It’s a festival, of course we have music! The Conscious Festival powered by Holland & Barrett returns to Singapore this year with a carefully curated line-up of unique musicians, DJs and artists offering everything from psy-trance to hypnotic grooves that heal and even Elvis covers.
Our stage might not be massive and our lineup unknown, but we like it this way. Our aim with the festival is to educate and enlighten, and that mantra extends to our music programme as well. Trust us when we tell that all our musicians are either weird or wonderful, or both, and embody the spirit of the festival. But in case you don’t trust us, let us tell you a bit about them…
SATURDAY
11:15 US THE HIPPIES
Ease into Sunday morning with Us the Hippies who are made up of Mae on sultry vocals and Jude on soulful guitar who together create music while barefoot. The duo has busked on the streets of Orchard Road, played for multiple editions of the Green is The New Black festival, and for Valentine’s Day dinners at The Garden Slug from 2015 to 2018. Expect to hear some covers by Amy Winehouse, No Doubt and even Elvis Presley. If you enjoy stripped-down acoustic beats with the occasional changed up jazz or reggae track, you’ll likely enjoy Us The Hippies.
12:15 KYLA T
Kyla fuses vintage rhythmic vibes into a reinterpretation of R&B with a modern minimalistic attitude. As part of the 2017 Noise Music Mentorship programme, Kyla has since kick-started her career as a solo artist, having already released two singles, Slow Machines and Good Tidings on Spotify. At the Conscious Festival, you can expect Kyla to deliver music by 4 Non Blondes, The Killers, Bruno Mars and more. With Kyla, It’s all about good vibes and chill times, with a little soju on the side.
12:15 SUBHAS
Subhas is a Singaporean rap and hip-hop artist who seeks to share perspectives of the world around him and engage with people from different walks of life through his music and lyricism. A superstar is his own right, he released his debut album in May 2018 called Not A Public Assembly. He’s also brought his work to multiple venues including panelling at the Singapore Writers’ Festival, speaking at TEDx PnG, and performing at Other Tongues (a minority voices festival). Subhas believes active allyship is crucial in dismantling systems of oppression on all fronts and uses his writing as a tool to provoke dialogue and social change. Impressive, engaging and appealing, we’re as excited as you to see Subhas perform on our humble stage.
14:15 JOIE TAN
Joie’s foray into the scene started in 2008 with her covers on YouTube. Her vocal-heavy takes on popular songs were met with tremendously positive reception, and her audience started to swell. She has crafted an iconic signature style and honeyed coo that uniquely intertwines with her personality, one that has been endorsed by chart-topping producers like the late Avicii and Kygo in Billboard playlists and his Tomorrowland set in 2014. Her debut album was released 2018, Joie features 10 self-written tracks and you’ll hear a lot of those at the Conscious Festival alongside music from Britney Spears and The Lumineers.
15:15 MASBRO
Welcome, Masbro, a progressive acoustic guitar duo from Singapore who fuse together elements from group members Jeremy and Ray’s diverse influences in rock, jazz, city pop and metal. They first started writing music as an earnest homage to their favourite math rock bands, but eventually found their own sound, crafting together epic etudes and emotional narratives within the confines of just two guitars, and delivering them with the energy of a thousand suns. Their performance at the Conscious Festival will be an entirely original performance where they showcase all their own original compositions.
16:15 ROWE
Singer-songwriter ROWE pens earworm hooks at the drop of a hat. Highly influenced by the likes of R&B, pop, alternative and Indie music, the 24-year-old triple threat croons in the upper register of silky smooth falsettos and riffs, injecting tasteful spoken word ad-libs within a progressive sensual sound encapsulating mental illness, addiction and inner demons. Currently in the midst of producing an EP set to be released in 2020, her fresh sound yet to popularised in the region. But attendees at The Conscious Festival will be privy to a sneak peek as ROWE will be playing an exclusive acoustic stripped-down set at the event.
17:15 iNCH
Inch Chua is an instantly recognisable name in Singapore’s English contemporary music scene. The passionate singer-songwriter has displayed unflinching determination throughout her career as a musician, advocate, artist and theatre practitioner. She has performed at major events both locally and overseas such as Singapore F1 Grand Prix, SXSW in Austin Texas, Beijing MIDI Music Festival, TEDxWomen in Washington DC, Canadian Music Week, Big Sound In Brisbane, Australia and many others. She has also opened for The Like, Katy Perry, Macy Gray, Greyson Chance, Charlie Puth and Vampire Weekend. Obviously, you can imagine our excitement when she agreed to play at The Conscious Festival and is your chance to catch this songstress for free.
18:15: FINGERFUNK
Fingerfunk is an electronic R’n’B and hip-hop quartet, who amidst the abundance of heavily produced commercial music, pushes live performance to the forefront. The band intricately blends track production techniques and live elements, choosing to recreate the music as humanly as possible in their performances. You can expect to hear a clash of original music with some covers worked in including one by Ariana Grande, a rework that has us hugely curious.
SUNDAY
12:15 NYALI
Audibly influenced by jazz, Motown soul, and folk styles, NyaLi’s originals are often a product of her own observations of the human condition, encasing both raw vulnerability and sincere honesty. Following her maiden music single release in 2015, NyaLi has put out various other singles, with her most recent being a rap collaboration that playlisted on Spotify in summer 2019 and continues to climb, at 40k views. Her 2017 solo debut EP ‘Your Own’ has received no less than glowing reviews from international audiences. Her evolving sound has been compared to Norah Jones and Erykah Badu and a bears evidence of her heroes including music icons Ella Fitzgerald and Joni Mitchell. Her raw talent will be on display at the Conscious Festival as she delivers a selection of her own music coupled by a few covers.
13:15 SAM DRISCOLL
Sam Driscoll is a singer and songwriter who first found internet fame as the “angmoh” on YouTube talking about Singaporean culture. He slowly moved from comedy to music, recording covers on YouTube and dabbling in writing original material. Sam took a leap of faith and got selected as a finalist in the NAC Noise Singapore Music Mentorship Programme in 2014, attracting the attention of many in the local music industry. His first single ‘So Tired ‘is now out on iTunes and later this releasing his debut album ‘Call It A Day’ in 2019, which you’ll likely to preview when he takes to the stage at the Conscious Festival.
14:15 DR. FOO
Dr. Foo is a DJ who plays consciously driven progressive electronic and world music. He believes that every living being on this planet is interconnected to the universe, and sound and music can serve a higher purpose of healing and awakening that divine connection and oneness with all. Dr Foo’s sounds interlace deep progressive, house and trance with ethnic and cross-cultural elements ranging from nature sounds, flutes, tablas, handpans, Tibetan singing bowls and beautiful sacred mantras. He is a doctor who prescribes aural medication in the form of hypnotic grooves that heal, and melodies that penetrate deep into being with higher vibrations. This Dr is very welcome to the stage at the Conscious Festival for a self-care Sunday session.
16:15 AMBIENT ENERGY
Hailing from Singapore, Ambient Energy is in a constant search for a different kind of sound. Once a band member and now DJ, today he mainly plays psy-trance with the occasional downtempo as well as techno. However, the meaning behind the term Ambient Energy is simple, it’s based on a collection of tracks—built on massive atmosphere, mixed with high intensity. His music uses experimental leads, topped with organic percussion, cheeky riffs and funky fills that all together gives you a sense of heavy music with a casual edge.
17:15 JM3
JM3 is a female rap artist that empowers through her unique blend of groove, rhythm and palatable lyrical poetry. Her music tells compelling stories that ring deep in everyone’s heart, embodying strength with a rebellious spirit. Raw and a rebel, she puts together these snapshot moments and ideals in life in her music to share and inspire, and be inspired. A regular on the big stage circuit in Singapore, we’re humbled that JM3 will be joining us on stage at the Conscious Festival.
18:15 MARIAN CARMEL
Carmel is a Filipino singer-songwriter based in Singapore who takes influence from soulful R&B tunes reminiscent of Emily King and Lianne La Havas. Her lush vocals breathe life into the melancholic nature of her songs, which are often borne out of catharsis. Her music has been featured on eight Spotify-curated playlists all over Asia and she’s joined competitions such as MTV Asia’s Project: Aloft Star where she was flown to Bangkok, Thailand to compete in the Top 5 Finals, and Yamaha Asian Beat where she emerged as the first runner up in the Singapore division.
The Conscious Festival by Green Is The New Black takes place from 11 am – 7 pm on Saturday 2nd November & Sunday 3rd November 2019 at the South Beach, 26 Beach Road, Singapore