Invisible to our eyes, the vinyl vault within SYNDICATE HQ was surrounded by oddly shaped entities keen to explore sound frequencies.

Come check out unreleased beats of our Singapore music producers at Beat Invitational. Plus we have D-STYLES from Low End Theory, Los Angeles as our special guest alongside SYNDICATE residents.

A lot of what we do at SYNDICATE in Singapore is based on open creative collaborations with friends and passionate hobbyists in the field of arts and sounds.

Recently, we huddled with Dju-lian Chng of Primary Studio for some of the visuals you’ve seen at SYNDICATE. These were co-created with Brandon Tay, our resident visual artiste, who then turned it into a cinematic video-piece to be utilised over SYNDICATE beats.

We have a short chat with Dju-lian after the jump.

After a long hiatus, the hugely influential Brainfeeder Sessions returns for a night of mind-bending audio-visual exploration at the Downtown Independent! Featuring staple Brainfeeders alongside artists from the Singapore based audio-visual collective SYNDICATE.

SAMIYAM [Brainfeeder]
MONOPOLY [Brainfeeder]
AUSTIN PERALTA [Brainfeeder]
STRANGELOOP [Brainfeeder]
CHERRY CHAN [Syndicate]
BRANDON TAY [Syndicate]
KIAT [Syndicate]

Brandon Tay will be collaborating with Strangeloop to produce a visual show unlike any performed before at the Downtown Independent, a once in a life-time creative collision of two sub-cultures bent on re-arranging your neurological fields.

Follow us on twitter @syndicatesg and watch our web updates as Cherry, Kiat and Brandon will be posting highlights.

Get event details on Facebook and check out the teaser video below by Strangeloop.

Our visual guru Brandon Tay shares his thoughts on audio-visual performances in this first of the series.

The Circus of Lost Souls: Breakdown of a Narrative Audiovisual Piece, in Max for Live

I really like this article because it breaks down what goes on in a true audio visual set. VJing is a language that isn’t exactly like cinema or animation but something in between and harder to define. Elements will have a co-relation to music but at the same time creating a parallel narrative from what sometimes are disparate contexts.

A piece like this really uses available technologies to create something that can only be expressed right now – data protocols sent from max for live are used to power a visual system that’s closer to a game than to an animation.

The key I guess, is to use musical accents to highlight visual ones and vice versa. What’s truely amazing about this is that the VJ isn’t performing at all during the set. The musician maintains total control of what is seen and heard.

A bit tight for my liking but I would like to see more of this kind of stuff rather than just juggling loops to a beat anytime.

At our last gig this Saturday past, our visual guru Brandon Tay worked with Jonning Chng to create a modular projection mapping surface to work in tandem with conventional screen surfaces. We’ve seen the cool shapes this system transforms to…look out for them next time you’re at SYNDICATE.

Video track credit: MONO/POLY – Glow.

Close encounters with another dimension as the SYNDICATE eye wanders into the forest, stumbling upon the mystery portal.

Get ready for 2nd April 2011 at Home Club with the SYNDICATE residents and selected guests representing the best of beats and bass.

Singapore’s electronic music community come together to celebrate our first anniversary, together with special guest StrangeLoop from Brainfeeder, Los Angeles.

Heaps of love and heartfelt thanks to the family and all of you who were there to celebrate with us.

Photos for our first anniversary party are up on Facebook! The SYNDICATE & Friends crew thank all of you for the amazing celebration and mad support in 2010 ♥ ♥ ♥.

We are pleased to announce the release of the SYNDICATE Anniversary Tee.

The tee features the outline of the SYNDICATE logo specially designed by award winning art director Kiat. Handprinted on sifr essentials tee which uses the lightest premium pima fabric weighing in at a mere 110gsm, it has a superior hand-feel and sturdy construction in a contemporary fit. 

Only 40 pieces in this limited edition run. They will be made available  at Homeclub on 5th Feb, SYNDICATE F1rst Ann1versary Party from 10pm – 1am.  Ge-Ge-Ge-Get.

Photography & Silkscreening - sifr
Graphic Manipulation – Kiat
Talent – David Wexler aka Dr.Strangeloop

What would you like to see in 2011? Head over to the SYNDICATE Facebook page and talk to us about the creations you would like to see and hear.

“I think people are innately creative. I think the notion of creative people and non-creative people is a myth. If there is any sensible purpose for us being here, in my mind, it is to create. We need to create systems that support that. More than just please people, artists or not, I would love to wake people up, wake myself up, facilitate strange and transcendental experiences.” – Strangeloop