The SYNDICATE Subsessions kicks off its second year with two special performances from artists within the SYNDICATE stable itself; Kiat and Vandetta. Often seen collaborating together on stages all over the world, the two artists will stand on their own for a night of live beats and bass.

One half of Octover and known to many as Vanessa Fernandez, Vandetta is an experimental outlet for this multi-talented songstress to explore the electronic realm on her own. Other than doing what she does best with her sultry voice, this new adventure places Vandetta in a position where she is in full control of her musical expression.

For her performance you can expect some live-looping, vocal-processing and button-pushing actions in this one-woman show where she will be playing tracks from her upcoming release.

A name that needs no introduction and one of Southeast Asiaʼs pioneers of left field electronica, Kiat is finally ready to take on the Subsessions stage. More known for his club sets, this showcase will definitely unveil a different side of Kiat.

Inclining towards the style and sounds of his full-length album, The Inner Galaxy, Kiat has put together a stellar list of supporting musicians, aptly named The Inner Galaxies, to present this cosmic voyage on stage. Consisting of Jason Tan from Octover, acclaimed artist Andy Yang and multi-instrumentalist Isaac Aesili, Kiat & The Inner Galaxies is set to take you to another dimension.

Presenting the visual journeys for both performances will be SYNDICATE resident visualist, Brandon Tay.

Event Details

SYNDICATE & The Substation Presents:
SYNDICATE Subsessions ft Kiat & Vandetta
Visuals by Brandon Tay

30 March 2013, Saturday
8PM – 10PM
The Substation Theatre, 45 Armenian Street
$20 – tickets available from the Substation Box Office
6337 7800 / boxoffice@substation.org

SYNDICATE is back to bring a young female beatmaker, Dot, from the Los Angeles-based Alpha Pup imprint to its stage.

Dot is Kate Ellwanger from Olympia, Washington, a 20-year-old classical composer, pianist and opera singer-turned-producer. Studies at Chapman University’s Conservatory of Music led her to the class of Dubspot beat guru Steve Nalepa, where she was introduced to electronic music composition and an internship at Alpha Pup Records. Dot quickly discovered Low End Theory and the thriving Los Angeles beat community, which began to profoundly impact her production aesthetic.

Also making her SYNDICATE debut is RAH while the night’s residents, Darren Dubwise, Gema and Koflow will keep the program going with a special set by Kiat featuring Vandetta.

Another round of Beat Invitational is set to take place to unearth more musical nuggets and gems all freshly made in Singapore. At the visual controls will be Afiq Omar and Kiat.

Event Details

Home Presents:
SYNDICATE feat Dot (Alpha Pup, LA)

Kiat feat Vandetta
Koflow
Darren Dubwise
Gema
Rah
Visuals by Afiq Omar and Kiat

+ The Beat Invitational Showcase

6 Oct 2012, Saturday
10:30PM – 4AM
Home Club
20 Upp Circular Road, The Riverwalk, Singapore
Admission: $15 (with 1 drink)

Koflow presents his own take of Kiat’s newly launch album, The Inner Galaxy, in this special mini-mega mix. The turntable instrumentalist took some tracks from the album and fused them together to showcase selected highlights of this release.

Buy The Inner Galaxy on the SYNDICATE Bandcamp store.

SYNDICATE: The Album was a teaser for things to come, and first in the series of releases we promised is an album 3 years in the making.

Ever keen on discovering new approaches in crafting electronic soundscapes, Kiat’s effort on this album is a probing voyage of spacious, textural conversations that manage to flirt with desolate themes interspersed with soulfulness and calculated boldness.

Collaborating with other vocalists and producers from around the world such as breakbeat pioneer Agzilla (Iceland), hip hop artist Klose (US), Kemo (UK) and Singapore’s very own Vandetta, Kiat’s relaxed approach to this album birthed new ideas and collaborations from all over the globe.

The album’s last track, capturing the spirit of how it was put together, first took shape in New Zealand and eventually made its way to drum and bass luminary, Digital, in the UK.

Thereafter, multi-instrumentalist Isaac Aesili lent his vocals to the track (singing for the first time on record), putting the final touches on a three-year musical journey of chance and discovery.

Check out Kiat’s Inner Galaxy in the SYNDICATE Bandcamp store.

Come 7 July, we return to Home Club with Mono/Poly and special guests to present a sequel to the collaborative Brainfeeder session, which took place in Los Angeles last year.

In defying the laws of tradition, the LA-based music producer, Mono/Poly (born Charles Dickerson), has managed to outstrip the logistics of multi-genre producing. Known for his distinct madness of face melting bass, paired with his dreamy astral soundscapes of glitch-based hip hop. His debut EP, The George Machine, was released in the fall of 2009 which was followed by his first full-length solo album Paramatma (Tasteful Licks Records) in the spring of 2010.

In 2011, Mono/Poly released the highly acclaimed Manifestations, making a strong debut on Flying Lotusʼ Brainfeeder imprint and it continues its heavy rotation being played by the likes of Radiohead, Erykah Badu and Jay Scarlett at BBC Radios 1XTRA. Mono/Poly has also been contributing tracks and remixes on Warp Records and Planet Mu alongside fellow LA natives Flying Lotus and Nosaj Thing. His gravitational attraction to revolutionary sounds has gained vast recognition among listeners and artists as one of the hottest up-and-coming producers in the world.

Also making their SYNDICATE debut will be Digga Man Dope. A production duo that comprises of Masterpiece (PushinʼOn) and Intrigue, the collaboration was initiated by their common interest in seminal Japanese act, Hifana. They have been holding it down at the Turn Up The Heat! nights at Blu Jaz with explosive sets that witnessed turntables wizardry, button-pushing madness on 16-pad controllers and a whole lot of hip hop.

The SYNDICATE residents will keep the beats and bass program going and we promise sets by a couple of very special guests. And as usual, visual maestro, Brandon Tay, controls the sights for the night.

This SYNDICATE x Brainfeeder sessions is supported by Obey Clothing.

Event Details

Home Presents:
SYNDICATE x BRAINFEEDER

Mono/Poly (Brainfeeder, LA)
Digga Man Dope (Live)
SYNDICATE residents Kiat / Sammy Panamuga / Koflow / Gema
plus special guests
Visuals by BRANDON TAY

7 July 2012, Saturday
10PM – 4AM
Home Club
20 Upp Circular Road, The Riverwalk, Singapore
Admission: $15 (with 1 drink)

Come 4 July, we will be holding our first music and visuals exhibition presenting the works of Strangeloop and Daisuke Tanabe at the Pigeonhole. Curated by the collective’s first lady and Heineken Sound Council member, Cherry Chan, the two invited artists will not only be unleashing their sounds, but they will also unveil visual works in various media at the cozy independent café.

Born to a family of acclaimed filmmakers, Strangeloop is the visual wizard behind Flying Lotus’ imprint, Brainfeeder. As a visual artist, he has accompanied a long list of big acts which includes Skrillex, Kode9 and Amon Tobin. The past year he has been jet setting worldwide with some of these acts providing visuals for their world tours and stopping by at almost all major festivals.

At the Pigeonhole, Strangeloop will showcase the visual content he has produced for Erykah Badu and Flying Lotus. Other than the feast for the eyes, he is set to feed the ears as well with sounds that echo his visual aesthetics. As mentioned once by music tastemaker Mary Anne Hobbs, Strangeloop is “seriously involved in pioneering the next step in the evolution of performance, fusing sonics, narrative & visuals into an overwhelming hyper-sensory experience”.

Meanwhile, Daisuke Tanabe is more known for his music and has been getting attention from various music tastemakers and labels. With his name established, Daisuke has been featured on releases by labels such as Ninja Tune, BBE and Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings. Taking inspiration from jazz, folk and reggae, as well as the whole canon of electronic music, this member of Tony Nwachukwu CD-R community knows that notes and melodies are just guideline for the feelings that lie beneath.

The lesser-known fact about Daisuke is that he delves into visual craftworks as well. When he is not sculpting out sonic sculptures, Daisuke keeps his hands busy with drawings and stencil printing which he will sometimes use for the artwork of his self-released CDs. A selection of these artworks will be on display at the Pigeonhole.

Supporting Strangeloop and Daisuke musically for the night will be SYNDICATE residents Kiat and Cherry Chan. And if you think Strangeloop is not doing enough, he will be joining Syndicate’s visualist, Brandon Tay, on the controls for the live visuals.

See you at the Pigeonhole.

Event Details

Heineken Music Presents:
SYNDICATE AT THE PIGEONHOLE

Featuring Music + Visual Works:
STRANGELOOP (BRAINFEEDER)
DAISUKE TANABE (NINJA TUNE, BROWNSWOOD)

Plus Residents:
CHERRY CHAN (HEINEKEN SOUND COUNCIL MEMBER)
KIAT

Live Visuals By:
STRANGELOOP & BRANDON TAY

4 July 2012, Wednesday
9PM till late
The Pigeonhole, 52/53 Duxton Road, Singapore 089516
Free Entry

[Artwork will be on display at The Pigeonhole for a month from 4 July 2012]

After much delay, we have managed to put our act together and the SYNDICATE Bandcamp store is now up and running. For those of you who didn’t manage to get the physical copy of SYNDICATE: The Album at our recent shows, here’s your chance to grab the digital download.

With the online store up, we can’t wait to drop the individual releases by Kiat, Octover, Max Lane, Gema, Trytoplay and some surprises that we’re currently working on.

For now, head over to SYNDICATE: The Album on Bandcamp, name your price and warm your ears up for the future sounds of SYNDICATE to come.

SIXX is launching their new single Supersonic at Tweet Jams – a Social Media Week event – on 16 February 2012, and SYNDICATE will be supporting them at the party.

Darren Dubwise will be on deck duties to warm up the evening, while Brandon Tay will be remixing original SIXX album artwork into his visual showcase. Art crew Hit & Run will also be live screen-printing on-site with limited edition artwork from Kiat, Eric Foenander, Kristal Melon and SIXX.

In line with Social Media Week, SIXX will be debuting an additional new track using a selection of tweets crowdsourced from fans and friends via the hashtag #tweetjams.

Entry is free and complimentary cocktails from Smirnoff will be served. Head over to www.socialmediaweek.org/singapore to register and learn more about Social Media Week.

Thursday 16 February 2012
8PM – 11PM
Lucky 13, #01-02 TripleOne Somerset

After traveling to various corners of the world and playing to a sold-out show at the Esplanade few months back, we celebrate our anniversary where it all began 2 years ago: Home Club.

With the club as a canvas, resident visual artist Brandon Tay, collaborates with internationally acclaimed design collective, Phunk Studio, to transform the space into a visual playground.

The traditional SYNDICATE visual wall will be filled with collaborative content from the 2 artists as they reinterpret, remix and revisualize each other’s work. A special installation that charts out the SYNDICATE journey so far will also be unveiled to commemorate the anniversary. There is a third surprise piece which they have been working on and are tight-lipped about. You’ll just have to be there to find out more.

Music is not taking a back seat as the line-up features both seasoned players and fresh names from the local scene. The luminaries which need no introduction are Funk Bast*rd, MC Masterpiece and KoFlow with a special live set. It will also be a homecoming gig for Singapore’s own bass general, Vortex, who has been away for sometime. Kiat represents the SYNDICATE stable with his staple beats and bass.

Meanwhile, making their SYNDICATE debut will be Diphasic, who was featured in the first ever Beat Invitational, and recent FFF Girl DJ Bootcamp graduate, Saigon Kat.

Proving that Singapore still has an inexhaustible list of budding bedroom producers, the fifth Beat Invitational is set to unearth another round of beatific gems. Butterfly Imprint, ILOH:SHIX, LoopTape, The Architek and Darren Dubwise will be unleashing works that cut across all genres.

Event details are after the cut. See you this Saturday!