In their heyday, My Writes played several times at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre. (Photo courtesy of My Writes)

Yahoo! MusicScene shines the spotlight on talented, up-and-coming Singaporean bands or musicians. This week, in the second part of our feature on bands playing at BayBeats 2011, we speak to My Writes, who were defunct for some time before their invitation to play at the festival.

A simple phone call woke them up from hibernation, just when they thought their days of performing were over.

Singapore band My Writes -- which was formed in 2005 -- was actually at a point where they could not even remember when their last gig was.

"Actually, if not for Baybeats, the band would still be in hibernation mode. So when we got the invitation, we met and pulled ourselves together and started jamming," the band's guitarist, Shaun, told Yahoo! Singapore.

The call from the Baybeats organisers could not have come at a better time too.

Having now sorted out their own lives after National Service for the guys, and settling down with a job, the band -- comprising Dhaniah, 24, Shaun, 25, Muhammad, 27,

From left: Shahril, Naz, Razak, Aim (Photo courtesy of Ossuary)

Every first and third Wednesday of the month, Yahoo! MusicScene shines the spotlight on talented, up-and-coming Singaporean bands or musicians. This week, in conjunction with BayBeats 2011, we speak to veteran metal heads Ossuary.

Many local bands would allow age or new trends to dictate what they can or cannot do, but not Ossuary.

Having been in the local music scene for more than 20 years, the heavy metal band are headlining Baybeats 2011, Singapore's biggest music festival.

By local standards, the band members — Shahril, 37; Aim, 36; Naz, 38; and Razak, 40 — are considered grand-daddies of Singapore's metal scene, but they do not see themselves as obsolete.

In an interview with Yahoo! Singapore, Shahril, the only member of the band to have been around since its formation in 1990, said, "The music stays the same, but with the different players (we have had) we have evolved to become better over the years. The roots (in heavy metal) are still there."

Still actively gigging in their

Inch Chua is "heartbroken" over what she believes is a lack of support for local musicians in Singapore. (Yahoo! photo/ Ewen Boey)

Local musician Inch Chua is "heartbroken" over the lack of support for local music in Singapore, and has made the tough decision to leave her homeland to further her music career.

The 22-year-old singer-songwriter aired her frustration over the support -- or rather lack of support -- for local music in a note on Facebook earlier this week.

"I've always been one that's hopeful about things here, and I've been very positive. But after much much thinking and sitting on it for months, I decided it was the best decision to make if I wanted to grow as an artist," the pint-sized artiste told Yahoo! Singapore.

Chua is still in the midst of firming up the details of moving away, but it is understood that she will be heading to Los Angeles, which, according to her, has a more progressive environment for the arts.

Regarding her note on the social networking site, the singer of local band Allura said that it was initially private and not suppose to be circulated, but a couple of her musician

From left: Peter Huang, Eugene Yip, Lee Ein Ein, Juni Go, Calin Wong and Ng Wei Jin (Photo: MICappella)

Every first and third Wednesday of the month, Yahoo! MusicScene shines the spotlight on talented, up-and-coming Singaporean bands or musicians. This week, we speak to the founders of a cappella rock band, MICappella, about the stereotyping of their music genre.

When the term "a cappella" is mentioned, a typical image of a jazzy group of singers grooving to "shoo bee doo wop" music may come to mind.

However, local vocal band MICappella begs to differ.

"We're very aware of the members' of public's opinions about the phrase 'a cappella', that it is just boring. But, no, there are a lot of other cool stuff out there that can be done with just voices," said band founder Peter Huang.

Describing their music as a cappella rock, Huang and Calin Wong, who are both freelance musicians, told Yahoo! Singapore that the 6-man band's focus is on contemporary music.

"As a musician, I'm not very good with any particular instrument, and as a vocalist I think I'm okay," said Huang, who added, however,

L-R: Daniel Sassoon, Jordan Cheng, Amanda Ling, Roland Lim (Photo: IEHAC)

Every first and third Wednesday of the month, Yahoo! MusicScene shines the spotlight on talented, up-and-coming Singaporean bands or musicians. This week, we speak to Daniel Sassoon, frontman of local post-rock band, In Each Hand A Cutlass and former lead guitarist of popular indie pop band Electrico.

Daniel Sassoon, guitarist for local band In Each Hand a Cutlass (IEHAC), believes creative freedom is more important than commercial fame.

Those haven't been just empty words for him. In early 2008 he left indie pop band Electrico to form his current -- and far less popular -- group months later.

"Electrico was always a pop band at heart," he said. "I've always wanted to bring more of an edge to it, to try to make it a bit more cutting edge and different, but the reality was, because of the focus on the commercial and melodic nature of stuff, it wasn't always possible.

"IEHAC, on the other hand, is something that has a lot more creative depth to it, and it's something I'm certainly a lot

Deon Toh, one of the winners of Noise-Singapore's singer-songwriter programme. (Photo/ Deon Toh)

Every first and third Wednesday of the month, Yahoo! MusicScene shines the spotlight on talented, up-and-coming Singaporean bands or musicians. This week, we focus on young musical talents in Singapore.

Who says Singapore does not have good young talent?

Six artistes -- all below 35-years-old -- were chosen  as winners in the recently-concluded Noise-Timbre Singer-Songwriter Programme.

Under the programme, young aspiring singer-songwriters send in YouTube videos for a chance to gig at Timbre @ The Substation. Those whose entries get the most votes win.

Chief creative director and co-founder of Timbre Group, Danny Loong, told Yahoo! Singapore, that Timbre Music Academy will be taking baby steps to work on developing the chosen musicians into recognised performers.

Loong, the ex-bandleader and founder of critically-acclaimed blues band Ublues, lamented that Singaporeans' mindset is to see more bands play, but not solo performers.

"Customers to Timbre always ask 'which band is playing'

Local shoegaze band Stellarium is a rare breed in Singapore. (Photo/ Stellarium)

Every first and third Wednesday of the month, Yahoo! MusicScene shines the spotlight on talented, up-and-coming Singaporean bands or musicians. This week, we speak to Az Kadir from local band Stellarium about shoegaze music in Singapore.

Have you heard about the shoegaze music scene in Singapore?

Less popular than indie music, shoegaze originated from Britain in the 1980s, and is named after a kind of motionless performing style. Artistes in this genre typically stand on stage and stare at the floor while playing.

However, this type of music is better-known for its pure, unadulterated sound as marked by loud, droning guitar riffs and bursts of distortion and feedback.

"You can describe shoegaze music as noise rock or neo-psychedelic rock," said Az Kadir, leader of local shoegaze band Stellarium.

Listening to their self-titled debut album, which was completely self-recorded, I was blown away by the constant assault of effects-driven guitar tones and booming drum beats.

It was like a