About Me
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THE BAND
*Valium is back in the studio rehearsing and writing new songs for an upcoming debut cd. Do await for our new batch of songs which are in the works even as you read this. The band promises their new songs and direction will still be firmly rooted to post-punk /new wave genre which they are originally known for, but better. Comeback again here for updates!
THE MUSIC
"Imagine there in that bleak part of your life story, exists a soundtrack running sub-consciously on repeats, painting pictures on your otherwise tattered canvas mind..."
Valium's music can be defined as an amalgamation of post-punk, 80's new wave, and indie rock. Their distinctive "dark" sound prevalent in its ringing echo guitars, taut rhythm section and semi baritone vocals was the idea and direction the band had set upon, wanting a fresh sound, a different edge apart from other local bands this side of Singapore has seen and heard. The sound, is indeed unique and urgent, unconventional and original.
The band members in Valium are major fans of bands and they conjure up their influences from the likes of Interpol, Joy Division, Bauhaus, White Rose Movement, Duran Duran, She Wants Revenge, Editors, The Departure, The Cure, all thrown in for good measure, further fine-touching those elements with their own display of choppy tight rhythms and imaginative guitar bursts.
As a unit, the four-piece stretches their musical abilities with adventurous sonic attack, concocting their sound with underlying quirky dark themes and poignant wordplay. Three of the four members in Valium, have been, in a different time or another, played in other Singapore local bands which includes names like Sideshow Judy, A'n, Steel City Skies, Astreal, Solaris, Upright, Crossover, Rocket Scientists and Melt.
THE GIGS
The Mercy Seats Gas Haus, 1st April 2006
Live Acoustic Set The Hideout, 19th April 2006
RNDM Home Club, 19th May 2006
Jamwerkz Gas Haus, 20th May 2006
Beat! Live Home Club, 28th July 2006
Open Stage 6 Timbre, 30th September 2006
The Living Dead Comes Home @ Home Club, 30th October 2006
Interpop @ Home Club, 8th November 2006
We've had the pleasure of having our live sets recorded, you can download it HERE .
Kudos to Joe Ng!
THE SONGS
1. "Fashionista" - The very first song they wrote. The "skeleton" of this song was formed almost instantaneously inside Straits Records studio, unplanned and lots of "once more, with feeling!" re-runs. A sign of good things to come. Chemistry was prevalent for the band at that time. A take on fads and its power of influence.
2. "Sirens" - A take on vice of the lowest nature. Brooding basslines and even more brooding vocals. The most "difficult" song for the band.
3. "Menage-A-Trois" - A story about adultery and the morning after. Very Bonham-like drumming and a significant bass groove pattern.
4. "Murder In Stereo" - Depicted from a tale of murder broadcasted live on-air from a radio show. The guitar sound was intended to replicate to that of keyboards.
5. "Anthem Suburbia" - A joyous lament on two sides of "The System." A result of needing more in-your-face punchy songs, the band relies heavily on kick-snare double time signatures, bass compings and a haunting guitar attack that soars above. A stomper.
6. "You Will Sleep Tonight" - A song too lengthy for the band. (7:00 + mins) revolves around swirly comping bass and spacey-echo guitar delivery layered with morbid lyrics more so about "dancing on the pyre." As quirky as it may sound, this song is actually about guilt and the dealings of human conscience, the ability to forget, by sleeping it off, really.
7. "Idiot Box" - The television, an "the idiot box," a somewhat influential tool or medium since its invention. Their most 80's sounding dancey track. Recalls the early seminal funk of duran duran with lots of urgency.There's something the band jokingly agrees upon about this number - Zul sounding like "Robert Smith on helium."
8. "Spiral Down" - The last song Az & Zul wrote for the band before their untimely departures. Something about love and that low down empty feeling which matures around it.
