Sounds Easy celebrates the golden years at Zirca

Date of Performance : 27th June 2009 (Saturday)

Sounds Easy was invited by the Ulu Pandan Community Club Youth Executive Committee (UPCC YEC) to sing for the community event called My Youthful Golden Years. This event is in conjunction with the YEC's efforts to celebrate the contributions of the older Singaporeans, and its highlight is a beauty paegent for five pairs of golden-aged couples. The other interesting thing is that this event is held at the very happening Zirca Mega Club, again attesting to the YEC's efforts to help bridge the old and young generations. Given this unique opportunity, Sounds Easy was very happy to take up the offer.

It was not easy preparing for this event, as our repertoire was mainly songs that were from our generation. We were told that the group is mainly Chinese speaking, so we can explore old Chinese songs. We researched a little, and came up with arrangements of the following :

(1) A medley of "Got My Mind Set On You" (George Harrison) and "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King) . Both are upbeat numbers that were made famous in the 70s and 80s. These songs should appeal to our golden agers, given that they should be in their 30s during this period.

(2) An arrangement of Kit Chan's " 喜欢你" ( Xi Huan Ni, Chinese for "Loving You'), a soothing ballad that was made famous in the 90s. Audience who enjoy Chinese songs should enjoy this. Our arrangment of this piece has a touch of bossa nova, so that even people who do not understand this piece will also enjoy the soothing harmonies.

(3) A rendition of "家后" (pronounced "Geh Au"; literally meaning "behind the house", but figuratively referring to one's lifelong partner), a popular Hokkien song that was featured in a local film “Money no Enough”. The song sings the love of a wife to her spouse, and we thought this touching piece will definitely strike a chord among the older folks.

(4) A medley of "Heaven is a Place on Earth" (Berlinda Carlisle) and "I think we're alone now" (Tifanny). These two energetic pieces, though written in the 80s, are still familiar favourites today, since they are still being played in clubs. We believe this medley should appeal to both the old and young.

The event was a bustling affair, as apart from supporting their friends in the pageant,the audience was treated to a magic show and was entitled to a lucky draw. Our performance was very well received as well, and we could tell that they enjoyed both the Chinese and Hokkien songs. Overall, we enjoyed every moment of presenting our unique brand of a cappella music in one of the hippest clubs in towns. Thank you UPCC (especially Denny who provided a lot of support for us), friends (Darren, Jane and Kee Leong), family, and the wonderful audience who were there for us that evening. We hope to have more of such opportunities to present our unique brand of music.

Singapore Arts Fest : Arts on the Move @ Jurong Point

Date of Performance : 14th June 2008 (Saturday)

The Singapore Arts Festival is a bi-annual event in Singapore that features many fine arts groups, both local and international. The “Arts on the Move" is a regular part of the festival that aims to bring the performing arts groups in the heartlands of Singapore. Sounds Easy was invited to be the “Arts on the Move” segment, and our performance took place on the 14th June (Sat) 2008 afternoon at the Jurong Point Shopping Mall.

As we were not restricted to a particular theme for our 30-minute performance, Sounds Easy decided that our repertoire should contain familiar favourites that will appeal to general crowd. Since the performance would take place in the lovely month of June, we decided that the theme of love was the most befitting. Two months prior to the performance, arrangements of familiar love songs were arranged and rehearsed to ensure that we give a great show on the 14th.

The love songs that we performed described various aspects of love – the celebration of it, the passion involved, the sorrows when it is lost and the joys when one truly found it. We started our show with a medley of two upbeat numbers - "Heaven is a Place on Earth" and "I think we are alone now". After this rousing introduction, we next presented three soothing Chinese numbers- a medley of "爱情路“ (Aì Qíng Lù) and ”不想睡“ (Bù Xiăng Shuì), two very familiar Chinese ballads and an arrangement “喜欢你”(Xí Huān Nĭ), which was a given with a bossa nova touch. The tone of our show changed to a rather sad one when we performed a Hokkien piece "车站“ (Qiā Zhăm), to depict lost love. We then proceeded to explore songs that describe the joys of love. "Where Do I Begin" and "Thank you" (by Dido) are two songs that tell the story of how great a love can be, of the wonderful feeling knowing that that "special someone" is always around to support us. We ended our performance with the evergreen “Stand by Me".

We were very fortunate to have a very supportive crowd that day. Shoppers and passer-bys gathered around the stage to hear us sing. There were families who sat near the front of the stage to enjoy our arrangements. Most of the pieces were very well-received, and we noticed that some people even sang along with us. The Hokkien song "车站“, which describes the sorrows of sending one’s love away at the train station, was probably the most enjoyed by the crowd, possibly because dialect songs were not frequently featured in a cappella performances.

Given that Sounds Easy is a relatively young and unknown arts group, it was indeed an honour and privilege to be featured as one of the performing arts group in the 2008 Singapore Arts Festival . This performance opportunity not only exposed us to a bigger crowd, it also allowed us to share our unique brand of a cappella music. We would like to thank the organizers of the Singapore Arts Fest for giving us this wonderful opportunity and the lovely audience at the Jurong Point Shopping Mall for taking time out to listen to our music and enjoying our songs.

Singapore Arts Festival 2008: Arts on the Move

WooOooOooHoooOooOOo!!!

Sounds Easy has the honour to perform at the Jurong Point Shopping Mall on the 14 June 2008 for the Singapore Arts Festival '08!!! This is a rare opportunity and Sounds Easy really appreciates it!!! We're definitely going to show everybody that..

"We Sound Easy, but We Ain't!"

Eh..we know this sounds a little cliche..but that's our motto right!? And we will guarantee a performance that Sounds nice and Easy.... Haha..enough of rubbish.

Our tentative repertoire for the event includes (but not restricted to) Kokomo, Stand by Me,
喜欢你, Where Do I Begin?, 车站 (a Hokkien song) and Thank You ... We will be performing at 4 pm and our performance lasts about 30 minutes. So if you're going to be in that area at around that time, do come and enjoy our Easy Sounds at the event.

Performance for the ICA Global Youth Conference

Date of Performance: 15th October 2007 (Monday)

Sounds Easy was delighted to be part of the The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) Youth Conference that was held between the 14-15 October 2007. We were invited to sing for their farewell dinner, which as held at DXO, a club house at the Esplanade.

We were contacted by Wen Wen from ICA several months before the event, and she requested that we sing songs in English, as the audience came from different parts of the world. Concentrating on the theme of love and friendship, Sounds Easy presented the following in a cappella style: (1)Medley of "Heaven is a place on Earth" and "I think we're alone now", (2)"I’ll Be There For You” (originally by the The Rembrandts), (3) "Thank you" (originally by Dido) and (4) "Stand by Me"(originally by Ben E King). The audience were very lively, and gave us warm applauses, especially during "Stand by Me", possibly because it was familiar to most of them. After the show,we were invited to join in the party as well.

There were also many firsts for Sounds Easy during this event. This was our maiden a cappella performance at a club, which is typically reserved for dance music. Sounds Easy also donned a new set of costumes - ladies in light green dresses and guys with matching dark green shirts and light khaki pants combination. These "maiden" experiences made this show a truly memorable one.

Performance for ASEAN Youth Caucus @ NACLI

Date of Performance(s): 22nd April 2007.

Sounds Easy was invited to sing for the welcome dinner for the Youth Caucus, a meeting of youths and leaders from the Association of South East Asian Members (ASEAN) on the last Sunday of April 2007. This fairly high profile event was hosted and organised by the People Association's Youth Movement (PAYM), and the dinner took place at the lush and tranquil National Community Learning Institute(NACLI).

Despite being given only a week to prepare, Sounds Easy managed to present an all acappella performance of three evergreens that dazzled the audience, many of whom came from different parts of ASEAN. The performance took place in NACLI's Learning Lounge, a cosy air-conditioned hall with a small stage. We started the show with a medley of two pop songs-Berlinda Carlisle's "Heaven is a Place on Earth" and Tifanny's "I think we are alone". This was followed by "Stand By Me", and that seemed to strike a chord with the audience, as some of them were seen tapping with our music. We closed the show with "Kokomo", a song that was familiar to most. After the show, Sounds Easy was treated to a delightful buffet that was made up of yummy Asian cuisines. We would like to thank PAYM for inviting us to be part of this international event, and we look forward to more of such opportunities. We would also like to thank the audience, who were very supportive and appreciative during our performance.