If you grew up listening to the likes of Blink-182, Simple Plan and Sum 41, then the sounds of Aspectrum’s latest EP “Prologue” may leave you with a bitter-sweet aftertaste. Sweet because these adolescent boys possess potential and talent way beyond their youth, and bitter because you realise that the music era of your youth is rapidly translating into a history book of its own.
Rino Darusman (vocals, bass), Tejo D’Cruz (vocals, guitar), James Barker (lead guitarist) and Shaun Sloane (drums) emerged into the local music scene as Godzilla two years ago, presenting their own crafted blend of alternative rock music. Musically and lyrically, the band has made palpable progress from its debut EP “Something New” to the current one – “Prologue”.
With several accolades under its belt including being winners of the inaugural School House Rock competition, Aspectrum has performed at various music events such as Baybeats 2012, “Make Some Noise!” and Converse’s “Get Dirty” gig and is not shy to reach for the stars.
Talent and ambition aside, the band shines in its colourful personality. Genuine and down-to-earth, the boys are candid and cheeky, armed with a valuable life essential – a good sense of humour. Here’s Aspectrum in their own words – untainted and frank, as the boys discuss about their music, song-writing and love.
Nookmag (N): The band has emerged with a brand new name and a new EP, what else has changed for the four of you since you started out as Godzilla?
Rino Darusman: Nothing really changed; we are still made up of the same members and still share the same ambitions. I think it’s better to say that we ‘evolved’ into Aspectrum. Since the band started out as Godzilla, just about two years ago, we did not really know where we were going nor what we were trying to achieve with this band. But as time went by, and because we gained experience from being, playing and meeting a lot of people in the local scene, we were able to create a more refined identity. On the musical side of things, you’ll find that this EP was a lot more different than our previous release as Godzilla. We’ve kind of matured with our song writing alongside with everything else. We now find that we put a lot more thoughts into the song-writing process than we used to. Rather than a change, it was more of us growing up, which is inevitable. This started long before the new name even came around.
N: And how have you grown as musicians?
Rino: As mentioned in the previous question, I think we now understand a lot more the process of song-writing. And personally, I find myself listening to a lot more different genres of music, in order to broaden my knowledge of music in general. For example, I enjoy listening to bands like General Fiasco, Phoenix, The Wonder Years, Mumford & Sons and artistes like Matt Corby, Flume, and even Jamie Cullum. And I also get to listen to music from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical period as part of my music course at school so that’s even better. I think each of us always brings something different to the table when we are writing. And when it comes to the technical side of things, we’ve found ourselves trying to find new ways to express an idea musically, especially on the guitar work; James is often very meticulous about his pedals.
N: Let’s talk about your new name, Aspectrum. How was this name selected and what does represent?
Tejo D’Cruz: The word ‘spectrum’ refers to a wide range of something, usually the spectrum of colours. We felt that this word being the basis of our band’s new name would be a really good representation of not only what the band as a whole is, but also of each member in the band. We are all of different cultural backgrounds and are into vastly different genres of music, while sharing the same tastes which are heard through our musical works. It is the variety in our thoughts, tastes, and preferences that we seek to mould together into one product that is the music. ‘Aspectrum’ sends this message across in its meaning while also maintaining certain uniqueness as a word in itself.
N: How has the response been for your new EP, Prologue?
Shaun Sloane: The response has been quite good, actually. It’s been out for a little over a month now and I think it’s been doing well especially since we’re still quite a small and up-and-coming band. Surprisingly we’re in the bestsellers section in the alternative genre on iTunes (for Singapore), which is pretty cool. I think we’ve still got a lot of things to do to push the EP as far as we can, and to revive it in the near future maybe by releasing a music video or something in the likes.
N: It’s impressive that you write your own songs. Are the lyrics reflective of what you guys personally went through?
Shaun: What’s really cool about this band is that 3 out of 4 of us write lyrics. Although the other members call me ‘the main lyricist’ of the band, I think it’s cool that we get different stories and perspectives into our songs. For me, before we wrote this EP I really wanted to start taking the lyrical process seriously and eventually found a passion and interest within it. The lyrics are quite relative to not only what I’ve personally gone through, but probably a majority of people. To give a few examples, I wrote More Than My Name about my long distance girlfriend and the love and joy I feel when I’m with her and the sadness and void I feel when I’m not. Although she erases those feelings when we’re together, they soon come back after we have to say our goodbyes again. But it concludes with the thought that she’s worth all of that, she’s worth more than myself. Shaping Change is basically about the passion I found within music and the troubles that come with growing up and realizing dreams are hard to achieve. Which in my case, is wanting to be a musician. Lastly, Streetlights is about (to put it bluntly) me leaving Singapore. Basically having to leave the people you love and having to regain the sense of familiarity in a new setting.
N: What inspires you to write your music?
Shaun: Honestly, I think inspiration comes from everything. What you feel, what you see, or the pure awesomeness and excitement of an idea that could come from anywhere, or anytime haha.
Tejo: For me, the lyrics don’t have to be just about personal experiences. Yeah, it is important in music to get your feelings across – and with the power of lyrics you can do so extremely easily – but I try to have a more open-minded approach when it comes to lyric writing. It’s a story. And the best part about it is that you can make up as much of it as you please. It’s no different to when an author writes a novel. I love knowing that I have complete power over what goes on the paper and I don’t like to restrict myself to just personal experiences. For example, I wrote a song (that hasn’t been worked on as a band yet) about the death of Captain America. I was reading this comic and I thought to myself, ‘Why not?’ So I put myself in the shoes of Captain America and wrote with the intention of taking the listener through all these different phases, feelings, and perspectives. What I’m saying is that having the opportunity to write a story for a song is such a privilege because you have complete control over the premise, and it is something that I thoroughly enjoy doing in the band.
I noticed that there are a few songs about love. How would you respond to someone who comments that you are too young to know much about love?
Shaun: Well for me personally, I think there’s probably a difference between loving someone and being IN love with someone. I try to avoid my lyrics being too mushy as well when it comes to that topic. It’s quite a stressful process to reasonably explain how you feel when it comes to a relationship. I understand the judgement and to see younger kids claiming to be in love and whatnot. But I think we are at an age where we’re mature enough to understand what’s reasonable to claim. On the other hand, we also understand that we are still young. We don’t write songs claiming we’re in love, but more of our individual relationships. It’s natural to be all googly and stupid about a girl that makes you feel good though, isn’t it? And maybe even to eventually be clobbered by it. I don’t think anyone has the right to define what being in love is, I don’t even trust the dictionary’s definition. It’s probably different for everyone. This is definitely the toughest question haha. But in conclusion, we’re writing how we feel. And at least if it’s honest, what’s the harm in that?
N: What does love mean to you right now?
Tejo: Do you mean the love between a man and a woman? Or the love between a man and a chocolate fudge sundae with Kit-Kat, gummy bears, and a topping of nerds?
Shaun: Word.
N: How do you juggle between school and your pursuit of music?
Tejo: Sometimes, it’s really stressful, difficult and even frustrating to try and maintain a balance been the two. Thankfully we have extremely supportive parents who are enthusiastic of our musical pursuits, so it makes it more of a motivation for us to return the favour through maintain our academic standards.
N: What does the road ahead look like for the band?
Tejo: The main focus for us right now is getting shows, everywhere and anywhere that we can. It’s so important for us to get ourselves playing live in front of as many people as possible and to get the EP out there. We’re hoping to head outside of the country and do shows around the region in Malaysia and Indonesia, and somewhere on the horizon hopefully head down to Australia to party with some bands we know down there. In this day and age there are so many ways of getting your band’s work out there and we are exploiting every social media avenue available to us. Hopefully we can use Singapore as a base for what will be operations all around the region and in time further than that.
N: Finally, what do you fancy about your Converse kicks?
James Barker: Converse basically represents what we stand for as a band and the reason we write music. It encourages people to express themselves and also encourages them to have fun. We love wearing the shoes because they look great and the values that Converse stand for are perfect for us as individuals and as a band.
Converse rocks hard this Fall with the Chuck Taylor All Star Rock Craftsmanship collection. Celebrating the spirit of raw rock ‘n roll, these latest Chucks are adorned with studs, zippers, leather and popping colours. Sounds like the perfect way to ‘Get Loud’ this season!
Conversation seeks out inspiring individuals who possess a creative spirit and brim with passion. It offers an insight into the lives of these individuals and the things that drives them. This edition is proudly sponsored by Converse.
