Okay, so you went to Nanjiao. Yeah. It's pronounced
properly. Nanjiao. No, no. It's still wrong.
Nanjiao. Wrong, bro. Why? No, it's Nan. It's
not. Don't bluff me. It's N. It's something related.
Yeah, Nanjiao. Hi, and welcome back to the Chris
Hansen conversation. And I have with me sipping
whiskey. It's cool, man. It's cool. It's a podcast,
you know, so it's all good. It's all kosher.
Don't worry about it. And with me in studio for
this episode, my tribute, I'm paying tribute
to the band. The band is Bellingham. Can we flash
that picture up, please, Guy? The full band.
Don't flash the wrong thing. There you go. See
lah, these crazy people sitting on the bloody
red sofa, like friends. Okay, I forgot the lyrics.
Now, we have six of them, but of course, you
can see my studio is so damn tiny. I can't have
six of them all here. But this is my tribute
to the entire band. You can have them sit on
our lap lah. Oh god. Please lah, tolong lah.
Exactly, I say so too. Bong will sit on your
lap. Oh boy, Bong will be sitting on some alien's
lap to begin with. And yes, my dear ufologist,
Ignatius Bong, is also with the band, Bellingham.
And, you know, he'll be coming on very soon for
our episode for the season for the UFO Reveal
Asia. And that's going to be coming real soon.
Bong's with the band. But today, with me representing
the band, we are featuring these two lovebirds.
They're getting married. What an introduction,
bro. They are getting married. And Gabriel's
here with us. He's a keyboard player and a band
leader. What's up, guys? All right. And then
we have his lovely fiance, who's also the lead
singer and a humdinger for... I'm going to be
playing you the video right after I introduce
her. Deborah, she's a humdinger for Karen Carpenter.
Play us that vid, Kai. Hey, hello. You see the
resolution, right? Hey, you listen to the mix
down, right? I do 1K. See you later. It's nice
to know that there's someone I can turn to who
will always care. You're always there when there's
no Without you So many times When this city seems
to be Without a friendly face A lonely place
It's nice to know That you'll be there if I need
you. And you'll always smile. Disappear and I
end up singing Troubled sea to up and disappear
You touch me with the love you're bringing I
can't really lose when you're near Have forgotten
half their promises They're not a kind Just hard
to find One look at you And I know that I could
learn to live without the rest Well, the smallest
dreams won't come true. I can't take all the
madness the world has taken, but I won't rush
today. Without you Without you Thank you, Kai.
Oh, nice. You look at me, man. I'm grinning from
ear to ear, man. You know, that was, first of
all, the story behind the grin is because that
is my all -time favorite Carpenter song. And
when I found it online, I was like, there's no
freaking way I'm not going to use this one. One.
Two. Grinning from ear to ear because a little
tear welling up in my eye. Because it just brought
me back to my very, very young years. And you
know, you were such a humdinger for Karen Carpenter.
And I swear that was perfection, man. That was
perfection, man. I mixed that one down as I told
you guys, right? For this show. And when I was
listening to it yesterday as I was doing it,
and just now hearing it through here, I mean,
how did that happen? I mean, how did you get
there, Debra? How? Blood, sweat, and tears. Yeah,
so tell me about that. What did you have to do
to get to this level, to sound like even Karen?
Every inch of it, you know? Let me just be clear.
I don't think I sound like Karen in the least
bit. Well, a lot of people think otherwise. Maybe
like 60 % at best. Honestly. Well, yeah, sure.
There's no way anybody on this planet can sound
exactly like Karen Carpenter. That is true. That
is true. No, that is true. I mean, there's a
lot of impressionists out there in the world
doing impressions of many artists, right? And
we can never say that any single one of them
is 100%. There's no way. Yeah, I think it's the
approach to the song. Yeah. How you copy the
phrasing, the breath, the articulation of the
words. Precisely, the enunciation, the articulation,
you know, the way your phrasing is and you listen
to the original, it's like, you could have put
in, you must have put in a lot of work. Yeah,
in the car. With me. Yeah. That didn't sound
very right. She put a lot of work in the car
with you. Listening to the song. I want to tell
you, get a room, dude. It's smaller than 100
square feet. Don't get the wrong idea. But you
belong to Japan. You belong to... Okay, never
mind. Let's not go there. We're going to get
ourselves in some cheap shit if we want to go
further than that. But yeah, okay. I mean, admittedly,
man, seriously, on a serious note, I can imagine
the amount of work you put in. It must have taken
years. Am I right? Not at all. But then you are
incredible. Because, you know, this guy is on
the top, right in front of us, right front and
center. And that's the king, right? Elvis is
there. And in my younger years, I do so much
Elvis. Jesus, for so long. And it started when
I was a kid, you know. And to learn the phrasing,
to learn the way he says things and how his tone
is going to be like, right? And to the point
where I ended up doing, back in the day, when
Laserdiscs, you know, Laserdiscs, the big silver
little, not little, the big silver discs where
people use for karaoke and stuff, you know, and
they have karaoke songs on those discs. And when
they record it, they have the analog version
where you're the singer in the background and
the digital version where you don't have the
singer. The analog version of that to guide people
along, I did an entire album of it. And I know
the amount of work. The reason why I'm saying
this is because I know the amount of work that
we have to put in to just get there is not funny.
But how long did it take you? When did we start
preparing for The Carpenter Show? Six months.
Was it a conscious thing that you guys decided
to do a Carpenter's Tribute? I think it was more
on his mind. Yeah. Yeah. And then he's like,
okay guys, we're doing a Carpenter's Tribute.
I'm like, oh, okay. Because I mean, I know like
so many of their songs and I've always wanted
to play them. No one does it. Yeah. Like the
obstacle stuff. Yeah. Goodbye to love. Yeah.
And all, yeah. So, then one fine day, I just
like, this band can do it. she has the voice
for it yeah so yeah I mean initially it was a
bit rough with like phrasing and everything but
so we like just digest the song like you have
digest the how Karen sings the articulation you
live it and also and also the the band, the backing,
the backing part has to be very exact. Like Clarence,
we have to mute the toms and everything to make
it sound like the 70s. Yeah, we went to buy Scotch
Brite. Scotch Brite, microfiber towels. Really?
He brings clothespacks around. So every Carpenters'
Gate you go, he'll put the Scotch Brite on the
toms. Clarence, by the way, people, Clarence,
Clarence is the drummer. Yeah. Clarence is your
drummer so he puts God's Bride yeah so we got
down to like even like details like what symbols
is he gonna use for the songs yeah so we got
down very in depth wow yeah so to create that
replicate that sound because so like when you
hear it right you hear the the toms doesn't like
over ring it's very muted so you basically ensure
that you bring back that vintage retro kind of
You know, what was available back in the day.
You cannot replicate it like 100%. But you guys
did a great job, man. Trying to do as close as
possible. You guys did a great job, I can tell
you that, man. I mean, my goodness me. A lot
of work. Yes. Tell me about Bellingham. A name
that rolls off the tongue. So... How did that
happen, man? How come? Is there an origin story
behind it? No, we were just finding a band name.
got a few suggestions here and there. What were
those suggestions before you decided on Bellingham?
Before Bellingham even came about, we met each
other and then we were like, oh, we should start
a duo or something. And then there were a couple
of names that came up. One of the very first
names that came up was Joy Spring. What? What
was that? Joy Spring. Joy Spring. What? It's
a jazz standard. It's a jazz standard. It sounds
more like a bridal company. You're going to buy
wedding dress, go to Joy Spring. Or laundry.
That's it. Yeah, yeah. Laundromat. With their
own detergent called Joy Spring. Okay, okay,
okay. Joy Spring is supposed to be a duo. Then
what happened? They're saying. Just form a band.
Because, okay, I've always wanted to have my
own band. So, I've never got this opportunity
to really form a band that plays together. You
mean to say that prior to Bellingham, you never
had a band? No, I was always a sessionist. I
was always playing for singers. As a session
player? Yeah, random. Is that right? So, you
never had a band? I mean, you gig for all these
agents and everything. So, in Singapore, it's
just the community is so small. so they just
like form bands together to play for wedding
you know like oh I want usually they will hire
the singer correct so usually the singer gets
hired first then after that they will piece the
band together so I mean we were playing like
Mando kento oh gosh so then then i'm like this
is not it oh yeah fuck yeah yeah this is not
this is not it so it's a nightmare i'm like yes
just just form a band reggie your guitarist is
also playing for mando pop stuff reggie no reggie
sorry uh sebastian sorry are you sorry sebastian
All of a sudden, I had Reggie Leo's face in my
head. Yeah, okay. Sorry, man. Sebastian. Yeah,
he was playing for... So yeah, he tours and mental
artists and all. So he's a very strong, very
versatile player. Very, very, very talented.
Yeah, so even Bong plays for like... Yeah, I
know. You play for Ame, yeah. And many, many
others. So funny, yeah. You really play for Chinese,
huh? But he plays for a lot of English singers
as well. Lobo, Three Degrees. We're like with
Jimmy Lee. Jimmy Lee played for Lobo as well.
Three Degrees as well. So Bong was with Jimmy
then playing for these guys? Yeah. Wow. So I'm
like, okay, I got all these guys in my band.
So I'll just do it. So you roped one by one in?
Yeah. So, okay. Initially, right? Okay. Yeah,
what happened? How we started. Initially, it
was just the two of us. Then we got called for
a St. Mary gig. St. Mary the Angels. Yeah, St.
Mary of the Angels. How come I never see you
guys? I'm the guy that used to MC for Patrick.
Everything for them. Seven years. Seven years.
Recently, you mean? Yeah. Oh, recently. Recently,
they don't like me. Yeah, it's true. It's true.
Really? Yeah. What did you do? What did I do?
let's not go there yeah even if they call me
i wouldn't go back okay yeah but it's okay i
will tag them okay by my wedding day i know that's
okay i'm not hosting it there i'm hosting it
at night later on but yeah so uh we got caught
for a gig then i'm like oh she plays with Fun
fair, feast day. Kaki fun night. Then I knew
Clarence a couple of times. We met, played together.
That guy is magic, man. We're still back on Clarence
again. You know something? I said this to Bonnie,
I think. You know Bonnie faced her suzer, right?
Bonnie and his wonderful wife, lovely wife, Wendy.
Bonnie's been in the circuit for a long time.
And when I got into the circuit, it was because
of Bonnie a long time ago. Yeah. And, and he
had a drummer, Rizal's dad, Sanib. Rizal's dad.
Rizal's dad, late dad, you know, and I was very
fortunate to have played with him. And what a
magician on the skins, I tell you that guy. But
when I saw Clarence play for the first time,
before he joined your band, And I went, who is
this kid? Because the way he was drumming, straight
away in my head, I saw Sanib. I saw Sanib. I
said, this is very uncanny. And there's something
about the way he plays that just, I straight
away co -related to the late Sanib. And it's
amazing. The delivery and the execution. And
he really knows his stuff. Fluidity. Yeah. That's
what Sanib had and that is what Clarence has.
It's so fluid, his drumming. It's crazy. Crazy.
You got yourselves a great drummer. Yeah. We
are blessed. Thank you, Clarence. No, really.
And it's my compliment also, please, to Clarence.
You know, guy's a genius. Yeah. Okay. Let's go
on. Clarence, and then? Yeah, so we played a
gig together as a four piece. Yeah. Then I'm
like, I like this band. Yeah, because like...
Who's the fourth guy? Bong. Oh, Bong. Okay, so
Bong, Clarence and the two of you. Both of us.
Okay. Yeah, so then I'm like, I like this band,
so maybe we can do something together and...
Like something more. Yeah, we can do more. Like,
because we played together without rehearsal.
Yeah. You're all session players, you should
be able to do that. Without rehearsal, we went
there, had so much fun on the gig. But where
did this one come in? Oh, she? No, we were together.
We were gigging together. So all this while,
you two guys have been gigging. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So the backstory is, actually, I was playing
in the Mandarin scene for about seven over years.
Wait a second. You were in the Mandarin scene?
So she can sing all the Tina Pyeong songs. But
don't ask me to speak. I can't speak for shit.
Tina Pyeong. You can't speak for shit. I can't
speak for shit, bro. So, okay. So basically,
you sing in Chinese songs because you memorize,
learn them. Singing is different from speaking
it. Because usually when I play my Mandarin gigs,
I have to play guitar. And there's usually other
singers as well. So I have my charts. If not,
I cannot remember. But you don't speak to the
audience in Chinese. I learned that in seven
years. But did you understand everything you
were singing when you were singing Chinese songs?
I mean, not really. I mean, Mandarin songs are
all sad and sappy. You're right. So you don't
really have to understand what you're singing.
You're right. You just need to be sad. Because
I do a lot of weddings as well. I've done so
many weddings coming at my wazoo. I mean, you
know, and I've got people who always ask me,
Chris, do you think you can sing a Chinese song?
I say, I can. And I do, by the way. Though my
Mandarin sucks. So what song do you want? Can
you sing? Wow, very good. Hello. Not bad, not
bad. Oh, I'm saying bats. Exactly, from saying
bats. All feel Chinese, right? But sing song
again. Pay me money, I will sing the bloody Chinese
song. Okay. Exactly, right? Yeah, but it's so...
That's the funny thing. Coming back to the topic,
people ask me, Chris, can you do a Chinese song
for us? I say, do you know... There are practically
nine and a half out of ten Chinese songs are
sad songs. I want to go die. I'm going to jump
down. All kind of nonsense. You know what I mean?
My father died. My husband died. My wife died.
That kind of thing. You know, you want me to
sing that for your wedding? Are you kidding me?
The only song I can tell him that I can do but
I need to have a duet partner would be Shenzhen.
I don't know that one. The one by Sally Yeh and
George Lam. Mr. Mustache. Yeah. You know, and
yeah, that's the only damn song. Otherwise, forget
it, man. It's not going to happen. Don't sing
that at my wedding. No, it's not going to happen.
Don't worry about that one. I can show you and
nobody will understand. Don't worry, that's not
going to happen. And I do not, I have no intention
of doing that here. I'll fire you in the spot,
boss. Hey, Chris. What are you doing? Okay, I
do. you better know i say tonight tonight gabriel
the two of you got married you cannot have the
we must be cannot be I think you're going in
trouble, my friend. See, I love podcasts. You
know what I think is wonderful? We can just talk
crap like that. Okay, coming back to, so the
two of you were playing together already. How
did the two of you meet? We meet in the car park.
Yes. I shit you not. We met in the car park.
First about being in a car. You met in the car
park. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the backstory is I
came from a wedding gig. I got stuck in the lift
for half an hour. Oh, boy. And then Sebastian
texted me. Then he's like, hey Deb, come drink.
I'm like, nah, I think I'm going to go home.
And then I got swung in the lift for half an
hour. I'm like, fuck this shit, I'm going for
a drink. So I met Sebastian and a couple of other
friends at Clark Key. And then, yeah, we're drinking,
drinking, drinking. Okay, time to go home. Walking
to the car park. And then Sebastian says hi to
this guy. And then, and then he's like, hey,
hello, hello, hello. And then he's like, hey,
you're Debra, right? I'm like, haha, yeah. I'm
like, you are? And he's like, oh, I'm Gabriel.
And then I, I went back, I went back and whispered
to my other friend like, who the fuck is this
guy? I was drunk already lah. And then what happened?
And, and then. Go on, go and story lah. You know
what I mean? You don't gotta stop like that and
hang halfway. And then what happened? And then
what happened? He said, oh, I'm following you
on Instagram. And then apparently I was following
him too. But I had no idea. I'm just a nobody.
Yeah. no lah don't say that lah bro going to
be a husband soon no day but yeah so like he's
like eh let's take a picture take a picture and
after that post it on Instagram that's what I
think and I'm like Gabriel Ian Lim so my first
thing I asked him was eh you Catholic ah why
did you ask why did you have to ask him that
Because it's very hard to find Catholic musicians
in the scene. Like in the Mandarin scene where
I was for a very long time. But why do you need
to have a Catholic player in the Mandarin scene?
It's just easier to gel. Because you know, like
in the Mandarin scene, people are always like...
So I don't understand what the fuck they're talking
about. So you're saying that Catholic people
usually speak better English than Chinese? Yes,
they're all Ang Mo Pai. What kind of stereotype
is that? That's true. Really? Bro, you're Catholic,
right? Yeah. You see his head. That's why you
see the head. Paper visit head. But you know,
honestly, I mean, I can see where you're coming
from. If someone's from a Catholic school, most
of us in Catholic schools are quite effed up
in our mother tongue. Most of us. But then again,
you have a Catholic eye for this. And I've met
people from, you know, different parishes where
they are predominantly Chinese speaking. So,
you know, I mean, if you're talking about Catholic
Catholics, you know, yeah, you know, I mean.
Okay lah, I mean, it's quite an interesting observation
lah, you know. Of course, I don't know lah. People
will probably be wondering what this, people
talking about, right, you know. Yeah, okay. So,
to you, it was, you were quite glad that he's
Catholic as well. Yeah, because like, he speaks
English, like his English is fine. And like,
you know, man, Gabriel Ian, got middle name,
must be Catholic ah. Oh, I see, got middle name,
probably Catholic ah. Okay, that's another observation.
I didn't realize that because I have no bloody
middle name. Well, okay. So, I'm Catholic. I
have no middle name. I do. Yeah. Okay. So, then
what happened after that? So, you guys got together
to play everybody after that. What happened now?
I'm going on chronology here. Oh, no. Then I,
oh, then I asked her if she does like English
stuff. Yeah. And I needed someone for a gig last
minute. Oh, yes. Two piece. Two piece. Eh, three
piece. Three piece, okay. Yeah. So, we got the
gig and I got the gig. She don't want a gig.
No, I was still working full time at that time.
She tell me she don't want a gig. What were you
doing? Software engineering. Okay. COVID transitioner.
I got my $9 ,000. You open a new newspaper all
of us. Isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Asia one. From singing
to coding. So now, you know, it's interesting.
I like conversations like this, you know, because
I keep hearing stuff I can thread to other things.
Since you were doing that full -time, were you
doing something full -time before? Are you a
full -time muso right now? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Are you a full -time muso right now? Yeah. And
what were you doing prior to being a full -time
muso? All the while? All the while. Holy shitballs.
When I grew up, I didn't want to do anything
else. Okay. Nothing else. I never even worked
like banquet. I never been to like, never go
and. Always in music. Fast food and everything.
Don't let me ask you, man. How old are you? 30.
30? Yeah. And how old are you? 32. 32. Okay.
So you have been, you have been in music all
your life, all your working life. Yeah. I mean,
my, my first gig was at, I think 17 or 18. Wow.
Yeah. So I was playing in church. I played church.
I played in church quite a bit. No lah. Catholic
church, where got pay lah? You tell me. In the
graces of God. Yeah. Catholic church, I got paid.
So, okay. So, your exposure is playing in church
choirs. I mean, I play for weddings, church weddings.
Right, right. So, people start hiring me for
like, my first gig was, I remember, I think it
was Shangri -La, Cocktail Piano, before a wedding.
And I was like 17, I think, 17. Wow. And I got
paid like 500 bucks. And at that time, at that
point of time, like, wow. So, you didn't go to
university? F. So, okay, after secondary school.
Okay, I almost. Which school? Secondary school.
Lan Chow. What? Lan Chow. High school. I almost
went to St. Pat's. Never go. Wasted. I know right.
If not, I'll fit in properly. Very much. Instead
of being in Nanjiao. Yeah. That's why I recovered.
That's worse than Chi Chong Fan Second Dream.
Chi Chong Fan Second Dream. Chi Chong Fan Second
Dream. Oh lao. Okay. So you went to Nanjiao.
Yeah. I pronounced properly. Nanjiao. No, no.
Still wrong. Nanjiao. Wrong lah bro. Why? No,
it's Nan. It's not. Don't bluff me. It's N. It's
something in the letter N. Yeah, Nan Qiao. Eh,
fuck it lah. Nevermind. You went to that school.
After that, what happened? You did your O's.
So, I did my N's. Wah, I passed like, like, I
almost got expelled from school. Why? Because
I failed my Chinese. And it's a Nan Qiao school.
So, you failed Chinese, they expelled you ah?
No, you see, Nan Qiao, because Nan Qiao. Chinese
school. Oh, Chinese school. Wah, my principal
called my parents to school. He said, your son
in band very good. Wah, play this, play that.
Wah, student conductor, blah, blah, blah. I'll
take you out from band if you cannot pass your
Chinese. I think my principal spoke to my parents
in Chinese and my mother don't understand. My
father also half don't understand. Then he said,
you better, I don't know, get your son. go and
speak to them in Chinese at home or or something
lah then I think my father got angry so let's
go to principal and say I don't speak Chinese
at home and then what happened probably lah something
like that lah I remember so record then then
wah I this episode's gonna get saved by a lot
of people you know like a lot of Karen's gonna
get fucking angry man yeah so so Yeah, man. A
lot of woke fuckers out there, you know? Especially
those normally from Lanjiao. Then after that,
after that, my principal, I remember he said
something. You will never go far. Because you
cannot, you feel Chinese, then I was doing badly
in school. Have you seen the fucker around recently?
Never. Giving the finger. And then? You know
his name? I don't know. Don't mention the name.
That one is too far. Don't bring it that far
though. Okay. Tell me that in private. The name
quite funny lah. Okay. Later I tell you. Later
tell me. You mention this now, we die. I tell
you, we're going to get in bloody trouble. I
say lah, then you teet lah. You cannot teet lah.
Okay, Kai, can we do the teet? Kai? Okay, tell
me the name. Slowly, come on, two, three, so
we can have enough space to teet. One, two, three.
What they've said, man. I mean, Bob or his parents
thinking about it when they were naming him.
Sorry, people. You won't get the joke. It's so
private because we had to bleep it up because
we don't want to get in too much trouble. We're
already in a lot of trouble right now. Okay?
We had to bleep them up, but it's a damn funny
name. Okay. What a name. What the fish. What
a thing to bring, huh? Commercial. Roll call.
Oh, man. Fado is a fisherman. Now you all know
the name because I don't do it for fish. He smelled
the sea. The office must smell really slimy and
salty and fishy. His wife. Oh my gosh. I thought
I was bad. This fella is worse. Okay. Actually,
I went to St. Pat's. Yeah, you're right. But
how the hell did you end up in that school anyway?
Because I just, I stay like two minutes away,
just beside. And I was from the, I was from,
I was from the primary school. Yeah. Then my
parents, you know, I was, my father's from Montfort.
Abing, Abing, Montfort, Abing. I didn't say that.
For those of you listening to audio, it was me.
Or the fisherman, Abing. It was Gabriel. Gabriel
said that shit. The guy didn't say that shit.
My father, fisherman, Abing. Monfort or Fisherman.
Okay. To all the Monfort people, I'm not responsible
for that. Shao Kang Fishing Village. It's Gabriel.
If anybody wants to do anything to him, to do
anything about this, please go for Gabriel, okay?
I didn't say shit like that. Okay, and then what
happened? So yeah, if I don't pass, I'll get
expelled and everything. I don't know whether
I'll really get expelled because I was failing
everything. I already knew I want to be a musician.
My conductor, Mr. Gloss. David Gloss. Oh my goodness.
Shout out to you, David Gloss. Yeah, yeah. So
I respect him a lot wherever he is now. David,
his name runs everywhere, man. Yeah, so that's
how I got the patrician blood as well. That's
right. Yeah. Strange, man. Damn strange. Okay.
He was, thankfully enough, he was there for a
couple of years when I was in band. So I learned
a lot from him. Inspired me to be a musician.
Yeah. So after that, I decided I want to go do
music. I don't want to go and study like whatever.
My parents supportive. No, no, no. You're still
down. You went for your end levels. Yeah. So
I, okay. I went my end levels. I passed. You
passed Chinese? Passed. No, I take CLB. Oh, clever
boy. yeah my time you know such thing called
CLB yeah I normal stream streaming also yeah
so I CLB then then so I I somehow or rather I
pass CLB I checker knuckle checker knuckle I
pass checker knuckle checker knuckle you wrote
nice also can pass lah I think I'm know I I remember
I go exam I finish the MCQ in like you know 5
minutes everybody still like what is this I pray
I count my finger 1 2 3 4 4 I think this one
next one 2 Next one should be 4 again. Then I
have probability lah. Then somehow I pass boss.
Okay. Then you went O level lah. Yeah. Then I
went O level. Then I failed. You failed Chinese
lah. Failed lah. Everything failed. No. O level
I failed. Failed Chinese. You failed Chinese
lah. Yeah. Too hard already. It's okay. I failed
Chinese too. How many credits you got? Wah. I
got. Good enough for you to go further lah. No,
I cannot go. I cannot go. Cannot go KC, cannot
go poly, cannot go anywhere lah. Cannot, I hopeless
kid already. So I like, after that I like, shit
man, what to do? So I say, never mind, I take
O -Level again. So you retook lah? I retook O
-Level. In that same school lah? No, no, I private
candidate. Private, okay. Private candidate.
But then again, I everyday play music lah. Never
study again. Raise money also lah. Raise money,
raise one year. Then after that, I like, okay.
I'm going to go army first. So I went to army.
Then during army, I'm like, maybe I should go
Berkeley. I see everybody go Berkeley. Go Berkeley,
boss. I paid for the audition. I paid for the
interview. I never go boss. What the f***? Because
I see the school fees. Then I look at my parents.
Cannot lah. Even if I get half scholarship. I
don't know where this story is going. I really
don't know. Do you want to go Berkeley? It got
me all excited. Then you didn't go. The fee is
quite high. Yeah, very high. And then? I say,
Singapore, what school? NAFA? And then? What
happened this time? I registered for NAFA as
a classical saxophonist. I play saxophone in
band. Oh, you're okay. So I can. I'm even more
confused. Yeah. So all the while you were playing
the sax. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I registered classical
saxophone. Then I speak to, I mean, I spoke to,
I spoke to Mr. Gloss, you know, ask him for advice.
I think a few of them tell me, hey, screw it.
Just flip, you know, more jobs. Everything. Do
pop. good advice yeah but you know i played piano
at that time you knew yeah i started playing
piano at four oh so it was piano first yeah you
feel like i'll tell sorry but at least give me
some content that's why i'm a musician okay so
you were already playing the piano so it's not
moving it wasn't even a transition that's why
i knew when i was in band i knew that i wanted
to do music because i i enjoyed it yeah yeah
but i hate classical i hate classical piano Okay,
who doesn't? I teach my teacher how to play classical
piano. I remember my grade 7 or grade 8 exam.
Classical piece. My remark. I've never done well
for my classical stuff. My classical exams. Okay.
My remark. The piece sounded too jazzy. That's
why his Instagram handle is jazz chops. Why?
Angry boss. I say it's my interpretation. My
interpretation of the classical music. All the
classical people confirm flame me. A lot of people
will be flaming you bro. From the Monfort guys
to the Monfort guys. I leave now. I go and drink
better. To the classical fellas. But okay. So
I went to audition Nafa. Nafa saxophone and LaSalle
piano. LaSalle. Okay. LaSalle piano. I never
go Nafa. Then? Yeah, applied for audition. You
didn't go? What the fuck's wrong with you, bro?
Then I, because I, I'm a guy like, if I know
what I want to do, I will just go and do. Okay.
So I knew that, I think I do better in piano
lah. Okay, so you went to, you didn't go to NAFA
anyway? Never. So I went to LaSalle. Then I got
a scholarship. What's that? From who? LaSalle.
From LaSalle. Okay. So I got LaSalle scholarship.
Then what? Wah, my diploma free, boss. My parents
happy, I happy, everybody happy lah. So after
that, I did. Diploma and degree. Huh? All in
the cell? Yeah, all in the cell. Wow. So now,
that guy, the guy who said I'm going to get expelled,
bro, I got paper now. Yeah, I got paper. And
he's more qualified than you. And then he didn't
have to go fishing. He never drowned in the ocean.
Yeah, man. He still fish every night. I mean,
it's funny, you know, I mean. Yours is not the
only story I've heard like this. Even like me,
I had a teacher who said to me when I was in
secondary two, art teacher, who said, boys like
you amount to nothing in life. And she was right.
Anyway, so... well at least you went ahead you
got your degree right you know in music which
is great man so then while you were doing that
let me guess you were moonlighting playing outside
yeah I was playing a lot so actually I was playing
with my lecturers and all so I actually never
go to school some things don't change so during
NS did you play in MDC or something no I shoot
gun You should get one. Infantry, boss. Ah, wow.
So, like me lah. Yeah, really ah? You also ah?
I'm also infantry. Foot slogger lah, foot slogger.
Wow, infantry. Which one ah? Huh? Which one?
Which one? Which infantry unit? Yeah. 8SIR. Wow,
never even heard of it, boss. 2PDF ah? Oh, please
don't fight. Yeah, please don't fight. Alright,
so. So, okay, then after that, the rest is history
lah. You started playing outside. Started playing.
Yeah, I started way early. I was doing gigs and
all. Then it got better and better and better.
Then I'm here right now. And Debra, how about
you? Where were you studying? I was studying
in SP. Before that. Before that. Secondary school.
You guessed. I'm a donor. Very easy. I tell you
something, my brothers are all from St. Pat's.
KC are you? No lah. CHIJ? Which one? Topayo.
Oh, CHIJ Topayo. Yeah, 10 years. 10 years ah?
10 years. Oh. Then were you always, have you
always been in music? Not always. Actually, it
started when I was in like primary school because
my parents were in Peter Rose Choir. Wow. Yeah.
Wow. So when they left, then Prison Christ had
like an opening for a choir so they formed a
new choir or something like that we joined the
11 o 'clock choir and then were you in Peter
Lowe choir no lucky never he moved he already
moved to Cathedral by that time yeah got promoted
yeah promoted and then yeah so I was in I was
in the choir my whole primary school like like
church choir and school choir right yeah but
you play as well I can see you playing the guitar
Yeah, so that actually only started in secondary
school. Yeah, what happened? Oh, I remember.
This guy was interested in my sister. And then,
yeah. And then I picked up my brother's guitar
when he went out of the house and watched him
play. Quite cool. When he leaves the house, I
take his guitar and I go to play. Well, who taught
you to play? You played or you self -taught yourself?
Ultimate guitar. So, Ultimate Guitar, right?
They show you how to finger the chords. Oh, you
mean the chords. Yeah, fingering the chords.
So, I just open any song that I knew. But how
about the strumming and all that? You have to
learn how to strum. Hantam. Hantam bola. Hantam.
So, people like me can't do shit like that, you
know? We want the hantam so it comes out wrong.
We hantam, people want to hantam us because when
we hantam, it sounds like shit. You know what
I'm saying? Yeah, right. So, okay. And then the
singing bit, did you work on it on your own because
you love it, because you enjoy it, because you're
passionate for it? We know your future husband
is really passionate about that shit. I mean,
judging by the story you just told us. How about
you? For me, I mean like, because I actually
started playing guitar first. So, I got recruited
to join my church music ministry and everything.
What kind of church people are you? So churchy
to you. Mouth like sailor but then again damn
churchy. Yeah. My very holiness I got all of
your things. Oh gosh. Okay. Yes. So I got recruited
to join the church music ministry which my brother
was also playing in but he left already and then
they needed like an acoustic guitarist. Okay.
So I joined them and then I always wanted to
sing lah. Okay. But because they had like five
or six singers and I was just like what the hell.
You never tell them you suck lah. You cannot
sing, you cannot sing. All the church people
cannot sing. Catholic church, all cannot sing,
boss. I mean, like, I wanted to. I don't know
how many people is going to get, we're going
to get wet for how many people, I don't know.
Oh my goodness. This show does not cut, my friend.
okay and we will bleep that bit though because
that was a bit too much but okay okay coming
back to the point so did you tell them they suck
did they suck no no no I didn't yet you got me
solid I don't want to comment oh they weren't
the best okay okay that's the politically correct
answer Now we're going to be politically correct.
Yes. Okay. And all the incorrectness from the
get -go, we started the show. Yeah, right. And
what happened next? What happened next? So basically,
I didn't sing. Like my entire secondary school,
I've had no singing. But you know, you sound
so freaking good, man. when you say I mean how
did you get there furiously so actually no it
actually happened after actually during my poly
days because after secondary school I went to
SP and I studied music and audio production oh
wow so cool all the courses damn it I wish I
was young again damn it so many courses I can
go for but I feel mad but I also wanted to go
to La Salle I wanted to go to LaSalle. Lucky
you never go. Yeah, lucky I never go because
my sister was enough. And then I'm like, parents
no money. So I go SP. Why lucky never go? Don't
say lah. You own the end, I don't want to release
lah. No lah, I waste money lah. Okay, fine, fine.
So you went to SP and then you, did you discover
that you actually like singing and enjoying it?
I actually enjoyed singing all the while. I just
never had the opportunity. Were you ever formally
taught or was there a mentor that you had to
follow? I had three unofficial lessons during
COVID and that's about it. Yeah. Unofficial lessons.
I don't know if I want to go now. Some talent.
Yeah. That's a whole other story. There's a reason
why I had this show because I want to hear the
stories. Just in summary, in brief, keep it brief.
This is my perspective. I just want to be clear.
This is my perspective. I was 93 kilos before
COVID, okay? Because I was... digging full time
right for like what five six years right so every
night I was drinking every night I was eating
every night I was drinking and drinking and drinking
right I put on a lot of weight I'm like 93 kilos
and then covid came and I'm like ah shit I'm
so fat I need to lose weight so I lost I lost
about 30 kilos wow amazing during covid amazing
now you need to put a picture there no no no
please don't her 65 picture don't have Okay,
anyway. This one is going to get into so much
trouble after you leave the studio. You want
to see and come to the wedding. What's that got
to do with the singing? Yeah, so because I was
in the Chinese scene, right? So, you know, when
you are like a bit chubbier. People don't really
give a shit about you. Not chubby, it's fat.
Is that right? Yeah, fat. They don't pay attention
to you. They'll be like, oh, if you lose weight,
then suddenly everybody's like, oh, you want
to take photo? You want to? Oh, you want singing
lessons? Yeah, I'm like. Who are these people?
They are people in the scene. Who actually told
you this shit? Yeah, suddenly I was getting offers
for like, oh, you want to take photo? No, I help
you take photo. I think you got potential to
go far. I give you some singing lessons. Oh,
all these, all these. Is it all this? I mean,
I don't know whether they're bad or not. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah. No, they're just being a bunch of.
Yeah, man. Yeah. Oh yeah. That's how I got. a
few complimentary vocal lessons. Complimentary
vocal lessons? Yeah, yeah. Okay, but did you
learn anything from that? Yeah, a little bit,
yeah. Okay, but no, you see, what I'm trying
to understand here is that Gabriel kept saying
by the side here, because she's talented, because
she's talented, because she's talented, but did
you have any mentoring? Is there an official
person that you can say, I... actually attribute
my singing prowess to this person okay it's actually
like um it's a combination of things right so
from number one my mother because my mother is
a teacher or was a teacher so every day at home
i was just like oh your grammar's wrong is there
not there and then you know like she's in choir
so every time i sing wrongly you know your diction's
not coming out right she'll be like don't sing
it like that sing it this way okay yeah so um
a lot of the Good stuff I learned from her. So,
diction from mother, okay. Diction from mother,
definitely from mother. What else? Who else?
And then after that, actually, I just learned
along the way when I was gigging after poly.
Yeah. So, you learned it on your own, all self
-taught? Yeah. Wow. Really much, I think, yeah.
Okay, then I'm going to say talent. No, it's
hard work. He sounded completely different. Talent
without hard work is rubbish. Hard work coupled
with talent is amazing. It's as simple as that,
man. It's as simple as that. It's a fly on my
drink. I got distracted. Oh, there's the guy
that we're trying to trap from just now. Is it
in your drink? No. It's not? Okay. I drink it,
I drink it. Hey! Hey! Hey! So tell me about Bellingham
again. So coming back to the story. So you guys
decided that you are, you decided it. Yeah. I
want to have a band. So we got four, the four
piece in, then after that. And I always, I always
wanted to, you know, like Earth, Wind, Fire,
Big Band. Oh, best, bro. Singapore don't have.
Tada, bro. Where you going? Maybe. Nobody can
afford to even pay for four piece. What the fuck?
Yeah, right. Back in the days, I heard like Stephen
and, and, and rock. they got what 30p's ah my
two favourite guys yeah 30p's man I tell you
shout out to Rob and Steven Steven and Francis
OG's ah yeah man old girls ok and then that is
Rob lah old girls or OG That's good boss. You're
going to answer to Rob? Okay, I'll go and drink
with you one day. For Gabriel, the list keeps
getting longer. I didn't throw up. That's why
I... Okay. You either hate me or like me. No,
no. We all love you. Don't worry about it. So,
yeah, Bellini Grande, they were telling me that
they had about 30 bands. It's always a dream
and I've always been like, This guy who always
wants to start a band and have a band of my own,
have a sound, or play together. A sound that
you actually would like to produce. Yeah, correct.
I don't see that in Singapore. A lot of bands
don't have their own sound. Unique to them. It
used to be a long time ago. yeah but these days
what makes people happy which is rubbish also
like shout out to referee yeah so they were my
actually my one of my inspiration right I always
think that they have a sound of their own like
Surav, Joanna, Simon yeah I just saw them perform
a couple of weeks ago yeah so they have a sound
of their own so I mean Joanna with the saxophone
Nothing is hotter than a girl that's about that
height playing a very long saxophone. What? Okay.
But yeah. What's in your head, man? I mean...
What? Alright, but... They're far, they're far.
Yeah, but... I mean, the saxophone looks bigger
than her. But never mind. But she plays a mean
sax. Yeah. Man, that girl can blow. So that...
That whole... that whole idea band idea concept
uh came about and i i wanted to do uh uh something
different so uh my concept of sound is always
as a as a person from band yeah i always wanted
a percussionist in my band okay to play like
conga i mean suspended yeah man shaker and like
doobie brothers you know It's actually the essence
of the music. That we have the sound that I want
to have. Yeah. So like you hear Carpenters, you
know, like there are a lot of auxiliary parts,
tem -tems, I mean, not all tem -tems, castanets.
Okay. Yeah. I mean, we'll block this kind of
stuff. Okay. Yeah. So. Shakers and can -cans
and wood blocks. I just wanted to have a sound
of my own. People who are not musicians, they're
going to go, what kind of connotations are all
these? I mean, it's a wood block. Eh, Terod,
I need more drink. Okay, and so you brought in
a percussionist. Yeah, yeah, which is my good
friend from Irfan, who is a percussionist in
Bellingham. He's from my band as well, in Dan
Chow. Oh, he was from I don't want to say that
name anymore. Okay, you're not pronouncing it
right too. The way you pronounce it just now
was different as well. Can you like stop saying
that bloody name, please? Thank you very much.
I can't tell. OCBC. We're really going to be
in trouble, you know. I don't know what I'm going
to do with the captions now. I don't know. I
think this video will be like taken down by...
Yeah, I think so too. Right. And he was from
your band in school and then he joined you guys.
Yeah. So this six -piece concept, I think it's
full enough. Yeah. It's big enough. I mean...
I wanted a horn section. How did Sebastian get
involved, man? Oh, so actually, Bong and Sebastian,
because... They came in together. Yeah, right
after COVID, right? I actually did a show at
Esplanade. The theme was songs we grew up with.
So, Bong and Sebastian were actually in my band.
Right. Yeah. And then, we played For St. Mary's
with Bong. Yeah. Right. And then, he's like,
eh, we need a guitarist. Who should we call?
I'm like, call Sebastian. Because, you know,
the whole band can... But that bugger always
busy. Yeah. He plays for a lot of people, right?
Yeah. He plays with everybody. Bellingham, how
did the name come about? From Joy Spring for
the two of you, what happened? Well, it went
so far. Yeah. Because it's a story. So, okay.
You wanted a name. Yes. Thinking of an English
name, nice, nice English name. Something old
school that relates to our music. Yeah. That
we play. Searching Google and everything. Well,
it's a nice old school name or something. Somehow
Bellingham popped up. It's a name of an old town
in England, I think. I believe. It's named after
Jude Bellingham. Jude Bellingham. Oh gosh. Okay.
But it's quite rubbish. Yeah. But I like England.
That wanted list is really going to be, really
going to be, see the little black thing flying
around? There you go. There you go. Right. So
it was, it was, it was name, name over, name,
not name over, name after, I think an old clock
tower, which rings a bell tower or something.
It's called the Big Ben. No, different. I mean,
another city. Other provinces in England. So
I'm like, wow, this name rings. And it's an old
town. So it sounds like something that you would
want for during the period of the Great Gatsby.
It sounds kind of like that. Yeah, but we do
retro stuff. Retro pop, 60s, 50s, 60s. So you
decided on Bellingham. So is it called Bellingham
or Bellingham Band? Bellingham. Bellingham, okay.
Yeah. Okay. And you guys, and I went for that
evening. You had your anniversary. Oh, yeah,
yeah, yeah. I thought it was crazy. Yeah, and
you guys played Carpenters, you know. And honestly,
I spent most of the evening there alone until
my wife joined me later on. And I was like, no,
they're doing this. I kind of saw. Yeah, because,
because, because man, the nostalgia was just
getting to me, man. I mean, it was like, wow.
And I also realized that you guys are so flexible
that the band can be two piece, three piece,
the full band, six piece. That's one of the like,
like good things about, about this band because
if I cannot make it, I'll get set in as a guitarist.
I mean, the sound will be different, but I mean,
we write charts for our song. I mean, part of
it, some of it. So the band's a business? Yeah,
I mean. It's like a company? Is it a company?
No, no, it's not a company. Is it an entity that
you guys incorporate? It's run under my events
company, which we own. So whatever it is, the
band is so flexible that no matter what, Bellingham
can always be in business, even if the client
has a budget and space for two piece, three piece,
four piece, six piece. So no matter what, the
band is always viable. We always try to sell
the full band. Smart fuck. So it's, I mean, because
this year I have a percussionist. If Clarence
can't make it, I can put a fan in and play like
a cajon or conga. Different sound. What else
are you going to say? Cajon, conga, woodblock.
Bongo. Bongo. Shake, egg shakers. Egg shaker.
What else? Egg shaker. Egg shaker. Egg shaker.
You shake that? The shaker like that? The shaker
lah, shaker. Yeah, yeah, okay. you guys did the
Carpenters thing which we heard just now which
is beautiful I must say again and again and again
and I hear that you have something planned that's
coming up for the band so the next show we are
going to do That's a full band. 15th of June.
Father's Day. ABBA tribute. Wait. Carpenters
from the 70s. ABBA from the 70s. What about the
70s do you guys have such a fucking hard -on
about? I think 70s has the best music. Yes. Wow.
Has the best sound. That's a statement. Yeah.
That's true. I mean, generally, I enjoy the 70s
music. can we expect to have oh gosh yeah tell
me Earth and Fire get turned on I was at the
concert man I tell you it was freaking awesome
which one the the Mackie or what Mackie The original
Earth, Wind & Fire? No, no, no. Original Earth,
Wind & Fire. Oh, I attended. The one at the Indoor
Stadium years ago. Oh, I attended the little
one, which is the tribute, L. McKee. No, no,
this is not the tribute band. This is the band.
Sometimes I feel that I'm too young because I
don't get to experience all this. Because all
the favorite artists are dying. Yeah, you're
very right. Yeah, you're very right. I was at
James Ingram. I was telling Robert Fernando he
was here last week. We are going to Toto on Tuesday.
I was at Toto. I mean, we just, we watched the
same one. Hang on, hang on. I was at Toto with
Steve Lukita seated where you are. Oh shit. Playing.
Wah. So I didn't have to go for Toto this time
around because I was already like this. Wah,
that's close. Yeah, it was at the old Harbour
Pavilion and it was free. don't ask me now but
it was free and it was awesome you're gonna have
you're gonna have a great time watching yeah
yeah yeah we did yeah so if you're saying the
70s just give me a brief what what about the
70s man BGs as well disco era the sound the concept
of the the 70s sound non -electronic very raw
talent all talent right organic uh it's filled
up with uh instrumentation strings like you have
horns you have it's a very big band concept kind
of yeah yeah all the bands are big like even
carpenters i wish one day like someone who have
this just this budget or i mean yeah to sponsor
and let us do a carpenter's tribute with a full
orchestra even like like the old i mean i hate
to say it i mean i hate to say there's nothing
wrong with saying it but some people will go
what Even people, solo artists like Barry Manilow,
you know, the backup these guys had was a huge
sound. Barry Manilow, I write the songs. I write
the songs, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a trumpet,
there's a whole orchestra. Towards the middle
of the song onwards is like the whole orchestra.
I mean, I'm from band, I'm from orchestra background,
so I always like the sound. You know, that's
something I told Stephen and Rob this when they
were on the show. One of my things I need to
check off my bucket list would be to sing with
a big band. Oh my God. Yes, for me too. I mean,
if you ever, if you ever, if you get a big band
and ever get an orchestra or what, well, please
invite me. Invite my band. I don't think it ever
happened for me. You know, I don't see why and
how that would happen. Okay, never mind. I'll
make it happen. Please just. give me an opportunity,
one song. Just let me sing one song. Let's see,
let's see. So that I can tell myself that I finally
did something. In the coming years. Calling for
sponsors. 1 -800 -999. But the 70s, 70s are groovy,
man. Yeah, the groovy, the bass, the funk. And
you know, if you take a look at, you know, with
this show, when this episode launches, take a
look at your thumbnail that I designed, man.
It was 70s. Oh, shit. Okay. Nice. Speaking of
ABBA, I mean, I'm really going to look forward
to that one. You know, I mean, it's so timeless,
these two. Yeah. And my goodness, what's the
name? Anita, is it Anika? Is the blonde, Swedish
concrete blonde. What? What was that? Yeah, I
killed a fly. What the? Did you? Oh, thank you.
Why, why, why ABBA? There's only one female lead
you've got. No, we are getting a... We're getting
our friends from Flower Power. Yeah, Flower Power
to their four -piece girl group. So they're all
four coming? No, no. So it's one. Just two of
them to do like backup harmonies. Oh my god,
I don't really hear them. So the guy part, the
male part, I'll try and sing. I'm not a good
singer. I'm just a... No, but he seconds. His
seconds are quite on point, man. It's on point.
Yeah, I was listening to you just now and I was
going, fuck that, I'm not going to do seconds
because my seconds are always off point. But
you were doing the seconds just now. I think
I was off point as well, man. No, no, no, you
were quite there, man. Just that we were, our
parts were all here while you were there. It's
okay. It's all jamming. Later on, you guys will
be listening to us sing, okay? Because we really
recorded that earlier on. If, yeah. Yeah, so,
so we have a big band on, on the, 15th, yeah.
Where will you guys be playing? The Blackbird
at 8 Lock Road. You have to mention the address
also. Blackbird, Singapore. Okay? The Blackbird.
You can go and Google and go and find your, get
your answers there. So, okay, okay. You're now
planning a wedding. Many other fan. All right,
brother. Yeah. Yeah. By association. Do you watch
the game? The Crystal Palace game? No, no, no.
Which one? No. The Crystal Palace game. I went
there. I know. That was a sad game. But the recent
Europa League. Lion, lion. Yeah, yeah. Leon,
Leon, Leon. Hey, you lion. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Then after that, come back to the EPL. Yeah,
never mind. We are going to win the Europa League.
Mark my word. I'm scared. I always jinx everything.
Yeah, I know. Did you see me rolling my eyeballs?
Can you say Liverpool? Liverpool shit. Please
do not even mention that name. Please don't mention
that football club's name. Your cup like Liverpool
cup. Don't joke. What is that? Man of the match.
Man of the match. Shut up. I do not have anything
that scowls your hair. Nothing smelly. So you
propose. To her. At Old Trafford. At Old Trafford.
Right next to the pitch. Yeah, man. I almost
fell down. You know, Old Trafford pitch got the
bloody slope busted. I knew. I knew that. I'm
like, wow, I'm somewhat trembling, boss. Did
you know that this was going to happen? No, I
had no idea because I thought the trip was supposed
to be his 30th birthday trip. So, how was it
for you, man? It was crazy. Yeah. I really wasn't
expecting it. Something you'll remember for life,
right? I see the tears in her eyes. But yeah,
the bloody slope there. After that, we lost the
game. I knew down precisely, but I won there.
They lost, but I won. I win. At least I win there.
Lucky I never propose on match day, boss. If
I propose on match day, I think I... Don't know
whether to laugh or cry. I shag. No, but the
people around there, what they want. Yeah, everybody
was like... Really? Who was around? We went for
the tour. We went for the tour. The menu tour
was about 30 people. Yeah. So we went there.
Wah, this girl damn good. I don't know who are
you, but yeah. But thanks for helping me video.
I passed the phone to her. I passed my phone
to her. I just said, can you help me take a photo?
Then after that, I pressed to video. Then I passed
to her. Then I action. Then wah, she recorded
everything. She got the memo, man. Yeah, she
got the memo. That's pretty cool, man. I was
watching it over and over again. And like, seriously,
seriously, yeah? No, I shout out to you. I wouldn't
be the one crying. The right one started crying.
But it was nice because even the music, you guys,
you put it in the background. Yeah, it was really
nice. Okay. I'm looking through my notes because
I'm seeing it's anything I missed out here. Because
we just kept on talking all the way. It's fun.
We need to do another session. I don't mind actually.
Not enough, boss. Okay. Wow. Actually, we covered
practically everything. any plans for building
and do you guys see this as something really
long term yeah yeah i'm looking this as a long
-term uh project as a band uh like i said you
think there's hope man because you know looking
at a nice team in the form i mean i'm i'm not
i'm not begging on uh on the the pubs and all
in there i'm i really want to do like shows concerts
yeah so let's see laugh i mean this this year
we are we are we are doing the apple Last year
we did Carpenters. So next year hopefully we
move forward and we do something bigger. I'm
going away. Yeah, you're going away. One click.
Okay, now. Yeah, so next year, hopefully we do
something bigger. Esplanade or... or any anywhere
like i i'm going to try to find 30ps put them
on the left so that's why we have all the videos
i'm i'm trying to like okay everything let me
do this okay okay okay for anyone here watching
if you want to sponsor a 30 piece band for a
fantastic concert 20 is okay now we are not going
to be that that bad okay so anyone who's out
there who want to sponsor Bellingham. You know,
so I also want to sing one song, one song. 20
piece, okay? Please, all you have to do is just
let me know. You can reach out to me, let me
know, man, and we can talk about how we can talk
about the tickets. Yeah, okay? Hopefully, hopefully
next year we do something big. Yeah, man, I mean,
I really feel, this is my tribute to you guys.
I think we, I would want to do a 70s show. 70s
tribute or like do all the 70s hits and okay
they want me to tie underwear one yeah it's fine
tight underwear not tie underwear tight underwear
something wrong in this video my drink my drink
I think a bit drunk tight underwear nobody gets
oh gosh my uh yeah i told steven and francis
steven steven and rob steven and rob that uh
that i've lost my falsetto yeah yeah i used to
be able to do all that you know when my 20s well
after that was all gone shit man when you get
older yeah when you get older you lose it you
know you never drink is it maybe Actually, to
be honest with you, I drink only on occasions.
Maybe that's why. Excuse me? You're Patricia
and you don't drink? Yeah. You're not just that.
You cannot say that. I've got a lot of Eurasian
friends. I've got a lot of Eurasian friends.
I've got a lot of Eurasian friends. sorry but
he's like this yeah shout out to winter but nice
guy yeah super talent yeah super tell us so one
of my one of the persons i looked up to so you're
looking at an alternative thing rather than than
staying with the pups and bars and clubs i mean
because we are a big band i mean in singapore
right now these days right you really don't get
any opportunities to have a six piece. It's so
hard to even like get four people on the stage.
Yeah, you're right. You're right. Like people,
come on lah. I mean, back in the days. Since
COVID. I mean like back in the days, right? All
the party bands, all the good bands were full
bands. Yeah. The sound is different. Before,
I remember Jason Shahoo and Hussein and they
were on the show. And Gingerbread was one of
the bands I grew up watching. Yeah, a long time
ago when I was in my teens. And I'm so glad to
say that they're my friends and I love them to
bits. You know, I work closely with Jason quite
often. And they even became a show band. You
know, there were so many show bands. Even before
Energy, when Douglas was with Culture Shock,
that was a hell of a show band too. And when
Dennis Fu opened at the Boiler Room, I mean at
St. James, and you see Gino, And such a big band
on stage and they had sets and they had shows.
They're backup singers. They got all kinds of
things going on. And those days were marvelous.
Music was so vibrant. It was pure entertainment.
You think entertainment. You think, how are we
going to make sure people are really going to
enjoy that? And that's something that's so missing
today. That's one of the reasons I started the
band as well. I mean, I don't, I don't eventually
want my band to be a show band, show band kind
of thing. Like, you know, like dance. But bringing
your talent. But yeah, I just, I just want to
do, like, I just serve the music. Yeah, sure,
sure. Correct. It's like the Doobie Brothers,
man. They're not a show band, but they're everyone's
talent. Even Bee Gees, it's not really a dancey
show band kind of. Yeah, but Sazer Night Fever
helped out a lot in the movie. As I said, this
is my tribute to the band, to both of you and
the rest of your band members, Bellingham. Shout
out to everyone. Yeah, really. Shout out to you
guys. It's my tribute to you because I really
believe that the future of music in Singapore
belongs to guys like you guys. I had Owen Lee
here, and Owen is a very young guy. I know him.
He's super talented. And then you guys as well.
guys like Afwan you know the future of music
to take things forward in my mind are guys like
you yeah sometimes I'm a bit scared of what?
I'm a bit scared of what? 20 years down the road
nobody listens to the retro stuff anymore I actually
don't think so I really think like in the younger
generation like there are listeners who exist
it's just that they don't come out to party anymore
yeah you know it's funny because a lot of young
people actually online you can see them that
they really enjoy retro music more than they
do this stuff today because things were so different
it sounds so good yeah have you seen just genuine
yeah it is it's all raw as you said everything
is raw and then there came a time when electronic
music became the thing the batch modes or electronic
music that's why I mean like the later 80s or
maybe the mid 80s when he got a bit more but
just give that era of mine some credit yeah yeah
i mean we had a whole notes also in the 80s yeah
but i mean where they have the scene base and
all yeah yeah yeah i think i mean that's why
i prefer the 70s because i mean it's still like
instruments no i agree i mean i i i'm right but
i mean i love the 80s i love i love the 70s especially
for its funk you know i love earth and fire man
i mean funk man i mean it got that gets to me
man you know um um yeah so i agree with you uh
i enjoy part of the 80s because i i i grew up
in the 80s i partied in the 90s and i listened
to me that kind of music all the old sound when
my when i was a kid my uncles were playing songs
in the 60s and 70s so i completely can i completely
concur with you you know uh and yeah please don't
don't worry about are these songs going to be,
you know, outdated? Just generally in music.
No, it won't be. Like you say, it's dying. It's
already dying now. I don't think it's dying just
because you don't listen, you don't hear it on
vintage radio on Sundays and on Gold 905. I mean,
my songs are being played on that damn station
now, you know, on that particular show. And I'm
going like, what? But then again, to be fair
to the station, they also play, the real old
stuff. They still do. You know, I don't think
it's going to go out of fashion. And if it does,
then we do something about it. Yeah. We can always
do something because you don't know how things
are going to evolve in the next 10, 15, 20 years.
You know, right now, podcasts seem to be the
in thing now. I mean, but it has been for decades
as well. Yeah. However, in the future, we don't
know what's going to happen. Would radio stations
still survive or are they just going to be there
for national emergency purposes? Right? So we
got to understand that. We can do something about
it. Guys like you can keep it alive. So you have
to tell yourself, it's not about the marketplace
determining things for you. You determine the
marketplace. You make that market grow. It belongs
to you. Yeah. Not that you belong to it. Yeah,
man, we're going to keep the dream alive. Okay.
I can hear Paul McCartney after that. Right,
guys. I really appreciate your time and spending
time here with me. It's been really fun. Yeah.
I really hope we're not going to get screwed
over somehow by who knows God knows who. I mean,
your list has gone really long. When you walk
the streets, man, just watch your back, dude.
Especially when you go in the water. Huh? Why
you got fish? Yeah, I think so. You know, the
guys who are listening to this or watching this
show, this particular episode, they're going
to get frustrated about this fish thing because
we don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
We don't know why you're laughing about this
fish thing. If that's not enough, they can go
and find out. I find a laugh at this. Sorry about
all the private jokes, people, but we really
had to bleep that name out. Otherwise... And
everything else. Do you know when it's still
alive? should be lah okay lah if he's still alive
then I better bleep out that name should be lah
I don't know boss alamak well okay anyway thanks
for being here I really wish you guys and the
band all the very very best keep me updated I'm
a fan yeah I'm a fan okay and I'd like to really
come and watch you guys play you know any new
stuff you guys come up with let me know Thank
you for having us. And I'm looking forward to
working with you guys on the upcoming concert
soon. Yeah. I'm not going to mention it on this
particular show because there's a right time
and place for us to blast that one. Yeah. Hope
to be back. Hope to be back. Hope to be back.
Hope to be... What's he saying? he hopes to come
back oh yeah hope to be back hope to be back
to talk again we all see what happens to the
views first whether or not we get screwed online
because if we don't get I will get you back yeah
we squeeze like you can see on my leg you'd be
very surprised bong bong in front of the camera
bong is actually very very decent no la that's
because he's talking about his serious stuff
la yeah you must you put him here with a few
pints of beer It's a different story. Bellingham,
you put him... Okay, so the next round, you tell
me which other member of the band you want to
bring along on the show. Okay? Yeah, Bong. Bong.
Bong, man. I'll see you later, Bongster. The
Bongster. Bong, Bong. I'm seeing you later. Okay.
Okay, everybody. Thank you for watching the Chris
Hansen Conversation on this tribute show to Bellingham.
We're celebrating Bellingham. through their two
members, Gabriel and Deborah. We are leaving
you with a song we recorded earlier. We hope
you enjoy that one. Oh dear. It is also our way
of paying tribute to the late His Holiness, Pope
Francis and our Lasallian brother, Brother Nicholas
Seed. They both passed away recently and yesterday.
Both of them actually had their funerals, respectively,
on the same day. And very well loved. Where Brother
Nicholas is concerned, he's very well loved by
the old Lasallians, as well as the St. Patrick's
and SGI boys. And he's really sorely missed.
So this song, Thank You for the Music, from ABBA,
sung by the three of us. May not be its very
best, but it is our way of saying thank you to
them. And we hope you enjoyed the episode. And
don't forget to catch us next week for the one
with the bongster. When we come back. Thank you.
Talking about aliens and UFOs. UFOs and UFOs.
It's a dinosaur. Really? I don't know how aliens
sound like. Bong, teach me. If you know how an
alien sounds like, then I really don't know what
to say about you, man. Maybe your secondary school
principal was one. Okay. Peace out. I'm going
to get a top up. Good night. Stay safe, everybody.
Catch you all soon. Enjoy the song. Bye -bye.
Bye -bye. Last week, I was under pressure with
Robert Fernando. Don't stress lah. We're doing
Abba, right? Abba. Abba's father. Eh, what your
Abba lah. Abba lah. Don't say Abba lah. Yeah,
Abba. You're talking about the Pope and Brother
Nicholas Seymour. Yeah lah, but don't call it
Abba lah. Yeah, but it must be Angmo a bit. Say,
Abba. Okay. I would name a band if I had a band
called Habba Habba. Habba Nero. No, just Habba
Habba. You're listening to Habba Habba. I'm nothing
special. In fact, I'm a bit of a bore. If I tell
a joke, you've probably heard it before. have
a talent, a wonderful thing. Cause everyone listens
when I start to sing. I'm so grateful and proud.
All I want is to sing it out loud. So I said,
thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing.
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing. Who
can live without it? I ask in all honesty What
would life be Without a song I dance without
me So I say thank you for the music For giving
it to me Mother says I was a dancer before says
I began to sing long before I could talk. And
I've often wondered how did it all start? Who
found out that nothing can capture a heart like
a melody hand? Well, whoever it was, I'm a fan.
So I sang Thank you for the music, the songs
I'm singing. Thanks for all the joy they're bringing.
Who can live without it? I ask in all honesty,
what would life be without a song or dance, would
I be? So, say thank you for the music, for giving
it to me. I think I'll find some salad. Never
mind, he's singing. I want to sing it out to
everybody. What a joy, what a life, what a chance.
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing.
Thanks for all the joy we're in. Who can live
without it? I ask in all honesty. What would
life be without a song? And that's what I need.
So I say thank you for the music. Thank you for
the music for giving it to me. Yeah. And that
was the rendition from this tree called Hubba
Hubba. Hubba Hubba. And dedicated in loving memory
to His Holiness Pope Francis and our dear, dear
brother Nicholas Seed. Rest in peace. Amen.