Together with music publication NME, we explored the impact of Baybeats and its importance to community, since its inception in 2001.

NME approached four musicians (and Baybeats alumni) to discuss their relationship to the long-running festival and its place in Singapore’s music scene. Nur Wahidah and Daniel Borces of the indie rock band Subsonic Eye reflect on Baybeats as a multi-genre gateway to local and regional music, and share their experience playing as part of Baybeats Budding Bands programme for new artists. Like Subsonic Eye, Elspeth Ong of shoegaze act motifs too was part of Baybeats Budding Bands programme, which helped give rise to an opportunity to play abroad and forge connections within the region.

Nicholas Wong, who plays drums in the bands Blush and Marijannah, shares how significant Baybeats is to youth in Singapore’s underground and independent scenes—in his case, “punks growing up not thinking that you would be put on a stage at the local arts hub of Singapore and play to thousands of people”—and its role as a constant in the country’s music scene.

Catch Blush's album launch concert at Esplanade Annexe Studio on 11 Nov 2023, Sat, 7.30pm.