The long wait is finally over! The Radio Department’s ”Clining to a scheme” is without doubt this year’s most eagerly anticipated Swedish indie pop album. It’s been four long years, but a simple press on Play and you’ll know it’s been worth every second.

“Clinging to a scheme” combines the best components from their previous albums “Lesser matters” and “Pet grief” with soul guitars, P-funk, cut/paste-beats and 70’s futuristic orchestra sounds. Breathtaking!

Club 8 has travelled to Brazil for inspiration, bought records made in the 70’s in Western Africa, used a percussion player from Cuba and hooked up with producer Jari Haapalainen (The Concretes, Camera Obscura, Ed Harcourt). The result is unique mix of Swedish pop melodies and African rhythms – undoubtedly one of the most unique, captivating and catchiest pop records of the year!

Area 30: The intimate unplugged gig in the boutique Cafe Papa Palheta featuring Esmond Han, Benjamin Boh and Remy Fan (of Evil Singing Pandas). Introducing Khoo Si Ning on Vocals.

Date: Saturday, 07 August 2010

Time: 1900 – 2200

Location: Papa Palheta, 140 Bukit Timah Road (Enter by Hooper Road)

Hope to see you there for a night of friends, music & coffee!

Kindest regards,

Remy

I am very pleased to inform you that 200 people turned up for the show. Congratulations! (RF: There are actually more people as there are some underage fans who turned up but got their tickets refunded and some fans who didn’t pay and stayed outside the venue.)

The response for Dei Tetra’s set was really something!  People seem that they are really having a good time watching your set, including your old secondary school classmates from Singapore (RF: They look like a bunch of disco party people rather metal fans) turning up to Black Revelation and supporting the band.

From my personal observation, you have the largest turn out for your set; my sincere and heartfelt congratulations to you four.

Now, please introduce yourself.

King Aboroth (KA): I am King Aboroth, Bass Player, Public Relations and Merchandiser for Dei Tetra.

Emperor Viperon (EV): Hail, this is Emperor Viperon, Guitar Player and Music Director for Dei Tetra. (Full of Enthusiasm)

Lord Kaosis Warmeister (LKW): Lord Kaosis Warmeister, Drummer for Dei Tetra. (Stoney / Spaced-Out Voice)

Countess Asithara (CA): Countess Asithara, Vocalist and session bass player for the Dei Tetra.

RF: Thank you. Let’s start the interview on your thoughts after the Black Revelation.

As you know this show was planned 6 months ago since October 2009. It has been a huge adrenalin-rush for us all in Trippy Factory. Please share with us how do you all feel about this whole process?

EV: We need to work our asses off and we have been rehearsing really hard since then. We try to rehearse twice a week from 730pm and practice the same set 2 -3 times. We will have a band meeting after that to see how we can improve or do better.

We are all extremely tired from the show, but it was fun and we are very grateful.

LKW: We met a lot of talented musicians in the gig as well; it’s quite an eye opener for all four of us.

CA: I am just very happy to be here and glad the show went well.

RF: Many thanks for that. Now I would like to ask you for your opinion and give us a compare and contrast between the Thai and Singapore metal scene and community?

KA: The Thai Metal Scene consists of a 2 groups of people. One group only listens to “Old School” Heavy Metal, Black Metal and Death and they other only Brutal Death Metal, Gore Grind, Death Grind. It’s either you are “with them” or “you are not”.

Singapore has more variety, for example Absence of the Sacred (AOTS) and the bands from Mourning Sound is different.

EV: Singapore bands are more unique. I personally feel that they (SG bands) would put a personal touch on top of heavy and aggressive music; like Rudra and their Vedic influences have definitely made their music very special. The ancientness and the exoticness have made them stand out from the crowd.

In Thailand, it’s like “same-shit-different-day-everywhere.” It’s like “copy-paste” syndrome.

The veteran or more established metal bands (in Thailand) listen to one typical genre of metal music. The younger bands who look up to them would copy and imitate them because hey feel that this is “what metal should be”.

RF: And you find that boring?

EV: Yes! It’s frustrating as well.

KA: Only if you have time log on to MySpace and check out the new Thai metal band, you will probably feel that they just sound the same. There is no breakthrough. It’s really lack of innovation.

EV: As a matter of fact, I feel really SAD for the Thai metal Scene. Music is something you can explore and boundaries you can break. Why restrict yourself and be just another face in the crowd? Why not add some elements in music and make it your own?

RF: I agree with you. It’s like you cover a popular metal cover song and add elements from your band and make the song your own.

Tell us more about the rivalries in the Thai Metal scene; I understand from our private conversations that it has been bothering Dei Tetra for a while now.

EV: Since the first day we have decided to play metal music, our rivals have gathered their “army” and tried to force us down and out of the scene. They make immature comments about us on cyberspace; ridicule our photos which we posted online.

I remember there was once we had a photo of the band relaxing after a hard day of rehearsal and a can of coca-cola was captured in it.

KA: Yeah we drink coca-cola, so what? Haha.

EV: The rivals started a brand new “Hi-Five” account and posted the pictures on it with the words “Black Coca Cola” and allow the rest of the rivals to make stupid and immature comments about that photo.

Can you imagine that the guy who started this whole mess is almost 30 years old?  Grow up man, sonnofabitch.

He hacked into my “Hi-Five” account, copied all the photos and say shit about it. Can you believe that?

There are so many young and inspiring metal musicians in Thailand who really wants to play and perform…

CA: But they didn’t dare to. They are afraid to go through what we have been through. Some of the rivals have even post death threats online and wanted to “take our lives” if we were to carry on.

RF: What?!? How?

EV: It’s true. There were comments like “I am going to go to a Dei Tetra show and put a bullet in your head”. One of them even ask for my residential address and wanted to come over and f**k things up; all this through the public pages of “Hi-Five”.

I mean, I have respect for people in general. I don’t have to admire them, but I still give them their due respect. If they want to do metal music, I want to do it too! Who gives them the right to stop me?

RF: They only do such things online right?

KA: They do it face to face in person as well!

RF: What?!?

KA: During metal shows, our rivals will gather in their groups and “terrorize” the other concert go-ers who does not belong in their click.

Younger metal fans or people in small group click usually get most of the shit simply because they are weaker with no back up.

CA: That, to us, would be the biggest difference in the scene in Thailand and Singapore. People in Singapore respect any genre of metal and they are very supportive. We feel very much appreciated and welcome in your country and in your metal community. Something likes this not going to happen in Thailand.

RF: Thank you for your comments on this. I think Trippy Factory is just very fortunate to hire respectful bands and musicians in Black Revelation 2010.

What are the future plans for the Dei Tetra?

KA: We are now working on a full length album with about 9 tracks and it should be released later this year or early next year.

RF: What are expecting from this new project?

EV: Better sound quality (from the past 2 releases).

KA: Headbang!

EV: *laughs*. You will also hear the “beauty” of Black Metal with the “roughness” of Death Metal.

RF: And your influences: who or what are the main inspirations for your new materials?

EV: You will hear Slayer-ish guitar riffs and Behemoth Style Drumming, a tint of evilness from Dark Funeral and the rawness of Marduk.

RF: Wow. You have just name 4 legendary bands and and with elements from them sure sounds like an album coming up (by Dei Tetra) to look forward to.

Now on to Kaosis; I got to be really honest. You do not look like you are a drummer when I met you for the first time in Bangkok. That was February 2009, was it?

LKW + EV: *laughs*

RF: When I saw you in behind the drum set during the set just now and during rehearsals, you scare the shit out of me! I am really impressed. You play fast, aggressive and precision drums for sure! Where did you draw you influences from?

LKW: Inferno (from Behemoth). The complications of the drum lines by him have made Behemoth- Behemoth. Without him, the band will not be the same. His drumming is very significant in each track. The best part about it is his style changes in every album. So every Behemoth album doesn’t sound the same. It is always evolving and interesting to hear what he has to offer.

You can tell if the band is from Sweden, Germany, Norway etc just by hearing the drum rhythms; but Inferno is just one of a kind.

RF: Most Metal Drummers always draw one of their inspiration from  Dave Lombardo from Slayer as their main influence; hearing Inferno as an inspiration is the first for me. Good luck with the recording of your drum tracks in your new album.

LKW: Thank you.

RF: Now on with the Countess; I know at least 2 persons in the crowd tonight has been “blown to pieces” by your vocals. One of them is me and the other is Kathir (Rudra). I quote from him “This girl sounds really really pissed off!” I remember agreeing with him and had a good laugh! Where did you draw your inspirations and influences from?

CA: I have no influences so to speak, but when I listen to the raw music track given to me by the band members, I will try to visualize how my vocals should be and plan it according to the guitars, bass and drum riffs.

Like when the Emperor let me hear a particular guitar riff, I can actually hear and visualize the “screaming” even when there are no vocal tracks in it.

RF: I would like to hear you write lyrics or visualize through Kaosis’s drum riffs! That’ll be interesting!

CA: *laughs* I admire all vocalists from all the metal bands because singing is not easy. Not easy at all. Singing, shouting or screaming in the wrong manner may hurt yourself seriously in the long run.

So I bought the instructional videos of Melissa Cross (voice teacher of Andrew W.K., Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe, Shadows Fall’s Brian Fair, Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley, God Forbid’s Byron Davis, and Melissa Auf der Maur) so that I can scream and shout aggressively all I want without hurting myself.

RF: Sounds good. At least now I know you are able to sing, scream and shout SAFELY – so that you can do this for a long long time.

Now, any last thoughts on your very short trip in Singapore?

EV: Firstly, thank you Remy and Trippy Factory for organizing this gig for Dei Tetra. Especially for putting our logo in the middle of the poster it’s very nice. When I see it for the first time, I was like “Wow”. We are in right in the middle of the official poster!

LKW: Yes, that meant a lot to us. It made us feel very special. All four of us had the poster as our profile picture in Hi-Five, Friendster, Facebook and MySpace to promote the band and Black Revelation since February 2010.

RF: Then special thanks and salute goes to Jason Wong who designed the poster. He has an intention of making Dei Tetra as an overseas special appearance all the way from Thailand and that’s why your logo is in the middle while the other 6 bands are “flanking” by your side as if welcoming you.

Excellent design I must say. Give Jason the horns up when you see him in person.

KA: Sure! Our logo in the poster of our next show in Bangkok is so small and pathetic. It’s almost insignificant compared with Black Revelation 2010!

RF: Does that bother you?

KA: Of course not! We will just turn up for the gig. Do our thing, headbang, blast our instruments and get out of there when it’s over. Music’s music. The size of the logo matters very little to us.

RF: I like that Attitude. Now, your last words for the interview Aboroth?

KA: If I am a regular metal head in Singapore or Thailand, I would not be so impress about the Black Revelation 2010 if I should see the poster at first. I’ll be thinking “hey, it’s just one of those metal gigs”.

Most of the Thai metal heads would probably think that we are crazy and wasting our time performing in an unknown gig in Singapore. But they will never ever experience what we have earlier on this evening. Black Revelation is something very different and special for us and we really had a good time.

You go to a metal gig, you headbang and make new friends. That’s that. *Shrugs* It doesn’t mean that if you are into metal, you have to get yourself drunk, take drugs and commit crimes.

No egos involve; nothing sinister and evil. We are all here for a good time.

EV:    In Thailand, there’s always the same old organizer with the same old band, playing the same old stuff.

I would encourage all metal fans to go out there and do not restrict yourselves. Learn something new from different gig and gain new perspective! Be open-minded and make more friends!

RF: Thanks for that Virperon! Kaosis, share your thoughts with us.

LKW: Singapore has always been and always will be one of my favorite destinations for travel and holidays. Special thanks to Remy and Trippy Factory for organizing the show and we look forward to play again in your productions in the future.

RF: Thank you for your compliments and comments about Singapore. Countess, any last words?

CA: Thank you very very much (hands clasp together as if praying), to you, Trippy Factory for everything. I would like to thank everyone who is involved in the gig, the fans, the fellow musicians and performers. Thank you very much. I sincerely appreciate it and I look forward to come back to perform and meet the friends and fans again.

RF: Thank you very much Dei Tetra. It’s been long hard road for Trippy Factory organizing Black Revelation but it’s absolutely worth it to have you four on this ride with me.

Until next year all the best to you and the band.

Dei Tetra:    Thank you!

Check out highlights from Trippy Factory’s Black Revelation 2010 gig at Home Club!

Featuring:

- SPECIAL GUESTS DEI TETRA (THAILAND)
- RUDRA
- ABSENCE OV THE SACRED
- DEUS EX MACHINA
- G.O.D. (Graves of Demise)
- HALLOW
- ESP (Evil Singing Pandas)

We are proud to announce that we are the sole distributor of Labrador Records in Singapore and we’d like to invite you to our official launch of the our website and web-store:

Date: 30th of July 2010 (Friday)
Time: 730pm – 930pm
Venue: Books Actually No. 86 Club Street.
Admission fee: TBA
There is no limit to the number of the people attending anymore and admission is free!
Light refreshments will be provided.

Labrador Records are homes to artiste in Sweden like Club 8, Pelle Carlberg, Radio Dept., Sambassadeur & Acid House Kings; music from them will surely bring a smile to your face.

Please call 9636 3813 or write to remy@trippyfactory.com for more info and RSVP.

Special thanks to Kenny and Karen of Books Actually for supporting and sponsoring the venue for the launch.

Thank you and we hope to see you there.

Kindest wishes,
Remy Fan/Trippy Factory

The single ”Days” set the direction for the new Sambassadeur album ”European”. It’s irresistibly catchy, folky and yet exquisitely luxurious in its appeal – you’d picture the band performing the song barefoot under crystal chandeliers. The song rapidly became an international success and reached #2 on the Elbo.ws blog chart.

Sambassadeur started as a DIY version of ABBA in the year 2003. They were one of the bands that lead an explosive Swedish pop movement of home recording artists who surprised our country by not only achieving overnight indie fame (thanks to the MP3 spreading kids!) but also reached the sales charts. Since that their sound has continued to grow with their recording budget.  On ”European” they’ve finally accomplished  to make the grand, classic and orchestrated album they’ve always wanted to.
In the year 2007 Sambassadeur entered a new epoch as they stopped recording at home and started working with producer Mattias Glavå. The second album “Migration” not only gave the band a more glittery sound. It helped Sambassadeur to gain further success around the world and brought them on tour in countries like Spain, the UK, Austria, Germany and Denmark. Offers for shows kept coming in but due to the severe flying anxiety of guitarist Joachim Läckberg most of them had to be turned down which gave the band a certain secret stars status.

Their third “European” has taken almost two years to finish and they’ve once again employed the talents of Mattias Glavå.  According to the band he did very little. He merely lay on the sofa and cursed how badly they played their instruments and continued to bring in more and more musicians. A string quartet, three drummers, a saxophone player, clarinet, the list goes on…

This is the extrovert album from Sambassadeur. May it stay with you forever.

“With sweeping strings, playful vocal melodies, and splashes of twinkling keys, “Days” is the type of song that makes the changing colors of the foliage easier to handle.” – Prefixmag.com

In 2003 and 2004 Sambassadeur lead an explosive Swedish pop movement of home recording artists who surprised our country by not only achieving overnight indie fame, thanks to the MP3 spreading kids, they eventually actually reached the sales charts. With »Migration« they enter a new epoch.

This time Sambassadeur chose to record in benefit of a proper studio together with producer Mattias Glavå (Dungen, Broder Daniel, Håkan Hellström). The first single »Subtle Changes« showed a new, more luxurious direction. It was an immediate success. With it’s disco hi-hats, swooping strings and orchestra drums that enhance their deceptive melodies, it was only a matter of days before the single was playlisted on national radio in Sweden and reached #9 on the Elbo.ws blog-chart.

»Migration« is a sparkling pop album, where breezy vocals meets deceptively sunny arrangements that perfectly wraps up the some of this years most heartfelt melodies.

Long awaited debut album from Sweden’s best new band. These ten songs sound somewhat like a modern version of A-ha dressed in black mixed with early The Jesus and Mary Chain on an arena. We love every little second of it.

It took them two years and three labels to get here, but if that’s what they needed in order to produce what must be one of the finest Swedish debut album ever, it was worth all the wait.

Everything about this album is just perfect. From the confident and obvious choice of simple calling it The Mary Onettes to the epic artwork. The classic ten songs format where each song has it’s obvious place on the album. First-rate songs all the way dressed in production perfectly balancing between futuristic and timeless.