley: It's all true man! I fell in love with someone who was once a woman. She went over to Japan and became a man. Do you buy that?

Hook, line and sinker, doode. E.P.I.C plays a mixture of instrumentals and vocals-based tunes. How do you decide if a song needs vocals in it?

Wesley: If a song has less than 5 chords, it'll need vocals.

You keep your playing style simple, tight and groovy. Is that a conscious choice?

Wesley: I'm just simple. I'll leave the complexities to the melody section.

Who are your main musical influences?

Wesley: Megadeth , Overkill, Pantera, and Pink Floyd. Sometimes, I feel I'm in the wrong band. But recently, Varian and Bernie managed to successfully slip Fourplay into my consciousness and I’ve loved them since!

The Workmen's Tools

You play a Fender Stratocaster. What’s the model? Why the love for this axe?

Bernie: It’s a humble model contrary to my personality! A Mexican Squier Strat. It just feels great playing a Strat either standing up or seating down. A maple wood neck just looks good on a Fender though it gives more treble to the sound. A Fender Strat also produces a distinctive twang apart from other guitar brands; this explains my love for Fender.

When my friend saw the shade of your guitar, he was moaning away, “Alamak! Why cherry red siah?” He’s an advocate of sunburst Strats.

Bernie: To me, red represents power and awareness. The funny thing about a red colour guitar as I’ve observed is that it doesn’t look good on most people (one of them can be your friend who insisted on the cliché sunburst). It can’t look good on fat a person, that’s for sure! Just for the record, Gilmour holds a red strat too! ;-)

How do you run your guitar signal chain?

Bernie: It’s very humble too. I use a cheap Zoom rack effects on my amp effects loop. On the floor, I use a Boss DD-3, Boss SD-1 and the antiquated Boss Digital Dimension that gives a clean chorus. My neck and bridge pickups are DiMarzio HS-3 and stock in the middle.

What type of amplification rocks your boat? What’s your preference for string gauges and picks like?

Bernie: I’m using Fender Roc-Pro 1000, a hybrid amp that gives a really meaty and crunchy overdrive. The sucky thing about the Roc-Pro is that the built-in reverb doesn’t sound impressive to me. My preference for strings is ‘rubber bands’ GHS Boomers Extra Light 009. I prefer the tone of 010 actually but my Wilkinson bridge doesn’t allow me to use that as it’s harder to bend.

Since you are a professional guitar instructor, would you like to dispense some free advice to our guitar-playing readers? Yes, we are cheap Charlies.

Bernie: When you are learning a new lick or scale, always try it slow first. Timing and synchronization come before speed. Good luck, Charlie!

What’s your set-up like?

Bob: Ah. Can we talk about what I’ll like to see rather than what I have? Well, somewhere down the line, I’ll like my setup to look like this…

My choice of weaponry will revolve around a Roland MC909 Groove Box, Korg EMX-1 and Entrancer (this piece of hardware is amazing; it effects both audio and video). I’ll also like to get my hands dirty with the just-released Numark TTX turntables.

Additionally, a mixer with USB connectors allowing playback and recording with my laptop would make my day. To top it all off, a Roland TD20K V-drum kit to bang on and add colour to our tunes whilst I’ve set my loops and samples on their way.

Getting all these to work together would definitely generate quite a headache, but I believe the possibilities might become quite endless once I figure them all out. I hope to incorporate all these into our performances soon. Sponsors anyone?

As for the drum kit, I’m banging away on my school’s overly abused DW Pacific Kit. I have a preference for DW kits.

What type of cymbals and snares would you favour?

Bob: The only thing I’m picky about is my splash. (I use) Sabian spashes, I don’t know how I acquired a liking for their subtle attack and sweet sustain, but yeah, I really dig the sounds those guys produce. For the rest of my cymbal setup, I like the Zildjian K series. I have slight issues with rides that sound too bright. The snare of my choice at the moment’s a Tama 3 X 13” piccolo.

Any particular sticks in mind to use?

Bob: I’ve got a pair of Zildjian 8A Hickories which have lasted me since the day I picked up drumming. I use them sparingly nowadays. I don’t think they’ll last me much longer! They’re light and respond really well when the band hits the jazz vibe.

It’s great to know that you came with the keyboard which the band bought from Japan. Too bad I can’t say the same for Penthouse magazine. What electric piano is that?

Varian: Well, the model I came with is a Yamaha P250. If you want the Penthouse models, just let me know. We’re all pretty well-acquainted, while waiting to be shipped off to the buyer(s) with the best offer. I’m more familiar with the Japanese ones though.

What’s your choice amplifier?

Varian: For live gigs, I’ve used quite a variety, typically simply whatever’s provided! And honestly, because (my) keyboard signals are so clean, I’m not too picky about amplifier choice. My current favourite is the Wharfedale EVP 15P, but Bar None’s powered monitors worked real fine for me. For personal/ studio rigs though, I’d be most happy with a dedicated power amp and a pair of full-range stereo speakers. Good headphones – with a decent headphone amp – are great too. I am quite the headphones person for music. You’d better stop this half-baked audiophile from rambling on or this page will scroll forever.

Most keyboardists in other groups are toting 2 or more keyboards. You strip it down right to one. Why so?

Varian: Being equipped with Electone fundamentals, I am quite used to having at least three layers during performances since young, yup.  But try lifting the P250 I used (for the BarNone gig) and you’ll understand why I left all the other keyboards at home!  The P250’s weighted keys and touch are great and, to me, has one of the most “natural” piano voices available in the market today.  Show up for future E.P.I.C gigs though. You’ll probably see a variety of instruments manifesting in my corner.  :)

I've seen you playing a 5-string Fender bass and another 5-string Yamaha bass. You do like playing 5-strings. Why so?

Wesley : One of the first recordings I did, ‘State Of Madness’ was first done with a 4 string bass I borrowed from church. It was a tapping piece and it sounded alright. But when I got my "baby blue" (Fender 5 string Jazz bass) and re recorded the piece with the extra low B, it opened up a new runway of notes.

The low B also serves as a nice thumb rest when (it’s) not in use and I’ve somehow grown accustomed to it. You never know when you might need the extra low notes now that the band is exploring jazz together. So, it’s all good.

How do you run your signal chain?

Wesley : ZOOM 505 Bass multi Fx/ compressor / limiter or clean.

What type of amplification rocks your boat?

Wesley : That would be the SWR. Trace Elliot i like

What's your preference for string gauges like?

Wesley : Medium gauge.