no one gives a flying fuck...

by Lounge Lizard

Photos by Mary-Ann Teo and Aloysius Lim

With a new drummer (who is not exactly new to the band) in tow, Singapore’s most-beloved experimental group The Observatory (www.theobservatory.com.sg) proves to be one of the nation’s hardest working one as well. The sextet has just released its new album A Far Cry From Here, marking their 3 rd outing in 4 years. Aging Youth speaks to Leslie Low (vocals, guitars), Evan Tan (laptop, keyboards), Vivian Wang (keyboards, vocals), Dharma (guitars), Victor Low (bass) and Ray Aziz (drums) about their work ethics, the concept behind the new album and yes, break dancing.

A Far Cry From Here is decidedly the band’s most experimental affair. Is it a constant evolution of the band’s sound?

Evan : We always try to evolve or else it gets kinda boring after a while.

Victor : Yes, it also reflects our relationships within the band. We have different ideas and approaches but we managed to work it out together really well.

Vivian : I’m not sure if it’s experimental in that it’s hard to listen to. We threw away the old approach for this album, choosing to work out songs together as a group, rather than arrange songs after Leslie has written them. This new way of working has resulted in stranger melodies, maybe a different sound, but I’m not sure if it’s inaccessible. They are, after all, still songs. There has been music far more radical since way back in time. Being radical isn’t something to focus on for the sake of being radical. We just do what comes naturally or what challenges us.

The debut Time Of Rebirth had a pretty slick sound and had a, God forbid, lounge vibe to it at times while I thought Blank Walls was the most accessible album, showcasing the band’s pop influences. However, A Far Cry From Here broke away from both concepts, abstaining from the verse-chorus structure of Blank Walls. Undoubtedly, it’s your most aggressive album to date.

Leslie : Ha, it is true that most people find our first album the most accessible. And it’s not really true of our second album. I attribute it to the fact that Time Of Rebirth is mostly in 4/4 time signature. While on Blank Walls, most of the songs were an attempt to break away from 4/4. Very un-"POP". So it is very interesting that you like Blank Walls!

As for A Far Cry From Here, it is a result of all of us reacting to each other's ideas. There was a lot of sweat and toil working away at the songs. Everyone was trying to get out of their comfort zones. So it does sound like we are on the edge. And at least lyrically, there was a certain amount of anger and urgency.

The premise of this album was to break away from previous songwriting styles by allowing each member to contribute and shape 1 song. What made you guys think of such a concept?

Leslie : We wanted to do something new. So a new approach was the way to go. (We decided to try) decentralization so that everyone has an active role in shaping and moulding the songs. Rather than working around the confines of a song structure that I have laid down.

Evan : It was a group decision. I think such a concept would also allow a different direction for each song and that was the idea and challenge. I also recalled Leslie mentioning that he would like to try different vocal ideas based on each individual’s contribution to break away from the old way when he had already written the basic form. I think it has evolved pretty well.

Victor : I remember we had a discussion about how we can try to work out things to challenge ourselves musically. Having the idea for each one of us to start and direct a new song was very refreshing for all of us. We have all been an influence to one another musically. It felt like we were playing for different bands for this album. But having said that, our relationship has reached a point whereby The Observatory sound is still maintained through the similarities on the way we work and how we would like the songs to sound at the end of the day.

‘When I See A Fire’ has a throbbing bassline so I reckon that was probably Victor’s contribution to the table. And I would assume ‘Downwards Is Hellwards’ is probably more of Leslie’s contribution. Who came up with each tune then?

Leslie : Evan came up with ‘Wonderkind’. Dharma's contribution was ‘Enlightense’ and it was his title as well. Please ask him what it means. You are right about Victor's ‘When I See A Fire’. Vivian came up with ‘The Last Grand Fallible Plan’. And my contribution was ‘Fall Of Man’ and the singing bits of ‘The Sink’. The verses in ‘Downwards Is Hellwards’ were my own but Victor and I worked out the instrumental bits. Actually there is a lot of cross-overs but in general, this is only a glimpse of how it went down.

I love the call and response playing on ‘Fall Of Men’. Previously, it was mainly Dharma and Vivian playing off each other in songs like ‘This Sad Song’ and ‘Sea Of Doubt’. It seems Victor and Leslie has gotten in on the action as well.

Dharma : Actually I think it’s been around since we’ve started, not just me and Vivian but in various combinations. Just that maybe it seems more apparent now or rather subtle previously. I think it was already there in ‘Heart and Souls’ (Victor, Leslie and me) and ‘Killing Time’ (Victor and Leslie), just to name a few.

Victor : I feel that we have been doing that all along here and there across the songs that we have written. That this is something we always love to do and explore but only sparingly where applicable. This album perhaps gave us more of an opportunity to work out the themes with this approach.

On ‘The Last Grand Fallible Plan’, ‘Downwards Is Hellwards’ and ‘The Sink’, there’s a recurrent motif of the line and melody “Get up and go from here/ Far as can be”. Were these 3 songs planned to be a informal trilogy?

Leslie : Yes, lyrically, they all have the same chorus, so to speak. Melodically, there are some recurring motifs here and there throughout the album.

Vivian : It’s a refrain or recurring phrase that expresses what the songs are about lyrically. You can read it to mean leaving physically but it’s really about getting off our asses and bringing about change… Musically, we tried to do the same as well with recurring melodies or phrases that would surface from song to song in different forms.

Let’s not flog the topic of “stayers-and-quitters”. But this phase on ‘The Last Grand Fallible Plan’ is extremely poignant: “I return to my hiding hole/ Should I just grow old here?/ Deal with the fear/ Stay in my hole/ Do as I'm told.” As we grow older, we constantly evaluate our options. If you were to leave to resettle elsewhere, where would you head?

Leslie : I would really like to remain in Singapore because all my memories are here. But sometimes you can't help but feel misrepresented, or worse, unrepresented in this country. At times like these, I'd rather be a second-class citizen somewhere else in the world. Probably somewhere in Japan. Perhaps Naoshima, on the Seto Inland Sea. I need to be able to reach Tokyo now and then to buy records and CDs.

Dharma : I’d like for this band to go and live somewhere where we can do music full time and won’t have to bust our asses trying to pay the bills. And if possible, I’ll want not to feel embarrassed of or misrepresented by the government of that country. But it’s a bit too much to ask, I guess, so I’d better lay back.

Evan : Tokyo, Japan seems like a pretty interesting place. Provided you have to speak their language first, of course. Each country has its own problems. I guess I never got to the part about “evaluating” each one to resettle.

Victor : I kind of like New Zealand but my wife doesn’t dig that… :( So I guess its still good ol’ Lion City for me…

Ray : A small tropical island far away from civilization. Preferably, it’d be one of the Jamaican islands where I can indulge in alcohol-fuelled drum practices anytime I want. A comfortable hut to stay in with my wife and baby. Cable is a must cause I need my English Premier League fix. I’d brew my own brewskies and cook for my family over a charcoal stove. The wife would grow vegetables and fruits while I’d hunt for wild boars and climb coconut trees. Nice hor? WAIT LONG LONG LAH! Hahahaha! Back to reality. I’ll go out on a limb to say on record that I’d probably stay here for the rest of my life (under the ‘Boh-Pian’ Act). Family is where my heart is.

Producer Jørgen Træen had mastered the sophomore release Blank Walls and mentioned that he preferred the live feel of ‘Acid Pills’ – sorry, I can’t remember which tune Vivian mentioned to me previously. Was this why the band had decided to try recording A Far Cry From Here live? How was the experience?

Leslie : The experience was great. I always wanted to do an album live. If only it was possible to record vocals live as well. We tried that on the first day but you know, Vivian and I are not loud, belting kind of singers, so it was quite impossible. So we did the vocals separately.

Evan : It was quite a smooth event as the band had practiced really hard before the recording. Ray had joined just a couple of months before the recording so he had to do extra homework. Eventually, we managed to nail every song in a few takes and we chose the best one. Live recordings sound more cohesive, of course. I think there are little flaws and “mistakes” here and there if you listen carefully.

Ray : I’ve always been a big fan of live recording. It gives the music more character. And I’m one who believes that whatever you put out on an album, you should be able to reproduce it live on stage.

Vivian : We wanted to capture that spontaneity and show up what the band is really like without any digital manipulation. Not to say digital or analog is better. It’s just that we didn’t want to give ourselves too many options and too much time to correct things and second-guess ourselves. Some of us were feeling a little nostalgic about how recordings were done in the 60s and 70s, listening to records from the era. It’s really exciting to feel the band’s vibe. If only we could’ve pressed to vinyl…

You guys flew Jørgen to Singapore to produce and record the album. That’s gotta be a first for local acts. What does Jørgen do that made you guys such big fans of his work?

Leslie : We knew of him by listening to Jaga Jazzist's albums. He produced their first 2 albums. He also plays with Jazkamer and his own band, Toy. We kind of trust his taste and direction. And we get along with him very well. He is not overbearing in the way he works. I think that is important so the band feels absolutely comfortable in the studio. We actually would have loved to record in Bergen at Duper. But we couldn't afford to.

Dharma : Besides his work on the Jaga Jazzist albums, it was the way he sings ‘tra la la la la’ full on and right in front of your face.

Ray : Wa lau eh! Jaga Jazzist! Need I say more?

Did you guys bring him out to try durian? Heh…

Evan : Dharma and I told him about it after one dinner when we were driving back home. I told him a lot of ang mohs (Hokkien slang for Caucasians) said it smelled like shit but he was sporting enough to want to try it. We were too tired to go hunt for it then and we just had some beers. So I told him he can try durian flavoured ice cream first from the mama shop the next time we were buying cigarettes before embarking on the real deal.

Victor : But we did bring him for good food at the Malay village in Eunos. Chili crabs too.

Leslie, you have always sung your own lyrics till The Observatory. What made you pass some of the lead vocals over to Vivian?

Leslie : I have always thought that Vivian has a unique voice of her own. She doesn't sound like anyone else. And with TheObservatory, I started to get interested in writing songs for her. For this new album, I actually wanted her to sing more. But she wanted to concentrate on playing rather than singing. You know, most of The Observatory can sing as well. Victor, Dharma, Evan and, I'm sure, Ray can sing if they wanted to. I should start writing songs for them as well! You haven't heard Evan's falsettos yet. Especially, on the Michael Jackson or A-ha songs.

Victor, though this album is recorded live, what made you focus purely on the bass, instead of alternating between the instruments like on the previous releases?

Victor : Although I love playing other instruments. I wanted to focus on the bass alone this time around. At the same time, I wanted to tighten up with Ray on the rhythm section. By doing this, Leslie and Dharma have more room on the guitars. I thought it worked out pretty well.

While the Observatory is notorious for the amount of gear for its live performances, Vivian mentioned that you guys were scaling down on that. But it seems that she has gotten more toys for this album!

Victor : She’s just getting warmed up… :) But it’s cool that she does… It doesn’t mean we all have to scale up or down together… It’s more of an individual decision with regards to how we want to end up sounding at the end of the day.

Ray : I finally got to break out my percussion (toy) bag after all these years! Woo hoo!

Being known for bringing in the jazz-fusion licks in the band, Dharma seems to have cut back on that for A Far Cry From Here.

Dharma : I was really hoping that this album would get me nominated for COMPASS best jazz guitarist. Now I’m really disappointed.

So, Evan, what’s your response like when people keep asking you to press the space bar on your Mac PowerBook? Or when they keep teasing you about “playing Minesweeper” while the rest of them are plonking away on their instruments.

Evan : I got tired of playing Minesweeper and Solitaire. So now I am practising World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade before I go online to take over the world. If I can get a wireless signal, I play online straight away. But you tend to get intermittent signals and its gets really frustrating when you get disconnected. I hate that! You have to start all over again. But National University of Singapore had a pretty strong signal though so I had a good time during our last gig there.

We had another gig in the Esplanade. I am hoping to steal the signal from the National Library. On stage, I pretend to play the keyboards once in a while to distract the audience so they don’t suspect. That’s why if you’ve noticed, my keyboard is very small. I mean, like why carry a big one if you are just wayang? But the clever ones know. I know they are watching me, damn it.

Ray : I caught him checking out porn once but that’s another story lah…

Besides able to break dance and hold down a good beat, what made you decide to join the band, Ray?

Ray : Hahaha… Ya. I sent a video of me doing the ‘Crazy Legs’ to Leslie for my audition. Actually, when The Observatory first came out of the woodwork, I was already a fan of Leslie’s songwriting since his Humpback Oak days. I was intrigued by what they were doing in Time of Rebirth and Blank Walls. No other band at that time was doing what they were doing. Being a sucker for trying out new things, I actually wrote in your forum (It’s still there, I think…) for a chance to play with them. Took them two friggin’ years before they got back to me…

Bastards! So Ray can break dance while we heard from very reliable sources that Leslie can pull off some Michael Jackson-style moon walks. What kind of funky moves can the rest of the guys bust out?

Leslie : I was part of some imaginary break dance crew with my primary school classmates when I was young. Whenever there was a battle, I was the one they called to do the Crazy Legs and the Turtle. I was the spinning and hopping turtle. Moon walking, the Worm and Body-popping were a given. These are the first things you learn. Haha... But I could never do the windmill or headstand-spin.

Evan : I can also moon walk. Leslie and I are moonwalk partners. Our favourite move is moon walking away from each other while executing a electric boogaloo hand wave. Dharma has a favourite dance move called The ‘Leg Raise’. It’s a pretty intriguing performance. You should really watch it, given the chance.

Ray : I’ve got a picture of Dharma doing his ‘Leg Raises’… You want? Let’s talk ‘moolahs’…… wink wink…