Baybeats 2025

Sugar, spice, everything nice: haldi honey’s earnest pursuit

By Pragya Jha

“Boundary pushing” – that was what the judges had called haldi honey’s sound during their second audition round to qualify for the Baybeats Budding Bands programme.

Much like the spice it is named after, the five-piece math-pop band haldi honey brings a kind of warmth and sweetness to a genre that does not often leave room for either. Comprising members Anne Lee (26), Codie Loh (29), Daxa (28), Jade Lee (26), and Tay Jin Rong (29), and otherwise known as JR, the band are finding their place in the scene, all while trying to embody being – in Anne’s words – “colourful, earnest, and surprising.”

Where it all began: sound, origin, and identity

When I first met the band in the small, dimly lit room at Esplanade, bandmate Daxa had joked that their origin story was all thanks to the dating app Tinder.

What started as a tongue-in-cheek recruitment drive for “three lesbians with instruments” in late 2022 grew into lasting friendships. The final member, JR, joined the band in a more old-school way – through SOFT, Singapore’s music forum. “A testament to his age,” he quipped. By 2024, haldi honey had found its full form.

The name haldi honey came together on a whim. At the time, Daxa had bright yellow hair, inspiring the ‘haldi’ bit – which is the Hindi word for “turmeric” – known for its unmistakable golden hue. The ‘honey’ half was inspired by a drink they often shared. It was an impromptu decision born from a small, ordinary moment, but one that stuck, and came to embody the band’s mix of playfulness and sincerity.

Outside the band, the members lead vastly different lives – Anne is a lawyer, JR a shipping professional, Daxa a broadcast engineer, Jade a video editor, and Codie a guitar instructor. The interesting blend of day jobs belies the connection in the care they bring to their music, and to each other, and to making it work.

Evident in a lot of their songs, haldi honey’s queerness is no secret. “We’re all out and very, like, capital Q, capital L, lesbian band,” says Daxa, with JR firmly embracing the role of ally. In Singapore’s music scene – which she mentions is vibrant with queer musicians but sparse in terms of all-queer bands – they stand out without trying.

Still, they resist being reduced to a label. “It’s not the only thing about us that’s important,” Daxa adds. “All we do is show up as ourselves.” For JR, this honesty is liberating. “It’s nice to not have to put up a front,” he says. That authenticity, they believe, is what draws people in.

Who’s doing the math? – music and the genre

So what is math-pop? haldi honey describes math-pop as similar to the comparatively more well-known genre math-rock in that it adheres to the unconventional rhythms central to the genre. With vocal polyphony in place of harmonies, and layers of texture all packaged into something accessible, haldi honey hopes to act as a gateway for the layperson.

The math isn’t the point. Daxa emphasises, “it’s the seasoning.” The goal is always to make good songs first, and finding a way for other people to enjoy the “mathy things”. JR calls it “kind of like perfect in between, where if there's something that [he] won't get bored of playing, but also is marketable enough to a broad audience.”

Most of the band did not actually begin by listening to a lot of “math-y” music either. Rather, they grew into it. Codie says it was the perfect thing to “tickle her brain”. They all agreed that the artistic challenge of playing the music, and finding something new every time when picking apart the music was what drew each member to their current sound.

At the heart of their music is a commitment to finding empathy in specificity. In the midst of back-and-forth anecdotes was the mention of a silly poem about yearning for cheese that Anne once scribbled in her Notes app. Daxa proclaimed the poem as a "guiding light” for her songwriting. While meaningless by itself, the vignette captured the ethos of the band’s songwriting: magnifying the small, mundane bits of life and making it meaningful. It was ridiculous, but also sincere.

And people responded to that feeling. At one show – a metal gig – they joked online that their pit would “go so hard.” When they played, the audience started a conga line. That’s the kind of energy they hope to bring to their shows. “As long as y’all are doing the funny little emo kids dance,” says Daxa, “I’m happy.”

Baybeats and beyond

Like many other bands, haldi honey also feel that Baybeats has always been the pinnacle of performing in Singapore. Following a successful show they played with the full five-member ensemble – aptly titled “that incredible gig” – Daxa recalls, “one good show, and then this guy [JR] was in our ear, like, Baybeats? Baybeats? Baybeats?”

As JR led the charge, the band set their minds on auditioning, expecting only a learning experience. However, with JR overseas for the first round, Daxa had to step in to drum and sing — “a miracle we got through,” she recalls. But once they advanced, the band began to sense it was inevitable.

And they made it. With each step, the music became bigger than themselves. They took feedback seriously, embracing what Daxa calls “an upward trajectory of musicianship and caring about art.”

As JR says, the philosophy remains simple: “My plan is just to have fun. And it’s the fun that will really get you through those days.”

Now, with new songs in the works as part of a larger project, haldi honey are looking outward. They continue to aim for upcoming projects to be “something worth listening to for everybody, not just worth playing for us.”

Part of that looking outward also means playing beyond Singapore’s shores. The band has its sights set on Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The hope is to bring its brand of pop to new audiences across the region, carrying with it the same eclectic mix that has made it work here.

Catch haldi honey on 30 Oct 2025, Thu, 7.40pm at Esplanade Annexe Studio. Prepare for math-pop moshpits.

Like a tree growing rings, pines take their time

By Luthf Izz Qaisy

Watching pines perform was a transformative experience.

Long after the lights went off at the end of their concert, you were left with ringing ears, a sore throat from singing along, and a strange urge to text your friends “you had to be there.” That kind of lasting impression does not come by chance. It comes from pines’ deliberate approach to music, where they refuse to rush and instead shape each track until it feels right for the people who will hear it.

That is how the alt-emo rock band has slowly and surely gained its reputation. pines take their time, carefully honing every note and melody to create music that truly connects with their fans. Each song is crafted with intention and care, designed not just to be heard but to be experienced, giving listeners something worth waiting for.

Going Back to their Roots

pines’ story began in 2023, but its roots stretch further back. Wayne Lew, the band’s vocalist and bassist, first met drummer Nathaniel Ho while they were both students at Singapore Polytechnic. At the time, Wayne needed to put together a final-year project, and the idea of forming a band felt like the perfect way to merge creativity with coursework. Nat, already a skilled drummer, signed on without hesitation.

Through their school’s co-curricular activity (CCA) Garage Band, Wayne met guitarist Czachary Ericson, whose playing style and songwriting instincts clicked instantly. What began as a one-off project for academic credit quickly evolved into something bigger.

The addition of Shan Melendres was not just about filling a spot – it deepened pines’ sound. With two guitarists, the band could now explore more layered arrangements, allowing their songs to feel more dynamic and full-bodied.

Their debut single Window Shopping, originally part of Wayne’s final-year submission, quickly became a local alt-rock favourite. The track delivers an uplifting yet introspective message about dreaming beyond your current circumstances, wrapped in an energetic and motivational soundscape.

Where Genres Collide

The band’s sound is hard to pin down to a single genre. Nat is a die-hard fan of metalcore and other hard-hitting styles, while Wayne brings an expertise rooted in smooth R&B. On paper, those influences may seem worlds apart, but pines thrive in the space between, blending intensity and melody with a natural ease.

Their songs carry the emotional weight and guitar-driven hooks of mid-west emo, a genre the entire band loves, while still leaving room for the subtle textures of their individual tastes. “One thing that our band really prides ourselves on when we’re making music – is trying to sound familiar yet original.”

Everyone in the band may come from different corners of the musical spectrum, but they all share a love for Midwest emo – a subgenre of emo music that emerged in the Midwestern United States during the 1990s which uses unconventional vocal stylings, distinct guitar riffs and arpeggiated melodies. That became the glue that held them together.

As Wayne says, it felt natural because “everybody listened to at least a band I listened to.” That sense of shared taste meant there was never friction over covers to play or sounds to explore.

Locally, pines draw inspiration from the music scene around them. They are not as chaotic as Forests, nor as brooding as Curb. Instead, they find a middle ground in emo rock, similar to how Paramore sits between the intensity of My Chemical Romance and the polish of The 1975. The result is a sound that feels familiar to emo and alt-rock fans, yet distinctly their own.

A Night in Distortion

For pines, the standout moment of the year was That Incredible Gig in March 2025 at The TreeTop at *SCAPE. “Incredible” wasn’t just the name, but it was the feeling of standing on a stage that towered above the crowd, bathed in bright lights, with cameras rolling from every angle.

Shan explains, "The stage was raised so high, you were literally looking down on the crowd”. It was their highest-production gig yet.

The venue’s natural echoes made every note and every misplayed chord unmistakably audible, yet that only added to the thrill. What made the night unforgettable was not just the technical setup: it was performing to a room packed with unfamiliar faces while sharing the stage with underground favorites Aggressive Raisin Cat, Tariot, and Tell Lie Vision.

The band compares the mix of excitement and nerves to spotting another school on a field trip: “Imagine the other school is like your seniors, or like a secondary school, and we’re just primary school kids,” they say. That combination of awe, adrenaline, and connection sums up the magic of pines’ most memorable gig.

Not only were they performing for friends and family, but pines also noticed a room full of new faces, voices rising in cheers even during the briefest moments of silence between songs. In those quiet, electric pauses, the band truly understood that pines was no longer just playing music – they were making an impression, and their sound was beginning to resonate with a wider audience. “It was a gig that we realised people probably know us because of the music that we play and it wasn’t just a hobby anymore. It was real. It was legit,” Wayne reflects.

Branching Out

pines are also looking to expand their presence beyond the music itself, starting with merchandise that fans can proudly wear. Their first offering will be a must-have t-shirt, though Czachary half-joked about branching out to quirky items like an ashtray or DIY lighter, a nod to the fact that many of their audience members smoke.

Looking further ahead, pines are setting their sights on touring. For the band, anywhere outside of Singapore would be a milestone worth celebrating — a chance to test their music in new spaces and reach fresh ears. Still, Jakarta sits at the top of their wishlist. Known for its rich and bustling music scene, the city has long welcomed Singaporean acts, giving underground and alternative rock bands a stage to grow beyond home turf.

Once just a dream on their Spotify bio: ‘They hope to one day play at a local music festival Baybeats’, pines have now turned that wish into reality. By taking their time and carefully honing their emo-tinged alt-rock, they brought a sound to the stage they once only imagined.

Catch pines at Baybeats on 30 Oct 2025, Thu, 9pm at Esplanade Annexe Studio.

RATHMOCK: THE MATH ROCK TRIO THAT WANTS TO DO A FUN NUMBER ON YOU

By Caleigh Heng

“This is not possible. How can they let in a band that can't sing?” were rathmock’s first thoughts when they made it to Round 2 of their audition process for 2025 Baybeats Budding Bands – and maybe they’re yours too. So, they wrote a song called None of Us Can Sing and performed it in the very set that got them one of four coveted spots in the programme.

Such is rathmock’s twisted logic: The band that takes nothing too seriously, except their goal of making music fun, and making fun music. rathmock also makes math rock (say that three times fast), sort of.

OFF TO AN ODD START

They are a diverse bunch with a love for unserious music. David Lim, 27, Abdul Hakiim Bin Muhamad Hamim, 27, and Yap Yi Yang (known as “Y3”), 25, first crossed paths in 2022 through NUS Amplified, a CCA that provides a platform for young musicians at the National University of Singapore.

A passion for making “funny” music was what first brought David and Hakiim together – David had been in a duo that performed original, quirky songs, while Hakiim had released a collection of songs under his solo project deførmed, which portray uniquely Singaporean problems with his own brand of angry comedy. Soon after, they were jamming together in sessions rife with odd time signatures, which David jokingly terms “fake math rock”.

“I think every Singaporean that plays interesting music wants to form a math rock band…so I was like, I know this bassist [Y3] who’s also from Amplified and can play odd time signatures. I'll call him and we’ll play together.”

And so the three had their first jam. With David on drums, Hakiim on keys, and Y3 on bass, they wrote “Mass stroke”, one of the songs in their latest EP, “Hi we are rathmock”, in that session alone.

At first look, ‘rathmock’ is a spoonerism derived from swapping the first letters of each word in ‘math rock’. In the same way, they’re a band of multi-instrumentalists who can effortlessly switch between instruments. David also explains another layer to the joke: “’rath’ because people get angry at us, and ‘mock’ because people laugh at us. So we just called it rathmock, but without the W because it looks stupid with a W.”

Call it what you want – fake math rock, true math rock, or even “number rock” – even the rathmock guys don’t know for sure. It could almost be a genre of its own.

EXPERIMENTATION WITHOUT EXPECTATIONS

As the band recalls their very first show at the NUS University Cultural Centre, Y3 chimes with his first piece of rathmock lore: how he saw a couple walk out the moment they started playing their set. An outburst of laughter follows, acknowledging the statement’s absurdity and the stoicism with which he said it.

In fact, they knew their sound was ‘bad’, so the first thing they did was challenge the audience to stay throughout their entire set, which this duo had failed at.

Their ability to take typically negative situations and turn them into something to laugh about, and their fuel to improve, is intriguing. After they were rejected for their CCA’s annual concert, they made “protest covers” – their own editions of the set list. These covers put a traditional twist on pop and rock songs, featuring instruments like the Japanese taishōgoto. Getting rejected from Supernova, NUS’ annual music and dance festival, was also their biggest obstacle. I had the honour of witnessing them stand in front of the empty Supernova stage at University Town with satirically dejected looks, two weeks before the event.

“One day, we’re going to get so big that they’re going to call us back [for Supernova] as alumni,” Hakiim proclaims, calling the rejection a defining era for the band.

rathmock’s struggle through experimentation is integral to their identity. They rarely have external inspirations for their style, and mostly experiment with music theory, although Hakiim notes some influences from Mandopop, J-Pop, and traditional Malay music. David describes their songwriting process as “throwing out numbers for chords, notes, and time signatures”, and seeing if they sound nice put together.

While their experimental sound is a double-edged sword in appealing to audiences and getting gigs, it has never stopped them from sticking to their guns.

“Our modus operandi up until now has been to just apply for anything. We just want to get our name out there into the scene, into the local ecosphere of music. Whether it's underground or commercial, whatever music scene wants to adopt us, we’ll take it.”

Such is life when your official pitch is: “If you want something different for your next show, call us – you will regret it.”

A SERIOUSLY FUN BAND

rathmock’s comedic presentation is not just for show. Their eccentric humour is authentic even offstage; Hakiim’s deadpan wit, Y3’s unexpectedly direct responses, and David’s dry humour gel surprisingly well together, creating a lively and fun atmosphere.

Perhaps their superpower lies in helping their audience, especially uptight Singaporeans, to let loose, laugh, and have fun. As Hakiim sees it, most music is being taken too seriously – not just by musicians, but also by listeners.

“If music is viewed as a completely serious thing, then that's elitism and will deter people from wanting to be art practitioners. Same thing for musicians; if they take themselves too seriously, that defeats the whole purpose of art, when you are not being yourself. The only time you have to be serious is when you are working for that payroll.”

Y3 also suggests that there is “a sort of preeminent fear of failure that emerges in the Singaporean psyche” stemming from our upbringing and education, that may be holding us back from experimenting with creativity in music. rathmock’s eccentric nature may cause them to be seen as ‘unserious’ within our culture, but they emphasise that staying authentic remains at the core of what they do. In David’s words, “authenticity is what will prevail whether you are serious, unserious or both”.

Like everything else in this world, they’re all about balance.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR RATHMOCK?

The band say they have no plans beyond their EP Launch and Baybeats yet, but within the next 30 seconds, they are cooking up the idea of writing a five-minute musical. They initially wanted the idea to be off-the-record, but funnily enough, almost immediately decided to put it back on the record after Y3 questions why not.

“We are going to write a musical – no promises on quality, length, or anything else, but we are going to write a musical, stay tuned,” David said.

Whether they’re serious or joking, only time will tell. It would not be surprising to see rathmock spontaneously embarking on a new theatrical journey. After all, they are Singapore’s only comedy-real-fake-math-number-rock band, why not add ‘drama’ to it too?

Between stifled laughter, recording quirky renditions of pop songs in their practice room, and riling up their niche crowd on stage, rathmock is a reminder to us Singaporeans that we do not always have to take ourselves so seriously. Sometimes, we just need to bask in the absurdity of it all.

Catch rathmock at Baybeats on 30 Oct 2025, Thu, 8.20pm at Arena (DBS Foundation Outdoor Theatre at Esplanade).

Metalcore and beyond – Breaking boundaries with SHINSEINA

By Angelica Ng

Believe it or not, metalcore band SHINSEINA is named after a massage parlour at Haji Lane.

A friend of the band was looking around for inspiration and randomly spotted a spa with “Divine” in its title. The next logical step, apparently, was to open up Google Translate. “How to make it better? Make it Japanese,” says the band. They eventually landed on SHINSEINA which means “sacred.”

The first time I heard this, I was taken aback, to say the least – it’s a completely unexpected origin story, for an equally chaotic band. It seems like a SHINSEINA trademark: a variety of surprises, each and every one thoroughly entertaining, that align to form the band as we know it today.

Composed of vocalist Josiah Kunaraz (23), guitarists Masdanial Abdullah (22) and Jedrick Ong (22), bassist Mohd Shafi’e Bin Mohd Shahrul (21), and drummer Qamarul Rabbani (33), SHINSEINA began as a gathering of friends in the same CCA.

Jo, Mas, Jed, and Shafi’e first met in Institute of Technical Education (ITE)’s Vibes Rock Band in 2021, and the band began their journey under the name Eternal Rain – a name they dropped to herald a new and more mature sound.

Introduced by the band’s producer, Qam joined SHINSEINA in early 2025 when they were looking for a permanent drummer. He tells me that the first time he ever met the band was when he was asked to join the Crossfire music video – instead of any formal introductions, he simply showed up for the shoot without even knowing what the other members looked like.

Perhaps this first meeting was experiencing SHINSEINA in their truest, most spontaneous form. “I took a step back and I was like, how young are these kids?” says Qam, sending the rest of the band into fits of laughter.

An unexpected start

Even their journey into metalcore has been a surprise – before evolving into what we know today, the band was heading in a completely different direction (“Post-hardcore slash heavy metal, with a tinge of jazz and funk”, the band supplies when I ask about their early work). However, it simply wasn’t meant to be, and the band’s trajectory defied all expectations from the very start.

They had formally recorded exactly two songs as Eternal Rain before their producer’s laptop crashed. The files were lost, the songs were irretrievable, and the group’s previous work vanished into thin air.

However, a mishap that might have seriously derailed another artist’s plans barely fazed the band. They simply kept on working, this time taking their producer’s suggestion to pivot into a new subgenre of metal.

It startles me at first, this almost irreverent approach – it seems like the band’s entire history is a series of well-timed coincidences, shirking expectations at every turn. But as I get to know SHINSEINA, I realise just how adaptable this band can be.

“We already knew our old songs needed so much improvement,” Mas explains when asked about how they bounced back. “I felt that our older songs had a touch of immaturity,” adds Jo. “When we lost them, in a way it was redeeming as well, for us to take a step further to improve our skills.”

Diving into metalcore

Much like SHINSEINA themselves, metalcore is a genre that’s hard to pin down. Beginning as a fusion of heavy metal and hardcore punk, it rose to prominence in the early 2000s, which saw now-legendary metalcore bands like Bring Me The Horizon achieving mainstream success.

Metalcore songs often feature haunting melodic choruses blending into dark growls, underpinned by powerful breakdowns and introspective lyrics. Still, “true metalcore” has rejected definition, leaping between influences from the genre’s origin in the 1990s, to its current rebellious innovations.

SHINSEINA’s music reflects this dynamism – heart-pounding, high-octane songs that shift between soaring choruses and striking, technically complex guitar riffs in the blink of an eye.

They draw upon influences like Periphery and Architects, a more modern generation of metalcore bands that gained fame in the 2010s. Their discography occasionally gets difficult to perform, but the band seems to like a challenge.

The members largely grew up with metal, raised by pioneers of the genre like Slipknot and Killswitch Engage. Most of them have formally studied music, but that might just be the only thing conventional about SHINSEINA.

When it comes to actually making songs, there’s no structured process for their work, no list of instructions from step one through twenty. From voice memos recorded after work to random jam sessions at someone’s house, a bolt of inspiration might strike the members out of nowhere, catchy riffs appearing in their minds like magic.

“Shit, that’s cool. Okay, voice note,” is the usual thought process, according to Mas.

Chemistry amidst the noise

Outside of music, the band tells me that they bond over watching anime, or hopping on Discord calls to play Valorant. When they’re not immersing themselves in metal, their tastes in music range from Harry Styles and Sabrina Carpenter, to even Frank Sinatra.

Crammed into a corner of Aperia Mall’s Paris Baguette, the band shares anecdotes that are endlessly amusing, the members riffing off one another’s responses with the casual ease of old schoolmates.

“I think that’s the fun part. We don’t take things very seriously.” Jo admits. “Instead of anything super daunting or chore-like, it’s like, I’m gonna see these boys, have fun, have a good night, and then go home. That’s what rehearsals feel like to me,” shares Qam. “Aww, that’s so sweet,” one of them exclaims. “Sweet, right?” Qam grins, and the band cracks up yet again.

Bumps in the road

Still, the band has had their fair share of challenges. After all, they started out young and inexperienced, barely 18 years old when they started making music together.

“For the longest time…I felt like I was hanging on by a thread, because of the difficulty of the songs,” says Shafi’e, who had only been playing bass for a year before joining SHINSEINA. “But to shift it to a more positive perspective…this is the motivating factor for me to keep going.”

“The first jamming was so bad, I just walked out,” Jo tells me. “I was supposed to bring a bass, but I brought a seven-string guitar,” Mas chimes in with a laugh.

Still, they’re clearly fond of these early memories together. “It was my first time going to a jamming studio, and it was like a whole new world just opened up to me,” Jed reminisces. “We didn’t even know how to soundcheck or level anything. Basically, we were just a bunch of kids not knowing what we wanted. But everyone starts from somewhere,” says Jo.

It’s this collective growth that they’re proudest of, from that amateur first session all the way to Baybeats now.

What comes next

In true SHINSEINA fashion, the band is preparing something fresh for Baybeats, to keep listeners on their toes. Audiences can look forward to rearrangements of their existing songs, and even glimpses of their unreleased work.

The work doesn’t stop after Baybeats either – the band plans to release their debut album within the next year, and curate a more professional image in the long term.

Wherever they decide to next take their evolving identity, one thing remains certain. The band will continue to make music that’s true to them, instead of pandering to whatever people may expect.

“In the process, if people like (the music), then I'm grateful for that,” says Jo. “If people don't, then that's their problem. But I'm just kidding,” he adds hastily, and the band bursts into laughter again.

Catch SHINSEINA at Baybeats on 30 Oct 2025, Thu, 7pm at Arena (DBS Foundation Outdoor Theatre at Esplanade).